Europe Trip 2011 #11: Off to the Deutsches Technikmuseum - 4

One last post from the Deutsches Technikmuseum, only one photo, but it's an important one. It is a Cessna [Reims] F 172 P, D-ECJB. 150 hp Lycoming O-320-D2J, 4 seats and no guns. A common as mud aircraft.

Impressed? Maybe not.

Impressive? Well, actually, yes!

This is the aircraft that an immature, and very fortunate 19 year old, low hour PPL, Mattias Rust flew all the way to Moscow in 1987, managing to evade the Russian air defences [through their stupidity, not by his skill], to land in the middle of Moscow... MUCH more exciting than flower-bombing Eden Park during a rugby match, eh?

Idiot? Yes, but this did give the Soviet leader at the time, Mikhail Gorbachev, the opportunity to fire a few Generals, etc, and implement some of his reforms.

Anyway, here is his aircraft. Interestingly, once the aircraft was returned to Germany by the Soviets, it was not allowed to fly again [in case it irritated the Soviets even more!]. It spent time in Munich as "advertising" then in Japan in an open-air exhibition before being purchased and put back on display in the museum.