A Cold War Fighter Pilot In Peacetime And War

Author : Derek J. Sharp
Publisher : Fonthill Media
Page : 426 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2019-03-19
Category : History
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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A Cold War Fighter Pilot in Peacetime and War by Derek J. Sharp Pdf

— Historically rich in detail with previously unpublished photographs — A must-have for military enthusiasts, historians, modellers and those interested in the complexities of aircraft design and manoeuvres during the Cold War — A fascinating and eye-opening memoir that will appeal to fliers and non-fliers alike on how to fly the fastest jets in the RAF This is the remarkable and true story of Squadron Leader Derek J. Sharp and his incredible adventures. Nothing perhaps was more astonishing than his survival after striking a mallard duck at 500 mph and his subsequent return to pilot in command. That he survived to the age of thirty was astonishing; that he continued unashamedly on to a ripe old age was nothing short of a miracle. Conceivably, he followed the advice written on a fridge magnet in his kitchen: ‘Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly’. This fascinating book follows the adventures of Sharp from schoolboy to highly respected aviator. He flew fighters and nuclear bombers, finally seeing action in the first Gulf War flying defenceless transport jets close to the Iraq border. Sharp consequently survived Saddam Hussein’s Scuds and American Patriot missiles – ‘friendly fire’ aimed directly at the author. He flew Her Majesty The Queen and lived in a time long before political correctness, the breathalyser and motorcar safety checks. He achieved all that he set out to do, and more. That would undoubtedly be his epitaph…

Author : Fonthill Media,Philip Stevens
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2018-11-05
Category : History
ISBN : 1781557241

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A Cold War Fighter Pilot in Peacetime and War by Fonthill Media,Philip Stevens Pdf

Low level flying in military aircraft at speeds of up to 500 mph and as low as 100 feet above the ground is as challenging for the pilot as it is for the photographer wishing to capture the action. This is two books in one, the main subject is about military low flying; the skills, reasons and dangers from a pilot's perspective. The writer also talks about the challenges faced, revealing how and where the images were taken from mountainsides and desert canyons to cockpits for air to air. Pilots describe their training, mission planning, systems and the aircraft they love to fly; from A-7 Corsairs and F-4 Phantoms to Tornados, Typhoons, F-15 Eagles and Gripen. They fly low to deliver weapons or gather data and evade Radar. Pilots from air forces across Europe and the United States talk about the skills they need to be effective in very dangerous flying environments, discussing the challenging conditions they face when flying fast and low over snow, the sea or through mountain ranges at night. Commanders with years of low level flying give a fascinating insight in to their most memorable sorties.

Author : Harold Wade
Publisher : Trafford Publishing
Page : 230 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2004-07-08
Category : History
ISBN : 9781412225243

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Cold War Fighter Pilot by Harold Wade Pdf

Cold War Fighter Pilot covers experiences leading up to USAF pilot training for the author and then describes in considerable detail the flight training and a variety of experiences that are intended to explain what military pilots do as well as how and why they do it. Technical terminology is minimized or explained, yet enough of it is included to give the reader an idea of the complexity of the job. The author logged over 3,000 hours as a USAF fighter pilot, instructor pilot and maintenance fight test pilot, much of it in supersonic aircraft.

Author : Charles Banks
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2023-06-02
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1952311233

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Low and Fast by Charles Banks Pdf

Many people have approached me asking what it felt like to fly jet fighters. In fact, most people have never flown in a small plane. They truly are missing the most incredible feeling of being airborne alone, among the clouds, looking down at the ground and feeling amazingly free. All takeoffs and landings are thrilling. These feelings are more or less intense for each type of plane flown. As you look back through our history, various conflicts dictated different missions and types of aircraft. Industry changed designs of airframes and weapons based on the mission, cost, and time to manufacture. In the 1970's and 80's, during the tensions of the Cold War, numerous borders around the world were being contested, sometimes using military force. Communist and Socialist dictators were taking over many countries. There was a worldwide feeling that it could all explode into World War III at any moment. In that climate, military pilots worldwide constantly prepared for the worst, hoping that being fully prepared would deter political and military action. This is the story of one of the pilots who flew the F-4, the F-105, the F-111, and the O-2 in defense of his country. This pilot prepared for fighting at high or low speed and high or low altitude with most of the missiles, rockets, and bombs that a fighter aircraft could carry. His missions in Vietnam steeled him for deadly combat. This combat experience prepared him to protect our country and our allies in the Far East and in Europe throughout a loyal career.

