- Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
- Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group; illustrated edition edition (31 Dec 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0440235316
- ISBN-13: 978-0440235316
- Product Dimensions: 17 x 10.7 x 4.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,873,162 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
A thrilling, behind-the-scenes account of a remarkable group of male and female Navy Top Gun pilot trainees, whose stories provide an intimacy never captured in movies or on the television news.
Investigative journalist Doug Waller, who wrote The Commandos after observing the training of special forces soldiers, now chronicles the training of Top Gun pilots in Air Warriors. This time out, Waller provides even more exhilarating, you-are-there details -- because he was granted permission to actually participate in the pilots' grueling training program.
From his birds-eye view in the passenger seat, Waller follows each Top Gun trainee through two years of intense preparation, documenting aerial dog fights that leave the pilots reeling with nausea; stomach-swallowing dive-bombing runs; high-speed tactical maneuvers that graze the desert floor; and one heart-stopping landing and take-off after another.
Hurtling through the air at death-defying speeds, these pilots-in-training struggle to maintain their composure while surviving exercises that are designed to challenge them to the very limits of human endurance. In the tradition of George Plimpton, Waller offers a gripping and utterly extraordinary story that will inspire and amaze military readers -- or anyone who loves a heroic human interest story. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Author
Flying with the Navy's Top Guns
This is an adventure story about young men and women learning to become Navy carrier pilots. Movies such as "Top Gun" and "An Officer And A Gentleman" have glamorized the life of Navy pilots. "Air Warriors" tells the real story with real-life people who are now flying for the Navy. It is a book for flying enthusiasts, for anyone interested in the military, and for students who want to know how to become a Navy Top Gun. For two years, I followed different groups of men and women through Navy pilot training. I interviewed over 200 pilots. I watched them plunge into water in simulated cockpits, where upside down they had to unstrap themselves and swim to the top to escape drowning. I watched them take their first solo flights. I watched them dive bomb and fight in aerial dogfights. I watched them land on carriers for the first time during the day and night. To experience what they were experiencing, I was able to fly as a passenger on most every flight they flew. Carrier pilot training is physically and mentally demanding. Just imagine a 30-ton jet flying 140 miles per hour and coming to a crashing halt on a rocking steel runway just 200 feet long. That type of landing has to be carefully choreographed like a ballet. If the jet is off by just a few feet in the landing, the pilot can end up in a fiery crash. That's why pilots must have nerves of steel and a surgeon's touch at the stick and throttles. Or, take a catapult shot from an aircraft carrier. In just two seconds, this multi-ton jet goes from zero to 120 miles per hour. The g-force from this catshot is so great it plasters you to the back of your seat. It would cause my eyes to roll back so I couldn't read the dials in the cockpit. But in that two seconds, the pilot has to decide if he has enough speed from the catshot to begin flying. If he doesn't, he has to eject off the bow and hope that the ship doesn't run over him. What does it take to become a carrier pilot? Mental discipline is most important. There are thousands of things you have to memorize about the plane and flight procedures. You have to be able to do several things at once. Some student pilots will juggle balls and recite flight rules as practice. You have to be fast with your eyes, your hands and even your fingers. Carrier pilots have to practice special eye movements so their eyes can dart from the outside to various readings in their cockpit within microseconds in order to absorb hundreds of bits of information almost instantly. A jet pilot almost has to be a pianist with his fingers dancing over so many switches and knobs. In fact, at the Naval Academy some of the students who want to become jet jockeys are told to go out and buy a Gameboy to limber up their fingers. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
