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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book, misleading title,
By
This review is from: Mig Pilot: The Final Escape of Lieutenant Belenko (Hardcover)
The unfortunate thing about this book is that the title will probably attract the wrong audience, and scare away the right audience. This isnt a book about fighter pilots, fighter piloting, or even flying. It is a book about a political and social system gone very wrong. It is a book about weighing ones loyalties against ones happiness and well being. It is a book about fearing inaction more than action. It is a book that made me say aloud to many people since I read it, "Ill never again complain about life in the USA."This true story is presented in a framed narrative, beginning with Victor's famous defection flight to Japan in a Soviet Mig-25, then flashing back to his life in the Soviet Union of the 1960s and 1970s, then finishing the suspenseful defection/landing sequence, then moving on to Belenko's bittersweet life in the USA. Avoiding too much talk about fighter piloting, author John Barron wisely veers away from turning this account into a fighter-jock's debrief manual, and instead focuses on the factors that turned Belenko against his motherland. In doing this, he presents a very sobering portrait of life in the Soviet Union which stands in stark contrast to the life pilot Victor Belenko found in the USA afterwards. I was impressed by Belenkos voluntary quest to explore the USA alone until he found proof that it couldnt possibly be this good here. He never found proof. Even after having a cab driver in San Francisco drop him off in the worst part of town, Belenko found satisfaction in a $1.50 meal. It is tidbits like that which speak volumes about what kind of a life this man had in the Soviet Union, and why it led him to risk flying about 500 miles in a fighter jet with a 560 mile range (he started with 14 tons of fuel and landed with 52 gallons enough for about 30 seconds of powered flight). If youre a aviation and/or warbird enthusiast, youll enjoy the "de-mythification" of the fabled and hugely over-rated Mig-25. Youll delight in hearing Belenko talk about why the Mig-25 posed no threat to the USAs awesome SR-71 supersonic recon jet. And youll grin when he expressed disbelief that a 747 jumbo jet required only a 3 person crew, or amazement that a US Navy aircraft carrier could launch and land so many jets so flawlessly and fast. But hopefully, youll also want to re-read the parts where Barron describes Belenkos boyhood quest for more meat in his diet, or how when the CIA first took Belenko to an American suburban grocery store Belenko thought it was all a put-on for his benefit, finding it difficult to believe our country was this well supplied. I keep the book in my aviation book collection, but it wouldnt be out of place next to more socially conscious books. Indeed, Im sometimes inclined to put it on the same shelf as my Farley Mowat books!
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great book about escaping to freedom,
By hoagamaniac "hoagamaniac" (College Park, MD United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mig Pilot: The Final Escape of Lieutenant Belenko (Hardcover)
I couldn't have been more than 12 when I first read Mig Pilot. This is the original Hunt for Red October. But this one's real. Belenko goes into great detail about the Soviet system and how it continually failed him after promising the stars.From the hard times he faced as a youth, to his rise into the ranks of a fighter pilot and ultimately to his defection with Russia's most prized fighter, Belenko douses the reader with his experience. He depicts a Soviet Union that is riddled with poverty and run by a government that promises a turn around fueled by the wonders of the communist system. Belenko has the vision to see that nothing is changing and works his way into the ranks of the military in which he is told that pilots live like kings. His hard work does pay off when he finds the means to leave the country that has done him wrong. He takes the pride of the Soviet Air Force, the Mig 25, and makes a break for the freedom and promise of the United States. Only a small portion of the book deals with the actual escape of Sgt. Belenko. The bulk of the book is the story behind the man and how life in his country compelled him to leave as well as the differences he experienced between the two dominant cold-war powers. If Mig-Pilot can be found, it should be bought. It's a nice little piece of the past that caused quite a stir with the Russian military and shattered a lot of fears about the new Soviet "superfighter"
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Eye-Opening Read,
By A Customer
This review is from: Mig Pilot: The Final Escape of Lieutenant Belenko (Hardcover)
I read this book back in 1984 as a teenager and the story of this pilot blew me away. I got a good look at life inside "the Evil Empire" as well as an outsider's impressions of America and all it has to offer. Until reading Mig Pilot, I did not have a real appreciation for the country I was lucky enough to be born in or the freedoms we often take for granted. This book is a fascinating read with a real-life hero who had the guts to fly into the unknown in search of the truth. You don't have to be a flag-waving, my-country-right-or-wrong nut to enjoy this story. Anyone wanting to realize what it means to live in a free country would get a lot out of this book. I recommend it highly.
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