Author : Steven K Ladd
Publisher : Air World
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2020-09-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9781526761279

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From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog by Steven K Ladd Pdf

Fighter pilots! Images of Baron Manfred von Richthofen and Eddie Rickenbacker in the Great War, Johnnie Johnson, Robert Stanford Tuck and Richard Bong in the Second World War, or Robin Olds in Vietnam, all spring to mind. Volumes have been written about them, past and present. Understandably, most of these revolve around the skill, cunning and bravery that characterizes this distinctive band of brothers, but there are other dimensions to those who take to the skies to do battle that have not been given the emphasis they deserve – until now. You do not have to be an aviation aficionado to enjoy Colonel Steve Ladd’s fascinating personal tale, woven around his 28-year career as a fighter pilot. This extremely engaging account follows a young man from basic pilot training to senior command through the narratives that define a unique ethos. From the United States to Southeast Asia; Europe to the Middle East; linking the amusing and tongue-in-cheek to the deadly serious and poignant, this is the lifelong journey of a fighter pilot. The anecdotes provided are absorbing, providing an insight into life as an Air Force pilot, but, in this book, as Colonel Ladd stresses, the focus is not on fireworks or stirring tales of derring-do. Instead, this is an articulate and absorbing account of what life is really like among a rare breed of arrogant, cocky, boisterous and fun-loving young men who readily transform into steely professionals at the controls of a fighter aircraft. From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog is a terrific read: the legacy of a fighter pilot.

Author : Chris J. Bain
Publisher : Casemate Publishers
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2007-11-13
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781844681600

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Cold War, Hot Wings by Chris J. Bain Pdf

A former Royal Air Force fighter pilot chronicles his time in service during the Cold War in this gripping memoir. This is a semi-autobiographical account of a fighter pilot in the RAF from 1962 to 1994. He was both a Hunter and Harrier pilot, rose to Squadron Leader level, and commanded fighter and strategic reconnaissance units. He was CO of the Desert Rescue Team, flew Dakotas on desert supply running, and saw active fighter service receiving bullet holes in his aircraft during the Aden Radfan campaign. He flew Cold War covert reconnaissance missions, commanded the Harrier unit in Belize, spent the Gulf War working with the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, and became a nuclear weapons specialist. The book includes inside accounts of army support missions on the Yemen border, flying cold war reconnaissance missions in Europe, early day conversion to Harriers without any training aids, and long range ultra-high-level, covert photo intelligence gathering sorties, including helping police and customs with airborne photography, most notably for the 2nd Moors Murder Inquiry. It also includes political, geographical and economic background of all the places in which he served, and comments on political and military decisions made at those times.

Author : Dale C. Ford
Publisher : Tate Publishing
Page : 144 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2011-06
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781617771538

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My Two Hot Wars & One Cold War by Dale C. Ford Pdf

In 1949, Dale Ford joined the peacetime Air Force. Two days after he graduated from flying school, the Korean War started. What a jolt that was! Rather foolishly, he had not really considered that he might be called upon to fly combat someday. President Truman's order for our armed forces to support South Korea in their fight with North Korea quickly changed that. After about ten months of additional training, Ford found himself in the middle of that fight. He flew one hundred combat missions against the Russian Mig-15 in the swept-wing F-86 jet fighters of the 4th and 51st Fighter Interceptor Wings. He was not a hero or a jet ace. He was just a buck second lieutenant doing his job. Ford spent three years as a jet fighter pilot and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Ford went on to receive a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering from Purdue University. In 1956, he joined Convair Aeronautical Corporation, builder of the world's first supersonic bomber. He spent the next five years working closely with and flying with the B-58 test pilots as a flight test engineer. They blazed new ground taking this four-engine, 160,000-pound aircraft to twice the speed of sound in the 1950s and proved it was ready for production for the U.S. Air Force. Join author Dale Ford as he relives and relates one man's experiences through Two Hot Wars and One Cold War.

Author : Michael Petridis
Publisher : Xlibris Corporation
Page : 99 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2007-12-26
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781669814740

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Fighter Pilot Follies by Michael Petridis Pdf

You’ve seen the images from Hollywood. Macho, tough, with an almost John Wayne air about him, the fighter pilot has been famously portrayed as a gallant warrior. Now, take a look behind the scenes at a different look at the fighter pilot. Gone is the mystique and sense of danger. Instead is a fresh look at the comical aspects of being a fighter pilot; events, scenarios, during war and during peacetime, that show quite a different picture of the “hard as nails” image of the fighter pilot. Fictitious callsigns such as “Maverick” and “Ghostrider” are replaced with “Moe,” “Larry”, and “Curly.” Yes, there are scenes where these nonchalant, easygoing fighter-pilot types are racing through the sky, boring holes in the clouds, going supersonic; but it’s how and why they are there that makes the story interesting. Shooting rockets at the wrong target, scrambling to takeoff in the middle of the night from a dead sleep, ejecting from the aircraft after breaking it apart on the ground, getting lost while airborne, frantically trying to strafe a Soviet jet --- these are all the stories about real flying that never make the headlines of the daily paper. Working hard and playing hard, the fighter pilot genre is shown anew, much to the reader’s delight. Those who have pressed the edge and lived to talk about it know these stories; those aspiring to do so will simply be amazed, ready to stand in line for their turn.

