YOUNGEST EAGLE : Pilot, 10, Flies Piper Coast to Coast and Back to Burbank

Ten-year-old Christopher Lee Marshall landed in aviation record books Thursday afternoon as the youngest pilot to fly across the United States and back when he guided his single-engine Piper Warrior through foggy skies to the ground at the same airport once used by Amelia Earhart, Charles A. Lindbergh and Chuck Yeager.

With a back seat full of candy wrappers and a half-eaten box of breakfast cereal, the tired fourth-grader from Oceano, Calif., waved a teddy bear as he climbed out of the cockpit at Burbank Airport and was greated with hugs from his grandparents and friends. Christopher was accompanied throughout the flight by his instructor, Rowe Yates, although Yates insisted that it was Christopher who did virtually all the flying.

Christopher’s mother, an Oceano housewife, and father, a Delta Air Lines pilot, plan to meet their red-haired son Sunday afternoon in Oceano when he is scheduled to officially complete the 5,200-mile journey that started there last month.

“I can’t believe I made it all the way back,” said Christopher, who was born with severe club feet that required several operations.

“This is like a dream come true,” said the 4-foot-11 aviator. “The trip was so, so, so much fun. The sites I saw along the way, like the Grand Canyon and stuff, was unbelievable. Nothing like you see in geography books.”

Christopher, who sat on three pillows to see out the cockpit, said the highlight of his trip was flying near a storm over Texas.

“I could see it swoosh around and around and around. But I managed to keep the plane on course most of the way. We bounced up and down and all around,” he said.

The flight began July 18 when Christopher and Yates took off from Oceano, a small town near San Luis Obispo. The first half of the 26-day trip ended four days later in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

By that time, Christopher had already broken the record of 11-year-old Texas pilot John Kevin Hill, who inspired his adventure. Seven weeks ago, John flew with his instructor in a Cessna 210 from Los Angeles to Washington.

Yates and Christopher, who lost a tooth munching on almost 100 candy bars while flying, left Fort Lauderdale on Monday after spending almost two weeks sailing around the Virgin Islands and touring Disney World. Their round-trip, coast-to-coast flight took them to almost a dozen cities.

Christopher, who has been flying since age 7, landed the aircraft at 2:20 p.m. after dropping out of the cloudy sky.

Christopher’s mother, Gail, said she was relieved.

“I haven’t stopped worrying since he left. I’ve just been a nervous wreck. When I heard that he landed, I started to cry. My baby was finally almost home,” Marshall said in a telephone interview.

“He’s enjoyed all the hype and stuff, but he’s still a child at heart. He told me yesterday he is bringing home his tooth for the tooth fairy,” she said.