Wings of Fury: From Vietnam to the Gulf War-The Astonishing True Stories of America's Elite Fighter Pilots [Paperback]

Robert K. Wilcox (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1998

They are America's best fighter pilots -- from the Navy, Air Force, and Marines. Heroes who push the envelope with their machines, their bodies, and the will to fight and win on their...

WINGS OF FURY

Here, these airborne warriors reveal themselves as never before. Ride shotgun with TOPGUN pilot Dale "Snort" Snodgrass as he becomes the first student pilot ever to land an F-14 Tomcat on an aircraft carrier. Silver Star winner Rob Graeter recalls a Cold War close call as he flew his F-15 Eagle over Soviet waters -- almost triggering World War III. Feel the adrenaline as Brian "Rocky" Fitzpatrick remembers test-flying the F/A-18 Hornet when it suddenly went haywire, leaving him with a crippled plane, a faulty parachute -- and a very long way down....

From the training grounds of Miramar to combat in Vietnam and Desert Storm, these are the stories of those who defend our skies -- and the dramatic evolution of modern air warfare.

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (June 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671747940
• ISBN-13: 978-0671747947
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #424,552 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

7 of 7 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!

4 of 4 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 Good reading, and not just for fighter pilot wannabe's, April 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Wings of Fury (Hardcover)

Here's a review I posted on a flight simulator forum, for all of us PC virtual fighter pilots. I decided to post it here as well, for those who enjoy aviation and excitement but who don't really do much flight simulator flying.

"An adreneline rush injected straight into your heart. This is some of the best jet combat reports as told to the author by the pilots who flew them. If you like the movie 'Top Gun' but felt it wasn't technically correct, you'll love this book. If you loved 'Top Gun' simply because it featured combat jets going really fast, you'll love this book. Strap on your speed jeans and push the throttle past the final detente, because there's two contacts at angels 10 and they're jinking back across your beam..."