Author : Russ Peart
Publisher : Air World
Page : 389 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2021-10-13
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781399007481

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From Lightnings to MiGs by Russ Peart Pdf

A Royal Air Force pilot chronicles his career flying during the Cold War in this memoir featuring previously unseen photographs. It was supposed to be just a training flight. The two Soviet-manufactured MiG 21s, each with two practice bombs and four air-to-ground rockets, were lined up on the runway in Bangladesh at the height of the Cold War, when air traffic control suddenly reported an incursion by Indian Air Force Jaguars. Though ill-equipped for combat, the two MiGs were scrambled. One of the MiGs’ pilots was an RAF officer—Squadron Leader Russell Peart. On a seven-month loan to the Bangladeshi Air Force, Peart suddenly found himself at the centre of the simmering hostility between two neighbouring nations. By the time they reached the area that had been threatened by the Indian pilots, the Jaguars had gone. Later, when Squadron Leader Russell Peart spoke of the incident to the British High Commissioner, he was told not to shoot down any Jaguars as the Indians had still not paid for them! Russell Peart flew many other aircraft in his varied career, including the MiG 19, and while a test pilot at Boscombe Down trialled such designs as the Tornado GR1. But it was whilst he was seconded to the Sultan of Oman’s Air Force, particularly during the so-called “Secret War” in Dhofar, that he saw the most action. In that theatre the author flew some 200 operational sorties, 180 of which involved live fire, during which he was hit many times. He was also hit and wounded by a 75mm shell. Russ Peart has written in detail of his exciting RAF career, from flying Lightnings in the Far East to winning the top prize in the International Tactical Bombing Competition against a handpicked team of United States Air Force fighter pilots and being awarded the Sultan of Oman’s Distinguished Service Medal. Supplemented by a selection of previously unseen photographs, this uniquely original memoir throws new light on the operational flying undertaken by some RAF pilots during the tense years of the Cold War. Praise for From Lightnings to MiGs “Absorbing and highly entertaining. . . . I have no hesitation in recommending From Lightnings to MiGs as an engrossing and enjoyable read for anyone with an interest in military aviation.” —RAF Historical Society “There’s some pretty jaw-dropping stuff in here.” —Rowland White, author of Vulcan 607

Author : Chuck Lehman
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : Aeronautics, Military
ISBN : 0978850793

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Angels Three Six by Chuck Lehman Pdf

Author : Steven K Ladd
Publisher : Air World
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2022-05-30
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 152679795X

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From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog by Steven K Ladd Pdf

Fighter pilots! Images of Baron Manfred von Richthofen and Eddie Rickenbacker in the Great War, Johnnie Johnson, Robert Stanford Tuck and Richard Bong in the Second World War, or Robin Olds in Vietnam, all spring to mind. Volumes have been written about them, past and present. Understandably, most of these revolve around the skill, cunning and bravery that characterizes this distinctive band of brothers, but there are other dimensions to those who take to the skies to do battle that have not been given the emphasis they deserve - until now. You do not have to be an aviation aficionado to enjoy Colonel Steve Ladd's fascinating personal tale, woven around his 28-year career as a fighter pilot. This extremely engaging account follows a young man from basic pilot training to senior command through the narratives that define a unique ethos. From the United States to Southeast Asia; Europe to the Middle East; linking the amusing and tongue-in-cheek to the deadly serious and poignant, this is the lifelong journey of a fighter pilot. The anecdotes provided are absorbing, providing an insight into life as an Air Force pilot, but, in this book, as Colonel Ladd stresses, the focus is not on fireworks or stirring tales of derring-do. Instead, this is an articulate and absorbing account of what life is really like among a rare breed of arrogant, cocky, boisterous and fun-loving young men who readily transform into steely professionals at the controls of a fighter aircraft. Phantom to Warthog is a terrific read: the legacy of a fighter pilot.

