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By now some of you may have seen the excellent reference Dick Weeghman placed in his AVIATION CONSUMER issue of April 15th on the TEN ROMEO TO MOSCOW project.

A press conference was held at the Albany airport last Friday, and the newspaper articles have been excellent. Furthermore, one of our local TV stations was on hand and carried a three minute segment on the 6:00 p.m. news. It was necessary for me to be in Wisconsin for the 1984 GRAND PRIX AIR RACE banquet (I handled the pre-race publicity this year) Friday evening, so I missed the news clip. My neighbors say Ernie Tetrault did a masterful job in transmitting the intent of the Moscow flight as being a friendly, people-to-people gesture, and considerable interest has been generated.

Ernie is a warm, friendly, effective and interested professional star here in Albany where he serves as ANCHOR/REPORTER for Channel 6, our local CBS outlet. It was possible to spend about an hour and a half becoming acquainted with Ernie, but he got my full attention about three minutes into the interview:

Sooooo - with the local media attention, interesting options are open for consideration. I expect to have a film clip of the Friday news segment with me in Moscow next week. It seems possible that Channel 6 might appropriately be the exclusive contact point for national TV coverage of the flight to Moscow. Further, sponsorship possibilities will be discussed. Many thanks to both Dick, and Ernie!

Discussion with the newspaper reporters brought up some interesting concepts, - particularly in reference to Lindbergh. This was really a surprise and caught me off base a bit. I was quick to point out the lack of any connecting reference points - I will be flying a tested and reliable machine, my fuel load will be light enough so that there will be no risk at takeoff, and TEN ROMEO will be carrying the best navigation equipment available to light aircraft. Furthermore, hundreds of light, single-engine aircraft cross the North Atlantic every year without difficulty. While Lindbergh faced the real risk of the unknown, the only risk I will be facing is the self-imposed risk of my determination to capture eleven City-to-City World Speed Records and thus will be pressing my equipment to the upper limits of its design capability. The risk in doing this is minimal, and I have taken steps to protect myself should problems arise.

Perhaps my quick denial of any link to the Lindbergh heritage effectively spiked any exciting "Slug" that my Fourth Estate colleagues might have had in mind. However, I was quick with a follow-on suggestion that the real mission flying the wings of TEN ROMEO could well generate great interest on both sides of the "Iron Curtain". The excitement shown by those children in Moscow Boarding School 38, along with my other Soviet friends, has been matched by everyone I have spoken with about this project since my return to the States. There seems to be a great hunger in the hearts of everyone for there to be increased opportunities for Americans and Russians to become better acquainted. As President Reagan said early this spring, "If Ivan and Anya and Jim and Sally could just sit down over a cup of coffee they would find Americans and Russians have a great deal in common!"

TEN ROMEO TO MOSCOW is a non-political, non-military project of friendship at the "people-to-people" level, and because of the hope we all carry in our hearts, perhaps there will be as many people following the Moscow flight this summer as watched Lindbergh on his epic flight in 1927. This could certainly be true if Soviet TV sees this project as a non-threatening positive step (small as it may be) toward East/West easing of tensions.

None of us can see what the future holds, but my visa request for the July Moscow visit has scheduled me in the city for five days. It is my expectation that I will have the opportunity of speaking to Young Pioneer groups during that stay. In 1958 I spoke to many such groups and brought them "friendly greetings from the USA", and perhaps that will happen again.

Last week two major breakthroughs occurred in that I made arrangements for acquiring the important navigation units for the Moscow flight. TEN ROMEO will have an AVA-1000 LORAN-C, and a KHF-950 High Frequency Radio.

As I was working out the final contacts on equipment needed, I called a friend of long standing and told him what I wanted. His response was immediate and positive - "The equipment you have suggested is indeed the best there is, and you should have it for the trip you are planning. I'll buy one, since I can get one from my company at a better price than you can, and see that you get it!" What interest, generosity and support!

Obviously, I protected the integrity of that friendship by not moving in the direction he suggested, but I do have the equipment in question, and we continue to be within our time frame.

