September 7, 2007

Public invited to Reid-Hillview Airport’s annual open house on Sept. 22

Reid-Hillview Airport, the light-plane airfield in East San Jose, will hold its 14th annual open house for the community on Saturday, Sept. 22. Santa Clara County residents can see first hand what goes on at a busy but friendly airport that has been in operation since 1939.

Several planes were on display at RHVAA’s Open House at the 2006 open house. This 1927 Waco is owned by Dan Berry and operated by Amelia Reid Aviation.

This year, Reid-Hillview Airport Day will feature displays of antique, experimental and modern light airplanes, helicopters, home-built aircraft and old cars and motorcycles parked on the ramp. Visitors also can take guided tours of the airport control tower.

Aerobatic flight demonstrations by radio-controlled model aircraft will be held at noon. Among the models expected to fly are a tiny jet, a flying doghouse and a flying lawn mower.

A number of organizations, including the Experimental Aircraft Association, Santa Clara Valley 99s, the San Jose State University Precision Flight Team, the San Jose Search and Rescue Team and the Aero Club of Northern California, will have displays and information booths. Special guests will be the Tuskegee Airmen, members of the first all-black fighter plane squadron, which had the best bomber escort record of any group in World War II.

The sponsoring Reid-Hillview Airport Association will offer the always popular 20-cent-a-pound airplane rides from 10 a.m. to noon, and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

A pancake breakfast will be served from 8 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. A barbecue lunch will be available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission and parking will be free, although there will be a charge for food and drink, and for airplane rides.

The entrance to Reid-Hillview Airport is located at Capitol Expressway and Cunningham Avenue, north of Tully Road and Eastridge shopping center. The Reid-Hillview Airport Associa-tion (RHVAA) is a not-for-profit organization whose goals are the betterment of the quality of the airport, its users, its management, and most importantly, its neighbors.