COVER STORY : Eyes on the Sky : Plane watchers get a lift seeing vintage and commercial aircraft take off and land atValley airports.

A plane first appears as a silver glint against the tawny slope of the San Gabriels, without any hint of movement. Time goes by. A count of 10, then 20, then 30 seconds, and still the incoming jetliner is only a bright reflective gleam, silent, seemingly static.

Passage of another minute makes it seem perceptibly larger, but there is still no sense of motion. And no sound at all.

Of course, the silver gleam is really a 60-ton Boeing 737, traveling at least 2 1/2 miles a minute--150 m.p.h. But viewed on its landing pattern, it might be a fixed-wing metal bird, gliding in on a science-fiction electromagnetic beam.

Then, when it’s only a few hundred yards away, the hissing roar of jet engines fills the air and the Southwestern Airlines jet is in sharp focus as it touches down, right in front of you, with twin puffs of brake and tire smoke. With an urgent whine, full reverse thrust of the engines hauls the 737 down to taxi speed, and the brief drama is over.

“I just love watching planes,” says May Lou Reed, who often parks and watches at Burbank Airport. “I like being close enough to see the passengers and wonder who they are, and where they’re going.”

“I went on one of the first test flights of the DC-3 with my dad,” says Reed, a retired library worker whose father was a test pilot for Douglas Aircraft. “I really enjoy watching landings and takeoffs, and commenting on whether the pilot’s doing a good job or not.”

Plane watchers don’t have a group name, newsletter or membership organization. They just like to watch planes from a good airport vantage point, like the reduced-rate Parking Structure A off Hollywood Way, which is right next to the Burbank Airport runway. For $1 an hour, plane watchers can stand behind the fence and see the big planes passing by, no more than 50 or 100 feet away.

Commercial air traffic at Burbank averages 180 takeoffs and landings during a 15-hour day, which works out to about one every five minutes. The parking area gives a clear view of the runways, and the clear sky on a late afternoon makes the San Gabriel Mountains seem closer than 15 miles away.

Reed varies her plane watching. Today, she’s parked at Empire Avenue, at the south edge of the airport, directly under the takeoff paths of the big jets.

“I also go to Van Nuys,” she says, “and to Whiteman,” the smaller airport in nearby Pacoima. “Van Nuys is fun because of the variety of the planes.”

Van Nuys, though it has no scheduled commercial flights, is home base to about 850 planes, with about 1,500 landings and takeoffs a day. That makes it the world’s busiest general aviation airport, says Stacey Gear, an airport spokeswoman.

“We have about 100 corporate jets based here, some of them full-size 737s,” Gear says. “And we also have the city helicopter center and a number of restored World War II military planes.”

Opened in 1928, Van Nuys Airport (which served as a World War II military base and as home to an Air National Guard squadron until 1990) has always attracted owners of “warbirds”: restored, privately owned World War II fighters, bombers and fighter-trainers.

Those planes--B-25 bombers, P-51 fighters--usually flown in authentic military colors and markings, are a particular delight to plane watchers.

Right now, Van Nuys is home to a pair of military T-38 jets, a B-25 bomber and the Texan T-6 fighter-trainers of the Condor Squadron, an organization of enthusiasts who fly Civil Air Patrol search-and-rescue missions and engage in recreational flying.

The Van Nuys Airport Viewing Parking Lot, at the end of Waterman Drive, faces both runways, the tower and main airport office.

On a recent weekday afternoon, three men are parked there, watching planes.

“I come here whenever I can spare the time,” says Larry Sternberg of Santa Monica, a sales representative with four grown children. “On weekends, I fly remote-control model planes, and I love to come here and watch the real ones when I can.”

As he talks, light planes take off and touch down almost continuously, a few hundred feet away.

Every few minutes, an executive jet lands or takes off on the longer runway on the other side of the field.

