Wings of Fury [Hardcover]

Robert K. Wilcox (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1997

Vietnam, where the U.S. Navy's kill ratio dropped to a deadly 2:1, became the crucible that forged a Gulf War victory with an astounding 35:0 ratio. Drawing on the experiences of Vietnam combat pilots and the new generation they taught, Robert Wilcox traces the rise of today's fighter pilots and the transformation of aerial warfare. He takes us into previously classified territory with an unprecedented look at the first shoot-down of enemy planes by U.S. fighters since Vietnam, and follows our best fighter pilots as they grow, learn, and finally test themselves in the Gulf War. Here, in their own words, is a vivid portrait of the elite, intense world of the daredevil flyboys competing in a league where there are no points for second place. Seat-of-the-pants navy air warrior Joe "Hoser" Satrapa, one of the early TOPGUNers and an F-14 pilot, shares the highs and lows of his showstopping career, from Vietnam to the Gulf War. Silver Star winner Rob Graeter recalls an experience that nearly triggered World War III as he piloted his F-15 Eagle over Soviet waters in 1983, guarding the P-3 search planes looking for survivors and wreckage of the downed Korean Air Lines 747 passenger jet. Brian "Rocky" Fitzpatrick recounts his days as a hotshot young Navy lieutenant test-flying the F/A-18 Hornet to its limits when it suddenly careened out of control at eight hundred feet, auto systems down, leaving him with a faulty parachute, a plummeting wing - and a prayer.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Wilcox (Scream of Eagles, LJ 9/15/90) served as an Air Force information officer in the Vietnam War but desperately wanted to be a fighter pilot. In this work, he concentrates on the experience of American fighter pilots in Vietnam and the Gulf War. Following their careers through flight school and detailing their exhausting technical and physical training, the author finds that combat pilots are boisterous, rowdy, macho overachievers. Wilcox personalizes his narrative by interviewing scores of pilots and allowing them to tell their own stories, which makes for a certain amount of repetition. Though he argues that American fighter pilots are the best in the world, he fails to acknowledge that they have only been tested against second-rate air forces in Vietnam and the Gulf. Of interest to dedicated air-war aficionados but needed only by libraries that purchase everything in air-war combat.?Stanley Itkin, Hillside P.L., New Hyde Park, N.Y.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Wilcox's follow-up to Scream of Eagles (1990), his book on the navy's Top Gun air-to-air combat school, is uneven. He jumbles together pilot profiles, the armed services' corporate culture, slaps at "political correctness," the development of new aircraft and tactics, the flying of a squadron of illicitly acquired Soviet aircraft in simulated combat, and much else in the first two-thirds of the book. The last third, however, is a gripping, well-organized account of air-to-air combat in the Gulf War. Wilcox emphasizes the first four days, for after them, the Iraqis were fleeing rather than fighting, and his presentation of the war's first night--the most detailed yet made available to general readers--throws much new light on those crucial hours, during which one American aircraft was probably lost to an Iraqi jet in an incident officially denied, then and now. Roland Green

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Atria; First Edition edition (May 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671747932
• ISBN-13: 978-0671747930
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,192,549 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert K. Wilcox is the award-winning, bestselling non-fiction and novel writer of such works as Scream of Eagles, Wings of Fury and Target:Patton: The plot to assassinate Gen. George S. Patton. His latest book is The Truth About the Shroud of Turin. In addition to his writing for film and television, he has reported for The New York Times and written for numerous national and international publications including the Miami Herald's Tropic magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and National Geographic. He started his career as a reporter and editor for the Miami News. During the Vietnam War he was an Air Force Information Officer. He lives in Los Angeles. His website is www.robertkwilcox.com .

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Master arm on...Master arm on...., December 7, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wings of Fury (Hardcover)

I've always dreamed of being a fighter pilot....this book really conveys what I imagine it might really be like...it goes beyond "top gun" or some of the other movies of that ilk... If you know any technical details about how jets really work, or even if you don't, this book really will give you a better sense of what really goes through a pilots mind both in combat and in training. As the subtitle says, the period covered by the book is vietnam up through and including the gulf war, and the author does a good job of putting his recounting of pilots stories into context by discussing the contemporary American fighter tactics during each relevant period. You'll feel the pilots frusterations at the limitations of their radar or the information available to them, and you'll feel their excitement as they move in for the kill. Most of all though, I got a sense of the professionalism that is bestowed in our pilots through their training. In any case, I heartily recommend buying this book, you won't regret it. Check six!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not theory, but practice, May 19, 2006

By 

Dimitrios (Greece) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wings of Fury (Hardcover)

There are many books about modern fighter aircraft, their weapons systems and the pilot training but this one stands alone, as it gives many practical details which are not known or not mentioned by the theorists. While reading this book I learned for the first time the drawbacks of the modern pulse doppler radars, the tactics that the opponents of the USA adopted in order to counter modern weapons like Sparrows and AMRAAMs, the harsh realities of fighter pilot training and duty and many descriptions of mock or real air to air battles against Libyans, Iraqis and Soviets. Well worth the time and the money.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wings of Fury - You're in the Cockpit!, July 31, 2010

By 

cpt matt (tanktown, DE) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Wings of Fury: From Vietnam to the Gulf War-The Astonishing True Stories of America's Elite Fighter Pilots (Paperback)

I just finished re-reading this book and enjoyed it as much as the first go-round. Author Robert Wilcox traces US Fighter pilot history from Vietnam to the first Gulf War. By interviewing the pilots themselves, using their words and stories, Wilcox is really able to make you feel like you were there from being at Top Gun Fighter school to landing on an aircraft carrier at night, you share what these ultra trained pilots have seen & done.

We've seen clips of fighter pilots shooting enemy aircraft down. Now, you get an idea what goes on to make that happen. The training is intense. Only the best of the best make it to fly F-14 Tomcats, F-15 Eagles, F-16 Falcons(Vipers) and F-18 Hornets. Advances in aviation, weapons, missiles create changes in tactics or strategy, but the need to train is a constant. US pilots have been the best when they learn the limits of their plane as well as the enemies.

Fighter jocks are cocky - and rightly so. You have to know you're going to win. This book shows that mindset, the adreline rush when going up against another pilot. Fractions of a second count. This is a very good, fast read. I highly recommend it to anyone who has an iterest in aviation, figher pilots. Tom Clancey can spin a great novel, but there is no substitute for the real thing. This is it.