9-Year-old Pilot Flies Solo, Lands Himself a Spot in Record Book

About 10:30 Sunday morning at Oceanside Municipal Airport, Tony Aliengena went where no third-grader had gone before. Up in the sky, alone.

Minutes later, the 9-year-old from San Juan Capistrano faced a wall of reporters and described how it felt to be a record-setting pilot. “Well . . . different,” said Tony with a shy grin. “It was easy.”

Tony, at the controls of an Eipper Quicksilver GT ultralight plane, had just become what is believed to be the world’s youngest pilot to fly solo. Don Taylor, an official of the National Aeronautics Assn., was present to verify the record and clock Tony’s flight at 3 minutes, 25 seconds.

At the age of 9 years and 295 days, Tony squeaked ahead of the previous record-holder, Cody A. Locke. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Locke was 9 years and 316 days old when he made his 1983 flight in Mexicali, Mexico.

Now Tony is eyeing another record, which he hopes to break by making a cross-country flight starting March 30, from Oceanside to Boston in his father’s Cessna Model 210 Centurion. If all goes well, Tony will be the youngest person ever to fly across the United States, breaking the record of 10-year-old Christopher Lee Marshall.

With him will be his flight instructor, Ed Fernette, and Taylor. Tony is not permitted to fly the Cessna alone because Federal Aviation Administration rules require pilots to be at least 16 to get a solo license. Sunday’s flight was accomplished in an ultralight craft because it does not fall under FAA regulations.

Tony, who has a natural athletic ability and makes straight-A grades, first approached his parents about becoming a record-setting pilot last July after hearing about 11-year-old John Kevin Hill’s flight across the United States.

“We didn’t want to put any pressure on him to do it, but you know how kids can be when they hound you and hound you for something,” said his mother, Susan. “He was like that.”

Fernette, watching Tony guide the bright red aircraft in a circular pattern around the airport, said, “He’s totally under control, no problem whatsoever.” Satisfied that his student was doing well, Fernette added: “He’s demonstrated all of the abilities to safely do it. He’s got the natural instincts for it too, even at 9 years old.”

Gary Aliengena, an avid pilot who introduced his son to flying at age 3, said: “Tony is not a boisterous kid. He moves slowly, then he takes control. . . . I think I’m more excited about this than he is.”

Back on the ground, Tony cradled the family’s black shaggy dog, Rags, and talked about the future. His immediate goals are tied up in the cross-country flight later this month that he hopes will earn him another paragraph in the record books. Beyond that, he hasn’t given much thought to flying. He wants to be a doctor, not a pilot, when he grows up.