What you never hear this the plane was actually loaded with Levis 501's and toilet paper and the kid made a fortune on the trip.

Isn't he dead?

Apparently not.

25 years ago today, a 19 year old German boy bypassed all Soviet defenses to land a Cessna in Red Square, making it the most successful invasion of Russia in German history since the Mongols in the 13th century

ComicBookGuy: Isn't he dead?

Hey now, Rust never sleeps.

ObscureNameHere: ComicBookGuy: Isn't he dead?

Hey now, Rust never sleeps.

My, my, hey, hey.

Why did these assholes like Napoleon and Hitler insist on fighting in Russia during the winter in the first place?

You've just been released from Russian prison after a stunt that almost cost you your life. How are you going to celebrate?

I'm going to stab a guy in a hospital.

"I couldn't believe I actually survived," he recalls

Balls of titanium.

The Soviet Air Defense did Nazi him coming.

Smoky Dragon Dish: "I couldn't believe I actually survived," he recalls

Balls of titanium.

Or, he was 19. We all felt invincible then...

And I imagine he probably thought nothing of what would happen to the person whose job it was to detect him.

brimed03: Smoky Dragon Dish: "I couldn't believe I actually survived," he recalls

Balls of titanium.

Or, he was 19. We all felt invincible then...

I *WAS* invincible then. Witness the fact that I am still alive.

Everybody is doing flips and twists just to get into a genuine pair of american blue jeans!
-32 years ago.

brimed03: Smoky Dragon Dish: "I couldn't believe I actually survived," he recalls

Balls of titanium.

Or, he was 19. We all felt invincible then...

I never felt THAT invincible. Then again, he stabbed a coworker, so maybe it was Der Krazy more than anything....

Damn hippies.

Subby fails.

From the article:

"Exactly 25 years ago, the USSR Foreign Ministry announced that it had rejected an appeal by a German teenager against his prison sentence."

"On the morning of 28 May, he told air traffic control in Helsinki he would be heading to Stockholm, in Sweden. Even then he wasn't completely sure he would go through with it."

How did I know the subby failed to RTFA? Because I was there in Red Square when it happened.

and

Get off my lawn.

Smoky Dragon Dish: brimed03: Smoky Dragon Dish: "I couldn't believe I actually survived," he recalls

Balls of titanium.

Or, he was 19. We all felt invincible then...

I never felt THAT invincible. Then again, he stabbed a coworker, so maybe it was Der Krazy more than anything....

I'm going with crazy. Take a look at his route:



He flew long over water legs alone in a single engine plane with only 50 hours of flying experience.  Keflavik to Bergen in over 800 nautical miles, and other than the Faroes, there ain't much in between.

FTFA: Within a year of returning to Hamburg, Rust stabbed a colleague at a hospital where he worked and ended up behind bars again.

This guy is no hero, he's just a nutjob.

sed 's/Keflavik to Bergen in over 800/Keflavik to Bergen is over 800/'

dittybopper: Smoky Dragon Dish: brimed03: Smoky Dragon Dish: "I couldn't believe I actually survived," he recalls

Balls of titanium.

Or, he was 19. We all felt invincible then...

I never felt THAT invincible. Then again, he stabbed a coworker, so maybe it was Der Krazy more than anything....

I'm going with crazy. Take a look at his route:

[upload.wikimedia.org image 640x464]

He flew long over water legs alone in a single engine plane with only 50 hours of flying experience.  Keflavik to Bergen in over 800 nautical miles, and other than the Faroes, there ain't much in between.

Jesus Christ, was that his actual route?! That's pretty damn incredible flying right there for a novice, particularly in a little punk-ass Cessna. Crazy, yes, perhaps even psychotic- but I now have even more respect for him pulling this off.

I was actually in Moscow when this happened- on a college group trip. Stayed in the same hotel as a bunch of the 60 Minutes gang. Saw Ed Bradley walking down the hall one day.

Time flies. (Like Rust).

bv2112: FTFA: Within a year of returning to Hamburg, Rust stabbed a colleague at a hospital where he worked and ended up behind bars again.

This guy is no hero, he's just a nutjob.

Yeah, that was just "DAFUQ?" territory for me.

He was just gonna hide out until the first strike blew over...then the little bugger would carry a 25-megaton bomb right down the middle of Main Street, Moscow. Like the mailman bringing bad news. We called it "Operation Got-You-Last".

Pretty nifty flying on his part- remember, this was in the days pre-GPS.

kryhme
You've just been released from Russian prison after a stunt that almost cost you your life. How are you going to celebrate?

I'm going to stab a guy in a hospital.

That actually was:
"I'm going to ram a knife two times into a nursing student's stomach because she refuses to kiss me and calls me an attention whore."

/the girl might only have survived because she managed to drag herself from the staff changing room where the attack happened to a unit where a team had just gotten ready and was standing buy for a surgery.

Mad Scientist: I was actually in Moscow when this happened- on a college group trip. Stayed in the same hotel as a bunch of the 60 Minutes gang. Saw Ed Bradley walking down the hall one day.

Time flies. (Like Rust).

Cool story, bro.

Put a swastika on that plane and see if the mig does a flyby.

Might have been about the time we started realizing that the Soviet military infrastructure was a bit... Rusty?

Yes, this is burned fried egg on my head.

was standing buy for a surgery.

"was standing by for a surgery"

/FTFM

skinink: Why did these assholes like Napoleon and Hitler insist on fighting in Russia during the winter in the first place?

