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Topgun Days: Dogfighting, Cheating Death, and Hollywood Glory as One of America's Best Fighter Jocks Review

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(More customer reviews)'Bio's' exeptional narrative style really puts you in the cockpit and tells it like it must have been back in the Topgun glory days. I've never seen a clearer, easy-to-understand description of carrier flight operations. This is a must-read for anyone who is interested in behind-the-scenes insights into the making of the Topgun movie, and should be required reading for future and aspiring naval aviators. The book's photos themslves are worth the purchase price! Great read!

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A History of Air Warfare Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is a must have for all with an interest in air power. With contributions from the world's leading experts on air power history and strategy, the book is unique in the breadth and depth of its examination of the development of air power.
The book's structure is excellent. The chapters are concise (nominally 20 pages) and provide insight into air power's role in the conflict being considered. What is very useful is the positioning, in most chapters anyway, of air power's role in a particular conflict with how it was used on other conflicts past and present. This provides a bit of cohesion to the book which is sometimes difficult in a collected work. This is particular important in this work as the authors generally examine different aspects of air power (the chapter on the Israel-Arab Wars focused on air superiority while that on the Falklands had a distinctly logistical feel about it). This is not a criticism of the book as it is not intended to be a comprehensive overview of every aspect of air power in every conflict.
Perhaps the most positive aspect of the book is that it wasn't written by or for air power zealots. The perspectives offered were balanced (in the main) and different viewpoints were raised. This was most notable in the final part of the book (Part V - Perspectives) in the two concluding chapters by Van Creveld and Hallion. Both provide an overview of the evolution of air power and its potential future, each arriving at well argued and supported (but different) conclusions.
In summary: as you read through the book you gain an understanding of how certain aspects of air power (technical, logistical, strategy or tactical) developed over a number of conflicts. At the end, you are presented with two essentially opposing views on what this history means for the future. Concluding the book in such a way makes you challenge your own interpretation of where we have been and where we are going. That is what makes this book a must read for all with an interest or viewpoint on the past, present or future of air power.

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Red Eagles: America's Secret MiGs (General Aviation) Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm Bandit #35 in the book! I was a Red Eagle pilot in the 4477th TES and am featured in the book. I flew 500 MIG 21 sorties in support of Project: Constant Peg. I just finished reading the book and it's factual! Must read. Col (Ret) Frank "Paco" Geisler

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Bogeys and Bandits: The Making of a Fighter Pilot Review

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(More customer reviews)This book was a fascinating look at the state of Naval Aviation today. The nay-sayers who claim this book is fiction need to get their facts straight. As a former F/A-18 pilot and Navy jet instructor pilot, I personally flew with four of the students, and also know one of the other students from my time in the Navy. And, for the record, I am 95% sure that one of the male pilots' names was fictional, as I flew with someone who matches the description very well and finished training at the same time as the others. This book correctly conveys the attitudes, fears, and exhilaration of flying the Hornet, as well as the problems with the double standard in today's Navy. A must read for anyone with the slightest interest in flying for the Navy today.

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Feet Wet: Reflections of a Carrier Pilot (Schiffer Military History) Review

