THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 20, 1996 TAG: 9602200270
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY RONALD L. SPEER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
The new vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff promised Monday that the Air Force will name a B-2 ``The Spirit of Kitty Hawk,'' and the stealth bomber will lead a flyover at the Dec. 17 anniversary of man's first flight.
``It's a done deal,'' said Gen. Joseph Ralston, now commander of the Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia who will be sworn in as a joint chief in Washington on March 1.
``Seeing a flyover by a B-2 is almost a mystical occurrence,'' the four-star general said, describing the bomber as a big boomerang. Only 20 will be built, he told Dare County officials, because of budgetary problems. The ``Spirit of Kitty Hawk'' will be completed next fall.
Ralston and Brig. Gen. Lance Smith, commander of Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, flew to Manteo at the request of Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare, the president pro-tem of the North Carolina Senate.
``We wanted to meet with the generals to discuss long-range plans for regional airport needs,'' Basnight said after a luncheon meeting at Pirates Cove Marina.
Others at the meeting included Dare County Commissioners R.V. ``Bobby'' Owens Jr., Clarence Skinner and Sammy Smith, county manager Terry Wheeler and Glenn Futrell, head of the Dare County Airport Authority.
Ralston, 52, said the flyover of the B-2 at the Wright Brothers Monument in Kill Devil Hills also will kick off the start of festivities for the 50th anniversary of the Air Force.
``And I hope to be there in 2003'' for the centennial celebration of the first flight, said Ralston, who said he was delighted that plans were being made for long-range, regional airport needs.
``Let me applaud the vision of Dare County officials for looking 25 to 50 years in the future,'' the general said.
The Air Force operates a 46,000-acre practice bombing range on the mainland, and that operation could be affected by any expansion of the Dare County Airport on Roanoke Island just north of Manteo.
``We want to be good neighbors, and the support of North Carolina and Dare County in particular is essential to our operations,'' said Ralston, who with Smith and two aides flew here in a two-engine propeller plane.
The Dare runway is not long enough for jet airplanes, and residents of Roanoke Island have objected to proposals to lengthen it, prompting studies of other areas that would provide adequate airport facilities for northeastern North Carolina.
No details of future needs were discussed at Monday's meeting. Skinner said the goal was to let Air Force leaders ``know what we're thinking.''
``It's surely the first time we've ever had a four-star general who is on the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Dare County,'' Owens said.
``We are honored and privileged to have you here,'' Basnight told the generals, who were in uniform along with their aides. MEMO: This story also appeared in the Final Edition on page A6. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
General pays a visit, makes a promise
RONALD L. SPEER
The Virginian-Pilot
Senate President Pro-Tem Marc Basnight, right, invited Air Force
Gen. Joseph Ralston, center, to a meeting at Pirates Cove Marina to
talk about the region's long-range airport needs. Also attending was
Glenn Futrell, head of the Dare County Airport Authority.
by CNB