Have decided to install the ½" windshield. The enclosed sheet on equipment represents the TEN ROMEO profile as I expect it to be upon starting my record runs on June 25th from Denver. Two small items on that list are still under negotiations, but I have every expectation that they will fall into place without difficulty.

I'm looking forward to my trip to Moscow next week. I will see many good friends, enjoy some of that delicious caviar, and take in at least one ballet performance. With a bit of luck, I'll also have some answers from Mikhail Lyubimov regarding the format of my final flight plan.

Speaking of Mikhail Lyubimov, - a number of people have asked me why I seem to be as certain as I am that I will obtain clearance into Soviet airspace on July 4th. Everyone knows that final approval does not arrive until a day or two prior to your Flight Plan Clearance time, and the only Western personage with standing approval to enter Soviet Airspace is Dr. Hammer.

My answer is simple. Both American and Russian bureaucracy have much in common, and both can be most frustrating. However, once you break through the outer bureaucratic shell and make contact with an individual, it is a different story. I have found the individual Russians I have dealt with to be responsive straightforward and honest. The dozens of professional needs I faced in my educational research over a span of 25 years required the concerned, sensitive interest of my Russian colleagues who, in every instance, treated me as an honored guest, and met my every request.

When I met Mikhail, on December 1st, 1983, it was his first day on the job with the MCA. He pledged my flight into Moscow would become his "priority number one". His personal word will be good.

Interest and support of the July 4th flight of TEN ROMEO into Moscow has been reflected by unusual willingness of the light aircraft industry to assist in equipping N7710R with what is required for the trip to be safe and successful. The following companies will be listed on each side of TEN ROMEO as EQUIPMENT SPONSORS. The equipment listed has been made available, in most cases, at 1/3rd the suggested retail price.

SPONSOR	EQUIPMENT
AMERICAN BONANZA SOCIETY ARNAV SYSTEMS, INC. BF GOODRICH COMPANY INSIGHT INSTRUMENTS JEPPESEN KING RADIO COMPANY MIKE SMITH AERO MURRAY AVIONICS COMPANY PAGE AVJET CORPORATION PAGE OF ALBANY PALMER AIRMOTIVE LTD. SILVER INSTRUMENTS	TR-720 AVA-1000 BOOTS GEM TRIP MAPS KHF-950 BACKUP PRESSURE, TIPS, STROBES PANEL MODIFICATION INTERNAL FUEL FINAL CHECK MODIFICATION CENTER FUELTRON

Only the company name will be painted on the side of TEN ROMEO. Negotiations are presently underway with two additional companies, one to supply a backup 8 amp alternator, the other to supply a parachute.

The ready willingness of the above companies to become partners in the TEN ROMEO TO MOSCOW project is but a small reflection of the universal hope we all have of there being increased opportunities for Americans and Russians to become better acquainted.

PROGRAM STATEMENT - Suitable for House Publications where Dr. Millard Harmon has made a presentation:

It would appear that Dr. Millard Harmon was able to crack the outer shell of the Soviet Society and thus have an experience afforded very few Americans in his recent 9500 miles of travel within the USSR. In his contact with students, teachers, and educational administrators, he was received with warm, friendly, professional interest.

"In my travels within the USSR," he said, "I found that my contacts were first of all, human beings, then a teacher, or student, after that a wife or husband or brother or sister, then a Soviet Citizen, and finally, perhaps, a member of the 7% who make up the Communist Party. The children were adorable (as all youngsters are), and I left the Soviet Union feeling I had gained many new, delightful friends."

"If more Americans, and Russians were able, as President Reagan suggested, to sit down together over a leisurely cup of coffee, it would not take long to recognize that there were far more points of agreement and similarity than most people ever dreamed possible."

Perhaps a reasonable objective on both sides of the Iron Curtain in the decade ahead would be to find ways for there to be more contact between average Americans and average Russians. The increased friendships which would result would become an international benefit.