This is an adventure story about young men and women learning to become Navy carrier pilots. Movies such as "Top Gun" and "An Officer And A Gentleman" have glamorized the life of Navy pilots. "Air Warriors" tells the real story with real-life people who are now flying for the Navy. It is a book for flying enthusiasts, for anyone interested in the military, and for students who want to know how to become a Navy Top Gun. For two years, I followed different groups of men and women through Navy pilot training. I interviewed over 200 pilots. I watched them plunge into water in simulated cockpits, where upside down they had to unstrap themselves and swim to the top to escape drowning. I watched them take their first solo flights. I watched them dive bomb and fight in aerial dogfights. I watched them land on carriers for the first time during the day and night. To experience what they were experiencing, I was able to fly as a passenger on most every flight they flew. Carrier pilot training is physically and mentally demanding. Just imagine a 30-ton jet flying 140 miles per hour and coming to a crashing halt on a rocking steel runway just 200 feet long. That type of landing has to be carefully choreographed like a ballet. If the jet is off by just a few feet in the landing, the pilot can end up in a fiery crash. That's why pilots must have nerves of steel and a surgeon's touch at the stick and throttles. Or, take a catapult shot from an aircraft carrier. In just two seconds, this multi-ton jet goes from zero to 120 miles per hour. The g-force from this catshot is so great it plasters you to the back of your seat. It would cause my eyes to roll back so I couldn't read the dials in the cockpit. But in that two seconds, the pilot has to decide if he has enough speed from the catshot to begin flying. If he doesn't, he has to eject off the bow and hope that the ship doesn't run over him. What does it take to become a carrier pilot? Mental discipline is most important. There are thousands of things you have to memorize about the plane and flight procedures. You have to be able to do several things at once. Some student pilots will juggle balls and recite flight rules as practice. You have to be fast with your eyes, your hands and even your fingers. Carrier pilots have to practice special eye movements so their eyes can dart from the outside to various readings in their cockpit within microseconds in order to absorb hundreds of bits of information almost instantly. A jet pilot almost has to be a pianist with his fingers dancing over so many switches and knobs. In fact, at the Naval Academy some of the students who want to become jet jockeys are told to go out and buy a Gameboy to limber up their fingers. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Waller have done a mavellous job in writing this book. He has writen a very clear description of a trainee will accounter during a military flying training programme. It will be a very good reference to all those miltary pilot trainees.
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Found the book provided a keen insight into the mindset and fears that the men and women who want to fly jets go through. So many times we hear about fighter pilots being egotistical but this showed the underlying feelings of studying, qualifying and carrier landings. With the details provided on what is involved with flying these high tech machines, it is easy to feel the stress that exudes from this book.
Format:Hardcover
If it's about aviation I read it. The two best books I've read this year were AIR WARRIORS, and the air war over Europe novel, THE TRIUMPH AND THE GLORY. I am fascinated by all facets of air combat and greatly enjoyed comparing the WWII air campaign with the modern approach to training. We've come a LONG way. Thank you, Mr. Waller for a great behind the scenes look at the training of the United States Navy's pilots.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A MUST read for anyone interested in aviators and planes!
I just couldn't put this book down and I also didn't want to finish it. The author does a fantastic job of placing the reader in the midst of the action to let us experience the... Read more
Published on 27 April 1999
Know more about the training of a Navy fighter pilot
This is a very good book from Douglas C. Waller. He puts us in the pants of some naval aviators he interviewed during their mission in being a navy fighter pilot. Read more
Published on 2 Feb 1999
I had higher expectations
I felt the author (in a heavy handed way) spent too much time discussing the social aspects of women and Naval Aviation, post Tailhook. Read more
Published on 28 Nov 1998
An eye-opener!
As a pilot, but one who never got the chance to fly my dream, the F-14 Tomcat, I advise any young person who wants to fly for the Navy or any other branch of the service to... Read more
Published on 3 Nov 1998
Very good book on the training of navy pilots
This is a great book for anyone interested in more insight on the personalities and training of new Navy pilots. Read more
Published on 24 Oct 1998
These people really do this?
My son is a Navy jet instructor pilot. We've chatted about his "job" and he never revealed the unbelieveable challenges these pilots face every second. Read more
Published on 9 Oct 1998
A realistic look at the regimen of Naval Aviator training.
This book provides a realistic look at the training of a Naval Aviator. It focuses on the making of a pilot and ultimately a look at the jet pipeline. Read more
Published on 12 Aug 1998
The definitive book on Naval Aviation
From the opening pages, Waller draws you into their world. The personalities stand out above the background of intense, competitive training cycles. Read more
Published on 8 Aug 1998
Fascinating glimpse as young men & women reach for the skies
This is an engrossing tale of young men and women undergoing training to become naval aviators. Waller threw himself into his research. Read more
Published on 3 July 1998
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