Flight to Siberian Peninsula a 1st for Americans : Business: At invitation of Russian scientists, a Newport man will fly jet to Kamchatka, once off limits to all but Soviet aircraft.

The first Americans to explore a little-known, once feverishly guarded bastion of the Soviet military will take off from Orange County on Saturday in a private jet bound for the unknown.

“This flight is an historic aviation achievement and will document air routes and territory never before flown by civilian aviators,” said Steve Myers, 45, president of an engineering and consulting firm in Newport Beach, who will pilot the jet.

The group, invited by Russian scientists, hopes to establish a connection between California and the Kamchatka Peninsula in international business and trade.

Until now, such a flight would have been folly and possibly disastrous.

In 1983, a Korean Air Lines passenger jet was shot down by the Soviet military for venturing into the same Kamchatka Peninsula air space. A total of 269 people on the plane died.

But Saturday’s flight of five civilians underscores the change in U.S.-Russian relations. Myers and his colleagues have been invited by the Russian Institute of Space Research to fly into the area that once was off limits to all but Soviet military aircraft.

“Our flight there in a private plane is not just for adventure,” said Tom Heinsheimer, 52, a space scientist and city councilman of Rolling Hills in Los Angeles County. “It is a symbol of serious commitment to open Kamchatka for major business development. The location of this area on the Pacific Rim provides enormous potential for business opportunities with Japan, Canada and the U.S.A. There is also potential for tourism.”

Myers, who is financing the flight, is chief executive of Steven Myers & Associates, an engineering company involved in the space industry. Heinsheimer is vice president of the firm.

Others on the flight will be Heinsheimer’s wife, Julie, 52, an expert in Russian cultural affairs; Ed Beall, 58, a Torrance architect and urban planner; and Mike Stoner, 31, of Palos Verdes, a photographer and documentary film producer. Stoner will film the flight and meetings with the Russians.

The group will make the 4,200-mile flight aboard a Turbo Commander 690 B prop-jet owned by Myers’ company.

“We’re going to be the first non-Russians allowed to fly a plane into Kamchatka,” said Myers. “It’s a real thrill, and I’m honored to do so.”

Myers said among the reasons the Russians invited the five Americans to Kamchatka is the company’s expertise in space-related projects. Heinsheimer, an astrophysicist, previously had been consulting with the Russians about their plan to send an unmanned space vehicle to Mars later this decade.

Myers said the Russians are anxious to open the Kamchatka Peninsula to Americans.

“Kamchatka is the missing link of the Pacific rim,” Heinsheimer said. “It’s very close to us--just a little farther than flying to Montreal. And Kamchatka is not far from Tokyo.

The five Southern Californians are scheduled to depart from Martin Aviation at John Wayne Airport at 9 a.m. Saturday. They will arrive at Peropavlosk, the main city on the Kamchatka Peninsula, on July 10 after making a number of stops along the way. They are scheduled to return to Orange County July 19.

According to Heinsheimer, the Kamchatka Peninsula has been sealed off “since czarist times.”

“Even today there is no land link by road or train,” he said.

The peninsula was once home to the Soviet Pacific submarine fleet and other military bases.

Some Americans have been allowed to fly into parts of Siberia near Alaska since the Soviet Union collapsed last year. But Myers said no American has been allowed to fly in to the peninsula.

“It’s a fabulous area of geysers, hot springs and good harbors,” Heinsheimer said. “I think it has many attractions for tourists.”

Beall said he envisions the peninsula as a “potential ski-resort destination for people from Japan.”

“There are five mountains very near Petropavlovsk that are 15,000 feet or higher,” he said. “It’s a fabulous area, with a bay like San Francisco’s and the equivalent of the Rocky Mountains only 15 minutes away.”