Planes of Fame

In aviation jargon, the B-2 Stealth bomber is known as a “low-observable” aircraft.

As the star of this year’s Van Nuys Airport Aviation Expo, however, it was highly observed by an appreciative crowd of about 75,000 Saturday afternoon while making two sweeps over the runway.

Several thousand more were probably watching from yards and streets near the airport as the once super-secret aircraft made its first visit to the skies above Los Angeles.

In the minutes before the bomber’s appearance, the crowd lining the runway was silent, almost as if in church. A few began whistling when the black craft, which resembles a giant bat wing, first came into view. Then there were loud cheers and waving as it flew by, accompanied by “Off We Go, Into the Wild Blue Yonder” playing from loudspeakers.

For those at the expo interested in hands-on experience, there were dozens of static displays, a Blue Angels cockpit simulator and stands selling pins, posters, books and other aircraft memorabilia.

And there were more than 50 military, vintage and corporate aircraft on display. But they weren’t appreciated just for their aviation capabilities--on a warm summer’s day on the hot pavement, the wings of these aircraft provided welcome shade.

Enjoying a family picnic under an F-18 Hornet fighter were Danny and Rosa Sanchez of Sylmar, with four of their children and a nephew.

“It’s our first time to the expo. It’s close and it’s free,” said Danny Sanchez, adding that the outing was more than recreational.

“We tell our kids that if they want to own things when they grow up, they are going to need to work. Everywhere we go, we always try to bring different occupations to their attention.”

*

Flying was clearly the career of the day as admirers surrounded anyone in a flight suit, from the lowest-ranking airman of the military’s huge AWACS surveillance aircraft to B-2 test pilot Bill Flanagan, who faced a long line of autograph-seekers.

Providing elegance and nostalgia on the tarmac crowded with fierce-looking combat jets and helicopters was a just-restored, propeller-driven Lockheed Super Constellation, once known as “the Queen of the Skies.” Standing beneath one of its four gleaming engine cowlings was its proud owner, Benny Younesi of Tarzana.

“It has brought back sentimental feelings for a lot of the visitors today,” he said. “People are telling me, ‘We didn’t know any of these things existed anymore.”

Once used by the Air Force for cargo, medical evacuation and VIP transport, this “Connie” saw service in Korea and Vietnam, Younesi said. More recently it was “a big crop duster” when he discovered it in Phoenix in 1982. After a massive restoration project, the craft, now based at Camarillo Airport, returned to the skies two years ago, one of only five flying Constellations in the world today.

Samuel Hughes of Baldwin Hills remembered spending “a lot of hot days in that thing” during his 40 years in aircraft manufacturing and engineering with Lockheed Aircraft in Burbank.

Hughes was staffing a booth sponsored by the Los Angeles chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen Inc., founded in 1972 by black pilots and support crews who served in segregated units during World War II. Hughes, now 72, joined the Army Air Force at age 18 and flew P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt fighters out of Italy as escort for bombers.

The expo continues today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with flyover and aircraft demonstrations set to begin at 11 a.m. The Wings of Blue skydiving team from the U.S. Air Force Academy will perform at 3 p.m., followed by a radio-controlled model airplane show.

Admission to the expo is free. Proceeds from food and souvenir sales will benefit nonprofit youth and service organizations.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Van Nuys Avaiation Expo Parking

A. Monroe High School, 9229 Haskell Ave

B. Kaiser Marquardt Industries, 16555 Saticoy St.

C. Woodley Golf Course lot, 6335 Woodley Ave.

D. Handicapped parking, 8050 Balboa Blvd.