Simply put, planes are his passion.  

"I’ll fly anything," said Brian Orter, with a smile.

Orter got his pilot’s license about six years ago. He now owns and flies a blue and silver Cirrus SR-20, but there's kind of a hierarchy on the Van Nuys airfield.

"I was constantly pushed aside for Citations and Gulf Streams, even Mustangs, and all the jets got much more priority," Orter said.

"To have a specific dedicated place to the 'little guys' if you will, we get to be that," said Ryan Sanders, who's the Operations Manager at the Park VNY at Van Nuys Airport.

"We probably on any given day handle about 30 to 40 percent of small aircraft operations in the Valley," Sanders said.

The Park first opened in 2014, but it is in the middle of a major expansion. The airfield is adding space for up to 300 small aircrafts and will include a lounge and full-service restaurant called DC-3.

"We have mechanics on site specific for propeller aircrafts," Sanders said.

Patrick Stratman is one the mechanics who helps maintain the airplanes' systems. 

"It’s part of a flying club, and it’s a nice little airplane," he said, while working on the airplane's avionics system.

His favorite thing about the prop park?

"Nobody really bothers you, and there’s not a lot of jet noise," he chuckled. 

There’s even a self-service fuel pump within the park, so smaller planes don’t have to wait for a fuel truck.

"They come around and check on us. They give us a lot of services. If something needs to be fixed, they're typically doing it rather quickly," Orter said.

For many pilots like Orter, it’s more about the journey than the destination. 

"Some of us just like to go low and slow. We like to get over the desert or over the valleys," he said. "It’s just really nice to go 3,500, 4,500 feet and just see all the beautiful stuff on the ground."

Once safely back on the ground, Orter taxis to his hanger and tows his plane in for the night. He knows he’s landed in the right place -In a specialized community that shares his love of aviation.