B*U*F*F (Big Ugly Fat F*****) [Paperback]

Lothar Maier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 6, 2006

B*U*F*F (Big Ugly Fat F*****) is the Strategic Air Command air crew and jungle grunt's popular nickname for the B-52. It is the story of Major Rudi Mauser, a United States Air Force bomber pilot, and the interplay of events leading to his becoming the commander of a B-52 combat crew. He discovers that he had avoided participation in the Korean Conflict by a quirk of fate, only to be thrust into an active combat role in America's controversial war in Vietnam. Rudi and his crew follow in the footsteps of their World War II predecessors, maintaining their sanity by resorting to outrageous attempts at humor. Throughout his career Rudi has confrontations with GK Harden, who had harassed Rudi as an Aviation Cadet. Rudi's frequently erotic love life also ends when he is smitten by Sabrina, a school teacher he meets on the island of Okinawa, who has a very unusual background.

B*U*F*F is written in the vernacular of the B-52 combat crewmember participants, and contains an explicit adult love story. The primary objective is a novel that allows the reader to experience the unrestrained details of Arc Light bombing operations in Southeast Asia. The intimate horrors of modern day conventional weapon bombing contained in B*U*F*F have never been published before.

For more information, please email the author at [e-mail]

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Major Lothar "Nick" Maier is a native of Buffalo, NY. He entered pilot training with Aviation Cadet Class 55-M, January 1954, and was commissioned at Williams AFB, Arizona, in April 1955. Immediately after graduation, he was the first Second Lieutenant to enter SAC's Pilot AOB (Aircraft-Observer-Bombardier) course at James Connal-ly AFB, Texas, and received a Navigator rating. Assigned to B-47s at Smoky Hill AFB, Kansas, where in 1956 his crew was the first from the 40th Bomb Wing to be selected for B-52 upgrade training at Castle AFB, California, and subsequently remained there in the 93rd Bomb Wing instructor cadre.

Nick was a B-52 aircraft commander for twenty years, flying the B through G model aircraft. He completed one B-52 Arc Light tour in 1969 with 70 combat missions, and was 8AF Command Post Senior Controller at Andersen AFB, Guam, during Linebacker II in 1972. Retiring as a Major in 1977, he worked 16 years in Travel Industry Management. His writings have been published in several military and travel related periodicals.

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing (July 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1553950496
• ISBN-13: 978-1553950493
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,605,134 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good, May 6, 2009

By 

A reader (New York City) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: B*U*F*F (Big Ugly Fat F*****) (Kindle Edition)

Lothar Maier's autobiographical novel, B*U*F*F, is excellent. I was hooked by the sample offered by Kindle. Maier is really telling his life story in the character of Rudi Mauser, a B-52 pilot. The story is more told than spoken by the characters. Maier has a great writer's voice and this tale is indeed in the telling. As Rudi's life is followed from upstate New York, to the National Guard during the Korean War, to Aviation Cadet training, B-47s and then B-52s, he has terrific adventures and does very well with the ladies. Maier puts all of this against a telling of what the Air Force and the Strategic Air Command were like back then, and why. He has found just the right touch in this regard. B*U*F*F is not a text book or a history lesson, but it is all there along with some very cool stories of flying incidents that must be true. You'll never again wonder what it was like to fly an endless nuclear mission in a B-52, to spend in a week in a molehole, or to fly in a B-52 against the enemy in Vietnam from Guam, Okinawa or Thailand. I think the book is self-published. Congratulations to the author for great job.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Life of a B-52 Crew - It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This!, January 16, 2010

By 

Olongapo86 (Philippines) - See all my reviews

This review is from: B*U*F*F (Big Ugly Fat F*****) (Paperback)

This is one thoroughly enjoyable read. Although non-fiction, it is pretty darn close to the real life events of your B-52 bomber crew as they make their way out of crew training through ARC Light missions in Vietnam. The author is a former BUF driver and it is pretty evident that he takes his reading audience down his own memory lane. In fact, this book is probably non-fiction, with certain parts embellished to make it look like fiction (the womanizing, drinking, and the crew's shootdown at the end). However, the embellished parts really were full of humor and had a sense of sobriety to them when viewed from the strains of flying that affected this crew. Levity in the face of adversity! The author has managed to write 400 pages without any speedbumps in the book; each chapter was as energetic as its previous one. In other words...this was an enjoyable read and hard to put down.

I was attracted to this book to learn about my Dad's service in the B-47 and B-52. He also did the same stuff as the author (flew B-47's at Castle, transitioned to B-52's at Castle, and flew Arc Light from Kadena). This book exceeded my expectations. The humor, emotion, and technical aspects of the daily life of a crew are all laid out here although some activities are tongue-in-cheek. The author is a great wordsmith and writes in a very active style that makes for an enjoyable read. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in SAC and the Vietnam War, and the B-52!

5.0 out of 5 stars B*U*F*F* (Big Ugly Fat F*****), May 1, 2011

By 

Ron Pilot USAF - See all my reviews

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This review is from: B*U*F*F (Big Ugly Fat F*****) (Hardcover)

This book really brought back some memories having flown B-52s 1966-86, including 221 ArcLight missions. Many inaccuracies, but nevertheless, a very good read.