Customer Reviews

Eye of the Viper: The Making of an F-16 Pilot

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

From reading the reviews already here, it looks as if there is a rift between the readers. Hopefully I can clear some of the confusion up.

I am not a fighter pilot and have never been in a fighter jet. Like most guys, I think they are extremely cool. One of my most vivid memories of being a child was seeing an F-15 demonstration at the Keesler Air Force Base open house in about 1978. I will never forget the shock of seeing a huge chunk of metal stand on end what seemed like a few feet above the runway, hit the afterburners, and disappear into the sky. So although I am not a fighter jock, I do admire the machines and the people who fly them.

This book was, overall, pretty good. The writing was decent and it covered some of the technical aspects of flight in a way that the average reader could understand them at some basic level. What this book was not:

1. A technically detailed (i.e. Tom Clancy) showcase for F-16s
2. A minute by minute account of training.
3. A full picture of fighter pilots or their training.

I can understand Mr. Quattlebaum's disappointment with this book. But you have to understand that a writer can only do so much and still have broad appeal to non-fighter pilot types. It would be this way with any highly skilled or technical profession. Whether you are a stock broker, brain surgeon, computer programmer, or hacker, a book that the average person will pick up and read (and more importantly, pay for) is not going to do you justice. I would suggest that Mr. Quattlebaum write his own book on the true F-16 pilot training experience. Yes, I would buy that one too...so you have one sure sale and I suspect that many, many people would be interested in this topic from a trainer's point of view!

The book lightly follows a group of F-16 pilot trainees through training at Luke AFB. Right up front the author acknowledges that because of a variety of writing, editing, and marketing constraints he was not able to produce the book he really wanted to. He also admitted that the story lines may be skewed, compressed, rearranged and otherwise tweaked to make the book readable and not be too long for casual reading. It is the nature of the business. That said, I think he did a very good job at giving the reader a taste of what the pilots are expected to do, the pressure that is on them to get it right, and the concerns that the trainers have during the process.

I do agree that for my personal taste, a little too much space was given to the various "entertainment" aspects such as the parties. I don't think that detracted from the book but I think it shoved out room for some of the more play by play flight action which I would have found more satisfying.

After reading this book, I did not feel that I had a whole lot of knowledge about fighter training. It was more like the "Space Camp" version of the space program. You get a taste. A reader interested in the technical, tactical, and emotional aspects of being a fighter pilot will probably continue their reading with more in-depth books on the same subject.

Overall a decent book.

M@

I'm currently a Viper pilot and I think this book was awesome. Sure there are some inaccuracies, but Mr. Aleshire did a good job overall capturing the feelings and the attitude of a young fighter pilot.

Capt Quattlebaum: just because you don't know there is a rift in your class doesn't mean it isn't there. My class had a contentious assignment process and guess what - hard feelings were there until the day we graduated.

Yes, being an F-16 pilot is about hard work and dedication, but it's a damn good time, too.

I love all fighter pilot books, and this one is good (my all-time favorite is still Bogeys and Bandits). The author describes about 5 new pilots in training and about 5 of their flight instructors at an Air Force base in Arizona. The book just came out, so the stories are current. There's the surfer dude pilot, the rare woman pilot, the yes-sir/no-sir military guy pilot and so on. The author spends most of his time describing their actual flights as they learn how to fly the Viper (F-16) so you get a good feel for their mistakes and the difficulty in learning all the complexities of not only flying the jet but using it's missiles and bombs. The author is plenty gung-ho about the fighter pilot world - describing them as "ball-busting badasses" on the 1st page. I don't think the previous 1-star reviews by a pilot and the pilot's wife who think the author dissed him in the book are relevent to the book's actual goodness or badness - most people who read this book will enjoy it.

I was so excited to see this book on the shelves at my local bookstore. I remembered Mr. Aleshire visiting our squadron at Luke and interviewing me and many of my classmates. Of course I immediately bought it and read it cover to cover. Unfortunately as I read, my excitement turned to disappointment and then anger. How could someone who spent so much time in a fighter squadron get so much wrong.

