TEN ROMEO NEWSLETTER
TEN ROMEO TO MOSCOW, Report 7
July 20, 1984
GREETINGS!
Whooooooooooeeeeeeeeee ------------!
I've had another one of those fantastic rides in TEN ROMEO!
So --- I'm back home, safe and sound (was there any question about that happening?) following an experience that would be hard to duplicate. While I did not fly TEN ROMEO into Soviet Air Space, I did return with eight World Speed Records, and every foot of the 10,000 miles plus of flying in that beautiful bird of mine was done at FULL THROTTLE.
But - I'm getting ahead of my story!
Flying the North Atlantic was mighty interesting, and I did run into structural icing. (You knew I would, Max!) Mighty nice to have those GOODRICH BOOTS, but I also learned that a very little ice renders the Loran-C inoperative. A nice time to have that IONS-1020 along as well. Did a mighty sloppy job on the "reporting points", but should mention that on the way back I was hitting my ETA on reporting points seven hours out within two minutes. Arrival at Reykjavik was great, and I learned two things ----: first, the president of the Iceland Aero Club was on hand to meet me, thanks to Milt Brown's telegram, and this kind of outstanding contact and fellowship was present at each of my stops, and, second, a record run seems to provide a bit of excitement in the lives of controllers and tower operators. The outstanding cooperation received throughout my trip was great, and in most cases I found my way to the tower right after landing to clear the paper work and in every case ended up with new friends. In Reykjavik there was even a TV interview, once again.
Arrival in Oslo was late on July 1st. Monday morning, the 2nd, I made a courtesy call to our US Embassy, and learned that the State Department had been tracking me halfway around the world to inform me that the Soviet Foreign Ministry had denied me the use of Soviet Air Space.
I flew into Moscow on the 4th to appeal the Soviet decision. Had a good visit with my friends at the Moscow Civil Air Board, and left with them a bottle of the finest New York Champagne - Walt Taylor had made me an official representative of the New York State Wine Institute - and they appreciated the gift, and were as friendly as ever.
However, I was caught off base by the fast-moving events witnessed in Moscow. Within 48 hours of my arrival, our Ambassador was denied the customary courtesy of appearing on Moscow TV on July 4th, my friend, Jon Purnell, (Second Secretary at our Embassy) was picked up by the KGB, Senator D'Amato, whom I expected to have breakfast with on the 8th, was denied a Soviet visa, and the interpreter provided by the International Section of the Moscow Baptist Church back in November (she had become a close friend through these last three visits) was picked up by the police simply because of being with me.
Following two days of serious contact, I broke off my appeal process, remained an additional two days to do what I could in support of my interpreter, and then returned to Oslo. In Oslo I arranged for my friends in our Embassy to send the following Telex to Michael Mozur, my contact person in our Moscow Embassy:
Dear Mike:
I broke off appeal process STOP A review or modification of Soviet decision on TEN ROMEO not helpful to U.S. interests at this time STOP
Cordially,
Mil
Frankly, I was delighted to get back to Oslo and TEN ROMEO, and moved ahead with my "flight plan route" with a feeling of relief, pleasure and satisfaction.
Departed Oslo Monday, July 9th, for Frankfurt, but 40 minutes out over the North Sea, noticed a sharp spike on the number three EGT. Had no idea if I had blown a gasket, or was close to a major problem, but that ocean looked mighty big and cold down there below me, so I reluctantly called Center and indicated I was returning to Oslo due to a mechanical problem. On the ground I found the probe had worked loose and thus shorted out. Tightened it back up, and flew the rest of the trip with five functional probes.
The rest of the trip went like clockwork with a succession of delightful contacts at each stop. The return ferry permit was easily obtained from Wally Emory, of the FAA office at Frankfurt (we could do with more administrators like Wally), and the aircraft and equipment functioned perfectly.
In Santa Maria I met one of the most delightful people of my whole trip. This was Francisco Vitorino, Chief, Atlantic Communications Area.
TEN ROMEO had been refueled, customs was cleared, and I was walking down the corridor slightly behind Victor. Victor is probably 65, plus or minus a little. He wore an open sport shirt, and his gait was the slow, deliberate pace of the islands. His head was bowed, and he said, - almost to himself, but just audible to me,
"I worried about you. You gave me some new gray hairs"
WHAT A DELIGHT! Here, in this small oasis of an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, to find a fellow human being who was indeed truly concerned about ME!
Victor and I became dear friends quickly - how could it be otherwise?
Perhaps Victor could be considered a "professional worrier", but there were different levels in his worry process. On the bottom of his concern list were the scheduled airline flights that came in once or twice a day. Then came the ferry pilots who were delivering single engine aircraft, and on the top of his list were the single engine novices, such as myself.
And, there was a reason for his concern. Position reports are given out over the ocean over the High Frequency radio. I carried the best unit made - the KING-950 - but propagation was bad that day over the Atlantic, and when I got no confirmation of my position report on the HF, I'd call in-the-blind on 121.5, then ask for contact on 123.45, and request the airline pilot in the area to relay my position report. The last two position reports relayed for me had been sent to Lisbon, and had not reached Santa Maria.
Besides being a kind, gentle, concerned person, Victor had a memory that was outstanding. What pleasure it was to visit with him, and through him become acquainted with those names we know so well - like the time Max Conrad was delivering the last flyable P-38 to a museum in Spain, and landed on Santa Maria with one engine out. Or the many times that Louise Sacchi would drop in. (What a remarkable reputation you have, Louise - Canada, North Atlantic, Mid Atlantic, Europe everywhere people remember you as the expert on ferrying aircraft!) And, Victor even recounted for my pleasure, and in considerable detail, his flying with General Millard Harmon back in 1942.
