Orestes Lorenzo has flown into the airport I instruct out of in his L-39 a couple times the last week. The first few times we all just drooled over his jet, well he was out here giving discovery flights yesterday to raise money for Colonel Joe Kittinger's F4 Phantom restoration. He was here most of the day and we got a chance to talk to him and found out who he is, we had no idea. Very friendly guy, he even took up one of our instructors on his flight back to his home field.

Here's a link to his story:
http://20thcenturyaviationmagazine.com/john-stemple-page/former-mig-pilot-orestes-lorenzo-recounts-his-daring-defection-flights/

For those that can't access the link, he was a Cuban fighter pilot trained in the Soviet Union. Defected from Cuba and flew to Key West in a Mig-23 landing at a Navy base in the early 90's. Then about a year later, he got his hands on a Cessna 310, flew back to Cuba avoiding radar and landed on a highway, picked up his wife and two sons then flew back to the U.S. He did this with only close family knowing, and clandestine communication to his wife still in Cuba.

Very cool guy to talk to. He said out of his original soviet flight school class of 30, only 17 graduated...because only 17 were still alive.

balls.. some people have them.

 

yep...goin back to get your family!?  this guy took life by the balls.

Awesome pics, wish I was there when he came through!

I am training at X04 by the way - recognized that runway in a heartbeat

Yup. He clanks when he walks.

I was in high school in Hollywood when this happened, I remember it well.  Dude is awesome.  

heh, there's only two flight schools here...

To add to the story, my father was an active duty Naval Aviator in Florida at the time of this all happening. Not only did he remember the story well, but he saw the Mig-23 in person in a hangar before it was given back to Cuba.

Don't be that guy...VA-gunnut

Oh good grief.

What a wonderful idea, let's send that message to the brass of our enemies that none of them, nor their families, will be welcomed here. I would say that defections of high-level personnel serving for our enemies has likely contributed significantly to saving American lives and developing diplomatic strategy in times of crisis.

So I guess you all are cool with the idea of smuggling people into the country publicly (flying them in, not walking across a border) and having no repercussions. Pretty clear none of you lived in that shit stain country, where one day you are oppressing the population, supporting the whole "Fidelismo" movement then have a change of heart and come live comfortably over here.

I, for one, am not opposed to considering the quality of the individual seeking asylum within our borders. In this case, the gentlemen and his family easily surpass such a barrier to entry.





I met Victor Belenko one time. He's an interesting character. A guy named Don Kerlin introduced him to me. Don owned his own 2 seat MiG-21. Victor taught him how to fly it. Don now owns a couple of MiG-29's as well. I know that Victor and his MiG-25 represented an information windfall to our military intelligence community. The information he gave us was easily worth the price of admission to our country.





Both of these individuals are fine Americans now that risked their lives to further this nation even if doing so profited them as well. Ain't that the capitalistic, free market American way?

Edited...VA-gunnut

 

So pretty much straight from Lorenzo himself, propaganda is huge in Cuba especially in the 70's - early 90's and they were pretty much taught/brainwashed to hate America and love their lifestyle. When he was in Russia for flight training he was able to see how much of a failure Communism really was and wanted to get out.

Not only was he a successful business owner since he came to the US,  he provided untold amounts of information on Cuban air defense, soviet training, a full inspection of a active duty Cuban Mig-23. Basically "Thanks~ The CIA"

George Bush Sr. invited him to the white house with his family, look around online and there's picture of it; he's even met Reagan.

Plus it made Castro look stupid, as they tried to pressure his wife to label him a traitor and taunted him to "Come get his family". They were embarrassed enough after the extraction mission, they let his entire family and in-laws come to the US so everyone would forget about the entire situation.

I flew once with Freddy Cabanas, an aerobatic Airshow Pilot who was the one who called in sighting of the Mig on that day.  I think Freddy was flight instructing back then.

I met Freddy back around 2011 in Key West.  He took my wife and I up in his old Waco for a Sunset flight over the ocean.  Afterwards we hung out in his hanger and drank some Stella from a keg that he had on tap there in the hanger.  He then drove us back to our hotel and showed us the spots that the locals hang out and eat.  A couple days later he took me up in his Pitts and did his Aeorbatic routine with me for the cost of the gas.  It was our last day in Key West.  He asked my wife and I what we were doing next and we said we were going to wait around in the airport for a few hours until time to board our plane.  He told me to take his truck and go screw around town instead of having to hang around the airport.

Freddy unfortunately died a couple years back in an accident in Mexico in a Decathalon.  He was a top notch pilot and one hell of a guy.  You will never meet anyone with more of a love for life or aviation.

Was he the one who rolled the decathlon and the passenger filming had already loosened his restraints causing a low altitude upset?

I never heard about the probable cause of the accident.  I searched around on the net a bit but couldn't find anything.

I am friends with a couple that fled Cuba. Feet dry Cubans are legal immigrants. If you dont like it, run for congress introduce a bill and change the law.

He was an airman that thought he was defending his country from Yankee Imperialism. He saw that he was oppressing his own people. Once he got the chance to leave, he did.

NAS Boca Chica did a low wing tipping pass then landed. 1990-1991 sometime along those lines. LOL, small world. I watched the event unfold first hand.