Customer Reviews

Fighter Pilot's Heaven: Flight Testing the Early Jets

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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.

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.

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.

Yeah! Now, this filled in some background including how the tow banner is a steel cable mat!! The description of head on attacks on bombers was also first rate. Time to move on from WW-II. Effortless acquisition by 3G and reading in the light of a park model mobile home and the laundromat.

It is great book, Mr. Lopez did a great job describing the life of a test pilot at that era. With the hottest planes of that time.