Customer Reviews

Splash One: Air Victory over Hanoi

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"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?

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.