“I like the assortment of aircraft here, like those military T-6 trainers,” says Sternberg, pointing to the Condor Squadron planes across the field.

Sternberg is not a flier, although he’s thought about it.

“I go to air shows, and I have a flight simulator on my computer at home,” he says. “I like to watch landings and takeoffs and judge them. I comment on all of ‘em.”

In another car is Don Grisez, 37, of Tarzana, who also works in sales.

He set out to become a pilot but quit flying lessons because of the traffic.

“The skies are really crowded around here,” Grisez says. “If I moved to some place with less traffic, I might take it up again. For now, I just come here and watch. I like Van Nuys because of all the different kinds of planes you see.”

But even plane watching can be congested.

“On weekends, this whole parking space is filled,” he says. “And a lot of the people have their own radios to listen to the tower and the pilots.”

He’s talking about the $500 portable, hand-held shortwave radio made for pilots, sold nearby at SanVal Aircraft Parts.

“I mostly sell those radios to pilots,” says Daniel Allen, a salesman at SanVal, “but quite a few people buy them just to listen to the on-air conversation while they’re watching.”

At the 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant, a few hundred yards north on Raymer Street, patrons can hear traffic control talk on earphones in the dining booths.

Catering to aircraft lovers in general, with a heavy emphasis on World War II nostalgia, the 94th Aero Squadron overlooks the field, with outside patio tables next to the runway.

“We often get reservation requests from customers who want to watch the planes while they eat,” says catering manager Pri Perera. “We get an airplane crowd.”

Out on the patio, Greg Eaton, a writer from Studio City, is relaxing with a beer, watching landings and takeoffs.

“I love planes,” he says. “I used to be a car enthusiast, but there’s nothing quite like a plane. They’re fascinating.”

His serious affair with planes began, he says, earlier this year, when his girlfriend gave him a trial flying lesson for a 40th birthday present.

“Now I’m learning to fly,” he says, “and I really enjoy sitting here watching before or after my lessons.”

At Whiteman Airport, where almost all the 500 or so resident aircraft are small, privately owned planes, the feeling is of being farther from the city, perhaps farther back in time.

Whiteman is the only small airport left in the San Fernando Valley, which used to have several.

Outside the Crosswind Cafe, a bar and restaurant on the airport property near the main office, picnic tables and chairs on a small grass area face the runway.

“We have a number of old biplanes, and home-builts here,” says airport manager Jon Bergstrom. “Because we’re a small airport, you can really get close to the runway to watch the planes.”

Among the attractions at Whiteman are a rare 1940s radial-engine seaplane, a Stearman biplane whose owner takes riders up for a fee and a banner-towing plane service.

“We have a lot of the old J-3 Piper Cubs here and some old military planes,” Bergstrom says. “We also have a helicopter company here and three flight schools, so it’s never boring.”

Whiteman Airport, like Van Nuys and Burbank, offers free tours. At Burbank and Van Nuys, tours are scheduled, usually for groups of students, but others are easily accommodated. At Whiteman, tours can be arranged by calling the airport.

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WHERE TO GO: Location: Burbank Airport, 2627 N. Hollywood Way, Burbank.

Tours: (818) 840-8830.

Best Viewing Areas: Reduced-rate Parking Structure A, Hollywood Way at Winona Avenue. $1 an hour. Also: Empire Avenue at Dymond Street. Empire Avenue is north of Victory Boulevard. Parking is free.

Location: Van Nuys Airport, 16461 Sherman Way, Van Nuys.

Tours: (818) 785-8838.

Best Viewing Area: Airport Viewing Lot at end of Waterman Drive, off Woodley Avenue between Saticoy Avenue and Roscoe Boulevard. Parking is free.

Location: Whiteman Airport, 12653 Osborne Ave., Pacoima.

Tours: (818) 896-5271.

Best Viewing Area: Facility outside Crosswind Cafe, on the airport; use Osborne Avenue entrance. Parking is free.