Flight Time

“Mugu” is a Chumash word for “the landing place,” and there will be a lot of landings going on Friday through Sunday at the 2000 edition of the annual Point Mugu Air Show in Oxnard.

Upon the arrival of the first known European tourist, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo on Oct. 10, 1542, the Mugu Lagoon was already a thriving Chumash settlement, a prime location from which to launch canoes.

The area has become considerably noisier. It was a Seabee training area during World War II, and a Naval Air Station after that, then the Pacific Missile Test Center, and, as with all things military, it’s had lots of mind-bending acronyms.

These days, Point Mugu is home to the Naval Weapons Test Squadron (NWTS), the principal site for research, development, testing and evaluation of weapons and weapons systems. Then there’s Commander Airborne Early Warning Wing U.S.--Pacific Fleet (COMAEWWINGPAC), a Marine Corps operation recently transplanted from Miramar.

Point Mugu is also the home of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Detachment and the Channel Islands Air National Guard, among others. Gates open for the 37th annual air show at 1200 hours Friday--that’s noon in civilian time--with welcoming ceremonies and several aerial demonstrations beginning at 3 p.m. But most visitors will attend over the weekend, when the gates open each day at 8 a.m. As usual, the event is of the ever-affordable free variety, with premium box seats available while they last for $10 each.

Then there’s the Flight Line Club, available to any would-be air marshals, featuring a luxury seat, VIP parking, catered food and beverages, for $45 per person.

Several old favorites will be among the demonstrations at this year’s show.

For more than 20 years, the Red Baron Stearman Squadron has thrilled air show audiences with its audacious aerial maneuvers. The biplanes were produced in the ‘20s and ‘30s to train pilots for the Navy as well as the Army Air Corps. These four planes fly more than 2,000 hours annually and have raised millions of dollars for children’s charities.

Dan Buchanan’s “Flying Colors” is a very visual aerial show narrated by the pilot himself while he navigates a motorless Airwave glider. A 16-year glider pilot, Buchanan has been a paraplegic for 15 years as a result of a dirt bike accident. He says, “I have to fly--I can’t walk.”

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Aviation legend Gene Soucy has won more awards than any other air show pilot, earning him the nickname “Mr. Air Show.” He is a former member of the Eagles aerobatic team and was also a part of two world champion U.S. aerobatic teams. His current act includes a wing-walking exhibition with Teresa Stokes.

Also, Delmar Benjamin will demonstrate his brand of aerial derring-do while piloting a legendary GeeBee. Known as one of the most dangerous planes ever built, its production ceased, not surprisingly, when the last one crashed in the mid-’30s. But Benjamin believed the design was sound and that the crashes resulted from pilot error, so he built his own replica. For 15 years, Benjamin has been amazing audiences with his flying “boxcar with wings.”

The South may have lost the Civil War, but the Confederate Air Force is alive and well. This national organization is dedicated to preserving the aircraft of World War II, from which several members of the flying cat family built by Grumman will be on hand, including an FM-2 Wildcat, an F-6F Hellcat, an F-8F Bearcat and an F-4U Corsair, as seen on “The Black Sheep Squadron.”

Also on hand will be a quartet of P-51 Mustangs, the fighter that turned the tide in the air war over Germany in World War II. A C-46 out of Camarillo, an example of the workhorse cargo plane, also will be on display.

The flying machines aren’t all close relatives of the days of Daedalus, Icarus and the Wright brothers--there will be plenty more-current flying hardware on display. Attack Squadron 125 (VA 125), known as the Rough Riders, will go fast in their F/A-18s favored by the Navy as well as the Marines. There will also be plenty of F-4s, F-14s and F-117 Nighthawks, not to mention the Air Force Eagle Demonstration Team, composed of its primary fighter, the F-15.

In addition to all the airborne excitement will be plenty of activity on the ground, including a Navy SEAL exhibition, flight simulators, food and drink, plus a children’s play area. Senior Airman Arthur Mayhew, who will be on hand to explain the intricacies of a cutaway model of a C-130E Hercules engine, understands the attraction of all this: “You can see planes on the ground. You can see planes fly. A lot of people like that.”

All in all, it sounds like a PCFAS in the making--a Pretty Cool Family Air Show.

DETAILS

Point Mugu Air Show, Friday at noon, Saturday and Sunday at 8 a.m. Cost: Free parking and admission, or call 684-0155 to purchase reserve seating. Call 989-8786 for more information.