Kerosene Cowboys: Manning the Spare [Paperback]

Randy Arrington (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 21, 2007

Even though one fourth of total flight time must be flown at night, for most Tactical Naval Aviators when the sun goes down its time to shed their speed slacks, splash on a little cologne and head for the O’Club bar. Undoubtedly, there would be a bevy of beauties adorning the barstools this Friday evening at the Jack Black Memorial Officer’s Club. After all, it was the day before a huge Drill Weekend for the air station with Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Air Guard units all scheduled to be in town for their last drill of 1991. Indeed, the Jackson’s ($20 bills) would be flying across the bar tonight.

Without question many of the single, and not so single, women in Southeastern Louisiana were aware of this fact and would be out in search of a pilot for a little rest and relaxation before the hectic pace of the holiday season took its annual toll. It wasn’t close to the spectacle that occurs each Wednesday evening at the Officer’s Club at Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego. It couldn’t even compare to Thursday nights at the Spin Drifter Tavern in Jacksonville. But for Belle Chasse, Louisiana, it was the only game in town on a Drill Weekend.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Randy Arrington is a retired tactical naval aviator who is currently serving as a supervisory air interdiction agent with the Department of Homeland Security in San Diego. He earned his PhD in Political Science in 1998. Arrington has five children who reside in New Orleans.

Product Details

• Paperback: 456 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (March 21, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595432409
• ISBN-13: 978-0595432400
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,465,944 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Still Looking For a Plot, August 5, 2008

By 

Carl W. Sundstrom "Carl Sundstrom" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kerosene Cowboys: Manning the Spare (Paperback)

Having familiarity with both Naval Aviation (0-6, USNR, retired in 1991) and U.S. Customs (Senior Special Agent, retired in 1988) I looked forward to a great read when I read the comments on the book jacket.

I am now more than half-way through the book and I am still looking for a plot. I will say that although the descriptions of flying are good, there is too much minutiae in most every aspect of the book. I also play at golf, but that whole part of the book was enough to almost make me quit, as it was so boring to read how each shot was played. The dialogue in parts of this book are incredibly corny, and I am stuggling to finish reading it.

Another very annoying thing about this book was how the author willy-nilly used all three names of each character (first name, last name, and call sign)to the point where you almost need a play list to know who he is referring to. It drives me crazy. Pick one name and stick with it.

Another observation: This book was obviously dictated and not written on a word processor as there are a very large number of errors, such as "to" instead of "too;" "their" instead of "there," etc. This is annoying and indicates that the "editor" was AWOL. Also, it seems to me that the author spent too much time with his Thesaurus, as so often he used rather obscure words when the more common word would have been more accurate and more realistic. This was also annoying.

And when the author calls the flight surgeon "Wrongway Carrigan" because of his "penchant for wearing a stethoscope backwards around his neck" (Who in the world could ever tell which way any doctor "wore" his stethoscope?)was so lame it was silly and laughable. "Wrongway Corrigan" was in actuality a WWII pilot or navigator whose claim to fame was that he flew for a very long distance 180 degrees from where he wanted to go.


I will force myself to finish this book, but I will be happy when it is over. It is definitely not one of those books you cannot put down.

Carl Sundstrom
San Diego, CA

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Kerosene Cowboys, December 23, 2007

By 

J. Voshell "corsair driver" (Columbia, SC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kerosene Cowboys: Manning the Spare (Hardcover)

Possibly the worst book I have ever read. As a former A-7E pilot, I found many inaccuracies and a total misrepresentation of the professionalism of the US Navy Reserve Naval Aviation Community. I can only imagine it was written as a sick joke.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The author did not read this book, November 27, 2009

By 

M. Krawczak (CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kerosene Cowboys: Manning the Spare (Hardcover)

My thanks to reviewer Carl Sundstrom for suggesting that this book was dictated. From an author who, from all appearances, is well educated, I could not figure out how so many grammatical errors could make it into this book. Early on, I began highlighting each one. Rare is the page that has none; most pages have several. For example, "hammer and cycle," in place of "hammer and sickle." This is not a good book.