Russian Encounters

In the chaotic days following the fall of the Soviet Union, Glenn Bever found himself in a very foreign environment where he represented NASA as the U.S. on-site engineer for a unique flight research program. In Russia, his mission was to resurrect, instrument, and conduct a series of research flights on a retired Tu-144 supersonic transport—an early competitor of the Anglo/French Concorde.

These are his personal recollections of breaking the culture and language barriers in the aftermath of the Cold War to help bring about a successful flight research program with a collaboration that had never been done before.

In order to accomplish this, Glenn must undergo a grueling crash course in Russian, and then travel numerous times to Russia as a courier, liaison, senior engineer, designer, and sometimes diplomat where he must carefully feel his way toward accomplishing his mission. There were few precedents to follow, so he, a few colleagues, and the Russian team had to make things up as they went along.

Journey with Glenn to the land of vodka, chocolate, and Russian personalities as he encounters the unexpected and experiences Russian life in country. It is a personal story he never expected would happen in his lifetime.

In part 2 of the book, Glenn takes you with him on some other adventures from Europe to the South Pacific, where he has other unexpected, but interesting, encounters.