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(More customer reviews)Rear Admiral Paul Gillcrist, USN (Retired), gives an account of his 33-year Navy career from training in a radial engined SNJ to combat in Vietnam to his final carrier trap in a supersonic F-14A Tomcat. The book is presented in an anectodal form, like an old salt spinning his yarns for a fascinated audience.
Gillcrist's memoir has several high points. One of the most interesting parts of the book is how the Navy transitioned from a propeller-driven fleet to a jet-plane, supersonic navy. He gives a good layman's discussion of the three important advances required for jet carrier aviation: the angled carrier deck, the powerful steam catapult, and the optical landing system (aka "the meatball" or "the ball").
His accounts of two ejections (one of which left him in recovery for sixteen months) are harrowing. Some stories are laugh-out-loud funny, like the one about a pilot landing on the wrong carrier and his grace and humor dealing with the inevitable ribbing. It's easy to devour this book, and wish you had a story of your own that was half as good as only one of Gillcrist's!
What impresses me most is Gillcrist's complete lack of egotism. It's hard to write one's memoirs and not come across as at least a little self-promoting, but he pulls it off in grand style. Gillcrist is humble, and loves naval aviation enough to make it the star of the book. His account of his last trap on a carrier is Gillcrist at his most humble; it's a sad goodbye indeed.
The biggest fault of the book is its episodic format. That format worked wonderfully in Gillcrist's book "Tomcat! The Grumman F-14 Story," which was heavy on the pictures but the text was effective and authoritative as well. In "Feet Wet" the stories don't have the narrow-subject connection that "Tomcat!" does so it feels disjointed and jumpy at times; mere vignettes instead of threads in a grand story. It's easy to get the feeling that these are stories that Gillcrist would tell you over a few beers--you'd love the stories but not have too much of an idea about the man or the hows and whys of his profession.
But then again, how many times do you get to have a few beers with a man who's "been there, done that" like Admiral Gillcrist?

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Paul Gillcrist was a navy carrier pilot for almost thirty years, from the early days, of flying propeller planes from straight deck carriers, to the days of high-tech, lethal ""teen"" jets and supercarriers. In his remarkable career - from ""nugget"", to comp

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Roger Ball: The Odyssey of John Monroe "Hawk" Smith Navy Fighter Pilot Review

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(More customer reviews)ROGER BALL! The Odyssey of John Monroe "Hawk" Smith, Navy Fighter Pilot by Donald E. Auten (Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2006)
Reviewed by Captain Timothy E. "Spike" Prendergast, U.S. Navy (Retired)
When I assumed command of a fighter squadron in 1989, part of my brief remarks was a promise to try and lead as I had been taught by three of my former COs. One of those was Monroe "Hawk" Smith, under whose command I had learned the truest meaning of the dictum "If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right!"
Don Auten's highly readable biography of "Hawk" is a most welcome and much needed addition to the personal "fighter pilot library" of anyone who served at Miramar in the 70's and 80's, ever flew the Tomcat, attended TOPGUN, or served with Hawk or under his command. Filled with the names of Miramar and Navy fighter "greats" known to us all, like Jack Ready, "Hoser" Satrapa, "Bad Fred" Lewis, "Cobra" Ruliffson, "Thunder Bud" Taylor, "Boomer" Wilson, and many others, just reading it took me back to the Fightertown flight line, the LSO platform, the TACTS trailer and the "WOXOF" bar at the Miramar O'Club.
ROGER BALL details Hawk's many personal--and unique--contributions to the fleet introduction of the F-14 Tomcat, including OT&E, carrier suitability and first fleet CQ, and the initial thrills (and the initial disappointments...thump...bang!) of this now-legendary fighter aircraft. The story of his many key assignments at VX-4, as CAG LSO with the first F-14-equipped airwing, and during the AIMVAL/ACEVAL projects "fill in the details" of the early critical days of the aircraft and the community that would form around it. If others can lay just claim to being "the father of the Tomcat", Hawk surely can lay just claim to being one of the many "midwives" who made the birth and early formative years so successful.
Similarly, as almost a follow-on to Scream of Eagles: The Creation of TOPGUN and the U.S. Air Victory in Vietnam (Robert K. Wilcox, New York, NY, John Wiley & Sons, 1990), Hawk's time as first the XO, then the CO of the Navy Fighter Weapons School at Miramar, is a rich tale of "the best of times and the worst of times" at Fightertown USA. Those of us who were there will never forget.
For those many of us who served under Hawk's fleet command in the VF-213 "Black Lions", however, the book cries out for a sequel, as those years are relegated to almost footnote status. That critical tour, and all that it contained--firmly etched in our collective memories as almost nothing else--and Hawk's post-command and Major command assignments are all "rolled up" in only the last four pages of the book. We all eagerly await the much-needed second volume.
ROGER BALL is unquestionably the "book of the 2006 summer" for those of us who never tire of reading about the Naval aviation greats who created a community, became a legend, and who molded us, for better or worse, in their own image. For my part, I can only hope that my own efforts during my times in command did "Hawk" the honor that was intended.

