Just Plane Thrilling : Blue Angels and Others Will Dance on Air at Point Mugu Show

Flipping, spinning, diving and twirling. Just watching Joann Osterud’s midair ballet is enough to make some people queasy.

But the 42-year-old Oxnard pilot says she can’t get enough of the thrill of flying upside down in her biplane.

And today and Sunday, Osterud and more than two dozen other pilots--including the Navy’s Blue Angels--will show off their stuff at the Point Mugu Air Show.

Officials expect nearly 200,000 people to attend, which would be the largest audience in the history of the air show.

The show will start at noon at the Pacific Missile Test Center at Point Mugu, but officials suggest that spectators arrive early to beat the crowd.

“There’s a lot of patriotism now, especially with the end of Desert Storm,” event coordinator Bob Hubbert said. “We’re showcasing some world-class acts. We’re hoping this is the most spectacular air show ever seen here.”

Hubbert said the show is normally held in October, but this year base officials decided to hold it in July so it would fit into the schedule of the Blue Angels, who have not appeared at the event in three years.

In addition to the Blue Angels, the show will feature the Armed Forces West Parachute Team, F/A-18 Hornet jet fighters, a Los Angeles Police Department race car, a team of aerobatic pilots and several biplanes.

Hubbert said the best way to get to the event is to either take the Las Posas Road exit south off of the Ventura Freeway, or take California 1 south from Oxnard to Wood Road or Las Posas Road.

Gates open at 8 a.m. There is no admission charge, but bleacher seats are offered for $5 per person on a first-come basis. Spectators are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets.

Hubbert said two country-Western bands and the Air Force Band will play for spectators until the show starts. Also, he said, a B-52 bomber, a C-130 transport plane and other military aircraft--some recently returned from the Persian Gulf--will be on display.

On Friday, the pilots practiced their stunts and talked shop.

Osterud, the only local civilian pilot in the show, said she has been flying for 20 years. Ordinarily she flies a 727 for United Airlines. But on weekends she is in her biplane.

“I love turning the world upside down and shaking loose the cobwebs,” Osterud said. “I compare it to freestyle figure skating . . . twirls and snap rolls.

“This is a dream come true,” Osterud added. “It’s what I wanted to do all my life.”

Stunt pilot Sean Tucker of Salinas, who will fly a black biplane in the show, agreed.

“My goal is to capture the sky and bring it to the audience,” said Tucker, who has been flying for 18 years. “We’re all artists in a way . . . making designs on the sky.”

Mike Van Wagenen, who pilots one of the four Holiday Inn Aerobatic Team biplanes, said it takes a while to get used to flying upside down and around in circles.

He said the force of gravity at times is so strong that team pilots must strap their arms to the controls of the airplanes so that they won’t let go.

Sometimes, he said, the planes spin so fast that “you don’t feel anything.”

“You just see the horizon going around and around,” said Van Wagenen, who is from Florida. “You get used to it . . . but it takes hours of practice.”

Leo Loudenslager, a world aerobatic champion who will fly a red Bud Light plane in the show, added:

“What we do is like a ballet dance. It’s not just brute steel and muscle.”

FYI

The Point Mugu Air Show starts at noon today and Sunday, but event officials suggest that spectators arrive early to avoid the crowd. Gates open at 8 a.m. Officials say the best routes to the event are the Las Posas Road exit from the Ventura Freeway, or California 1 south from Oxnard to Wood Road or Las Posas Road. Spectators are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets.