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US Navy Pilots & Fighter Aircraft
 Born
to Fly
Born to Fly: The Heroic Story of Downed U.S. Navy Pilot Lt. Shane
Osborn by Shane Osborn with Malcolm McConnell tells the story of a young
American pilot, his life-long love of flying and the fateful events that
led him to receive the Navy's highest airmanship honor. Michael French
adapted the book for young readers from the simultaneously published
adult title, Born to Fly: The Untold Story of the Downed American
Reconnaissance Plane.
The vivid accounts of the life of Shane Osborn growing up in Nebraska
to his heroic actions while flying an American Reconnaissance plane
gives the children of today a great role model and hero. Intermediate
readers (and adults) realize that setting goals, working to achieve
goals and keeping focused in life does result in success and in Shane's
case saving 25 lives. Disappoints are not met with defeat, but rather
the desire to achieve even greater levels of accomplishments. I love the
message in this book and learned various Naval and aircraft terms. This
is an awesome book for children looking for a hero.
 F/A
18 Hornet
From Air Force lightweight to Navy champion--the F/A-18 Hornet is a
versatile fighting force to be reckoned with! Responsible for the
Navy's only two air-to-air kills during Desert Storm and the much-feared
stinger in the Navy's aircraft carrier strike force, the F/A-18 Hornet
has an ugly duckling history. Born as Northrop's YF-17, the design went
head to head with General Dynamics' F-16 for the Air Force's lightweight
fighter contract -- and lost. This intriguing, fact- and photo-packed
book, written by veteran aviation author and engineer Dennis R. Jenkins,
brings readers a stop-action look at the F/A-18 Hornet's metamorphosis
from an also-ran into a military, technical, and economic triumph.
Boeing F/A-18 Hornet takes you inside the cockpit for
never-to-be-forgotten takeoffs, landings, and missions on the great
floating airfields that are naval aircraft carriers. But even more
revealingly, it places you beside the engineers, pilots, and Navy brass
who turned an awkward orphan into a combat winner. Replete with
never-before-revealed technical details and performance appraisals, this
in-depth history of the F/A-18 Hornet closely examines the sophisticated
electronic countermeasures and weapons-delivery avionics that have made
this versatile warplane a hit, not just with the Navy but with foreign
purchasers from Canada to Malaysia.
Precise, incisive, and authoritative, Dennis R. Jenkin's Boeing F/A-18
Hornet is one of the most exciting tours of an in-service combat plane
ever penned--and a valuable addition to any collection of military or
aviation lore. Boeing
F/A-18 Hornet features:
More than 170 illustrations and photos revealing intimate details of
F/A-18 Hornet systems and construction
Expert analysis of high-tech defensive and offensive systems including
laser-guided weaponry
Previews of Super Hornets just now entering service
A detailed account of changes that transformed the F/A-18 from an Air
Force reject into a Navy star
Each volume in the Walter J. Boyne Military Aircraft Series provides an
extensively illustrated look at America's top combat aircraft, from
pre-WWII to conflicts yet to come. Internationally renowned, Walter J.
Boyne is a former USAF Command Pilot and the number one aviation author.
He is also past Director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air &
Space Museum and co-founder of Wingspan Air & Space Channel, the first
cable television channel devoted exclusively to aerospace subjects.
Representing the leading edge of the Navy's combat strike force, the
multipurpose F/A-18 Hornet stands poised on decks of aircraft carriers
around the world, ready to execute U.S. military policy swiftly and
decisively. Outfitted with the most sophisticated electronic offensive
and defensive weaponry yet devised, this potent and versatile warplane
is a visible symbol of U.S. combat strength. But it wasn't always so.
The F/A-18's phenomenal success story began with a tale of hard luck.
