Splash One: Air Victory over Hanoi [Hardcover]

Walter Kross (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

It is 1966 and North Vietnamese Migs, led by ace pilot Ngugen Thoan, are taking a heavy toll on American strike aircraft. To counter this situation, Col. Clint Adams, who commands the Phantoms of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, applies three key principles of fighter combat: lead from the front; be prepared; think ahead of the enemy. As his men gradually gain the upper hand over Hanoi, Adams plans Operation Bolo, a ruse that will draw the North Vietnamese into an all-out battle for air mastery. Kross, an Air Force general and former fighter pilot, borrows heavily fron history for his plot and personalities. Adams closely resembles Col. Robin Olds; Operation Bolo was a real campaign, planned and executed almost exactly as described. No roman a clef , however, this first novel delivers a gripping portrait of modern air combat--and of a fighter wing victorious within the rules of limited war that governed U. S. involv ement in Vietnam--that is refreshingly free of the self-pity infusing many accounts of the air war. Film rights to Nisus Entertainment.

Copyright 1991 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 331 pages
• Publisher: Brassey's Inc (April 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0080405673
• ISBN-13: 978-0080405674
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #636,619 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars good story, but why not the real story?, February 25, 2004

By 

Rottenberg's rotten book review (nyc) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Splash One: Air Victory over Hanoi (Hardcover)

"Splash One" is a novel that fictionalizes the now legendary Vietnam-War exploit of "Operation Bolo". Taking a page from fighter-tactics of WWII, "Bolo" had swarms of American jet fighters "disguised" as bomb-laden and unmaneuverable bombers. The point of the ruse was to lure the enemy fighters - Soviet supplied MiG-17 and supersonic MiG-21 jets - close enough for an engagement. Normally, Migs harassed the more vulnerable American bombers like the Navy Intruder or the USAF F-105, but would escape to their airfields before more formidable Yankee jets like the Phantom could engage. (Politically-imposed limits on rules of engagement kept North Vietnamese airfields off-limits to US fliers). In Bolo, the Phantoms would mask their identities as MiG-killers by flying slowly like bombers. By the time the Migs were close enough to realize they were tricked - it would be too late.

Maybe.

For anybody versed in the lore of air warfare, Bolo is history. Walter Kross gives us a fictionalized perspective occurring before Bolo - official resistance from superiors, bureaucratic wrangling, unreliable equipment and other obstacles nearly doom the project before it even gets off the ground. Much of the story is episodic - engagements between the Migs and Phantom drivers highlight the problems suffered by each side. None of the characters really stands out. While Kross makes fighting the war sound convincingly frustrating, he never really gets to brass tacks on the politically charged issue of restrictive ROE (which depending on how you feel about the issue is either a plus or minus; I think Kross strengthened the story not going into the subject heavily). What the novel is really missing however is an explanation on how the pilots were able to make Bolo a triumph. Tricking the Migs into the fight was only half the plan - all would be for naught of the Migs managed to out-fly their Yankee enemies. Though American fliers of the Vietnam-war era were not known for their dogfighting skills (and the Phantom would never go down as the dream dogfighter) Kross's pilots wipe the skies of the Migs.

I think the real problem with "Splash" is that you finish it thinking that Bolo was a cool enough story on its own - why fictionalize it?

4.0 out of 5 stars A warrior's book, good reading about the air war-its players, May 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Splash One: Air Victory over Hanoi (Hardcover)

I enjoyed the book and feel that those that were there will also. The book puts real faces with the stories and the event. Those that are intersted in these years, missions and those that were a part of it will enjoy. The "real players" make it and their story real and continue the readers interest. Knowing the author and the type of person he is also increases its readability. A good weekend book. Another true picture of a foggy period. The book is real and the individuals Kross writes about are also real.