ONTARIO -- Several thousand aviators who fly for sport are convening at the Convention Center today through Saturday. For the first time, three national flying groups are combining their annual meetings into a public air sports exposition.

The Soaring Society of America, the United States Ultralight Assn. and the United States Hang Gliding Assn. expect 3,000 to 5,000 people to attend the event, one that will become an annual affair, said Larry Sanderson, president of the Soaring Society of America. The event has attracted people from as far away as England and Germany, Sanderson said.

The convention has been planned for some time, but has become even more important since Sept. 11, Sanderson said. "Aviation is really on people's minds, not necessarily in a positive way," Sanderson said.

The three groups, he said, are able to work with the government to help develop rules that will protect the ability to fly for sport. Together, the trio represents about 34,000 amateur pilots -- a number that has propelled top level Federal Aviation Administration officials to speak at the expo, Sanderson said. An FAA official will talk about new security measures in air space.

Air Sports Expo 2002 will feature only some types of aircraft: hang gliders, sailplanes and ultralight planes. Sailplanes fly without engines. Pilots take flight with the help of a winch system or a plane that tows them into the air. They find warm pockets and cruise around. Ultralight airplanes, which can be open or enclosed, have engines but don't fly too fast or for great distances.

There is 70,000 square feet of space at the convention center that will showcase booths offering parachutes, radios, flight wear, training manuals and navigation gear. There will be 35 displays of planes, including a hang-gliding simulator.

The event is an effort to bring the latest products and information to hang gliders and amateur pilots. But organizers also hope to recruit new flyers.

"They think there is a whole avenue of people in the country who are interested in the idea of flying and don't know anything about it," said Gregg Reynolds, who does publicity for the New Mexico-based Soaring Society of America and hang glides and flies sailplanes.

"If a person ... is looking for a little bit of adventure, something that's challenging to them, and looking for something where you can get a personal sense of accomplishment, it's a great sport," said Sanderson, who learned how to fly sailplanes at Lake Elsinore in 1977.

Fred Parle, an ultralight flight instructor, pilot and builder of the planes, will be attending the expo. Parle, who owns Ultralight Safaris in Hemet, said he wants to get information on a new sport license that has not yet received FAA approval.

The flight ban the FAA imposed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has greatly affected sport flying.

"It shut us down for over 30 days," Sanderson said.

Now that flying has resumed, the areas where pilots can fly and glide have been restricted. It has affected small business owners, such as Parle.

Business is "just starting to pick up now," Parle said.