All language subtitles for One Six Right.en

Asking someone
why they love to fly

is almost like asking someone

why they like Picasso.

The beauty is the tact
that you can't really describe it.

It's something you have to behold.

Flying takes you
into another dimension-literally.

As ground-based people,
we walk this way, we drive that way.

But in the airplane, we go this way.

And we add an entire dimension.

We see, feel,
and experience things

that people who don't fly
will never know.

And yet, here, at Van Nuys Airport
and other airports like it,

the price of admission
is an interest in aviation.

If you like airplanes,
and you like to fly,

you're welcome here
nothing else counts.

My mother would take me
out to the airport

and park in a viewing area
and watch airplanes.

And as a little kid,

just stand with my hands
up against that fence,

and looking out,
watching the planes,

and nagging my mother
to let me go up in an airplane.

My mom used to say
that when I was a little baby,

my dad would be holding me
and I'd see an airplane and say,

"Airplane!"

It was kinda like, you know...
We're going to do this now.

I think I started thinking
about flying

when I was a young child.

I used to dream about it
all the time.

When I grew up,
I had a lot of dreams,

like, dreams of flying
that I could just fly.

As a little kid, I just always knew
that was something I wanted to do,

whether I became a bird somehow

and that was just the closest thing
to being a bird.

I know I compared
with Desiree a little bit.

I had a barn out in the back.

And I used to jump off the barn
with my brother,

the same thing she used to do,
thinking, "Oh, yeah!"

You can fly a little bit
off the barn."

Soaring with my hands out,
building the little crates

with the wings on them,
trying to imagine myself flying.

Thought, wouldn't it be nice

to be up there, all alone
in an airplane...

Doing what I want to do,

see what I want to see?

And that's what prompted me.

There're some feelings about flying
that dety description.

Only the best poets in the world
can probably do that properly

Robert Louis Stevenson's verse
of poems for children said...

How I love to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so high.

It is the loveliest thing
that ever a child could do.

Up in the air and over the sky,
so I can see so wide,

Rivers and trees and valleys,
all over the countryside.

Oh, my parents sent me
to my grandparents back East.

And during this flight
I looked out at the wings.

I knew they kept the airplane in the air,
but they weren't doing anything.

They weren't moving.

And, I couldn't understand
how that happened.

All this iron around me
was being suspended.

And, when I got
to my little hometown

in New Jersey,

I went to the library
and I began reading

about aerodynamics
and aeronautics.

And it seemed so intriguing

that I couldn't wait
until I got back home.

And I'd go to the local airport,
and my first airplane ride

was literally hitchhiking this way
instead of that way.

Many people think the local airport,

the local airport...
Which may be some distance away,

is the one in which
there's airline service

or commuter service.

And yet, in this country,
there are less than 600 airports

with any air-carrier service.

There are 17,000 landing facilities
for General Aviation airplanes,

helicopters and seaplanes.

I wish I'd been around
when they invented these

two most misunderstood words:
General Aviation.

What in the world does that mean?

From the jets that you see
flying in and out of here,

to the people that fly
for the tire department

and the police department,
to the little airplanes...

That's all considered
General Aviation.

The General Aviation airport
it's where you can park an airplane.

You can learn to fly,
without having to be concerned

too much
about the scheduled aircraft

or the commercial aircraft.

The small general aviation airplane,

those powered by piston engines
and twirling propellers,

is the fundamental basis
for all of aviation.

It's the bedrock.
It's the foundation.

Without it, the entire infrastructure
of aviation collapses.

We have to have little airplanes
to get to the big airplanes.

Everybody driving a big airplane
started in a little airplane.

SpiritJet One-Twenty-Four,
keep it climbin' to four-thousand

and contact Departure now, g'day.

Up to four-thousand, we'll see ya,
Spirit-One-Twenty-Four.

But the problem that the United States
faces with airports today,

is that too many of them
are closing,

and once an airport's closed,
that's the end.

You can never reopen it.

Because the land is recycled
into some other use.

Airports are not being replaced,
and as we lose them,

we're losing centers of commerce,
centers of recreation.

All kinds of things happen
at airports that we suddenly lose.

I know that airports
are never popular in a community,

particularly in a residential area.

They're almost like NASA
in that regard.

Nobody had any respect for NASA
until they got a PR man

to tell people what they were doing.

You've got to explain to them
what you're all about,

why the airplanes make noise.

How much money
is the airport generating?

What's good about the airport?

And then, when they find out

what's really good
about the airport,

they'll partner with you.

Van Nuys Airport'
Information Mike...

Two-three-flve-zero Zulu weather.

Wind, two-five-zero at nine.
Visibility one-zero.

Well, Van Nuys is unique
because it's the world's

busiest General Aviation airport.

Controls more traffic,
has more activity

than any other
General Aviation airport

anywhere in world.

As a matter of fact,
it's busier than London Heathrow.

It's busier than any airport
Europe can throw at us,

or the Orient, for that matter.

It is true, that we do have
one take off and landing

about every forty-five seconds
during the day.

And we probably have
the world's greatest controllers.

At this airport,
you can be working 30 airplanes,

and it's a huge mix.

Everything from Piper Cubs
to MD-80s,

and you're working them
at the same time.

It's a little town.

And we have everything
that a little town should have-

police department,
the engineering department.

We're the largest employer
in the Valley.

We hire more people and pay
more people on this airport,

than any other industry
in the Valley.

When I think
about Van Nuys airport,

I think about
the historic significance

of that airport.

It's famous-One Six Right.

When you see those numbers,
and you hear the controller say,

"You're clear to land,
One Six Right,"

you know you're home.

You're at the greatest airport.