Remained in Santa Maria an extra day to check out my HF (which worked great on the Santa Maria ramp) and pick up St. Johns weather info from two ferry pilots scheduled in later in the day. One of the boys from St. Johns was "Woody", whom I'd met in Reykjavik on my way over, and the second aircraft was an "Ag-Cat" with a Pt-6 engine that was to be delivered to Ethiopia. (John gave Victor a few more gray hairs - he landed with 18 gals of fuel - about 15 minutes of flying time!)
The nine hour flight from Santa Maria to St. Johns was uneventful, except for one relay contact. After contact was made with my relay aircraft, the captain asked that I remain on the frequency. Couldn't imagine what he might want to talk with me about, but he came back on the air and said, "I saw TEN ROMEO on the ramp at Lisbon. Tell me about your project." What a nice visit we had over the Atlantic!
A day of rest was scheduled at St. Johns - basically to coordinate my arrival in Albany properly with Ernie Tetrault and TV-6. Had a chance to enjoy million-year-old ice with my Pepsi (from an iceberg) and had a tour of the harbor followed by a whale watch.
And so - on July 16th, at 1:27, I returned to Albany, New York, to a fine media reception - both Channel 6, and 13 - a score of friends, and eight World Speed Records.
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Obviously, I've had considerable time to think about the Soviet last minute decision to deny TEN ROMEO access to Moscow. Much time and money went into the preparation of the project, but there is no unhappiness on my part at this time with the decision. The following points are worth a review:
- From the very beginning, there were questions in my mind as to how the Soviets might use TEN ROMEO as a propaganda tool regarding the 007 disaster. "See - we aren't so bad - we even let a little BE-36 use our airspace with no difficulty!"
- For the first time, the media in Oslo made a reference to my trip as a "FLIGHT FOR PEACE". This placed me with uncomfortable bedfellows since most action for PEACE on our side of the Iron Curtain is for unilateral peace, a dangerous concept to my way of thinking. TASS might have turned my FRIENDSHIP flight into a FLIGHT FOR PEACE, and that would not have been good.
- In recent months, I have been saying many positive things about Soviets - at least the Soviets who are my friends. This is not the most popular position to be espousing given the problems between our government and the Soviet government today. This might have been misused by the Soviet media to my embarrassment.
- Bud Clark, of Teledyne Continental, was called to Europe to investigate pre-detonation problems. The problem was occurring in commuter aircraft flying into Moscow and using Soviet fuel of an inferior octane rating. Not flying into Moscow removed the risk of using Soviet fuel.
- Not flying into Moscow provided considerable fuel cost savings.
- Had no idea the insurance cost for me, TEN ROMEO, and the Soviet Navigator would be $7500 to fly into Moscow. Not flying TEN ROMEO into Soviet Air Space will move my insurance costs back to a reasonable level - more like yours, Frank!
- The problems of managing center-line navigation on Soviet Airways into Moscow at a low level was a task I was prepared for. However, given the risks associated with a 2200 mile trip under such demanding parameters certainly does not leave me "crying in my beer" when that task is lifted from my shoulders.
The media have been great upon my return - in fact, Ernie suggests the news value of my return may have been enhanced with the Soviet turndown, particularly given the increased insight I have returned home with.
No, I am not unhappy with not having reached Moscow in TEN ROMEO. As a matter of fact, I'm relieved with not having gone in. The present atmosphere in Moscow is not such that I would want to risk a trip in my beautiful aircraft at this time.
However, I do have a general sadness with the changes I have seen in Moscow during this most recent trip. The situation has become much more tight, and to a lower level than I would have imagined possible. Why have things gotten so tight? Who knows! Perhaps the Politburo feels they can affect the November election by mandating no friendly contact between Americans and Russians. My feelings are that the American electorate really doesn't care what the Politburo policy is as long as they don't start a shooting war. At any rate, this last trip to Moscow has been a sobering experience, and I feel we live in a more dangerous world today than we did six months ago.
As for the other objectives of TEN ROMEO's project, there's been enough success to last me for a long time. For three weeks I flew the best equipped single-engine aircraft in the world. I have many new friends, have the experience of flying six long ocean legs with no problems, and have come home with eight World Speed Records. Can't really ask for more than that!
A few points as wrap-up for this report.
Many thanks to Jack Palmer, once again, for turning the inside of TEN ROMEO from a stark, ferry appearance to a carpeted, attractive interior. At every ramp, TEN ROMEO drew continued interest with many positive comments.
Debbie Watkins, of ONE HOUR PHOTO, has joined the project as a TECHNICAL ADVISOR. Those excellent photos enclosed with the last report were the result of Debbie's generosity. Many thanks, young lady! (The next report will carry a photo or two with the new paint additions.)
NARCO really was helpful with their support at the last minute. MANY THANKS!
The next few days will be rather busy. I expect to strike for two more records, and there are a couple of static displays ahead. Then, I'll be working with several corporate colleagues on House Publication articles. Also - each of my sponsors will be offered a presentation to whatever group they would like. Thirty years ago I developed a reputation on the speakers' circuit, and will enjoy returning to that media to share some of my experiences & new-found understandings with my generous friends.
Expect to have a final report to you within the next few weeks. That report will share with you some of the statistics of this project. For example, I flew TEN ROMEO on testing missions for 127 hours in preparation for the 55 hours required for the recent trip.
Keep well, and I'll be in touch!
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(Thanks, John, for your generosity. Have had a lawyer working on moving HARMON RESEARCH ASSOCIATES to Tax-Exempt status for the last eight months. When and if this status arrives, a number of my corporate friends will probably find a way to be helpful, too.)
