Santa Paula Airshow Was A Hit

Sam Mason in his RF4D Motorglider.

Story and Photos
By Curt Fargo
There are a few airports in this country where aviation is more than just a hobby, it's a religion.

Santa Paula, Calif. (SZP) is one of those. Owned by its pilots, it houses one of the largest collections of flyable antiques (planes and pilots) this side of the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome.

Luminaries such as Steve McQueen and Gene Hackman kept their planes there and hung out on weekends. So did Kurt Russell and Reg Pridmore, national motorcycle road race champ.

One of the world's greatest aerobatic instructors, Sammy Mason, was based there and many pilots fly into the tiny field on weekends just to walk up and down hangar row and see planes (and cars and bikes) they've read about but never seen before.

So when it was announced they were going to hold their first airshow in 10 years in mid-August, many perked up and started making plans.

And it was a true airshow, with performers such as Rob "Tumblin Bear" Harrison in his Zlin, Darin Moody in a Great Lakes, Peter Poland and Tim Just in their Extras, Seamus McCaughley in a Christian Eagle, Chris Olmsted in a Pitts and even Clay Lacy in a Learjet.

The Southern California wing of the CAF sent over their Hellcat and Zero to stage a dogfight (the Zero lost, again), a Ventura County Helicopter demo'd a Water Drop, while Pete Mason flew as Dick Dasterdly in the Stearman and Dan Gray made a parachute jump.

More details and photos in the September issue of Pacific Flyer