Nobody had stopped Rust during his flight of several hours over Soviet territory. The Soviet air defense, until then considered insurmountable, had to endure mockery and ridicule. Thousands of missiles, modern radar systems and anti-aircraft systems – undermined by a sports pilot, a messenger of peace who wanted to build a bridge between East and West with his flight. The flight affair becomes a state affair, the defense minister has to go, and high-ranking officers follow. The young German pilot wanted to use his daring flight to get the deadlocked disarmament talks moving again and to promote peace between East and West. His role model was the science fiction hero Perry Rhodan, the lone world saver. And indeed, his daring flight promoted perestroika – albeit in a different way than intended.
Nobody had stopped Rust during his flight of several hours over Soviet territory. The Soviet air defense, until then considered insurmountable, had to endure mockery and ridicule. Thousands of missiles, modern radar systems and anti-aircraft systems – undermined by a sports pilot, a messenger of peace who wanted to build a bridge between East and West with his flight. The flight affair becomes a state affair, the defense minister has to go, and high-ranking officers follow. The young German pilot wanted to use his daring flight to get the deadlocked disarmament talks moving again and to promote peace between East and West. His role model was the science fiction hero Perry Rhodan, the lone world saver. And indeed, his daring flight promoted perestroika – albeit in a different way than intended.