FRIENDSHIP FLIGHT: Tony Circles the Globe : Boy Pilot Crosses U.S., but Equipment Malfunctions

Tony Aliengena, the boy aviator from San Juan Capistrano trying to become the youngest person to circle the world, crossed the United States on Saturday afternoon but landed in Boston with equipment problems.

Mechanical malfunctions plagued not only his plane, but one of his two chase planes as well.

The autopilot mechanism on Tony’s single-engine Cessna Centurion malfunctioned during his 2 1/2-hour flight between National Airport in Washington and Lawrence Airport, outside Boston, according to his father, Gary Aliengena.

But the chase plane flown by California physician Lance Allyn was forced to make an emergency landing immediately after takeoff from National Airport when smoke began pouring from the instrument panel of his twin-engine King Air and filled the pressurized aircraft, which held five other members of Tony’s entourage for the seven-week around-the-world Friendship Flight.

No one was seriously injured, although Allyn and all his passengers, including this reporter, were treated for smoke inhalation by paramedics after the aircraft managed a successful landing at National.

The cause of the smoke had not been immediately determined by late Saturday, but mechanics who inspected the King Air said a faulty clutch gear was suspected. Repairs were expected to be completed by Monday, after which Allyn and his passengers were expected to rejoin Tony and the other chase plane in Boston by Monday.

According to Gary Aliengena, the autopilot mechanism is needed so the 11-year-old flier won’t have to operate the plane manually during long stretches of the journey, such as the upcoming flight over the icy North Atlantic this week. Gary Aliengena said he hoped the aircraft could be repaired in time to resume the journey on schedule Monday.

In the meantime, Tony--who set out Monday in his father’s Cessna perched atop a car seat so he can see over the controls--has logged more than 3,300 miles with stops in six U.S. cities.

The boy will spend today, his first full day of rest, with a visit to his grandparents’ home in nearby Palmer, Mass.

On Monday, Tony and his family are scheduled to start the day by unfurling a 1,000-foot scroll that bears good-will messages from more than 250,000 American youngsters to their counterparts in the Soviet Union, where Tony is headed on the friendship mission. Tony plans to present the scroll to Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev in Moscow.

But the scroll ceremony, which is scheduled to be televised on NBC’s “Today” show, depends on the timely arrival of the scroll, which was being carried in Allyn’s plane and was to be shipped by commercial air carrier today.

Cross North Atlantic

The current schedule calls for Tony to leave Massachusetts at mid-morning Monday in his father’s Cessna for the long journey north through Canada and across the North Atlantic to Scandinavia, where he is due to arrive Saturday.

Although Tony and the pilots of two other small planes accompanying him flew through some rough weather in the United States, their real concern has been in crossing the icy north. Tony will be flying through an area where temperatures hover near freezing and ocean waters are so cold that it takes only a minute for a person to lose consciousness after falling in.

Gary Aliengena was so concerned with the North Atlantic crossing that he enlarged the plane’s fuel tank to extend its flying range to 1,500 miles instead of 900. And he is arranging to have his wife, Sue, and their 10-year-old daughter, Alaina, fly in a separate plane while he and Tony brave the crossing together. The family has been flying in the same plane with Tony.

A jovial man by nature, Aliengena, 39, does not joke about the ocean crossing.

“I don’t want to put a jinx on it,” he said last week in Lincoln, Neb.

Although Tony’s flying range is more than adequate for the crossing--he will be refueling in Greenland and Iceland--there are two potential dangers. One is that his tiny plane could ice over if he cannot break free of clouds. The other is that his high-performance turbo engine could simply stall out.

While flying from Denver to Lincoln on Wednesday, Aliengena recalled an incident a few years ago in which the engine on his Cessna failed and he was forced to glide to the ground without power. The Cessna is capable of gliding as far as 14 miles, a statistic that means little over open water. At his longest stretch, between Reykjavik, Iceland, and Oslo, Norway, Tony will face more than 500 miles of iceberg-strewn ocean.

So far, the Cessna has been operating normally, except for a compass that went out in thunderstorms over the Rocky Mountains and the autopilot malfunction Saturday. Also, the engine has experienced some difficulty maintaining enough pressure to climb above 17,000 feet. It is designed to ascend above 20,000 feet.

In preparing for the worst, Tony attended a water survival course before the trip and is carrying wet suits and flares aboard his aircraft. The other two planes, carrying an entourage of journalists and film makers, are carrying inflatable rafts.

