DATE: Saturday, June 28, 1997               TAG: 9706280357

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY                    LENGTH:   85 lines

SOME PLANES ARE IRREPLACEABLE QUALITY IS AGELESS FOR A WORLD WAR II PLANE FLYING ONE OF ITS LAST MISSIONS. FEW DC-3 PLANES ARE STILL IN USE.

A DC-3 airplane used in World War II is gracing Albemarle's skies as part of its final mission. Engineers on board are testing high-tech reconnaissance equipment similar to that used to detect tanks in Operation Desert Storm.

For the past 35 years, the DC-3 has flown missions for Texas Instruments to test cutting-edge electronics for the military. Built in November 1942, it's one of the last of its kind still working.

``Most of the others are in museums or on weekend displays,'' said Paul Fletcher, who has piloted this particular airplane since 1963. He returned to work recently to fly occasional missions after retiring from Texas Instruments in 1992.

``It came out of retirement the same time I did, and we'll probably retire together again in another year when we finish this project,'' Fletcher said.

The 64-year-old former Navy reserve captain was one of the few still willing to fly a prop plane. Most pilots want to fly jets, he said.

The crew of six engineers, a pilot and copilot left Elizabeth City Municipal Airport on Friday to test tank-detection equipment in other parts of the country.

The Elizabeth City airport provides a centrally located base with a 7,200-foot airstrip and a plentiful supply of aviation gasoline. Military bases only provide jet fuel.

With a 65-foot wing span, the 95-foot-long DC-3 looks like an albatross among sparrows sitting on the concrete parking apron with a dozen or so private planes. It needs about 4,000 feet of runway to take off fully loaded. Called ``The Gooney Bird,'' the aircraft was first built in the late 1930s as an airliner used by the first commercial carrier to make a profit without government subsidies.

Later, the Navy used DC-3s to haul cargo during World War II, and continued using them until the mid-1980s, Fletcher said.

An oil company bought this DC-3 from the Navy in the 1950s and used it until Texas Instruments bought it in 1962, Fletcher said.

The advantage of using the DC-3 is that it can fly low, and slowly. Fletcher flies below 1,000 feet and under 100 mph for most missions - and he's not giving many details about this one.

``There are temperature differences to different equipment, so we're trying to figure out if we can find stuff or not,'' Fletcher said. ``The stuff can be just about anything.''

The cabin is not pressurized, and there is no air conditioning. Most of its parts are original. The ailerons, rudders and elevators are made of fabric stretched and hardened by a material called dope. A coat of paint gives the craft a metallic look and feel.

The cabin seats six engineers and contains removable metal shelving full of electronic equipment. A mass of electronic monitoring equipment rests in a 4-foot-by-8-foot well in the belly of the plane.

The plane is powered by two 1,350-horsepower engines.

Fletcher and his co-pilot and mechanic, John Kiedinger, are among the few in the business who still fix and fly these old aircraft.

Most of the controls are manual.

``You're not operating a switch, that operates a solenoid that operates a valve,'' Fletcher said. ``You're just operating the valve.''

Another great advantage of the DC-3 is its durability.

``On this aircraft, if something is broken, you make the decision if you need to fix it or just keep going,'' Fletcher said. ``It requires attention to a lot of details, but compared to jets, it's trouble-free.''

Kiedinger, 33, learned how to repair DC-3s while working as a pilot for a parachuting outfit in Texas. He served as his own mechanic after learning from veteran mechanics who worked on them decades ago.

``The old types are the ones that taught me how to work on it,'' the co-pilot said.

The few DC-3s still flying are mostly in Europe. And a North Carolina firm uses a DC-3 to haul auto parts.

``A lot of people say that they haven't made a replacement for it yet,'' Kiedinger said, although several companies have tried to make planes to take its place. ``All of those are in the bone yard now, and this is still here. It's a flying museum.'' ILLUSTRATION: WORK WITHOUT END

[Color Photo]

WILLIAM P. CANNON/The Virginian-Pilot

John Kiedinger, the co-pilot, left, and Paul Fletcher, pilot,

inspect ``The Gooney Bird'' before a flight Thursday. For 35 years,

the DC-3 has flown for Texas Instruments, testing electronics.

Built in November 1942, it's one of the last of its kind still

working.

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