TRAVEL TALES : MUSEUM'S EXHIBITS FLYING HIGH WWII PLANES GET AIRBORNE IN THE DESERT.

Byline: Carol Bidwell Daily News Staff Writer

It all started in 1991, when some World War II veterans living in Palm Springs spotted a World War II-era fighter plane cruising over the desert town.

The vets had talked about establishing a museum memorializing not only World War II planes but that era's history - and here was somebody who owned one of those vintage aircraft. That somebody turned out to be Minneapolis industrialist Robert J. Pond, a World War II Navy pilot who wintered in Palm Springs. Chats about planes turned toward the local vets' dream, and five years later, the Palm Springs Air Museum is ready to open, filled with vintage planes on loan from Pond.

There are lots of air museums. But the unique thing about the new facility, which opens Nov. 9-11, is that almost every plane on display flies just as well as it did in the 1940s.

``I've had a chance to go up in most of them, and it's a thrilling experience,'' said Fritz Frauchiger, the museum's development director.

Some of the old planes - restored to ``factory new'' condition - will participate in a missing-man flyover on Veteran's Day as part of the museum's opening ceremonies.

The museum sits on a 10.4-acre site at the Palm Springs Regional Airport in two metal exhibition hangars totaling 40,000 square feet of exhibition space, connected by a central core that houses the museum office, and can be used for aircraft parking, special events and large gatherings. The interior of each of the hangars is white to show off the planes, which are painted in their World War II combat colors.

``They look very colorful - and very aggressive - in that white building,'' Frauchiger said. Outside, the scene is just as impressive; bas-relief murals of planes in aerial combat and other scenes cover the two hangars, and a court of flags displays the U.S. flag and the banners of the branches of the military.

``There's nothing except the mountains in the background,'' Frauchiger said. ``It's quite a scene.''

Also part of the museum are the Buddy Rogers ``Wings'' Theater, where war and aviation films will be shown, a library, art gallery, display areas and gift shop where visitors can buy aviation souvenirs ranging from posters and patches to airplane models and pilots' flight jackets.

There are plans to include in the museum's archives oral histories of many of its members, pilots who in combat flew planes like those on display.

And museum members are also working with local high school ROTC classes and preparing an aviation history curriculum to be used in Palm Springs elementary schools.

``Our real goal is to interpret World War II for future generations,'' Frauchiger said. ``We want kids to understand what went on - both in combat and at home - during that era.''

A museum position paper states the goal more poetically - and realistically: ``Who among the brave fighting men and women of World War II will be around decades from now to provide a first-hand recounting of the war? The fearsome battles, the astonishing industrial commitment, the human cost and the feel, smell and touch of America's greatest victory must be properly preserved.''

The museum, which cost $3 million in donated funds to build, has raised nearly $2 million for an endowment to maintain and operate the facility. Entry fees will also help fatten that fund.

And Frauchiger says one visit will definitely not be enough. Because only a portion of the museum's planes - and the ones Pond will share between the Palm Springs facility and his own private museum in Minnesota - can be put on display at one time, exhibits will change frequently.

``We can never show more than about a dozen planes at once,'' Frauchiger said. ``You put a bomber in there and you've taken up half a hangar. So every time people come, there'll be something new to see.''

Big opening up in the air

The Palm Springs Air Museum, 745 Gene Autry Trail (Highway 111), at Palm Springs Regional Airport, opens the weekend of Nov. 9-11, when special Veteran's Day ceremonies are scheduled.

Ceremonies begin at 10 a.m. Nov. 11 with a flag ceremony and performance by the U.S. Marine Corps Band from Twentynine Palms. There'll be Palm Springs' first-ever flyover of the super-secret Northrop B-2 stealth bomber, and a missing-man flyover by museum aircraft.

The museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Tuesday. Guided tours are given at noon and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; private group tours are also available.

Admission is $7.50 for visitors age 13-65; $5.95 for seniors 65 and older, $3.95 for children 6-12; children 5 and younger are free. Museum memberships are available for $45 to $500 a year. Information: [phone].

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Photo: Bas-relief murals of World War II airplanes decorate the outside of the new Palm Springs Air Museum.

Box: Big opening up in the air (See Text)