Customer Reviews

Ironclaw

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an extraordinarily well written first person account of life as a Naval Aviator. Have you ever wondered what kind of men we send into harm's way, what they're like and where they come from? Are they different from the rest of us? What's it like to fly and fight a Naval aircraft in a real shooting war? Sherman Baldwin has your answers. Rather than the bravado common to other first-person combat stories, Baldwin's account is told with a great deal of humanity. Certainly there are the accounts of combat and carrier operations that will have you on the edge of your seat. But this is really the story of a man (not a machine) in an extraordinary situation doing extraordinary things on behalf of his country. I know men like this. They are my heroes, and Sherman Baldwin captures their lives and experiences as well as his. If you want to feel proud about America, read this book.

I recently read Sherman Baldwin's "Ironclaw : A Navy Carrier Pilot's War Experience" and I was completely at a loss for words on what a great book it is. This book was action-packed and was to the point, unlike many other fighter books I have read. It also has an uncompareable description of what life on the aircraft carrier the "Midway" was really like during Operation Desert Storm. When I read the first chapter, I really felt my head being thrown back into the seat as Sherman was catapulted off the deck of the old and worn aircraft carrier, and I felt the jolt of the Prowler slamming against the deck during landing. One word to describe the author's writing? Succinct. His writing was extremely clear and precise yet was not boring or grandiloquent. After reading Ironclaw, I felt a sense of pride for my country, and I have much greater respect for the men and women of today's armed services, especially the devoted people who risk their lives everyday for my protection and liberty. The chapters are rather short, alowing you to catch ten or so pages on a break or at school or anytime you have 15 minutes. Being only 15 years old, I still have a long way to go in my life, I hope. I am interested in fighter planes and this is above all the crème de la crème of fighter books, the best I have read so far. The plot is extremely riveting and action-filled. Please don't take my word for it: read it!

This book was not the literary version of Top Gun so if you are looking for seat of the pants air combat this is not really the book to read. The author was a navy EA-6 Prowler pilot during the Gulf War. He flew from the U.S.S. Midway. One of the more interesting parts of his story is that he was a new carrier pilot at the start of the conflict, therefore, he had to get accustomed to flying from a carrier during war conditions. The tensest passages in the book deal with his night landings and aerial refuelings. The actual job his aircraft performed in the war, although very valuable, was a bit dull. This was not air to air fighter pilot dogfights.

I was also a little disappointed with his descriptions of what life was like on a carrier during wartime. There were some descriptions, but not enough for me to get a good picture of his time out on the ship. Do not get me wrong, the book was enjoyable and the writing was good. The book did tell the story of the war that most of us would not get to hear given the author was not a fighter pilot glamour jockey. I just wanted a bit more overall details of his group's missions and life on the carrier and skip the love story.

There has got to be a rush that comes from taking off from an aircraft carrier in a jet, being accelerated by a steam catapult and a pair of screaming afterburners to nearly 170 m.p.h. in less than 2 seconds.

Nor does it take a Stephen King to imagine the stress involved in trying to get back aboard a carrier on an inky night in a plane low on fuel.

Among naval aviators, this is what separates those who can "hack it" from those who cannot. For carrier pilots do not land their planes so much as slam them aboard heaving, yawing ships at sea.

So it is that night landings, in which vertigo and optical illusion are routeine and depth perception nonexistent, become "the practice of overcoming the fear of death," writes Lt. (j.g.) Sherman Baldwin, who spent his nugget - maiden - cruise aboard the USS Midway during the Persian Gulf War.

If Baldwin's introspection sets "Ironclaw" (the call sign of his squadron) apart from others of its ilk, make no mistake: This is a book about flying. It begins with the author's first night catapult shot aboard the Midway and with great perception describes life for those who come and go on a seaborne aircraft carrier at war

Navy pilot Sherm Baldwin ushers you silently into the cockpit of his Navy Jet Prowler in the Gulf War as he lands and takes off both day and night onto the smallest aircraft carrier in our fleet. You feel all his experiences at first hand, right along with him and his crew.

My twelve year old son likes the book as much as I do ("the best book I ever read," he told me) probably in spite of the fact that "Tank" Baldwin courts his wife to be Alice by daily letter from the Gulf War.

No surprise to me that the Military Book Club has chosen IRONCLAW as its lead selection this Fall.

Give it a try ... the first chapter will have you gripping your seat wondering if can land this damn plane

Oddly, the book starts to flounder when the Gulf War begins - the "war stories" he tells are actually quite uneventful. The best parts of the book are when he describes the people he works with on the ship. He does a good job of bringing these people to life, and telling about his difficulties dealing with the higher-ups onboard and their intimidating leadership styles. That was very honest of him, but he didn't reveal much about why he decided to leave the Navy and go into business just a few years later. Overall, it's a good book. I recommend Bogeys and Bandits as the best Navy pilot book.

A spellbinding autobiography of a Navy pilot's experiences during the Gulf War. It was an eye openning account for me (I'm in the USAF) of the difficulties of aircraft carrier based operations. Although there is little discussion of Gulf War military strategy, this is a very easy reading, engrossing story that will keep you so spellbound, you will not be able to put it down.

There's an abundance of books recounting the experience of Navy carrier pilots going back to its beginning. Most portray the extraordinary superhuman demands of becoming a carrier pilot, while others depict the exploits of air combat. But few -- and in this case draws on experience I seldom find so well written: a pilot's trepidation, worries and self doubts of being competent enough to become a naval aviator. "Ironclaw" is the definitive book. Baldwin truly opened up his soul to the reader; one could feel the anxiety as his aircraft searches in the dark for the refueling tanker, knowing that if not located soon, he would become an aquanault. It was not jut the event itself, but his thinking that moved the ball to proclaim this as a great book.

I could go on and on passionately citing different tidbets from the book, but it would only soil the drama. My only regret about Ironclas, I wish Sherman Baldwin would continued as a writer. He has a gift that can wrap your imagination as tight as a snake. Buy it. Read it. Recommended reading for anyone contemplating becoming a naval aviator.

Sherman Baldwin, a United States Navy EA-6B Prowler pilot, portrays his experience as a "nugget" (first deployment pilot) aboard the USS Midway. Baldwin used real life peace and war time experiences to create one of the most exciting and outstanding millitary novels of all time. Ironclaw straps you into one of the most sophisticated, electronically crammed, cockpits in the world. This book will take you to the edge and back. As an aspiring pilot, I recomend you pick up a copy today.

When not distracted, Baldwin delivers an honestly written and interesting account of his experience as a naval aviator during the gulf war. His stories of the missions flown are both interesting and thrilling. The problem, in my eyes, is that it seems like he spends half the book telling us all how amazingly wonderful his then girlfriend, now wife, is. Certainly the connection to home and family are an integral part of any miltary story, but he takes it way too far. He crows on and on about how this girl is the most beautiful, wonderful, greatest thing on the planet. I have no doubt she is, but I was trying to read a book about Naval Aviation.