I think what happened is that both thought to themselves, "Oh, Russia will be a pushover!" and waited until June to start operations. Napoleon got underway on June 24, 1812, and Hitler waited until June 22, 1941. Time has a habit of slipping away, though.

p51d007: Yes, this is burned fried egg on my head.

[i.telegraph.co.uk image 620x388]

Did you ever see this the episode of Not Necessarily The News where they spoofed that port wine stain?

Now that I think about it, Rust landed in Moscow in May...just as TFA says. Apparently a legal appeal was rejected on this day, 25 years ago.

/subby fail

dittybopper: He flew long over water legs alone in a single engine plane with only 50 hours of flying experience. Keflavik to Bergen in over 800 nautical miles, and other than the Faroes, there ain't much in between.

1) How many parsecs did it take?
2) Holy shiat.

Must of been below radar. Better than Gary Powers.

bv2112: FTFA: Within a year of returning to Hamburg, Rust stabbed a colleague at a hospital where he worked and ended up behind bars again.

This guy is no hero, he's just a nutjob.

Well, he did spend 14 months in a Soviet prison. I don't imagine surviving that by being a nice guy.

/impressive feat

Fubegra: skinink: Why did these assholes like Napoleon and Hitler insist on fighting in Russia during the winter in the first place?

I think what happened is that both thought to themselves, "Oh, Russia will be a pushover!" and waited until June to start operations. Napoleon got underway on June 24, 1812, and Hitler waited until June 22, 1941. Time has a habit of slipping away, though.

Its hard to grasp just how BIG Russia is. As this post states, they started their invasion in June. Winter "Officially" starts in November (First snow in '41 was early October though). That gives you 3 months of good campaign season against an enemy that is numerically, tactically, and strategically inferior (and in most cases inferior in equipment as well).

No one intends to fight in winter. People just underestimate the difficulty in reaching that constant objective (Moscow) before the snows set in.

Its that same old "The war will be over in a month after this cataclysmic battle" syndrome that has plagued so many armies, conflicts, and countries through millenia.

What a crazy (and lucky) asshole. For those who dnrtfa, it says he was spotted by a mig shortly after he crossed the border but they mistook him for a friendly because there had been a search and rescue going on as well as training. Also he wouldn't have been able to land but they had removed cables on the bridge he landed on that morning for maintenance.

Deep Contact: Must of been below radar. Better than Gary Powers.

Or George Zip.

Adolf's colleague Benito got himself in trouble and cleaning up the mess in the Balkans delayed the invasion of Russia. If not for that we'd all be speaking English now.

/American

dittybopper: ObscureNameHere: ComicBookGuy: Isn't he dead?

Hey now, Rust never sleeps.

My, my, hey, hey.

Maybe he was trying to be some sort of Transformer Man flying by the light of a Harvest Moon, but he ended up Helpless in the hands of the Russians. I don't think he really has a Heart of Gold though.

Mad Scientist: Pretty nifty flying on his part- remember, this was in the days pre-GPS.

this. i wondered if he went solely by land nav, or if he had VOR.

The battle station Soviet Union is heavily shielded and carries a firepower greater than half the star fleet. Its defenses are designed around a direct, large-scale assault. A small one-man fighter Cessna should be able to penetrate the outer defense.

25 years later, BBC still doesn't know the difference between "Russian" and "Soviet."

Carn: What a crazy (and lucky) asshole. For those who dnrtfa, it says he was spotted by a mig shortly after he crossed the border but they mistook him for a friendly because there had been a search and rescue going on as well as training. Also he wouldn't have been able to land but they had removed cables on the bridge he landed on that morning for maintenance.

The fact that Gorby used it as a reason to purge the upper echelon of his armed forces makes me wonder if it wasn't an inside job of some sort. BRING ON THE RED SQUARE TRUTHERS!

Twenty five years ago we learned that the USSR was a hollow shell and holes were starting to appear in its shell.

Today Russia would make damn sure it blew the kid out of the sky, then a photo op would be arranged of Putin pulling the trigger (staged after the fact of course).

I'd like to say things have gotten better in that part of the world and in some ways they have, but Russia's addiction to Czars and Czar wannabes has to end or someone some day will end them...and likely they'll be reading the Koran when they are finished.

The Voice of Doom: kryhme
You've just been released from Russian prison after a stunt that almost cost you your life. How are you going to celebrate?

I'm going to stab a guy in a hospital.

That actually was:
"I'm going to ram a knife two times into a nursing student's stomach because she refuses to kiss me and calls me an attention whore."

/the girl might only have survived because she managed to drag herself from the staff changing room where the attack happened to a unit where a team had just gotten ready and was standing buy for a surgery.

I thought it odd how TFA downplayed this.

The guy's a loon.

LoneDoggie: Might have been about the time we started realizing that the Soviet military infrastructure was a bit... Rusty?

It wasn't all that rusty, actually: They spotted him numerous times, but for a number of reasons didn't do anything about it. One major reason is that a small single engine plane like that wasn't perceived to be a military threat.

Another possible reason, one not talked much about, is that had they shot him down, it would have been a public relations nightmare: They had shot down two Korean Airlines passenger jets in the 10 years previous, one where they killed everyone on board and the other where they killed 2 people. It would have just made them look more like the "Evil Empire" that Ronald Reagan said they were.

hdhale: Twenty five years ago we learned that the USSR was a hollow shell and holes were starting to appear in its shell.

Yes, because an air defense system geared towards defending against hordes of modern attack aircraft is going to be effective against a single small plane barely flying more than 100 knots.