Just two months later, following that Korean War armistice, Lt. No Kum-Sok from the North Korean Air Force broke off from his 16-plane troop close to the capital of the country, Pyongyang; streaked undetected into South Korea in his Soviet-built MIG jet fighter. He was spotted landing at a military airfield operated by United States Air Force and airmen from other allied countries.

An experienced pilot with more than 100 missions The 21-year-old pilot got into his silver, swept-wing airplane and was adorned with the red star and brimming with machine guns while stunned airmen were gathered around the pilot. He had accomplished his goal of leaving Communism and presented a present to the United States Air Force: -- the first fully functioning MIG to drop into the hands of its commanders.

One year later his new name"Kenny Rowe" Kenneth Rowe -- and a new home, having started his life in America as a student at a college.

The day that Mr. Rowe died at 90 on Dec. 26 at his home in Daytona Beach, Fla. He was remembered for his role in delivering America an intelligence boon thanks to his headline-grabbing flight in the MIG-15bis model, which was a late-model variant of the fighters which fought in battle with American F-86 Sabre jets in the Korean War.

The cause of passing was announced by his sister, Bonnie Rowe.

He. Rowe had become a part of North Korea's Communist Party and "played the Communist zealot" according to him during his time in the Korean War. However, he was also inspired by his anti-Communist father and mom's Roman Catholic upbringing to yearn for a democratic society. He was thinking about a route to get across to America after Korea was divided following World War II and the Soviet-backed Kim Il-sung imposed Communist rule over what would become North Korea.

The moment he touched down at Kimpo airport in the early morning of September. 21 1953, he almost made an impeccable escape. But disaster almost struck. As his wheels struck the runway the F-86 that was just landing was roaring towards his direction from the opposite side. Two pilots flew across one another, narrowly getting away from the possibility of a collision.

"I removed my mask of oxygen and breathed in fresh oxygen for the very first ever in my life." he recalled in his memoir "A MiG-15 to Freedom" (1996) which he co-wrote together with J. Roger Osterholm.

He parked among a group of American warplanes. He ripped the picture of Kim Il-sung off the instrument panel, then jumped from his cockpit and throw the photo onto the ground.

Then when he recalled that moment, "all hell broke loose all over the air base." Airmen from all over the world ran to him, while the commander of the Fifth Air Force, Lt. Gen. Samuel E. Anderson ran to the base.

"Nobody was able to figure out the right way to go about it," Mr. Rowe remembered. "I exclaimed 'Motorcar, Motorcar", motorcar," which was one word of English I remember in high school. I was hoping that someone would have an automobile that could take me to the headquarters."

Two pilots placed him in an SUV, asked him to surrender his semiautomatic gun and he happily did, and then took him to a facility to be interrogated. The incident was an important news story.

"Red Lands MIG Near Seoul and Accedes to Allies," The New York Times published in an article on 1st page 1 headline.

In order to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the MIG in the case of future conflicts against the Soviet Union and its allies In order to determine the MIG's strengths and weaknesses, the Air Force dispatched some of its most experienced test pilots, including Major. Chuck Yeager, who was famous in 1947 when he became the first pilot to break through the sound barrier test the MIG-15 through a series of strenuous maneuvers. They came to the conclusion that the F-86 was the best warplane.

Kenneth Hill Rowe, as his name was coined as, was born on Jan. 10th, 1932 in an area of 10,000 inhabitants in the northern region of the Japan-occupied Korean Peninsula. The father of his son, No Zae, was the administrator of the Japanese industry company in Korea. The mother of No Zae, Veronica Ko, was a housewife.

He was a naval cadet in 1949 to have a path towards completing a free college education, and possibly one day having a an opportunity to join the port of a foreign country. Later, he was assigned to the Air Force and received jet-fighter training from Soviet airmen in Manchuria. He earned his wings at the age of 19.

After eight weeks of the Korean armistice was signed, he took off from his watch, at a height of 23,000 feet before turning to the south, taking a trip of just 13 minutes over the Demilitarized Zone to Kimpo.

The luck was on his side. It was fortunate that the American military radar for air defence north of Kimpo was closed for routine maintenance. neither American aircrafts in flight as well as antiaircraft crews were able to spot the man.

In the latter stages during the final stages of Korean War, the Air Force dropped flyers over North Korea offering a $100,000 reward for the first North Korean pilot to defect to a MIG. The man. Rowe maintained that he did not know about the reward, and claimed that he simply wanted to lead in peace. However, he did accept it.

He arrived in his home in United States in May 1954 and became something of an international star. The Vice-President was introduced by Richard M. Nixon, was interviewed by Dave Garroway on NBC's "Today" program, and was featured on broadcasts on The Voice of America. He earned an engineering diploma from University of Delaware, became an American citizen in 1962, and was employed as an engineer at major aerospace and defense firms. Later, he became an engineer professor for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach.

In the same way as his daughter, and his daughter, Mr. Rowe is survived by his wife, Clara (Kim) Rowe and his son Raymond and a grandchild.

In the time that the Mr. Rowe arrived in the United States, his MIG-15bis was also brought over to conduct additional flight tests from Air Force. Air Force.

Seven years later, that aircraft remains in existence, and is located in the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force close to Dayton, Ohio.

Its red star is repainted, it's on display with another American F-86 Sabre jet, an ode to the dogfights that fought during the Korean War in the swath of sky referred to in the region of MIG Alley.

Alex Traub contributed reporting.
http://www.dream11today.com/kenneth-rowe-who-defected-from-north-korea-with-his-jet-dies-at-90/