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"Roger Ball!" doesn't just take you into the fighter pilot's cockpit as so many fine books about aviation have done.This book puts the reader inside the skin of one of the Navy's true characters.John Monroe "Hawk" Smith.—Leighton Warren Smith, Admiral, U.S. Navy (Retired)
Roger Ball! is the personal story of John Monroe "Hawk" Smith's esteemed career as a U.S. Navy fighter pilot from 1963 to 1993. Author Donald E. Auten provides a forceful account of the rollicking fun of deployment, the challenges of leadership, and the adrenaline rush of air-combat maneuvering.But life as a carrier pilot has a dark and frightening side too ...

Suddenly, everything caught up with them at once.The ball dropped to the bottom of the lens, the LSO screamed for more power ...Hawk strained to see the ball but caught only a momentary glimpse of a cherry red ball lying on the bottom of the lens accompanied by brilliantly flashing wave off lights.
KAWHOMPPHH!!!The Phantom came aboard with all the grace of a pallet of bricks.The impact caged his eyeballs and shot a spike of pain through his spinal column. They hit hard—harder than Hawk thought anything could hit without ending up in the hanger deck forty feet below.

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Ironclaw: A Navy Carrier Pilot's Gulf War Experience Review

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(More customer reviews)This is an extraordinarily well written first person account of life as a Naval Aviator. Have you ever wondered what kind of men we send into harm's way, what they're like and where they come from? Are they different from the rest of us? What's it like to fly and fight a Naval aircraft in a real shooting war? Sherman Baldwin has your answers. Rather than the bravado common to other first-person combat stories, Baldwin's account is told with a great deal of humanity. Certainly there are the accounts of combat and carrier operations that will have you on the edge of your seat. But this is really the story of a man (not a machine) in an extraordinary situation doing extraordinary things on behalf of his country. I know men like this. They are my heroes, and Sherman Baldwin captures their lives and experiences as well as his. If you want to feel proud about America, read this book.

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Such Men as These: The Story of the Navy Pilots Who Flew the Deadly Skies over Korea Review

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The background for this well written book comes of course from The Korean War, a 'police action' never declared a war by Congress but most people refer to it as a 'war' all the same. Built into this background is the work that James A. Michener did while spending time aboard both aircraft carriers and planes collecting datum during the war prior to his writing the book The Bridges at Toko-ri. Later from his writings came two Hollywood movies, Men of the Fighting Lady and The Bridges at Toko-ri. The movies and the book were well received (even to this day) both by the United States Navy and the reading and viewing public. Late in his career Michener stated that he felt the best book he had ever written was The Bridges at Toko-ri.
I purchased a copy of this new book by Mr. Sears primarily for two reasons: I hold an honorable discharge from the United States Navy during the Vietnam era and I have been a lifelong fan of James Albert Michener. I have to agree with author Michener for I too feel The Bridges at Toko-ri represent his best work. Short, concise, but with a realism that jumps both off the page and movie screen. Similar things can also be said for Mr. Sears' new book, with title SUCH MEN AS THESE, having its genesis with Michener's book, The Bridges at Toko-ri. Of all the contents of Michener's book, the words "Where did we get such men?" spoken by Admiral Tarrant have always been ingrained in my memory.
SUCH MEN AS THESE is written by an ex-Navy officer, not an aviator, but we will not hold that against him! SUCH MEN AS THESE is a very fine book on many levels due to its offering several aspects of history, in addition to describing these mostly citizen pilots, abruptly, some would say unfairly, called back to active duty to become heroic combat pilots. Imagine being home with the wife and kids, working your job or profession after serving during World War Two, now only to be removed within days from all you have worked for during the last few years, finding yourself quickly back in a combat zone trying to stay alive on a day-to-day basis.
Mr. Sears sets the entire Korean War combat area and the U.S. Navy carrier operations before the reader, giving context and depth to both the political and military parallel activities. Names such as Truman, MacArthur, Syngman Rhee, Mao, Stalin, et al., pop up continuously with resultant explanations of the politics into the conflict. The maps are not many in the book but they are adequate, while the photos are more than adequate and the notes, glossaries, and appendices are far above average.
I read many books of a military nature and cannot overstate how well this book reads, its flowing style is of the best quality and meter. Due to the nature of the subject and the manner in which the author has connected the war, the political, and the writings of James A. Michener together in one neat bundle a reader can in all good manner call this a very unique book.
I have enjoyed reading the book over several nights and recommend it to all who enjoy a solid work of history, especially of a mostly forgotten war in that far away place called Korea. For those of us who grew up during this period, reading Michener's books, and later serving in the Navy close to these areas (serving in Japan for 25 months, I was in and out of Yokosuka several times). I say again, this is one fine, interesting work of non-fiction.

