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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book, misleading title, August 3, 2001
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!
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