Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-08-02
Khrushchev
Sees U. 5. JETS


American Jet airliners today
and toasted United States lead
ers. Asked II he would like to
fly TO the United States In one
of the planes. the Russian Pre-
mier replied: This one or some
other one"
Questioned further by q re-
porter as to when he would like
to make a United States visit,
he replied: when the time is
ripe-in good time" There has
been much speculation that
Vice President Nixon may sug-
gest a Khrushchev visit to
President Eisenhower IN a re-
port on his Soviet tour
tanned and nearly after
q trip to the Ukraine, Mr..
Khrushchev turned up unex-
pectedly in Moscow The Nixon
party had been told earlier the
premier would be out of town
on the last two days of the Vice
Presidents stay in Moscow. Mr..
Nixon leaves for Poland tenor
row.
Likes Interior
| Mr.. Khrushchev drove out to
the airport to see the two big
Boeing TOT jet airliners that
brought Mr.. Nixon, his party
and correspondents to Moscow
July 20. United States Am
bassador Llewellyn Thompson
Showed Mr.. Khrushchev
through the planes. The Pre-
mier looked in on the cockpit
of the Nixon plane, tried out
the passenger armchairs, and
summed up his reactions this
way:
Very good. The f1nishings
are excellent. The interior dec
Grafton is in good taste and
it's practical"
With the inspections over,
the party turned to toasts. Mr..
Khrushchev has been reported
taking his toasts lately in light
wine, but for this occasion he
held aloft a glass of American
whisky. He toasted Mr.. Eisen-
hover, Mr.. Nixon and Mr..
Thompson. In reply, Ambassa-
dor Thompson noted that the
airliner was a conversion Of a
military plane and said:
"I'd like to propose a toast
to the time when all military
planes are converted to civilian
use"
Very good" Mr.. Khrushchev
said.
Shares Secret
At one point, the Premier
said he would let his American
hosts in on a little secret: Only
yesterday he had seen a DEM
Ionstration of a new Soviet mil
itary plane for carrying weap-
ons and troops that could land
on a dirt airstrip.
The premier gave no details
except to say it was faster than
the IL18-a four-engine turbo-
prop with cruising speed of
405 miles an hour used to carry
freight and passengers inside
the Soviet Union.
Mr.. Khrushchev said the
plane "can be used for landing
paratroops" and can carry a
self-propelled gun and a light
tank.
Later the Premier joked
about the visit Mr.. Nixon will
make to Poland next week on
his way home from the Soviet
Union. Mr.. Khrushchev noted
the Nixon plane cannot make
the flight nonstop from Mos
COW to the United States and
added:
II understand the reason Mr..
Nixon decided to make some
stops on his way home was
home was because he didn't
want to show that his plane
could not make the trip nom
stop. There has even talk that
the Vice President started to
make some stops on the way
in order to cover up his traces,
so to speak"
Suggests Idea Theft
With a roar of laughter, Mr..
KhruShchev once suggested
that the famed plane designer,
Andrea N. Tupolev, who in
spected the planes with him,
see what ideas he could steal.
| "Andrei Nikolaevich," Mr..
Khrushchev beloved to Tupo-
lev, who was in one of the
seats across the aisle. You
must try to steal something out
of this plane"
Of the improved new TOT jet
that flew correspondents nom
| St0n from New York IN MOSc0U