Plane icing was somewhat of a problem for Tony as he winged his way across the United States. Between Salt Lake City and Denver, he picked up such heavy ice that he was forced to descend rapidly. And en route to Lincoln, ice crystals obstructed his view as he cruised at 17,000 feet through the tops of clouds.

Gunter Hagen, a National Aeronautic Assn. observer who is riding in Tony’s plane to verify a world record, said that icing of a plane’s wings increases the danger of a stall. He said ice can also build on a propeller, causing it to malfunction.

Allyn, a Hanford, Calif., surgeon who is piloting the twin-engine King Air behind Tony, said that a friend of his got caught in an ice storm over Idaho, lost control and crashed.

“He put the plane and his family in the ground,” Allyn said, adding that there were no survivors.

To avoid ice, Allyn said a pilot must steer clear of foul weather and detour around clouds at altitudes where icing is likely. A factor in Tony’s favor, Hagen said, is that cloud cover in the northern latitudes rarely exceeds 9,000 feet at this time of the year, enabling him to easily break free into the clear sky.

The arctic cold will be coming after a week in which Tony and his entourage enjoyed warm, enthusiastic receptions at each stop.

In Utah, Tony was presented with proclamations from the governor and the mayor of Salt Lake City. In Nebraska, he was given a key to the city of Lincoln and made honorary citizen of the state as well as its ambassador to the Soviet Union. And in Washington, Mayor Marion Barry presented Tony with a proclamation. Tony was also treated to a Saturday morning tour of the capital.

Hundreds of people across the United States have turned out to sign Tony’s friendship scroll and get a close-up look at the fourth-grade boy who sports a buzz cut and loves to horseplay with other children when he is outside of the cockpit.

“I thought my grandchildren should see something really important, so I just brought them out here,” said Nebraskan Elaine Muggy, 70, who signed the scroll in Lincoln.

Terry Thompson, 36, a toy salesman in St. Louis, Mo., brought his children, Jeff, 8, and Alona, 10, to watch Tony’s plane land Thursday at St. Louis’ Lambert International Airport.

“I wanted to show my kids that they can realize their dreams too,” Thompson said.

Also waiting at each stop have been knots of local media, which assaulted Tony with cameras and questions as he stepped from the cockpit. He patiently fielded the same questions with almost identical responses in every city.

In Lincoln, Tony drew applause from both press and local dignitaries when he answered a question about his primary message to the Soviets.

“We want to be friends more than enemies,” he said.

Always hovering beside Tony during these news conferences has been his father, who invariably has to elaborate on his son’s comments because Tony is not comfortable at public speaking. Tony became so press-weary in Denver, for example, that he cut the questioning short and rushed inside the airport terminal. He also tired of the public adulation, breezing by some giggling girls in Lincoln who wanted to shake his hand.

By the time Tony reached St. Louis, however, he was considerably more upbeat. Not only did he shake hands with well-wishers, but he stood by the friendship scroll and handed out autographed pictures of himself with his sister, Alaina.

On the scroll, American youngsters left a wide variety of messages for the Soviets.

“Together, we can make the world a better place,” wrote Angie Bunch of St. Louis.

“Let’s spend more time making friends than weapons,” added Rachel Tiemann of St. Louis.

In Nebraska, one scroll signer wrote: “Hey Gorby, let’s do lunch.”

Garnering almost as much curiosity as Tony have been the three Soviet citizens who have accompanied him on the trip. At news conferences, Tony and his father always introduce his 10-year-old Soviet pen pal, Roman Tchermenykh, as well as Soviet journalists Maxim Chikin, 27, and Aleksei Grinevich, also 27.

FRIENDSHIP FLIGHT LOG

Tony Aliengena, an 11-year-old San Juan Capistrano boy, is piloting a single-engine plane in hopes of becoming the youngest person to ever circumnavigate the globe.

Latest Leg ( Local Times ) From: Washington To: Boston 480 miles 2 1/2 hours Departure time: 9 a.m. PDT Arrival time: 11:30 a.m. PDT

Next Leg ( Local Times ) From: Boston To: Septiles, Canada 500 miles 4 hours (est.) Departure time: 7:30 a.m. PDT Arrival time: 11:30 a.m. PDT

Total air time: 17 hours, 40 minutes

Total miles flown: 3,310

Total fuel expended: 329 gallons