What's incredible about this airport
is what's behind the closed doors.

You know, what you see
when you open the doors.

The Van Nuys Airport
is very special

because of the diversity
of the airplanes here.

World War ll airplanes, warbirds,

privately owned, you know
P-51s and biplanes, Pitts.

Just all kinds
of different airplanes

flying on the weekend.

Most of my job is talking to pilots
all the time.

And I get to know all the pilots,
by name and numbers.

They recognize my voice
when they come into the area.

And instead of saying
"Van Nuys Tower,"

they'll call Phil's name.

They hear him on the radio.
I love to hear Phil's voice.

I can't remember
when Phil wasn't in the tower.

The most relaxed guy
there can be.

Coming in from Europe

when you've been up
14, 16 hours,

there's nothing
like hearing Phil say,

"Welcome back to Van Nuys."

How's everything gain'?

Gain' alright, Phil, how're you doin'?

I got the, uh, late shift, tonight.

Once you get some years on,
and then you can get a day shift.

It's my own personal history
that makes the airport special

for me in the sense
that it's my home airport.

It's where I learned to fl y,
it's where I had my first airplane.

Now, I'm addicted.

I can't imagine
not having an airplane.

Gulfstream Five-Quebec-Sierra,
Runway One Six Right...

clear for takeoff.
Wind two-four-zero at eight.

Clear for takeoff, One Six Right,
Five-Quebec-Siena.

This airport has more
corporate jet airplanes on it

than any airport in the world.

And, the people that come
to Los Angeles to make the deals,

they come to Van Nuys Airport.

This airport is so perfectly set here,

in the middle
of the San Fernando Valley.

I mean, we've got Hollywood.
We've got Los Angeles.

We've got... The business districts
here are tremendous.

Van Nuys is
an international airport.

Typically we'll leave here
and go nonstop to Nice, France,

Paris, Amsterdam.

We can get customs, here,
and immigration here.

And when we come in from Europe
it's nonstop right to our destination.

Five-Tango-Sierra,
begin your tum,

and contact departure,
one-twenty-eight, seventy-five.

See ya later, Phil, thanks.

One of the most important things
we have here at Van Nuys,

are the students,
the people learning to fly.

And this airport has provided
an arena for people to learn to fly

for seventy-five years.

You have information Whiskey.

I was like a little kid
when I was learning how to fly.

I mean, I would actually go out

and sit as close as I could get
to One Six Right

and watch planes come in...
for hours.

Van Nuys Tower Premier
Four-Eight-Eight Papa-Charlie...

During the initial time
that I started training,

someone suggested
that I take a hand-held radio

and go sit at the redline.

And, I found a place,
parked my car, got out

and used my radio and listened,

and I kind of put myself

in the place
of each of the radio calls

so that I could begin to understand
what they're talking about.

To learn the language.
One Six Right, clear to land...

It took on
a tremendously special meaning

and to this day, I'm admitting
that I need my redline fix.

Now, that means I just go out
and I'll sit there for a halt-an-hour

and I'll watch operations.

I'll be right at the edge
of the runway or the taxiway,

as far as they'll let a civilian go.

And just being there
is being a part of the airport.

If someone is going up
for their first solo,

they usually tell us-

because then we can give them
a little extra room.

We give them a wind check,

and I just take care of them
a little bit better...

Not push them.

Because I did my first solo
at Van Nuys Airport, as well.

You help square them away,
keep them safe,

and then you kind of cut them loose.

Like, "Alright,"
you've seen them solo.

And they're always,
"That was my first solo."

And we're always telling them,
"Good job! Keep it up."

Or maybe give them some numbers,
"Alright, that was a 'six'.

Try it again."

All of the sudden,

the guy that taught you
isn't there anymore.

You don't know
when it's going to happen.

They just got outta the airplane
and stood there on the ground

and looked at you and said,
"Okay, fly."

And he sort of monitors you,
but he's sure that you can do it.

He's sure that you're ready.

And, when I took off, I thought,
"My God!

There's nobody in front, there.
I'm all alone!"

And, he said, "I'm here."
He had his walkie-talkie,

"I'll be listening to you.

You just do what
you've been taught to do."

But something comes over you,

and it's the realization
that it's up to you.

Everything that you're
about to do... is you.

So you remember
everything you've been taught.

You take oft and sure enough,
it's the greatest feeling in the world.

Because when you land,
you've just done

what so very few
people have done.

And, not for that reason,
but, because you were able to do it.

And, it's an incredible feeling
of, "Look Ma - No Hands!"

Then after the license,
of course, comes the plane.

I was in a position then,
where I could afford an airplane.

And I bought a brand new Bonanza
in about 1975.

I had my own airplane,
my own Bonanza.

And, the day that I got it,
or a couple of days after that,

my wife and two kids and I
were going out to a movie.

And I said, "No, we gotta
go by the airport first."

And we went
to where this airplane was,

and I forced them all
to get in the plane, to sit down,

and I kind of showed them
what it was like to fly it.

I was so excited
to have this airplane.

So, my family sat there like,

"You know, Dad,
we gotta get to the movie."

But, you know,
we had to go see the plane, first.

I hung on the fence
for about four or five years

trying to figure out
how you buy an airplane.

It is as it was in 1944
when it come out of the factory.

You won't find one in the country
that is equipped the way this one is.

Well, the DC-3, I painted it up
in 1952 United colors,

which is what I flew.

We fixed it up really nice.

My family had a history with A-26s.

My grandfather bought some A-26s
after World War ll.

He owned A-26s
and my father owned A-26s.

But then, my dream always
was to have something

like what I have now,
which is this Citation X,

which is the fastest
non-military jet in the world.