Author : Nigel Walpole
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 250 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2012-10
Category : History
ISBN : 095379332X

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Thinking the Unthinkable by Nigel Walpole Pdf

'Thinking the Unthinkable' is the result of ten years of sporadic research, involving many visits to the former German Democratic Republic by a small Anglo/German team of military specialists. Their purpose was to explore the lives of RAF and East German fighter and fighter-bomber pilots, in the air and on the ground, at work and play, during the Cold War in North Germany. The book is based largely on personal testimony from these pilots, coupled with facts drawn from official archives and comment from other historical sources. Where possible, political considerations have been avoided and no outright criticism has been intended, readers being left to draw their own conclusions on the thinking, strategies, equipment and tactics discussed. Far from being an intellectual polemic on the Cold War, the text and photographs merely record a slice of history as seen through the eyes of a select few who took up arms in the defence of their respective homelands - and faced each other daily across the Iron Curtain. Nigel Walpole passed out from the Royal Air Force College Cranwell in 1954, and joined No.26 (Day Fighter) Squadron, flying Hunter F.4s on the front line in Germany at RAF Oldenburg. In 1957 he converted to the Swift FR.5, on No.79 (Fighter Reconnaissance) Squadron, and in 1959 began an exchange posting with the USAF at Shaw AFB, South Carolina, flying RF-101 Voodoos in the tactical reconnaissance role. On return to the UK in 1961, he was posted to the Central Fighter Establishment, where he was promoted to squadron leader and given command of No.234 Squadron, equipped with Hunter F.6 and Hunter DFGA 9 aircraft. He returned to Germany in 1965, to command No.2 Squadron, flying Hunter FR.10s committed to armed reconnaissance. This was followed by two years on the Fighter Command Tactical Evaluation team, before promotion to wing commander and an appointment to 16 Parachute Brigade, as the Brigade Air Support Officer (BASO) - this giving him a good perspective of the British Army's use of air power. Staff training at the National Defence College followed a short spell in command of No.12 Squadron, operating overland and maritime strike/attack Buccaneers, followed by a staff appointment at the MOD in London, before he returned to the front line in Germany as Officer Commanding Strike Wing, flying Jaguar GR.1s at RAF Bruggen. Promoted to group captain, he ended his military career in 1988 with four years as Assistant Chief of Staff (Offensive) in the NATO HQ at Rheindahlen, Germany. He then joined British Aerospace as its air weapons advisor, before retiring to take a university degree, and thereafter to write a series of books and articles on the Cold War - as seen from the flight line. He now lives with his Dutch-born wife in Suffolk, UK.

Author : Nigel Walpole
Publisher : Air World
Page : 512 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2020-11-23
Category : History
ISBN : 9781526758392

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RAF & East German Fast-Jet Pilots in the Cold War by Nigel Walpole Pdf

“You’ll learn what these pilots went through knowing that their actions or reactions could trigger a global nuclear war.” —Historic Aviation RAF and East German Fast-Jet Pilots in the Cold War is the result of ten years of research, involving many visits to the former German Democratic Republic by a small Anglo/German team of military specialists. Their purpose was to explore the lives of RAF and East German fighter and ?ghter-bomber pilots, in the air and on the ground, at work and play, during the Cold War in North Germany. The book is based largely on personal testimony from these pilots, coupled with facts drawn from official archives and comment from other historical sources. Where possible, political considerations have been avoided and no outright criticism has been intended, readers being left to draw their own conclusions on the thinking, strategies, equipment and tactics discussed. Far from being an intellectual polemic on the Cold War, the text and photographs merely record a slice of history as seen through the eyes of a select few who took up arms in the defense of their respective homelands—and faced each other daily across the Iron Curtain. In an insightful conclusion, Nigel Walpole reassess the threat that both sides believed was genuine during those tense decades of the Cold War and examines the possible course and nature of a conflict which neither NATO nor the Warsaw Pact wanted but both actively planned for. “The writer has avoided politics where possible, and in doing so reassesses the threat and uncertainty—and ultimately the fears—both air forces faced. It’s truly fascinatingl.” —Flypast

Author : Randall Wakelam,William March,Peter Rayls
Publisher : University of Toronto Press
Page : 423 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2023-11-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9781487526788

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On the Wings of War and Peace by Randall Wakelam,William March,Peter Rayls Pdf

Bringing together leading researchers on Canadian air power, On the Wings of War and Peace captures the history of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) during the first decades of the Cold War – a period which marked the zenith of air force accomplishments in peacetime Canada. The volume covers topics that go beyond straightforward flying operations, examining policies that drove operational needs and capabilities and the personnel, technical, and logistical functions that made those operations possible. With contributions written by former RCAF members who have both expert and personal knowledge of their topics, On the Wings of War and Peace brings new perspectives to the RCAF’s role in shaping the modern Canadian nation.

Author : Robin Higham
Publisher : Stackpole Books
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2005-07-06
Category : History
ISBN : 9780811750516

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Flying American Combat Aircraft by Robin Higham Pdf

Riveting accounts from the pilots who flew such planes as the F-15, B-52, C-130, and many more. Dozens of in-the-cockpit photos.