Fighter Pilot's Heaven: Flight Testing the Early Jets [Paperback]

Donald S. Lopez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 17, 2001

Fighter Pilot's Heaven presents the dramatic inside story of the American military's transition into the jet age, as told by a flyer whose life depended on its success. With colorful anecdotes about fellow pilots as well as precise technical information, Donald S. Lopez describes how it was to be “behind the stick” as a test pilot from 1945 to 1950, when the U.S. military was shifting from war to peacetime operations and from propeller to jet aircraft.

An ace pilot who had served with Gen. Claire Chennault's Flying Tiger Fighter Group, Lopez was assigned at the close of World War II to the elite Proof Test Group of the Air Proving Ground Command. Located at Eglin Field (later Eglin Air Force Base) in Florida, the group determined the operational suitability of Air Force weapons systems and aircraft and tested the first operational jet, the P-80 Shooting Star. Jet fighters required new techniques, tactics, and weaponry. Lopez recounts historic test flights in the P-59, P-80, and P-84, among other planes, describing complex combat maneuvers, hair-raising landings in unusual positions, and disastrous crashes and near crashes. This memoir is peppered with lively accounts of many pilots and their colleagues, revealing how airmen coped with both exhilarating successes and sometimes tragic failures.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Fighter Pilot’s Heaven is a you-are-there account of the life every pilot, or aspiring pilot, would love to experience.”—Aviation History

“Lopez presents the dramatic inside story of the American military transition into the jet age, as told by a flyer whose life depended on its success. With colorful anecdotes about fellow pilots as well as precise technical information, Lopez interweaves his story with the history of the jet plane. . . [and] peppers his memoir with lively accounts of many pilots and colleagues, revealing how airmen coped with both exhilirating successes and sometimes tragic failure.”—Stars and Stripes

“Packed with facts, people, and anecdotes, the book takes the reader aloft in planes with unknown, sometimes deadly characteristics. . . . Excerpts from an actual flight test report provide rare insights and give glimpses of the numerous, often subtle, design factors that are weighed against each other in developing a machine that must defeat its adversaries at high altitudes, high speeds, and crushing G-forces. . . . Lopez’s tales are truly astounding.”—Military

“This absolutely delightful book is a must read for anyone with even a remote interest in the adventure of flying in the 1940s.”—Flight

About the Author

Donald S. Lopez is the deputy director of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and a former pilot with the 23rd Flying Tiger Fighter Group in China. He is the author of several books, including Into the Teeth of the Tiger (1986).

Product Details

• Paperback: 236 pages
• Publisher: Smithsonian Books (March 17, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560989165
• ISBN-13: 978-1560989165
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #194,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fighter Pilot's Heaven-Flight Testing The Early Jets, June 18, 2000

By 

A Jet Fan (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fighter Pilot's Heaven: Flight Testing the Early Jets (Hardcover)

Donald S. Lopez is a national treasure. In addition to serving with Chennault's Flying Tigers in China, (where he won the DFC and became an Ace) Lopez was instrumental in testing the P-59, the P-80, and the P-84. (among many others) Mr. Lopez's writing style is verbose. He gets to the point quickly. And the point is either heartbreakingly sad, tense as hell, or incredibly funny. In this book and his previous work, "Into the Teeth of the Tiger" Mr. Lopez narrates a life anyone would be proud to say was their own. This non-fiction reads like fiction. The foreword is by Frank Borman.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Testing the Early Jets!, November 24, 2009

By 

W. G. Todd (Secane, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fighter Pilot's Heaven: Flight Testing the Early Jets (Paperback)

Don Lopez survived his combat flying with the 23rd Fighter group and went into something perhaps just as dangerous, testing the early jets. The sluggish P-59 Airocomet did not impress him, but he enjoyed flying the early pearl gray P80's. He also flew some of the last propeller driven fighters, like the P-51H and the Navy's F7F Tigercat. He spends a great deal of time in discussing the F-84 Thunderjet. Its later sturdy reputation as a ground attack jet was not apparent early on, with a wing failure and flameouts sometimes ruining your whole day. Lopez often discusses the risks and the loss of friends, but is just as often comical. He tells one story of testing a P-51 with a hammock type seat that had me laughing out loud! It was meant to provide comfort for long flights, but collapsed under him leaving him without an outside view of the world. Don Lopez eventually became the director of the Air and Space Museum. He oversaw the building of the new Udvar-Hazy Center, and a P-40 with his shark mouth markings hangs near the entrance. Anyone who had the pleasure of meeting Don will never forget his quick witt or his willingness to speak to anyone about flying. I am glad he left his books behind to speak for him.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Thrill of Flight, January 30, 2012

By 

Nested Grid - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Fighter Pilot's Heaven: Flight Testing the Early Jets (Kindle Edition)

Donald Lopez did more in his young life than many of us ever do in a lifetime. In "Fighter Pilot's Heaven: Flight Testing the Early Jets", he narrates a story that is both technical and fantastic. His love of flight comes through on every page. Col. Lopez describes flying through canyons of clouds just because he could do it. Flying every airplane he could get his hands on, Donald Lopez relates his all-too-human fears and apprehensions as well as almost-inhuman cool-headed logic necessary to test aircraft that could kill you without remorse.

The book covers only five years of flight test. But, in those five years, we see the transition from a wartime propeller aircraft fleet to the sleek early jets. We see the transition to a professional Air Force gearing up to fight the Cold War. We know the outcome. Seldom do we get a glimpse of the early days and sheer guts it took to fly them.

There are many books on test pilots - some better than others. This is one of the best.