# Cuban MiGs, heading unnoticed up the Mississippi?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuban-migs-heading-unnoticed-up-the-mississippi/230435>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 22, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuban-migs-heading-unnoticed-up-the-mississippi/230435 "2004-02-22T00:26:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuban-migs-heading-unnoticed-up-the-mississippi/230435/1 "2004-02-22T00:26:53Z")

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I dimly remember reading “somewhere” (warning sign #1) that once, during the Cold War, a lone Cuban MiG—who wasn’t trying to defect—had managed to enter U.S. airspace, and got as far as 200 Miles (!) up the Mississippi River before being intercepted and turned back by U.S. fighters.

So…did anything like this ever actually happen, or am I just remembering a fever dream?

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuban-migs-heading-unnoticed-up-the-mississippi/230435/2 "2004-02-22T00:41:46Z")

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I’ve found a few references to a Cuban defector who flew an old MiG 23 (one source says it was a MiG 17) into Florida, undetected by US radar. This was in or around 1986. Could this be what you’re remembering?

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**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuban-migs-heading-unnoticed-up-the-mississippi/230435/3 "2004-02-22T00:52:02Z")

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Are you sure about the _unnoticed_ part?  
Depending on the model a fighter plane could fly that distance in a few minutes. If no action is taken as long as the plane isn’t in US airspace and no interceptors are in the air in that area, 200 miles seem like a rather quick response.

However I have no idea _why_ a Cuban pilot should do that (or if it happened.)

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**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuban-migs-heading-unnoticed-up-the-mississippi/230435/4 "2004-02-22T01:07:24Z")

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This site mentions it briefly but provides no details:  
[http://www.dustbury.com/fcfm/fcfm7824.html](http://www.dustbury.com/fcfm/fcfm7824.html)

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuban-migs-heading-unnoticed-up-the-mississippi/230435/5 "2004-02-22T01:09:29Z")

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Other than the Florida incident, there’s nothing in the NYTimes database at all.

You’re drinking too much. Or bad weed.

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**Author:** ![bradministrator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a698b9/32.png) [@bradministrator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bradministrator)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cuban-migs-heading-unnoticed-up-the-mississippi/230435/6 "2004-02-22T02:22:53Z")

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It’s 667 miles from Havana to New Orleans. To get 200 miiles up the Mississippi and hope to get home, the Cuban pilot would need fuel for 1734 miles.

The maximum range on the Chinese J-7 (most modern Mig-21 variant) is only 1350miles. ([http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/row/mig-21.htm](http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/row/mig-21.htm))