AROUND THE SOUTHLAND OLD PLANES FLY ON, AS PROPS FILM WORK HELPS FUND MUSEUM.

Byline: Susan McCormack Staff Writer

CHINO - Don Sutherland stands back and looks at the dark blue Chance Vought F4U Corsair with its wings folded upward toward the ceiling of the hangar at Chino Airport's Planes of Fame Museum.

As a retired pilot of 41 years, flying first for the Air Force and then for United Airlines, Sutherland and his friends spend their free time touring air museums across the country, identifying planes the way bird watchers do wildfowl.

``It's just interesting to go back and see them,'' Sutherland said.

But the historic planes at Planes of Fame are worth more than just their good looks.

As jet-setting Hollywood props, the war birds bring not only recognition to the museum but well-needed cash. The private nonprofit organization earns tens of thousands of dollars each year through films.

Early next month, four planes from the museum will be flown to San Diego, then shipped to Hawaii to star in yet another major film, Disney's ``Pearl Harbor.''

``Pearl Harbor,'' about two fighter pilots who fall in love with the same nurse in the days leading up to the surprise attack that pulled the United States into World War II, is expected to cost $135 million and open on Memorial Day weekend 2001.

The museum usually charges studios about $1,500 an hour to rent the planes, said museum spokesman Mark Foster. Prices are negotiated based on the number of hours the planes will be flown both to and at their destinations, the crew members needed to maintain them and pilots to fly them.

``Funds go toward restoring and maintaining the planes,'' Foster said.

Several Chino Museum planes from World War II will be featured in ``Pearl Harbor,'' including the Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero, one of only three flyable Zeros still existing and the only one with its original engine and propeller; the Curtiss P-40N Warhawk, which is credited with shooting down a Japanese fire balloon near Vancouver Island, Wash.; and a reproduction of a Aichi D3A Val, the most recognized dive bomber involved in the Pearl Harbor attack.

It's not the first time historic planes from the museum have been used in Hollywood pictures.

A range of planes, from the World War II-era B-25 to the Chance Vought F4U Corsair, have been employed as camera platforms and appeared in movies, such as ``Air Force One,'' ``Always'' and ``Baa Baa Black Sheep.''

And the museum's two Boeing Stearmans will appear in two upcoming movies: this summer's ``The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle,'' a Universal Pictures film starring Robert DeNiro, Jason Alexander and Rene Russo, and ``The Kid,'' a Disney movie starring Bruce Willis.

The museum's collection has gained a reputation among movie makers, and several of the museum's administrators are even members of the Screen Actors Guild because of their stunt pilot work.

Vice President John Maloney, who was finishing painting the Aichi D3A Val replica Tuesday afternoon after three months of restoration efforts, said he often flies in tight formation and explosion scenes.

``I usually go with the planes,'' Maloney said modestly. ``The planes are what they really want.''

THE FACTS

--The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except Christmas and Thanksgiving, at Chino Airport, 7000 Merrill Ave. Information: [phone] or www.planesoffame.org.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo: (1 -- color) Chino Airport's Planes of Fame Museum will send World War II aircraft to Hawaii for a major film titled ``Pearl Harbor.'

(2 -- 3 -- color) Above, this Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero is one of only three flyable Zeros and the only one with its original engine and propeller. At left, John Hinton works on the canopy of an American WWII training plane made to look like a Japanese dive bomber. It was used in the movie ``Tora! Tora! Tora!'

Justine Frazier/Staff Photographer

Box: The Facts (see text)