I've got so much to say about this book, I could write my own. Lets narrow it down to two basic categories. First, Mr Aleshire got almost every detail wrong about my flying record up to and including Luke, assaulting my character, leadership, and flying ability in the process. Second, he totally mischaracterized what it is like to be a real (not Hollywood movie) fighter pilot.

The list of inaccurate details would take several pages, so I won't bore you. I would like to set the record straight on the supposed "Rift" in the class following the assignment battle. Although there was a battle over who got which assignments and how to decide, that division in the class ended that night as far as I can tell. I worked side by side,10-12 hours a day, for months with the rest of the class and never noticed any indications of an ongoing division. It is a credit to the discipline and professionalism of all of my classmates and Air Force pilots in general that personal issues don't enter a flight planning room, briefing room, or cockpit. If a pilot doesn't think he can stick to that, then he just doesn't enter any of those places.

As far as general portrayal of fighter pilots, I think Peter got it pretty wrong. Don't mis-understand, I think this is the greatest job on the planet, and feel very lucky to be a viper driver. This career doesn't need to be sensationalized like a bad reality TV show to be interesting to a non-flyer. It is a special career because of the day in and day out tireless dedication and thoughtful scientific approach to fighting and winning any future air battle anywhere in the world. Professionals only, Hot dogs need not apply. To anyone not affiliated with our line of work, let me assure you of this. The weapons officers, IP's, and all of the fighter pilots I have ever met have done their homework. Our training so far surpasses that of any potential adversary that the Air Force slogan "No one even comes close" really rings true.

To try to make us seem "cool" because we have parties like the crusades or namings etc... Get a grip.. Any college fraternity can easily surpass us in the silly games and binge drinking department. Please do not think that we as an Air Force achieved our unbelievable combat record because our young, crazy pilots have no fear, a giant ego, and a "need for speed".

If it sounds like I have a chip on my shoulder, your right. I do. You, as the Americans we help defend, deserve to know the truth. I especially cringe when I think of any crew chiefs, life support techs, mechanics etc. reading this book. We pilots have a tremendous respect for your part in putting bombs on target, and you in turn deserve to know that we aren't a bunch of beer soaked, big ego, adrenaline junkies. Trust me all of you when I say "It's just not like the book says".

I am an aviation junkie. I live and breathe airplanes and have been flying since I was a toddler. This book, even for someone like me with a strong background, is at best confusing. I can't imagine what a non-aviation type must feel after reading this poorly written book. I honestly felt like Aleshire wrote this based upon hastily scribbled notes that months later even he couldn't recall what they meant. And why did it take him 74 pages to finally define what CAP ("Commander's Awareness Program") meant after using it a dozen times in the pervious pages? Bad writing.

He says it was reviewed by USAF pilots during his edits. I find that hard to believe. There's not a single Air Force pilot in the world that would say the F-100 "Super Saber" (it's spelled SUPER SABRE) fought in Korea. Nor would they call the Viper the "Flying Falcon" (it is FIGHTING FALCON).

For an historian, Aleshire's work here is woeful at best. At one point he claims the moonwalk that inspired one of the IPs to become a pilot happened in 1968. Wrong. We landed on the moon for the first time on July 20, 1969. Come on man! Seriously!

Aleshire's book reads more like a rough draft. There are so many mistakes that it boggles the mind, and the man repeats the same phrases word for word in multiple places. That's something a Freshman in high school knows to avoid. There's certainly no excuse for a man with this resume'.

Here's an oft-repeated example of Mr. Aleshire's confusing prose on page 74:

"His uncle was a Marine who saw combat in Vietnam. But his brother and three sisters all went into normal stuff. One brother is a commercial artist, the other a school psychologist."

Uh...WHAT?

Spend your money on Robert Gandt's "Bogies and Bandits" which is a FANTASTIC masterpiece about Navy and Marine F/A-18 Hornet pilots going through training. I had hoped Aleshire's book would be like Gandt's but from an Air Force viewpoint. So much for that dream. It is almost an insult to "Bogies and Bandits" to even mention it in the same sentence as this farce.

As for the objections by Captain and Mrs. Q, hard for me to blame them. I figured some of it was dramatized but not everyone who reads this will take it that way. There are few things more frustrating than having your reputation unfairly smeared. All of you casting stones at the good Captain (and his bride) should consider how it feels to be in his shoes. I don't blame him (or her) for being pissed off one bit and neither should you.