I save an hour with this plane,
coast-to-coast, both directions.

There was a period where the Pitts
was down for six months

for some repair work
being done to it.

I found myself
still coming up to the airport,

when I didn't have an airplane,
just to see my friends

and to hang outwith my friends
and talk about airplanes.

I'm up here on days
where it's raining,

and I'm just working on some things
in the hangar with my airplane,

because I enjoy coming here
on the weekends, or my Fridays.

It's a place where
you just like to hang out,

because of the size of it,
the number of people there,

and the different mix of airplanes.

They're all there, in that spot.
And it's been there a long time.

There's nothing like it on the planet.

It's not just about an airport,
it's about a community.

It's about a community of flyers

and people that are dedicated
to the special art of flying.

I would just go there,

not knowing what the hell
I was going to do.

Just to walk around,
see who I could meet-hang out.

Paul Meyer, he used to come in
a lot to the office

and do a lot of hangar flying.

Tell lies about all these
different flights that I never took and...

Hangar flying, the way I see it,

is a bunch of pilots talking
about their experiences

and I used to like to ask them
if they logged it.

I wrote in my logbook,
"This is a love story."

"Please... call,"
and my phone number,

"if you find it."

It was a cherished log.
Every little airplane, I flew.

And in those days,
things weren't as strict.

Somebody would come along
and say,

"Could you fly this airplane?
Have you flown it?"

"Of course, I can.
Yes, I have," right?

But, it went into my logbook.

I log every flight
every time I go up

in every airplane.

It's my record of what I've done

and I'm very proud of it.

Well, it's part of your life.

It tells what you did,
and when you did it.

My best memories
of the Van Nuys Airport

were in my early days...
Were in the Fifties and Sixties.

It was the best time of my life.

I came here in 1959, January.

The same year that the FAA
became into existence.

And have been here
most of my career.

In 1938, when I first went
to the Van Nuys Airport,

and I just fell in love
with airplanes.

Probably my first real memory
of the airport would be 1934.

Aviation was just starting
to be popular

after the first World War.

You know, there were a lot
of barnstormers around

and little small dirt strips.

And I think maybe the thing
that really got to me...

It got to millions of people...

Was Lindbergh, 1927.

And, of course,
he became a god, an idol.

And, we all wanted-everybody
wanted to learn to fly then.

I was probably six years old,

my mother took me down
to Los Angeles.

And I sat on a curb and watched
Charles Lindbergh go by.

And... he's always been my hero.

I was ten years old
when he made his flight to Paris.

I immediately sent for a kit
of the Spirit of St. Louis.

It flew very badly

It was unstable
about all three axes.

And I had the pleasure
of meeting Lindbergh years later.

I mentioned this model I'd built
of the Spirit of St. Louis,

and how badly it flew.

And, he laughed, he said,

"Must've been a good model.
The airplane flew that way, too."

Most people focus on aircraft.

But airports are somewhat
the unsung hero.

Aircraft always need a place
to rest or nest,

and without the airports being there
and understanding

how they function,
how they grow over time,

the whole aviation industry
wouldn't really exist.

One Six Right, clear to land
Wind variable at six...

One Six Right, clear to land
Wind variable at six...

advise on initial contact
you nave information Bravo.

Roger that.

Two and a half months ago,
this port was just a bean field.

But, we're not only building
a permanent location for an airport,

but an airport city with industries,
with homes for employees

with stores for their wants,
with a hotel...

Los Angeles Metropolitan Airport

is being built where
the visibility is unlimited

by a group of men
with unlimited vision.

It's designed for present

and future permanency
of the aircraft industry,

with two smooth,
all-weather runways

and emergency landing
fields on all sides.

If you are identified
with the aircraft industry

you are interested in the
Los Angeles Metropolitan Airport.

Well, the idea
for a Metropolitan airport, originally

typical southern California thing
called a real estate development.

Three fellows...
Heffron, McCray and St. John,

got together and decided
to promote and develop an airport

in San Fernando Valley.

The San Fernando Valley, then
was dry, barren crops,

but very, very few people.

It was originally conceived

to be the best airport
in the Los Angeles area.

And, in its inception,
its location,

the way they laid out its runways,
the size and width of its runways

were the best in the West,

and possibly the best
in the whole United States.

What they did, is they invested
in this planned community.

They brought in
aircraft manufacturers

such as Bach Aircraft Company,

which was a major investor
in the airport.

Just about every realm of aviation
was to be addressed here,

and they were all
supposed to live together

and contribute to each other
and the advancement of aviation.

That's what really was the vision
of the founders of Metropolitan Airport.

It opened on October first of 1928.

But because
of the twenty-fifth anniversary

of the Wright Brothers first flight,
17 December, 1928,

they decided to make
the formal dedication that day.

Waldo was the General Manager.

And he was as well-known
a pioneer pilot

as there was
in the United States.

He put that good face
upon the airport.

Waldo was a thinker
and a challenger.

And he was a guy,

that the status quo
could always be improved.

Of course, he was in an era

when the airplane
was being improved.

Every day there were
better and better airplanes

and more challenges.

Well, Waldo was part
of that process

and this is where
aviation really began

on a modem basis
in Southern California.

My first ride in an airplane
was at Metropolitan Airport.

And I, thereafter,
became quite interested in flying.

We used to get our bikes
and ride out to Van Nuys

and Burbank, Glendale...
And watch the airplanes.

It was about twenty miles,
that's a pretty long ride.

But we were young kids
and we didn't care what we seen

as long as
we seen some airplanes.

And well, that was about 1928.

To promote the airport
they had a number of events,

to highlight its availability

to its great flying
and weather conditions.

