Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: Long Cut
Soviet Lt. Viktor Belenko gave us one he stole whilst defecting
Wasn't he the guy that landed in Japan? If so we had a guy in our shop at Eglin that was on the flightline when he landed there. Heck of a story to hear him tell it.
Everyone was busy working when, here it came flying in. Someone finally said "Hey that's a MIG!". Just dropped in and landed! Security Police everywhere!
122 posted on 08/06/2003 1:33:39 PM PDT by CCCV
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 105 | View Replies ]


To: CCCV; All
Belenko wrote a book about it. It WAS a tale of high adventure...just imagine, stealing the fastest fighter in the world, from a totalitarian Soviet state, and running flat-out to get to a safe harbor.

He pushed the plane as far as it would go on the gas he had, and used his last bit to climb for altitude. When he flamed out, he glided to land in Japan. Since the MiG-25 glides like a brick, this took HUGE, BRASS ones. Then, he followed up with a dead-stick landing at the Air Force Base (whose name escapes me), in bad weather.

The epilogue of the story was, the Russians demanded the return of their airplane. We complied, after stripping it down to individual BOLTS and packaging each one, labeling them, and sending them back. It took over a year...

141 posted on 08/06/2003 1:52:15 PM PDT by Long Cut
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 122 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson