AIR CONTROLLERS . . . CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF

They may feel like a band of Rip van Winkles, but the first 26 of the 11,400 striking air traffic controllers fired by President Reagan in 1981 returned to work today. About 5,000 of the controllers reapplied to the FAA last year, after President Clinton, in a small pro-labor nod, lifted the ban on rehiring them.