=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/n/a/2006/06/12/state/n041= 548D41.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, June 12, 2006 (AP) Annual Van Nuys air show likely to end after 43 years (06-12) 04:15 PDT Los Angeles (AP) -- Another one bites the dust. Visitors to Sunday's Van Nuys air show were stunned to learn that the annual event likely was taking its final bow. The world's busiest general aviation airport has been hosting air shows every year since 1963, but the event site will be redeveloped as a parking area for private planes and a Los Angeles Fire Department facility, officials said. "The future doesn't look good for air shows in general," said Bettie Pappas, co-owner of a vintage DC-3 that drew big crowds at Van Nuys Airport on Sunday. "Because of higher fuel costs and small airports closing down across the nation, there are fewer and fewer places we can take this plane to." Pappas said her plane, which dropped paratroopers on D-Day and later served as a Panamanian airliner, made appearances at up to 15 shows five years ago but now visits perhaps one-third as many locations. Her experience reflects a national trend. The 270-plus air shows scheduled for across the U.S. this year are about half the number that were staged a decade ago, according to the International Council of Air Shows. Los Angeles City Councilman Tony Cardenas said during Sunday's opening ceremony that the new uses for the air show site would "generate millions of dollars" for the city. The one-day air expo, by contrast, has never been a moneymaker. Still, the event was the city's only air show and a staple of San Fernan= do Valley culture. "I'm in shock, and sad," said Wayne Salleng, a pilot who has not missed a Van Nuys show since 1963. -------------------------------------------------= --------------------- Copyright 2006 AP