Flight to freedom a Soviet pilot's escape
Lt Viktor Belenko's daring MiG-25 defection in 1976 ended with a landing in Japan and asylum in the United States. John Barron's two part series excerpt details his nerve wracking flight evading radar and pursuit to save the jet and himself, amid personal strain including his estranged wife seeking custody.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Viktor Belenko
Japan
United States
John Barron
Belenko
Reader's Digest Association, Inc
McGraw-Hill Book Co
Field Newspaper Syndicate
MiG Pilot Belenko Defects From Soviet Union in 1976
Excerpt from Mig Pilot describes Viktor Belenko leaving the Soviet Air Defense Command in September 1976. He flies a MiG-25 to safety, briefings and cockpit details reveal the aircrafts power, secrecy, and the perilous choice to defect. The narrative frames Belenko as a modern Soviet aviator choosing freedom over duty.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Belenko
513Th
Soviet Air Defense Command
What Led Belenko to Risk Life for Escape
Lt Viktor Belenko, after unnerving MiG-25 crashes, walks in moonlit forest and recalls family estrangement and a craving for freedom. He resolves to escape the system, hoping to hurt it and reveal its secrets with his plane, finding a new purpose beyond mere survival.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Viktor Belenko
Mother
Father
Ludmilla
Dmitri
West
America
John Barron a prolific journalist and author profile
John Barron, senior editor in Reader's Digest Washington bureau, wrote KGB The Secret Work of Soviet Secret Agents and Murder of a Gentle Land with Anthony Paul. A Texan, Missouri journalism graduate, Korean War veteran, he earned major journalism honors and joined Reader's Digest in 1965, later writing MiG Pilot.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John Barron
Washington
Reader's Digest
Newsweek Magazine
Solzhenitsyn
Gulag
Barron
Anthony Paul
Gentle Land
Cambodia
University of Missouri School of Journalism
Naval Intelligence School
Berlin
Navy
Washington Star
Raymond Clapper
Washington Newspaper Guild
American Political Science Association
Reader’s Digest
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Viktor Ivanovich Belenko
Mikoyan and
Gurevich
Magadan
Mediterranean
Middle East
Soviet Union
Hakodate
UPI Photo
Hokkaido
Television Newsfilm
Marion
Highway 151
Iowa
Carpet King
Klinger
Olympic
Paint Pro
Klinger’s
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