Record Crowd Attends First Day of Air Show

Evelyn “Bobbi” Trout recalled being greeted by only a handful of fans back in 1929, when, as a young woman flying out of Van Nuys Airport, she established several flight speed and endurance records.

The pioneering aviator, now 93, spent most of Saturday sitting under a canopy signing autographs, posing for pictures and sharing stories with some of the estimated 145,000 people who attended the first day of the two-day Van Nuys Airport Aviation Expo ’99.

“Seventy years ago, there were a dozen people here and that was it,” Trout said, chuckling as she looked up at the crowds of people waiting to meet her.

“All you have to do is go for it,” she told one youngster, who said he hopes to fly someday.

City Councilman Joel Wachs, serving his 10th year as air show grand marshal, referred to last week’s World Cup triumph by the U.S. Women’s Soccer team when he told Trout, “Your accomplishments 70 years ago helped pave the way” for achievement by women today.

Lydia Kennard, newly appointed as the first female executive director of the city’s airport department, also saluted Trout.

Clay Lacy, a veteran pilot and operator at Van Nuys Airport, was among those to greet Trout, purchasing an autographed poster from her minutes before he stepped into his own vintage plane to demonstrate his piloting prowess for the air show.

Kathy Carle, 43, of Woodland Hills, said she came to the show specifically to meet Trout. A pilot who flies only occasionally, Carle bantered about the cost of flying while Trout autographed a commemorative envelope. “I wished I had lived at her time,” Carle said. “It must have been wonderful.”

Relatively moderate temperatures and cool breezes brought record crowds to opening day, where spectators stood spellbound, staring into a clear blue sky at a dazzling array of aerobatics.

The crowd was nearly double that of the first day of the show last year, when stifling temperatures quickly climbed to 100 degrees.

The sea of humanity drifted among 70 aircraft on display and periodically froze to look skyward as pilots zoomed in circles, spirals and upside down.

Ooohs and aaahs punctuated with gasps, cheers and whistles applauded performances ranging from the Army’s Golden Knights precision parachute team to the Los Angeles Fire Department’s helicopter demonstration.

Several of the aerobatic flyers spoke to the crowd over speakers as they endured the gravitational pulls of twists and turns in the sky. Headline performer Sean D. Tucker, who learned to fly at Van Nuys, stunned spectators with his “Sky Dance” ballet, even drawing vendors out from under their canopies to watch.

David Arroyo, 6, of Arleta, said he had gone to the show with his mother, Toni, to see the AV-8B Harrier jet--an aircraft he fell in love with two years ago.

“That’s the one that’s the loudest, the second fastest, and it does a lot of neat stuff,” David said, munching on an ear of corn as his mother misted his face with water.

But engine troubles were blamed for cancellation of the Harrier demonstration.

Instead, the Golden Knights added a performance, dropping with precision onto the show grounds, prompting little boys to surge toward them from every direction as they landed.

The thermometer on Saturday peaked at 90 degrees, and similar weather--drawing even larger crowds--is expected today, officials said. Because of the crowds, additional food booths will be provided today to met the demand, said show spokeswoman Stacy Geere.