Airport’s ‘Vinny’ Tour Lands Award
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The Van Nuys Airport tour program, featuring “Vinny,” a kid-friendly educational airplane, has been named a national winner for its innovation.
The third place award in a contest for aviation education and tour programs will be presented Wednesday, during the regional conference of the Airports Council International, which sponsored the contest.
The Washington, D.C.-based airport association selected the Van Nuys program from among 250 entries from 60 airports across the country.
Thousands of youngsters yearly participate in the airport’s free, 90-minute tour, conducted aboard air-conditioned buses around the 730-acre airfield. Among more than 700 aircraft based there is the airport’s mascot, a purple-and-orange experimental two-seat plane.
“Vinny’s” components are labeled, to indicate the cockpit, propeller, landing gear and aileron. Though it has no engine, children can climb into the cockpit and maneuver controls to pretend they are flying.
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