I'm working on becoming an F-16 pilot in the Air Guard, and this book gave a great insight into what to expect for the Luke AFB phase of training. If you have any interest in military aviation this book is for you. It is about the men and women who fly this nation's great military aircraft and defend our country so you all can have the freedom that you misuse to bash those very people.

I don't care what KQ or Mrs.KQ had to say..this book was fantastic! I'm going to have to agree with the gentleman down below...KQ quit your whining....for god sakes man your a fighter pilot!!...act like one!...:)

The United States military pilots have a long established tradition of extensive training. By 1945 the US pilots were going into battle after just about a year of training. In contract the German and Japanese pilots had only a couple of weeks training. This tradition, for the US, at least continues. The training of a pilot for the F-16 is a long process on top of a history of excellence.

This book is the story of a group of F-16 trainees going through the transition to the F-16. They are already pilots, but of planes with less performance. They are already the elite, the best of the best. And now the Air Force is preparing to spend $2 million on each of them for a six month class. The writing in the book almost makes it read like a novel. And the author admits that he has combined some of their stories into single people. This does not hurt the tone, nor the image that you get of the fighter mentality that the Air Force demands. Good Book.

I greatly enjoyed this book.The author presents a great picture of the workload and commitment it takes to fly the USAF's advanced fighters.

Oh,and to Capt.& Mrs. Quattlebaum,methinks you protest too much!

Fighter pilot! That two-word job description conjures up the image of a grinning, brave, patriotic "fast-mover" born to dog-fight to glory - a cliche vision, to be sure. But as Peter Aleshire skillfully demonstrates in "EYE OF THE VIPER: THE MAKING OF AN F-16 PILOT", there is much truth in the "TOP GUN" vision of a modern fighter pilot in the U-S armed forces. Almost without exception, they are drawn to their calling by a desire to 'kill the bad guys and break their s--t." But Aleshire takes the reader backstage and delineates in fascinating - and often frightening - detail
all that goes into taking a young male or female with an aptitide for flying and turning them into instruments of combat fought at breathtaking speed - decisions cascading in milliseconds - a process so unforgiving that of the 90 F-16 pilots killed since the "Viper" went into service - all were victims of training accidents.
Aleshire makes clear the awesomeness of the F-16 itself. The Air Force calls it the "Fighting Falcon" - clearly not warlike enough for the pilots who dub their fighter "Viper". Molding "fliers" into "warriors" takes months and millions of dollars per pilot. Aleshire puts the reader squarely in the cockpits of F-16s employed to train pilots at Luke Air force Base. "Newby" pilots dubbed"punks" are subjected to ruthless instruction and screening by IPs - Instructor Pilots who feel keenly their responsibillity of sending active duty squadrons F-16 wingmen who won't get their buddies killed. Aleshire captures the human synergy between pilot and teacher as the instructors pile multiple tasks
on fledging pilots - like bricks on a sheet of glass - watching to see when the glass starts to crack under the strain.
By the time I finished this book, I could talk fighter talk and imagine the rush of skimming the earth at close to the speed of sound or twisting the jet onto the knife edge of a wing - turning tight enough to get off a missile shot at the "enemy" jet in the "gunsight" projected onto the HUD - the "heads-up display" of flight data every Viper pilot sees projected on his or her bubble canopy.
Aleshire puts you alone in the jet - the ancient drama of mano-a-mano combat. And yet, he makes clear the F-16 fighter jock is an integral part of an amazingly complex and elaborate evolution of modern warfare made possible - and deadly - by the stunning success of the F-16 as a weapons platform: light, fast, powerful, and with a long track record of- you guessed it: killing the bad guys and breaking their "s--t." Read the "EYE OF THE VIPER" and the next time you read or see news of U-S air operations in Iraq, Afghanistan or wherever, you will understand so much more about this particular breed of American techno-warrior and the machines they pilot into battle. Aleshire forecasts that in a decade or so, air combat will be fought and flown by robotic aircraft. Safer for the pilots perhaps, but lacking the "cool" of the "Viper"and the warriors who "strap on" the F-16.