Bruce Gordon

Broschiertes Buch

The Spirit of Attack

Fighter Pilot Stories

Beschreibung

SCRAMBLE! In a couple of minutes my wingman and I would be airborne on another adventure. Sometimes we intercepted an airliner, sometimes a misplaced B-52 bomber, and sometimes Russian bombers probing our defenses; Russian warships; MIG fighters; or "troops in contact" in Vietnam, calling for napalm only yards from their positions. Twice it was UFOs - Unidentified Flying Objects! This book is a series of short stories, supported by more than 90 photographs. The first part has my own stories; later stories were contributed by my fellow pilots. The last story is from WW II of our P-38 fighters attacking the Romanian oil fields and getting badly mauled by defending Romanian fighters - and a Romanian pilot's view of the battle! "Only the spirit of attack borne in a brave heart will bring success to any fighter aircraft, to matter how highly developed the aircraft may be." That quote from Adolf Galland, an Ace of the German Luftwaffe in WW II, was the motto of our 317th Fighter Interceptor Squadron in Alaska. The fighter pilot is a hunter, and his quarry is the most dangerous in the world - men who want to kill him! The best defense is a good offense - ATTACK! The US Air Force had a program called "Every Man a Tiger". A tiger does not kill impulsively or in anger, but plans his attack carefully and strikes with cool ferocity. We were tigers! Fighter pilots tell stories around the bar, but they seldom write them down. These stories were written by the fighter pilots themselves! Come with me and hear of the beauty of flight, the mortal danger of electrical power failure at night in a snowstorm, and the thrill of attack with 20mm cannons firing right under your feet!

Autor

Bruce Gordon was 7 years old and living in Honolulu when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and he remembers it well. On Christmas Day, 1941, he left with his family as a refugee in a convoy to San Francisco, only to return in 1943 when his father considered it safe. After the war, he went to Hong Kong and experienced China under British rule.Bruce returned to the USA for college. He joined the AFROTC at Tufts College, starting a 20-year career in the US Air Force as a fighter pilot and maintenance officer. He flew many Active Air Scrambles in Alaska, intercepting Russian aircraft and a high-altitude balloon. He transferred to the F-106 in Michigan, learning the SAGE air defense system. He learned aerial refueling and fighter tactics, with practice dogfights with F-104s. His squadron deployed to South Korea, where he intercepted Russian aircraft and buzzed a Russian fleet. He was transferred to Vietnam, where he flew the F-100 in 132 combat missions, attacking enemy troops and the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Bruce returned to the USA with the Distinguished Flying Cross and 9 Air Medals. He helped develop drones and worked with test aircraft. After retirement, he developed and taught Electronic Warfare in Michigan, then went to Saudi Arabia to manage a business airline. He returned to the USA to work as a contractor developing software for tracking maintenance of USAF aircraft and Army tanks & multiple weapon systems. He retired again and lives in Georgetown, Kentucky. He has a wife, three children, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: AuthorHouse
• Seitenzahl: 116
• Erscheinungstermin: 27. Januar 2014
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 280mm x 216mm x 7mm
• Gewicht: 314g
• ISBN-13: 9781491846032
• ISBN-10: 1491846038
• Artikelnr.: 40427072