Early in 1929,

the United States Army Air Corps
had an endurance flight here,

the Question Mark flew between

Metropolitan Airport and San Diego.

Back and forth,

over a period of a week
day and night.

Basically they had a hose
and five-gallon cans of gas

that went into the hose

and down to the plane.

The procedure we use today
is really no different.

Except the hose hooks up
to a hookup on the plane.

But basically
that's the only difference.

It took some very,
very careful flying, though.

'Course during that particular flight,

there was a young woman aviator
that decided

she was going to get up
and establish a record.

Her name was Bobbi Trout.

And when Spatz found

that she was flying around
in his airspace,

he told Waldo,
"Get her outta there!"

You know, and the only way
they could communicate

was by notes that were attached
to the hoses.

And Waldo replied,
"What do you want me to do?

Shoot her down?"

Of course, Waldo knew
most of the women pilots.

He helped run
their Powder Puff derbies

and was a factor

in virtually everything
they tried to do.

Amelia Earhart came to set
a new speed record.

Metropolitan had
a three-kilometer course

spread out from East to West.

And, she was able to clock
a speed of a 181 MPH

to set a new speed record
on a closed-course.

That was followed and broken
about a month later

by Pancho Barnes who capped
Amelia's speed record.

All of that activity was very exciting

for the folks
in the greater Los Angeles area,

and attracted a large crowd,
got a lot of press.

Everybody was very excited
about flying in Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, all that
sort of came to a swift end

Unfortunately, all that
sort of came to a swift end

with the crash of the stock market
in 1929.

The airfield really went
into disrepair.

Most of the major investors
lost their investment in the airport.

The only use of the airport

was for illegal contraband,
during the Depression.

The airport was utilized
as a moonshine landing facility

for illegal alcohol
that was manufactured in México.

The reason they selected it here,

because there was
absolutely no activity

My family first acquired
the airport grounds in 1933

in payment of a bad debt
to my great-grandmother.

And, as a kid, I would
be around the airport

primarily because
this was my dad's vocation.

He acted as General Manager
from about 1933 to about 1941.

Dean Daily, Senior,
had basically taken the airport

Dean Daily, Senior,
had basically taken the airport

and was trying to find a new market
or a new avenue

to introduce money
into the operation of the airport.

He did that by allowing
the motion picture industry

to come in and actually shoot
a number of movies.

Perhaps tomorrow
we'll be on the plane.

Hollywood sustained the airport

and really allowed the airport
to revitalize itself and prosper

with a whole new generation

of folks who were interested
in learning how to fly

at Metropolitan Airport.

The first time I flew here,
was with gas models.

We used to go out on the runway,
and just fly at our hearts content.

Was no problem at all.

We'd see a plane taxiing out
or one in the pattern

and we'd just wait
until they were finished,

and, then we'd continue flying.
It was great.

My first memories of the airport

were of seeing an awful lot
of fellows out here learning to fly.

My father and I coming out
from Hollywood,

and he said, "You oughta be thinkin'
about what you're going to be"

when you grow up."

And, I said,
"You know what I'd like to be

is an airline pilot."

He said, "I know a guy
with an airplane",

Let's go over to the airport."

So, we went over there
and I had my first lesson that day.

I had to sit on that parachute
and two cushions

to see out of the back cockpit.

And after flying for ten hours,
I finally soloed.

What we'd do occasionally
is go out to a small field

about midway between here and
Reseda... just a farmer's pasture.

And we'd land and load up

with rubber boots and shoes
and anything we could drop

and have bombing practice.
And, also, toilet paper.

We'd get up there,
and let a toilet paper roll stream

and see how many times
you could cut it with your wings.

It was all sorts of tun.
And you know, at that time,

there was nothing
between here and Reseda.

And nobody seemed to care.
It was fun.

Well, we used to take off, here,

about ten minutes to five,
because about ten after five,

the Lark train would go
up these tracks right here,

and then we'd see the train coming
and so we'd come along

and get down low
right on top of the train.

When we got over the engineer,
you know, it would scare him.

You know: here's this big noise
right up over his head.

And, you know, we'd peel off
and that was fun!

So, I can remember
another time we did this

and he was waiting for us.

So, when we got
right over his engine,

he pulled the whistle
and scared the hell out of us!

The day I soloed
was a year after

the day I'd hoped to have soloed.

I came out here and
went around the patch one time.

And the instrucfor got out, and
gave me a few words of instruction.

And he started to walk away
from the plane,

he says, "Hey, wait a minute."

"Somebody's pulled a red flag
up on the pole.

Somethin's wrong."

They came out like this, you know...

I figured, "What the hell
they're wavin' at?!"

So, I made another round or two,
they come out...

So about the third time I thought,
"I better stop.

It looks like emergency."

Dean Daily runs out,

With the red flag,
and flags all the airplanes down

and says, "Put 'em in the hangar"

and leave 'em there
until you hear further from us."

Went in the office, and
here's about a half-a-dozen guys,

hovering around a little radio.

And right then, Roosevelt
is addressing Congress

on this day of infamy

So, all of the aircraft in Pacific coast
were grounded-no flying.

And the next morning,
I went out to the airport

and there was no use
opening the hangar,

because you couldn't
get any airplane out.

And if you did, you couldn't use it.

The field had closed
while I was in the pattern.

So obviously
I didn't get a chance to solo.

That happened a year later
in the Navy Cadet program.

After December 7, 1941,

the United States Government
acquired

what was then Metropolitan Airport.

That resulted in a name change
of the facility

to the Van Nuys Army Air Base.

The United States Army Air Force

invested in the creation
of two large concrete runways.

It really changed the landscape
and the permanency

of the Van Nuys Airport
as we know it today.

