The State - News from March 13, 1988

A 9-year-old San Juan Capistrano boy, Tony Aliengena, plans to take off today in an ultra-light aircraft hoping to become the youngest person ever to solo. The flight is expected to last one hour. The flight is planned for this morning at Oceanside Municipal Airport. Then, on March 30, Tony will take off from John Wayne Airport in Orange County to try to become the youngest person ever to fly across the United States. “If he does it, he’ll break the record of a 10-year-old boy, Christopher Lee Marshall,” said Guy Murrel, a family friend. “Tony will not be 10 until May 23.” Marshall, of Oceano, Calif., made his flight last August from San Luis Obispo to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The youngest solo flier so far, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is Cody A. Locke, whose hometown was not recorded. He was 9 years and 316 days old when he made his flight in Mexicali, Mexico, where U. S. regulations requiring solo fliers to be 16 before being licensed do not apply.