Today was another great day and time for last-minute preparations in New York before we depart from Westchester County in the morning.

After a light breakfast at the hotel we drove to the airport where Carlene, wearing the full-on Amelia outfit including jodhpurs, was interviewed by WCBS-TV out of New York. After that she went to a quite office at the airport and talked with several radio stations including Voice of America. Amelia loved to spread the word about aviation and she now doubt would be proud of the great job Carlene is doing in her ?double? on this flight re-creation.

There was a magazine interview and then a conversation with an older couple who happened to be from Bellefonte, Pa., our first stop in the morning. They wanted to see the Avian in the hangar and then headed back to Bellefonte so they could be there for our arrival in the morning. Now that?s dedication to aviation history!

After a late lunch at the airport, Carlene and myself, Greg Herrick, paid a visit to the controllers at the Westchester County Airport control tower. There we spoke briefly of the flight and provided them with booklets telling all about Amelia, the flight and the Avro Avian. They were a quite friendly group and gave Carlene some good pointers on how to depart the busy airspace around New York on her way to Bellefonte tomorrow morning. Amelia no doubt didn?t need to be concerned as much about air traffic when she left in 1928 but then again, as a big promoter of aviation she would probably be pleased by all the airplanes Carlene will be keeping an eye out for tomorrow.

As we were pulling out of the airport parking lot, a family with two little boys was just getting out of their car. They had come to see the airplane and Carlene ? they were not disappointed. We stopped the car and Carlene got out. The little boy ran out and he had in his hand a book about Amelia, a small airplane model he had made and a color picture of the Avian his parents had printed out for him from the Internet. It was a very touching moment and reminded us of some of the reasons behind doing this flight. Some hugs and a couple autographs were exchanged and one very happy little boy ran in to the hangar to see first-hand what a 1927 wood and fabric airplane looks like.

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