Friendship Flight

Eleven-year-old Tony Aliengena of San Juan Capistrano, who is piloting a single-engine plane, hopes to become the youngest person ever to circumnavigate the globe. Latest Leg From: Kuibyshev, U.S.S.R. To: Tumen, U.S.S.R. 700 miles 4 hours (est.) Departure time: 9 a.m. Arrival time: 1 p.m. Next Leg From: Tumen To: Omsk, U.S.S.R. 350 miles (est.) 2 hours (est.) Departure: unannounced Arrival: unannounced Total air time: 57 hours 5 minutes Total miles flown: 10,436

Gary Aliengena, father of boy aviator Tony Aliengena, faces a four-month suspension of his pilot's license as the result of a crash that occurred while he was at the controls during his son's round-the-world flight last year, authorities said Monday. The Federal Aviation Administration proposed the suspension in January after investigating events that preceded the July 1989 crash in Alaska, FAA spokeswoman Elly Brekke said.

A twin-engine airplane that was ferrying luggage and members of an entourage for boy aviator Tony Aliengena was forced to make an emergency landing after clouds of smoke spewed from the instrument panel. The plane--following 11-year-old Aliengena in his bid to become the youngest pilot to fly around the world--landed safely back at National Airport shortly after takeoff. There were no injuries, although a few passengers were treated for dizziness and minor smoke inhalation. Aliengena, who experienced mechanical trouble in his own plane Saturday, was unaware of the difficulties with the "chase" plane until he landed at Lawrence Airport outside Boston on the sixth leg of his seven-week "Friendship Flight."

A few items of interest from Part I of Sunday morning's (July 23) paper: 1. Tony Aliengena completes his Friendship Flight. His father praised the "tremendous reception" the group received in the Soviet Union and George Bush wants a copy of the Friendship Scroll signed by thousands of children during the trip. 2. Thousands of U.S. sailors and American citizens board three Soviet warships at Norfolk Naval Station in Virginia to "exchange gifts, smiles and handshakes" and "foster good will."

An American pilot who landed in Moscow on a record-setting mission had few kind words for the daring West German pilot who had passed unscathed through Soviet airspace to land in Red Square a scant three weeks before. Indeed, Millard Harmon, 61, made it sound as though he'd like to have the young German's wings clipped. "Frankly, teen-agers are impetuous, young and really don't have a whole lot of sense," said Harmon, of Delmar, N.Y.

An American pilot who flew his small plane to the Soviet Union on an officially sanctioned "friendship flight" left Moscow on Friday after spending three days locked in a transit hotel because Soviet red tape kept him from receiving a visa in time for the trip. Millard Harmon, 59, a retired college administrator from Delmar, N.Y., landed with a Soviet navigator at Sheremetyevo Airport on Tuesday after a 3-hour, 45-minute flight from Helsinki, Finland.

Shrugging off a strike by air-traffic controllers, 11-year-old Tony Aliengena of San Juan Capistrano flew into Helsinki on Wednesday and got ready to head for the Soviet Union. "The weather was beautiful; it was a great flight," said 28-year-old Guy Murrel of Costa Mesa, a coordinator of the Friendship Flight designed to make Tony the youngest person to pilot a plane around the world. Because of a three-hour strike by controllers to dramatize their demands for better working conditions, the Helsinki airport was closed to commercial traffic.

Tony Aliengena flew his single-engine plane to this Arctic Circle outpost on Baffin Island on Wednesday, completing the Canadian leg of his trip around the world. The grueling, 1,500-mile flight from Moncton, in Canada's New Brunswick province, to Iqaluit, an Eskimo settlement due north, was the longest leg by far of Tony's journey, which began June 5 in Orange County. During the last two hours of the flight, Tony and his two chase planes flew over the icy Hudson Strait, and Tony caught his first glimpse of the North Atlantic, which he must cross next.

Eight people, including his family, a Soviet pen pal, a reporter and members of a film crew recording Tony Aliengena's Friendship Flight '89, were aboard his Cessna Centurion when it crashed Tuesday on the runway in Golovin, Alaska: -Tony, 11. -Gary Aliengena, 39, a certified pilot who owns the plane and was at the controls. -Susan Aliengena, 39, Tony's mother, who has been in charge of such logistical details as obtaining the visas for all the Americans on the trip.

When 11-year-old Tony Aliengena of San Juan Capistrano landed his single-engine plane at John Wayne Airport on Saturday, completing his record-setting flight around the world, all 13 members of his entourage hugged, shook hands and promised to keep in touch. Things had not always been so harmonious on their grueling, seven-week trip together.

Tony Aliengena, an 11-year-old San Juan Capistrano boy, piloted a single-engine plane on a seven-week trip that ended Saturday, making him the youngest pilot to circumnavigate the globe. Latest Leg From: Seattle To: Orange County 950 miles 5 hours Departure time: 10:30 a.m. Arrival time: 2:28 p.m. Total air time: 103 hours Total miles flown: 21,567

Tony Aliengena, flying a borrowed plane and eager to return to pursuits more common to children his age, arrived in Seattle on Friday--just one flight away from Orange County and a landing that will make him the youngest person ever to circumnavigate the globe. After crossing seven countries and 18,000 miles on his Friendship Flight at the controls of a Cessna 210 Centurion, the San Juan Capistrano youngster is scheduled to land at John Wayne Airport at 2 p.m.

A federal official investigating the crash of 11-year-old Tony Aliengena's plane said Thursday that the pilot, Tony's father, had mistaken the 300-foot taxiway for the 2,700-foot runway and had tried to take off from it. Paul Steucke, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the mistake led directly to Tuesday's crash off the gravel taxiway in the Alaskan fishing village of Golovin.

Eight people, including his family, a Soviet pen pal, a reporter and members of a film crew recording Tony Aliengena's Friendship Flight '89, were aboard his Cessna Centurion when it crashed Tuesday on the runway in Golovin, Alaska: -Tony, 11. -Gary Aliengena, 39, a certified pilot who owns the plane and was at the controls. -Susan Aliengena, 39, Tony's mother, who has been in charge of such logistical details as obtaining the visas for all the Americans on the trip.

Tony Aliengena, arriving in the United States after an unprecedented flight across the Soviet Union, headed for a fishing retreat Saturday to rest before beginning the flight home to Orange County. The 11-year-old from San Juan Capistrano and his family plan to fish before starting their final descent Monday down the West Coast, with the last stop to be John Wayne Airport on Thursday. Tony arrived late Friday night at Nome Municipal Airport after crossing the Bering Strait.