DATE: Wednesday, October 29, 1997           TAG: 9710290646

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JOHN MURPHY 

        STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   62 lines

NO MORE JETS, CHESAPEAKE RESIDENTS TELL THE NAVY

The Navy's jets fly so close you can tell how recently the pilot shaved, one resident here complained.

Others said the noise gets so bad they plug their ears when they go outside.

And some residents worried that more jets would mean a greater danger of a crash in their neighborhoods.

More than 150 Chesapeake residents turned out for the Navy's final hearing on its plan to transfer up to 180 F/A-18 Hornets to Oceana Naval Air Station.

The majority of the 15 people who spoke made it clear that no more jets would be welcome here.

In stark contrast to Monday night's hearing at Virginia Beach Pavilion, which drew many enthusiastic supporters of the jets, all but a handful of residents who turned out in Chesapeake expressed their anger, frustration and fear over the Navy's plans.

``Virginia Beach may think this is a good economic move, but what will the citizens of Chesapeake gain from it?'' asked Mary Hawthorne, a Chesapeake resident since 1992.

Others questioned whether the Navy should bring more jets to the area when, they argue, it has so much trouble controlling the planes it already has.

``It's free flying at Fentress,'' proclaimed Maury Gunn, a 14-year resident of Bedford Street in Chesapeake.

Michael L. Feris, a representative speaking for the Chesapeake Council of Civic Organizations, asked that the Navy set up a clear set of rules for flight patterns around Fentress.

Under the Navy's plan to bring all 180 jets to Oceana, flight operations at Fentress would increase by about 50 percent.

Representatives from the Tidewater Builders Association and the Tidewater Board of Realtors asked the Navy to bring the Hornets, and their 12,500 military personnel and dependents, to Hampton Roads.

But others reminded the Navy that there are a few things money can't buy - like peace and quiet in their neighborhoods.

``I think it is quite apparent . . . that the jet activity proposed is simply not compatible with human life,'' said Maryland Hallman, who lives on Pocaty Road near Fentress.

The Navy estimates that the Beach would get 9,300 more people, including more than 2,000 new students; Chesapeake would need to accommodate about 1,100 new residents and 250 new students.

At Fentress Naval Auxiliary Landing Field, aircraft operations would increase from 104,000 to 158,000 operations per year.

Last night's hearing was the last of six scheduled in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

The Navy was forced to move the jets after the Base Closure and Realignment Commission recommended in 1993 that Cecil Field be closed. While the Navy wants to move all 180 jets to Virginia, other options include splitting the F/A-18s between Oceana and installations at Cherry Point, N.C., and Beaufort, S.C. No matter which plan the Navy chooses, at least 120 F/A-18s will be based at Oceana.

Under the Navy's favored plan, 39,000 residents in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach and 23 schools would fall into high-noise zones or accident-potential zones.

A final decision on where to relocate the jets will be made in spring 1998. The Navy anticipates moving the jets from Cecil Field by 1999.

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