                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Wednesday, January 8, 1997            TAG: 9701080029
SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: LAWRENCE MADDRY
                                            LENGTH:  201 lines

N.C. AIRPORT MANAGER ONCE RUBBED ELBOWS WITH PRESIDENTS

DID YOU KNOW that Gerald Ford's favorite snack is cottage cheese doused with A-1 sauce?

Or that Bill and Hillary sleep in jogging togs aboard Air Force One?

Howie Franklin knows. He's the former chief manager for the presidential crew aboard Air Force One and is now airport manager for the Brunswick County Airport at Southport, N.C.

The hefty and likable Franklin recently spoke to The Man Will Never Fly Society in Nags Head, N.C., a satirical organization that meets each December to lampoon aviation.

He told society members true stories of presidents Ford, Carter, Bush and Clinton from his perspective aboard Air Force One.

His association with the presidents was an intimate one because Franklin was directly responsible for seeing to the needs of them, their family members and staff, as the jet cruised at 29,000 feet and 600 mph.

He hasn't a bad word to say about any of the presidents he served.

``When people reach that level they've gone through a pretty good process,'' he said. ``Terrible people who have no understanding of the feelings of others simply couldn't make it.''

He recalled that Ronald Reagan had a remarkably winning personality.

``He had a way of making you feel better about yourself with a wink or a smile or a joke,'' Franklin recalled. Reagan introduced a unique policy aboard Air Force One. Anyone aboard who was was flying on their birthday was treated to a party and a cake.

Franklin also remembered the Reagans' last flight aboard the presidential plane, as it headed toward their home in California.

Reagan called everyone around him as the plane approached Los Angeles. ``Look down there,'' he said, pointing. ``See all those swimming pools? That's where the Republicans live.''

Some presidential tastes were surprisingly alike, he recalled. ``Except for Clinton, they liked to hear country-western music while flying,'' he noted. ``And nearly all wanted the freezer aboard stocked with butter pecan ice cream.''

Franklin declines to say whether he's a Republican or a Democrat, but nothing upsets him more than a reference to the first lady with the b-word.

``Hillary Clinton had 18 attendants working for her on Air Force One,'' he said. ``And every one of them will tell you she is simply delightful, very considerate and down-to-earth. . . .''

He has a fund of Clinton stories. He recalled that the first time Clinton stepped aboard the 747 jet that is Air Force One his eyes widened and he turned to Franklin and others saying, ``This is worth the whole campaign.''

The 75-seat aircraft has a shower and two sofas in the forward section that is reserved for President Clinton and his wife. When the president is not involved with presidential paperwork or discussions, he and Mrs. Clinton often play cards or work The New York Times crossword puzzle while listening to rock music.

The music the president wants to hear is piped everywhere into the plane, Franklin noted. Not everyone enjoys listening to loud rock music and some passengers complained privately about it.

``So the communications director on the aircraft and I presented the president with a portable stereo CD-tape player,'' he said. That way he could listen to rock music privately without having to spend thousands on separate stereo wiring.

``When we presented him with the portable stereo, President Clinton was delighted, since he didn't want to impose his music on his guests. He was also pleased we'd solved a problem at little expense.

``He told us `You guys are re-inventing government!' ''

As head of the presidential air crew, Franklin was responsible for the kitchen aboard where, he says, Bill and Hillary hankered for Starbucks coffee, Texas beef, beef ribs and pork barbecue.

Franklin not only had access to the presidential quarters aboard the plane but awakened Clinton in the mornings.

``The president sometimes works until very late and waking him wasn't something I liked to do,'' he said.

He remembered that the president was very distressed over the death of his mother and left her funeral almost immediately for summit talks in Moscow.

``He had a long interview with Sam Donaldson of ABC-TV while in flight,'' Franklin recalled. ``He had work to do aboard. And didn't get to bed until very late. The president had been asleep about two hours when several members of the White House staff cornered me and asked me to wake him up for our arrival.

``I didn't want any part of it,'' Franklin recalled. ``But I did it anyway.'' He said the Clintons were sleeping, separately and in jogging togs, on sofas that had been converted to beds, as is their custom.

``Clinton is a hard sleeper,'' he said. ``He was asleep on his side when I entered. I leaned on his side and shoulder and he groaned. After the second lean I said `Sir, I hate to do this. . . .' ''

Franklin said the president replied in a stern voice: ``Well don't do it!''

Sweating, Franklin left the quarters only to return a few minutes later. He finally raised the president from his bed.

Franklin - who served as chief manager of the presidential air crew from June 1992 to August 1994 - had 18 years of experience aboard Air Force One, while serving with the U.S. Air Force. His duties during that period ranged from deputy flight steward to flight examiner.

And he wasn't always dealing with people on Air Force One. He recalled that everyone loved Millie, the Bushes' springer spaniel.

``Millie felt so comfortable on the plane that she'd get off the presidential helicopter without her leash, trot across the runway, go up the steps into the plane and pad all the way to the Bush stateroom without pausing,'' he said.

Yep, nothing beats Air Force One for putting on the dog.