MiG Pilot

29 years ago yesterday, Soviet Air Force Lieutenant Viktor Belenko took his MIG-25 out of Soviet airspace and landed it at a Japanese airfield at Hakodate on the island of Hokkaido.

I remember reading all about Lt. Viktor Belenko in his autobiography called MiG Pilot. The book has a special place in my heart because it belonged to my brother and because it helped open my eyes.

This book was one of the books my brother took with him on a Mediterranean cruise for the Marines. He also had a bunch of Steven King books but I had already read those by the time he got back.

The book tells the story of Viktor Belenko as he strived to be "the best he could be" to borrow from the Army's motto. It also showed insights into Russian society that proved somewhat prophetic. Some of the things I remember from the book include:

- Belenko trained in order to get into the Solviet Air Force but before he was accepted he worked at a factory where everyone was more concerned with drinking vodka than in any sort of productivity.

- Once in the Air Force Belenko and the other officers had regular classes with the "political officer" but Belenko saw through the lies and it was this more than anything that made him yearn for America. He recalled a class where the political officer was talking about the subjugation of the "negro class" in America. The political officer showed pictures of Harlem to help make his case but Belenko looked closely at the pictures and wondered "who owns all those cars?" Belenko was an officer in the Air Force and he was on a waiting list for a car yet the so-called subjugated classes had cars in America?

- When Belenko landed his plane in Japan, he pulled out his pistol and fired a couple shots in the air to keep people away from his plane. For this he was "arrested" and actually had to stand trial (handgun laws are very strict in Japan). This made quite an impression on Belenko. The law truly was for everyone in the West and nobody was above the law.

- Maybe the thing that sticks with me the most was Belenko's first trip to a supermarket in the US. He was convinced that it was some sort of set-up. There was no way that average citizens could have access to this sort of bounty. Aisles upon aisles of produce, fruits and meats with no waiting. Belenko was convinced the store must be a special store reserved for the ruling class. When he was finally convinced that it was just an ordinary store in the US - he was even more amazed at what a great country America is.

The book made me question what authority tells me (to see the cars with my own eyes), to strive to make my dreams real and to appreciate what a truly great country we live in and how blessed with abundance we are.

So many things have changed in the past 29 years. We used to be afraid of the Russians and especially of their MiG-25 (the fastest jet in the world back in 1976). Now we kind of pity the Russians because it is clear that their economy under communism was as unhealthy as the liver of an aged alcoholic. And once we got the plane and first hand info from Vikto Belenko - it was apparent that the Russian military was held together with duct tape. Some people got the message quicker than others (Hollywood would put out Firefox with Clint Eastwood four years later with a plot that today looks as ridiculous as the plot to Escape from New York).