Around the periphery of the airport,
we had aircraft manufacturers

that were supporting the war effort
with the production

of Navy trainers
as well as Army gliders.

There was a lot of activities
directly supporting the war effort.

I'm very fortunate,

by being a member
of the Eighty-Third Squadron,

and did this flying, here.

We were over in August
and September of '43.

When we first arrived the first day,

I had our squadron commander
walk in with a lieutenant.

The squadron commander says,

"A-Flight, I want you to meet
your commander.

"He just bailed out of a P-38
over Los Angeles.

"He got a engine afire

"so he trimmed it up
for out to the sea

and he bailed out."

That was my introduction
to Van Nuys, however.

Our nation needed women.

We needed women to help,

because the men
were all sent overseas.

There weren't any men left

to ferry airplanes from the factory
to the military schools.

The war was still on.

It was 1945, and I was based
in Portland, Oregon.

And, I took a P-38 and flew down
to Van Nuys one afternoon.

And I was on our initial approach
to make my break,

and all of the sudden,
here comes a Navy fighter.

And, that guy was all over me.

Really, all I wanted to do
was get on the ground

and go to the latrine.

But, this guy really gave me a time.

And we went at it for maybe five,
ten minutes up there.

And finally he left me alone
and I went in and landed.

Some of the other fellows
were there to meet me.

And they said, "Gosh, Jim!"

They were really going after you
up there."

And, I said, "Yeah!
Who on the Earth was doin' it?"

And he said,
"Well, that gal just left here.

She was ferryin' that airplane
for the Navy."

And, so, I don't think that was true.

And if it was true,
she was a heck of a pilot!

Radioplane Company
in Van Nuys, California,

was located in an environment

favorable for the procurement
or qualified personnel.

In 1942, the Radioplane Company
moved into Metropolitan Airport.

And they produced
radio-controlled airplanes.

Basically toy airplanes.

The Army and the Navy
ended up purchasing

these little radio-controlled planes
for use in target practice.

One interesting aspect of that was

Army Air Force photographer,
David Conover,

was sent on assignment
to shoot women war workers.

His commanding officer
was Ronald Reagan.

And David Conover
went onto the line

and he photographed
a woman worker.

And she was actually
very attractive.

This was really a defining moment,

as it transitioned her
into a modeling career,

and ultimately,
a career as a Hollywood film star

who would be known
as Marilyn Monroe.

When the war ended in 1945,

the federal government
no longer had an interest

in the Van Nuys Army Airfield.

And so the airfield really lacked
any sort of sponsorship.

It sort of meandered
and was intermittently closed

because it was essentially
running of money to operate.

The War Assets Administration,
sold the airport

to the city of Los Angeles
for one dollar.

The facility actually changed names
as part of the purchase

and became Known as We
San Fernando Valley Airport

with the only constraint being
that Air National Guard operations

had to continue
through about 1985.

The Guard primarily
served a reserve function

for the regular Army Air Force.

And they operated
P-61 Mustangs at this time.

Civilian operations
were coming back to the airport.

General Aviation was prospering.

They had this wonderful facility
that had this huge investment

by the Army Air Force
to take advantage of.

That was really
the glory days of the airport.

Flying was just for the fun
of getting off the ground.

So, it was pretty cool.
A lot of fun.

When I arrived at Van Nuys
in 1952, it was busy.

There was a lot
of student training going on.

The instruction that you got,

back after World War ll,
was marvelous.

Because these guys
are bumming around these airports,

just trying to make a buck
on the weekend.

They had a job,
but they wanted to fly.

And they're probably working
for a couple dollars an hour

But they had a chance
to fly airplanes.

I got my license with Roger Clarke

in the jungle off of Stagg Street
in 1951.

Got a job as a lineboy

at a little place called
Valley Pilots

across the field.

And after I started-had a license,
I started flying with Fred Murphy

And he had Cessna 120s
and Ercoupes.

And it was pretty cheap back then.

You could rent
for about $3.50 an hour.

In the era that I learned how to fly
and did my solo,

the Van Nuys National Guard
had P-51 Mustangs to start with.

And then they eventually graduated
up into the F-86 Jet.

And that was the first jet airplanes
anybody had ever seen.

So, I'd be peering
through the chainlink fence,

like everybody else,
watching these military jets take off.

The meeting place
for that community

was the Skytrails Restaurant.

It was like the, the gathering place

of literally some of the most famous
people in aviation.

Of course all
of the professional pilots

flying for the companys
would be over there

telling war stories,
sitting around the table.

Good old Mr. Tarver
would run everybody a tab.

He became a lot of us
in the Guards bankers.

If we needed money, cash checks,
do anything, we could sign the tab.

I understand
by the time he did pass away,

he had some ridiculous $30,000
in bad checks, and what have you.

The story was,

that one of our friends
paid part of his bill.

And Mr. Tarver couldn't survive it.
It killed him.

I was still Lockheed at that time.
And, I just decided I'd like to build,

what they were called in those days
was Goodyear Racers.

The Cosmic Winds are very
historical Formula One raceplanes.

There were several of them.

The aircraft were actually assembled
right here at Van Nuys.

They were a great little airplane,
and they participated at Reno.

And, for that matter,
at the Cleveland Air Races

for many years.

When Mr. Smith bought the airplanes
from Tony Levier and Associates,

he come over to me
and he asked me

if I'd like to fly one
of his airplanes for him.

And I says, "Yeah",

"But I'll have to
think about it a little bit.

And I'll go home
and talk to my wife."

And I didn't even
get through the gate.

I turned around, went back,
and says, "It's a deal."

I was pretty lucky.
I flew one of the Cosmic Winds.

Jack Conroy
was a fellow guardsman

and he was about ten years older
than me.

He was a World War ll pilot,
got shot down in a B-17

and spent some time
in a prison camp.

Conroy was the first guy

to ever fly from Los Angeles
to New York and back.

And he did it
on Armed Forces Day, 1955.

The flight of the Boomerang
was unique

in that it demonstrated

that coast-to-coast jet flight
was feasible.

Jack Conroy demonstrated that

by flying his F-86
from Van Nuys to New York,

and then returning back
to Van Nuys,

all within daylight hours.

The flight was historic
in that it was the first time

that anyone had ever
accomplished this teat.

And it became the predecessor

of coast-to-coast airline travel
as we know it today.

Back in that era,
the only requirement

to fly in and out of Van Nuys airport
was you had to have a receiver.

And they didn't work very well.

We'd go to the tower,
the guys were very good about it.

They'd come out,
and they'd yell down at us.

And we'd yell back up at them.

And we'd figure out some way
to communicate

in a one-way direction.

They only had one frequency

So there was a lot
of frequency congestion as well.

And, so, it would get very busy.
And usually a controller

would stay on position
for no more than an hour

because of the heavy volume
of traffic.

The tower would say,
"The aircraft downwind..."

Or maybe he'd call you
by your type airplane,

"If you hear the tower, acknowledge
by rocking your wings."

And the tower would finally say
"Okay, we, we gotchya,"

Because I would do that
all the way around the pattern.

In 1957,

the San Fernando Valley Airport
received its final name change.

It became known
as the Van Nuys Airport.

Also in that year,
the Air National Guard

had a need for a larger
and faster aircraft,

which necessitated
a longer runway.

The Air National Guard
increased the runway at Van Nuys.

And in doing so they created
the Sherman Way Tunnel.

I remember the construction
going on there.

And I remember that tunnel
being built,

and then
when they extended that runway.

I guess it's the only tunnel
in the whole valley.

It was such a novelty.
It was all lit-up inside.

And its shiny, gleaming tiles
in there, and all the lights.

And you drove down underground,

and came up the other side.

And I mean there was
nothing else like it.

That was a big deal back then.

It made Van Nuys unique.

And it had a runway
that was essentially twice as large

as the majority
of the commercial airports

across the country.

It was a whole lot longer
than it needed to be

for the kind of airplanes
I was flying.

Because it had increased in length

from six thousand feet
to eight thousand feet.

It's got darn near
the longest runway

in Southern California.

Sturdy, it was made hard
and made right.

And that made it unique.

And its uniqueness collected pilots
by the hundreds.

The Guard picked up the C-97s,
which we flew and flew and flew.

They really were the mothership.

Weekends and holidays,

whenever the Guard
would have some event,

they would organize
great marching bands on the ramp

up there at the Guard base.

The background was C-97s,
and great airplanes.

The Air Guard had a motto.

They said,
"It's people helping people."

The community,
other Air Force units,

whatever was necessary,
those people would do it.

On the civilian side
was a lot of mercy stuff.

The big quake in Alaska,
we hauled

I don't know how much goods
in there for those people.

And there've been a lot
of other missions around the world.

And we had a logo in the front
that said the sun never set

on any of our aircraft,
because they went everywhere.

In the early 1960s,

NASA had a requirement
for a heavy transport

to move around the Moon Rocket,
or segments of the Moon Rocket.

Jack Conroy developed
the Pregnant Guppy

for this very reason.

Basically a C-97.

And they took
the whole top-end of it off,

and put a new
superstructure on there,

that made it look more
like the Goodyear Blimp

than an airplane.

It was all predicated
on the fact,

that it they're going to build
the missiles on the West Coast,

and fire them off in Florida,

you had to get them
there some way.

Most of the bridges
in the United States

are built to fourteen-feet
seven-inch es clearance.

So you couldn't put it on a truck
and drive it from here to Florida.

Jack Conroy
was one of these thinkers

who said,
"We can fly 'em there."

Some pretty smart people,
some engineers and things

were predicting bad things.

And it was probably
one of the biggest days

around this airport...
To watch that first test-flight.

And, they took the airplane
around the pattern

and landed it
for a press conference.

And Jack Conroy,
who was always up,

first words he says
to the press-corps,

"Well, this is nothin', yet.

"Wait'll you see us build
a really big one," he says.

Which they ultimately did.

Wernher von Braun
gave Jack a letter in 1969

that said he felt that the Guppy
was the single most important thing

for putting a man on the moon
that decade.

Back in 1965, I exposed
literally hundreds of people

to their first ride
in a corporate jet.

That was very fun days.

I can remember back in the 60s
when I first came here,

if you came out on Saturday
and saw a Learjet-wow!

That was something, you know?
If you saw a Gulfstream I... wow!

That was something...
That was an old turboprop airplane.

In fact this Learjet...

I keep pointing to this
little Learjet behind us, here.

That little Learjet
has a lot of history.

It was the first corporate jet
to land at Van Nuys Airport.

I brought it here
in November, 1964.

Jack Conroy and I set
a record to New York and back

in June of '65.

People that flew out of this airport
in the Learjet,

that I'm familiar with,
were people like Frank Sinatra,

and Dean Martin,
and Sammy Davis, and...

I have a guest log

that practically
everybody in Hollywood

flew in that airplane in 1965.

In 1970, the Air National Guard
transitioned to the C-130.

The C-130 was
a much more modem aircraft

that would allow them
to have a much larger reach

at supporting our troops overseas
or within the United States.

Once we transferred over,

we had people
making nonstop flights

from Japan to the United States,

when before
that was a three day trip.

So, things moved rather fast.

And our people
moved right along with it.

