Customer Reviews

Eagles

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A book about the flying F-15 "Eagles" may not sound original (though F-16's typically get more attention), but "Eagles" was written in 1978!! Thus, it takes the F-15 out of its normal context of flying in the Reagan years or against Hussein. Further, "Eagles" isn't about F-15's in combat, but about the pilots who flew it when it was a trouble-prone, politically beset USAF acquisition - when shoddy production and reliability problems of the ambitious new plane make it a horror to fly. It's unclear what "Eagles" is supposed to be about - or whom, since none of the several pilots ever rises to become the central charachter - but it wasn't what I expected, and that's praiseworthy. In short, several pilots try to come to terms with the new beast which has its share of problems. (The author slyly telegraphs the nature of the new plane's problems before describing them: a USAF PR officer lists the contractors behind the plane's major components, all seem to match those behind the real F-15, with the one exception of the guys who built the engines.) Though there doesn't seem to be a plot, the author climaxes the action at a round of "Red Flag", the USAF's fighter pilot boot camp, where some fighter pilots are literally flown to death. The flying scenes, though not spectacular, are a change from what I've grown used to. This is a book that's probably disappeared from most book stores. I'd nab a copy if I could find one.