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Flying the Edge: The Making of Navy Test Pilots Review

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(More customer reviews)Whilst the author had unprecedented access to an entire course as aviators earned their Test Pilot certification, i was really dissapointed by the very vague nature in which the book actually details 'flying on the edge'. With the exception of 2 -3 chapters there is very little detail behind the actual flying part of the course. Their exists even less detail on the thory and the author does not even go to the trouble of actually informing the reader of what the course elements are. There is little detail on rotary wing operations also.
I wanted to read about test flying and test pilots. Instead the author provides mere glimpses of the flying and seems happier to discuss the politics of test flying and the Navy - he gives a whole chapter to the Tailhook scandal which has nothing to do with 'flying the edge' in my opinion.
If you want hard core flying and test flying action look somewhere else

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Fly Navy: Discovering the Extraordinary People and Enduring Spirit of Naval Aviation Review

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(More customer reviews)As a long-time and now-retired Naval Aviator, I recently read "Fly Navy" and was blown away by its accuracy, depth and scope in covering 100 years of Naval Aviation. Bravo Zulu in naval parlance since fighting days of old, means job well done. Mr. Townley has done a remarkable job of writing about the true meaning of duty, honor and country through the eyes of hundreds of Americans who have served so nobly and who have made and shaped the Naval Aviation we know today. From the pilots flying the jets, to the astronauts of yesteryear, to the heroic POWs, to the carrier commanding officers, he has painted a montage of excellence, courage and tenacity. So too, has he brought to light those not so visible: the 19-year-old plane captain, the young rescue swimmer, the carrier chef serving 19,000 meals a day and to those left behind on the home front of hometown USA. The author is not simply an armchair writer: he has travelled widely, both ashore and on board deployed ships and carriers, and, my guess, talked to around 1,000 folks of all sizes and descriptions from the top to bottom. "Fly Navy" is all original and aptly captures the spirit, the intensity and challenges of real Americans who have done and are doing the tough job 24/7, both ashore and at sea. My compliments and a well-earned BZ to Mr. Townley for a job exceptionally well done. Peter B. Booth, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy retired.

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Top Gun was only part of the story. Fly Navy delves beyond the Hollywood image to reveal the true mettle and genuine story of the elite men and women of naval aviation.

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Fly Navy: Celebrating the First Century of Naval Aviation Review

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(More customer reviews)Fantastic review of the history of Naval Aviation. Personal accounts and incredible photos make this a book very unique and one that I am proud to share with others. You will read everything from the infamous F-14's to the boys out in Iraq flying helo's and saving lives. Definitely recommend this book to others even if you have no idea what Naval Aviation is all about. I promise after looking through this book that you will be happy with your purchase.

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An epic picture book commemorating 100 years of Naval Aviation, Fly Navy! Captures the pinnacle achievements that demonstrate how far the Navy has progressed over the last century. Aviation photographer and author Erik Hildebrandt chronicles all systems serving in naval aviation with never before seen photography and through the words of those brave individuals who have had the privilege to serve. The results of this effort will culminate in a grand, coffee-table style book that will be released in January 2011 at the official US Navy Centennial observance ceremonies in San Diego. With sections on each of the current aviation communities in the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, this book is certain to be the ultimate collection of modern and historic aircraft imagery ever assembled.

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