In the early to mid-70s,

when I first became aware
of Van Nuys

and moved to Southern California,

this was the heyday of aviation
throughout the country.

Small planes being built
almost as frequently

as some of the models of cars
that you could buy.

And, it was populated by many
many flight schools

and a host of the normal kind
of General Aviation airplane...

A single-engine, fixed-gear,
four-place airplanes.

And the propeller airplane
and the piston engine

were just a part of Van Nuys

as they were for most
General Aviation airports

in that era.

Lear Five-Five-Four
Six-Alpha, Roger...

This airport grew, though,
steadily every year,

bigger and bigger and better.

And, today, it's really
an amazing place to visit.

It's like a dream come true

for the people
that originally put it together.

It's actually answering everything
that they said it would do.

But, we're not only building
a permanent location for an airport,

but an airport city with industries,
with homes for employees

with stores for their wants,
with a hotel...

sky three-zero thousand scattered...

Temperature two-four,
dewpoint zero-five.

Altimeter two-niner-niner-six...

'LS Run way One Six Right
approach in use,

Landing Runways
One Six Right and One Six Left.

Advise on initial contact
you have Information Juliet.

The one problem
that aviation enthusiasts have

is they talk to themselves
about how wonderful aviation is-

how wonderful airports are,

how valuable they are
to the community.

The problem is,
they don't talk to the neighbors.

And the neighbors
don't comprehend and understand

what a wonderful resource
a local airport is.

How much it contributes
to the economy.

Thousands, millions of dollars.

Hundreds and thousands of people
being employed as a result.

The airport is a center

for not only interstate commerce
as it used to be,

but global commerce.

Flights are taking off
from Van Nuys

going to all four corners
of the world.

And we benefit by that.

Almost every airport I've flown into,

you can see petitions
of nearby residents

wanting to ban certain aircraft
or close the airport down.

If you want further information
to defend the airport,

you can till out the petition

with your name and e-mail
and things like that.

So, several airports
are experiencing this problem.

People that live
in airport community areas,

they all have the same problems
all the way across the country.

What they are concerned about,

they are watching
Van Nuys Airport for.

Because we have it all.

And as they watch us develop,
they learn.

And as they learn, hopefully,
we can keep these airports

from closing
all the way across the country.

Our members tell us

what the most important issue
in General Aviation is.

And that's the concern

for preserving our infrastructure
of GA airports.

We lose about one private airport
every single week in this country.

Reasons for losing these airports...
The land values.

As the urban sprawl
begins to happen,

as it has so dramatically
in the Los Angeles basin,

the land that these airports are on
begins to be worth more

used for homes, used
for shopping centers, et cetera.

Grand Central in Glendale,
all that's left today is the terminal,

and a street says "Airway Drive"
or something like that.

The terminal is still there.

It's still, you know,
it's being used

as a warehouse
or something today.

But, you can go back and look
and see all the airports

that have closed,
that used to be here.

Fifty-percent of the airports
are gone now.

It was kind of fun
to go to these different places.

I'll bet there was fifteen airports
in San Fernando Valley

when I was a little kid.

Now, there's only two or three left.

In my lifetime,

I've seen three local airports
just disappear.

And they're never
going to come back.

And Van Nuys
is one of those airports

that someday, it the politicians
get their way with it,

it'll be a shopping mall
or a housing project,

or an industrial park.

People by and large,

do not realize
that it is not a renewable resource.

You can't lose it
and then bring it back again.

For more than twenty-five years,

mayors have wanted to close
Chicago's Meigs Field,

for various reasons.

The latest one, Mayor Daley,

for wanting to put in a park
named after his wife.

In the spirit of cooperation,
our organization said,

"Let's rename the airport
after your wife,

and leave it an airport and
put in a parklike setting there, too."

Because it was
such a valuable airport

for people who wanted
to do commerce

in the loop area of Chicago.

In the middle of the night
on March 30th, 2003,

bulldozers were sent in
by the mayor

in a dramatic thing
that we'd never seen before.

Instead of painting "X" s on a runway
to indicate that a runway is closed...

That's the official marker...

The bulldozers
actually dug trenches

two-feet deep in the cement so
the airport could not be used again.

The airport that had struggled

to be the little airport that could
for almost twenty-five years,

now was closed forever.

Most of us were kind of shocked

that somebody
could just go in there,

dig up the field and nobody
did anything about it.

And now the airport's gone.

It's scary, because what it says is,

somebody can go anywhere
and do that, and that's that.

And there was no warning,
no nothing.

Guys go out the next morning

to go flying
and the runway's plowed.

The airport's gone,
it's done, it's over.

So, when people do things
like they did at Meigs Field,

everybody goes,
"How did they get away with it?

"How come nobody
did anything about it?

Isn't there anybody there
protecting it?"

It shouldn't've happened.
It just shouldn't've happened.

And that airport was sacrificed
for the wrong reasons.

It's another reason, though,

why I think that we need
to be constantly vigilant

of taking care of Van Nuys.

We've lost many, many
of our airports,

particularly in California,

which has a richness
of pilots and airports.

It's the number one state for both.

We lose a private airport,
we lose access.

We lose a private airport,
we lose access.

And it would be like
closing the off-ramps

on an interstate highway.

Here was a network of runways
throughout the country

that began to dwindle in number.

It's a shame.

Because we've been losing airports
through the years

to the real estate developments.

And it seems like

there're no new ones being built.

And every time
we lose an older one,

it hacks away at our airport system.

Van Nuys Airport
Information November now current.

Wind two-three-zero at niner.
Altimeter two-niner-seven-niner.

