2nd Hangar OKd for Aircraft Group

Some build them in their garages and others right in their houses, but when it comes time to assemble the flying contraptions, they come to the Experimental Aircraft Assn.’s hangar at the Camarillo Airport.

The association has been so successful that the Ventura County Department of Airports decided last week to approve the association’s request to build another hangar. At the end of a 20-year agreement, the association will donate the hangar to the department in exchange for a break on the rent.

The association consists of more than 200 aviation enthusiasts--many of whom build their aircraft at home, assemble them at the association’s hangar and do their flight testing around the airport, said Bill Melly, the association’s spokesman.

Pilots must test their experimental aircraft for 40 hours within a 25-mile radius of the airport before they can be licensed to fly farther, Melly said. The association provides members with technical advisors and guidelines for the test flights, he said.

The association also offers the use of its tools to members who build at home.

“Being in a group, we can put our money together and buy the equipment we need,” Melly said.

An aircraft can take anywhere from three to 20 years to complete, depending on the type of plane being built, said Melly, whose interest was sparked when he was a child working on model planes.