ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 8, 1996 TAG: 9604080098
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
note: below
SIZE DOESN'T KEEP this little pilot from hoping for a place in the history books.
She's 4-foot-2 and needs aluminum extensions to help her reach the rudder pedals.
But size isn't slowing pilot Jessica Dubroff, a 7-year-old girl from a coastal town south of here who hopes to make history by flying a four-seater Cessna 177B Cardinal across the country and back.
``I can't wait,'' said Jessica, a student pilot for four months.
She plans to take off Wednesday from Half Moon Bay Airport with her father, Lloyd Dubroff, in the back seat and her flight instructor, Joe Reid, as co-pilot.
``Joe said, `I'll sleep; you'll fly,''' said Jessica, who will keep a log book to track her hours. To set the record, she must do all the flying - about 40 to 50 hours - during the 6,500 mile trip.
``She wouldn't let Joe get within two inches of the controls unless she really has to,'' her mother, Lisa Blair Hathaway, said from their Pescadero home.
The youngest person to accomplish the feat so far is Tony Aliengena of San Juan Capistrano, Calif. He flew across the country and back with his flight instructor in 1988 when he was 9.
Jessica, who will turn 8 on May 5, is hoping she'll be able to hang on to the record if she completes the flight.
``We don't believe that someone would ever let a 6-year-old break the record,'' said Jessica, whose pilot lessons are part of her home schooling.
``She's a pretty sharp young lady,'' Reid said of the youngest student he's taught in five years as an instructor.
Jessica became interested in flying after visiting the Palo Alto Airport to watch the planes on her sixth birthday. She and her parents chose Reid because he didn't talk down to her.
``He does it like I'm a real person, not a child,'' Jessica said.
Jessica, who has racked up about 30 hours of flying time, will fly three to four hours at a time with one or two stops a day. She'll stop in such cities as Cheyenne, Wyo., Fort Wayne, Ind., and Falmouth, Mass.
She and her passengers also plan a trip to Washington, where Jessica would like to visit the White House. She has written to President Clinton to invite him on a 15-minute plane ride.
Asked what she would tell the president if he were nervous, she said, ``It's just like flying in a commercial airplane, but it's a small one.''
``I guess Jess is getting her 15 minutes of fame early,'' said her father, Lloyd Dubroff. ``I'm actually more nervous about her riding horses.''
Activities such as flying, riding and even helping rebuild a house have been part of home schooling for Jessica and her 9-year-old brother, Joshua.
The pair worked their first paper route in Falmouth, Mass., when Jessica was 4.
``They want to be in the real world,'' their mother said. ``They have a great American spirit.''
And, while Federal Aviation Administration regulations say Jessica must be 16 before she can fly solo, she doesn't mind waiting.
``I'm going to fly till I fly solo, fly till I die,'' she said.
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP Jessica Dubroff begins her preflight checks at Halfby CNBMoon Bay airport in preparation for a recent training flight.