When people built houses
around Van Nuys Airport

and the majority of traffic
were propeller driven airplanes,

it was a totally different noise factor
than there is now,

with a jet taking oft from the airport.

When the runway ended
at the tunnel,

the National Guard was flying,
the F-86 Sabre Jet.

And they would take off in flights
of three or tour.

Talk about noise...
They were noisy!

And yet most people
didn't complain about it.

Later the real estate people
came in and sold property

South of the airport
and North of the airport.

And then eventually,
which happens in a lot of cases,

the airport became an obstacle.

In other words, the homeowners
were complaining about the noise.

They're loud.

You know, they go
and they try to get up

and they cut across.

And you have to stop
your phone conversation

or listening to someone

it they're right at your patio
in the back or something.

So you shut your mouth
for a few minutes

and wait'll they go by

We do have the community
around the airport that...

That's what I meant.

But it didn't used
to be that way, used to be...

Now there goes one now.

Sounds like an airplane.
And it should!

Noise is a huge issue
around so many airports.

And especially in California

where the towns are just
growing and growing.

And the traffic
around the airport

and at the airport
is just increased.

So, on both sides,
the population is growing,

so are the airports.

Sure, the Valley was very nice
before all the influx of people.

And they came here
because of Aerospace

and all the jobs available here.

And there's no way you're
going to stop a city from growing.

Several of us
do get noise complaints

over certain areas.

Many times, though,
they don't know

the circumstances
for that flight.

We do mercy flights, Toys-for-Tots.

We have the flying physicians
that fly outta here.

Angels Flight,
where we're moving

cancer patients from one city
to another for treatment.

Flying children
in the Young Eagles program,

where these kids are learning
about aviation...

And having an opportunity
to really see what goes on

from the front seat of an airplane.

And thinking about careers
in aviation.

This airport, as do many others,

bring a lot of revenue
to the surrounding city.

And a lot of the aircraft
do a lot of good.

There's a lot of people
that are alive, today,

and their houses are intact

because of what we've done
with the helicopters

and the airborne aspects
of firefighting and public safety

Fires don't seem to have any logic.

They don't break out
during eight-to-five hours.

And pretty much at night,

we have a good possibility
of locating the fire early on...

Getting initial attacks started,

so we keep a one-acre fire

from becoming
a fifty-thousand acre fire,

and causing death
and destruction and loss of homes.

When I had my little house,
I was one of the complainers.

Because they had a traffic pattern

with helicopters
right over my house.

And I was working two jobs
at nights and stuff like that.

So I complained and they fixed it.

You know, and everybody's
always tried to do that...

Make it work.

We change our approach and
departure routes for the helicopters

so we don't continually fly
over the same neighborhood.

And we try to fly
as high as possible

within the realm of safety,
to not be a nuisance

to the surrounding
residents of Van Nuys.

And the industry itself
is correcting it.

Engines are being built quieter.

Airplanes are being built

to conform with
environmental controls better.

The things that a lot
of people've complained about,

the coming of the jet airplane
to Van Nuys Airport,

are going to disappear
with modern technology

and new manufacturing.

Van Nuys Airport'
Information Motor.

Van Nuys Airport'
Information Motor.

Zero-two-zero-zero Zulu weather..

Aviation has evolved
in a short hundred years

from small kites
and a twelve-second flight

to around-the-world flight
to spacecraft.

No, we're not going to stop
the future of aviation.

But at the same time,

if they're taking away
all these airports,

how is this other reality
and technology going to happen?

It's important for us

to safeguard
the General Aviation airports,

like Van Nuys Airport,
like Meigs Field.

Above all else,
the future of aviation

requires airports like this.

We can't handle all the types

of activity that we want
in our aviation future

at airports like
Los Angel es International.

It just can't happen.

Cub, Four-Seven-Eight,
Runway One Six Right,

from Ten Golf,
cleared for takeoff.

The United States is defined
by its industrialization,

and the crown jewel
of the industrial age is aviation.

It's a complex adventure
that you take

into not only engineering aircraft,

providing facilities for aircrafts
in the form of airports,

and being able to take part
in the adventure of flying.

Those airports
really serve as a monument

to us achieving this realm
of industrialization.

There's a lot of history
in us being able to achieve this.

But, it would be nice
if we were able to preserve airports

and their history
and their significance

and impacts that it's made
to our day-to-day society

If somebody had told me,

the day I went to work
for United Airlines,

"Before you retire,
you will be flying

"an airplane that'll
hold almost 300 people.

"You'll go 600 miles-an-hour
through the sky.

You'll be six miles up,
and you won't have any propellers,"

I'd say, "Put that guy
in a straight jacket!"

But that's exactly what happened.

I think it's a vital part
of our community.

I really do.

I see kids go to
that viewing area,

and they just sit there
and they watch airplanes.

And that, to them, is a dream.
And it all starts

in a gasoline-driven aircraft.

You gotta start somewhere.

And to somehow think
that that isn't going to continue

would be a very, very sad day.

Because so many dreams begin
and end with the promise of flight.

When I was growing up,
I had already soloed

before my parents
even knew I was flying.

They wouldn't even let me
drive the car.

So I'd ride a bicycle out there.
But it was accessible.

I could get right up on the airport

and ride that bicycle
right up to the hangar.

There were a whole bunch of us,
and we all wanted to fly.

And we did.

I kind of wish

they could subtract
about forty of my years,

and I'd be out there
just having a ball.

I'll guarantee you that.

I've done a little
buzzing around here,

but, they can't prove it anymore.

But yes, you learn to fly,
and you fly the way you feel.

There's nothing like single-engine,
single-seat flying.

When you got the power,

you can get in and around
those white things up there.

And, man,
it is just out of this world.

They call 'em clouds.