Beaten out by General Dynamics' F-16 for the Air Force's lucrative
lightweight fighter contract, the Hornet (then Northrop's YF-17) might
have languished--had not an executive had the bright idea of marketing
it to the Navy. The Hornet's troubles were not over when the Navy chose
the new plane to replace its older F-4 Phantoms. Simply put, the F/A-18
Hornet's capabilities were not up to snuff. The rapid and determined
development of new weapons-delivery avionics for the Hornet comprises
one of the most fascinating and exciting highlights in this now
super-capable aircraft's tale. More agile than most planes, engineered
with the durability needed to survive carrier landings, the F/A-18
Hornet has even enjoyed a surprising popularity in the export market,
attracting seven foreign governments as purchasers, in an arena
generally dominated by Air Force models. In this technically detailed
history, noted aviation writer and engineer Dennis R. Jenkins takes
readers closer to the F/A-18 Hornet than anyone other than its designers
and crew have ever been. You'll find a full exploration of the
cutting-edge electronic systems that guide and protect the Hornet, and
make it such a fearsome antagonist; see the integration of these highly
advanced weapons systems; and embark on a knowledgeable tour of the
developmental design of this astounding powerhouse of military muscle.
All in all, this book delivers one of the most compelling and complete
portraits of a new war machine ever written. What's more, you'll also
get an exclusive look--limited only by national security
considerations--of advanced F-18 Hornet models now in development.
The first volume in the prestigious Walter J. Boyne Military Aircraft
Series to honor a Navy warplane, this expert history and technical
overview delivers to the F/A-18 Hornet the respect that is its due.
 Bogeys
and Bandits
Tales from the cockpits and ground-training classes of those
learning to fly the navy's most advanced fleet fighter/bomber jet- -the
FA-18 Hornet. Gandt, a veteran navy fighter pilot (Sky Gods: The Fall of
Pan Am, 1995), follows eight trainees from their introductory briefing
to the difficult final exam and on to their service with the fleet,
where they become accustomed to taking off and landing on a carrier
pitching and tossing on the open sea. They must master a push- button,
computer-controlled, $30 million marvel that routinely exceeds the sound
barrier. Gandt notes that the ``Incredible Shrinking Navy'' has, since
the end of the Cold War, far fewer openings for pilot trainees. Today's
pilots are chosen with a heavy stress on college ranking, in contrast
with wartime standards that welcomed any eager volunteers. Some
high-ranking veteran fliers tell Gandt that they would not qualify under
present standards and that they are amazed to hear today's sophisticated
trainees discussing stocks and corporate jobs. Gandt also touches on
more controversial matters: He calls the Tailhook incident a political
witch hunt and suggests that, combined with the Clinton administration's
decision to allow women to apply for combat duty, it has created serious
new problems for the navy including a dangerous double standard. He
claims that an unqualified female flier allowed to carry out a
particularly difficult assignment was killed in a flawed carrier
landing. The navy, he asserts, covered up the incident by attributing it
to engine failure. While Gandt discusses these matters frankly, much of
the book is taken up with the day-to-day reality of flying an
extraordinary machine and the exhilaration that comes with it. His
descriptions of flight sweep are vivid enough to transport the reader to
the Hornet's cockpit. A fascinating look into an arcane, risky,
high-tech world inhabited by bright, brave youngsters.
First the review: I found this a GREAT book documenting the trials
and tribulations of training people who go into very high-tech fields.
Though it describes the training of fighter pilots, it could as easily
describe the making of surgeons or engineers. The same things that we
see in medicine occur in this community: the sieve gets finer, the best
get through it, and usually the unworthy don't. Tragedies can and do
happen along the way--that happens in both fields as well--but in
fighters, the loss is usually more personal than it is in medicine. What
Gandt did was to bring enormous amounts of warmth and humor into the
fray, and he managed not to be judgmental when he could easily have done
so. It stands as one of the best books on or near the subject that I
have read. META-REVIEW: Reading over the other reviews posted here is
fascinating. All reviews are either raves or total pans, the former
outnumbering the latter. Objections seem to be from the uninformed--or
those who, for reasons of their own, want Gandt not to be correct. Alas,
he is. But it remains a mark of a great book that it excites strong
passions. |
