The Wrong Stuff: Flying on the Edge of Disaster [Hardcover]

J Moore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 29, 1997

Author John Moore is the "cat with nine lives" of the aviation fraternity. From his early days as a Naval Aviation Cadet he had a knack for flying but seemed to be in the neighborhood of disaster. Through two Korean combat tours, Navy test operations, his years as test pilot for North American Aviation, and the space program he was associated with many near and some real catastrophes.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

An aviation cadet during World War II, Moore finished training too late to see action then but made up for it with two tours of duty flying jets in Korea and a distinguished later career as a naval and civilian test pilot. He is eloquent on the number of things that can and, in the early days of jets, usually did go wrong in the air as well as on the virtues and vices of certain aircraft, the F7U Cutlass and the F8F Bearcat in particular, and he tells the story--one worthy of Monty Python--of experimentation in landing fighters with no landing gear on rubber flight decks and runways. His memoirs are breezy, anecdotal, and unrepentant about fighter pilots' traditional pursuit of wine, women, and song but also relay the story of mastering many suicidally dangerous skills and teaching them to others while remaining a loving husband and father--the story of a most deserving citizen of his country. Roland Green

Review

First as a Navy combat pilot and later as an experimental test pilot, John Moore experienced adventures that are legendary in the aviation community. He is the flying fraternity's nine-lived cat with a knack for describing his adventures in a way that appeals to aviators, but is not overly technical. His story is salted with good humor and deeply emotional memories. A member of the exclusive band of naval carrier pilots, Moore has flown 104 aircraft types in military operations, testing and civilian aviation. But as he notes in the introduction, The Wrong Stuff is more about the people he met, and those he lost, along the way. The author choose The Wrong Stuff as his title because he "crashed a lot". Actually, he could have called his aviation memoir "The Right Stuff" because he's still here to tell these thrilling tales! The Wrong Stuff is "must" reading for all fans of aviation history and true-life adventure. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Specialty Press (March 29, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 188380910X
• ISBN-13: 978-1883809102
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,148,272 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, humorous and painfully honest, January 16, 1999

By 

E. Wayne Spriggs ([e-mail]) (Kansas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wrong Stuff: Flying on the Edge of Disaster (Hardcover)

John Moore does a masterful job of telling it like it is. His descriptions of life aboard ship as a fledgling Navy pilot, first combat butterflies, the realities of being a test pilot, personal tragedies and close calls draw the reader in for a close up, raw look at the life of a real pilot in a real world. No glamour here, only the stark reality of mistakes made (not necessarily by the author) and consequences suffered. Mr. Moore spices the book with a generous dose of humor guaranteed to make the reader laugh out loud. Certainly anyone who is or has been a test pilot, or those that aspire to be, or those with even a mild interest in aviation will appreciate and maybe even treasure this book. It is a book for everyone.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great,Easy Read., September 14, 2000

By 

Jim Frankenfield, [e-mail] (Melbourne, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wrong Stuff: Flying on the Edge of Disaster (Hardcover)

Cdr. John Moore tells it like it is (or was), back then when test flying was not as sophisticated as it is now, along with the trials of the line Carrier Pilot, during "The Korean Thing". An easy, can't-put-it-down read which had me up 'till 4 AM. It gives the reader a poignant, down-to-earth glimpse of life as he saw it and lived it, often on the edge.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There are aviation memoirs..., December 4, 2001

By 

B. Hutchins "overage undergrad" (Podunk, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wrong Stuff: Flying on the Edge of Disaster (Hardcover)

... and many of them have honored places in my library: Colonel Robert Scott's "God Is My Co-Pilot", Heinz Knoke's excellent and sadly unknown "I Flew for the Führer", Bob Hoover's "Forever Flying", Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger's "Lost Moon" (which is as much an autobiography of Lovell as a recounting of the Apollo 13 incident)...

... and then there's this book. If you go into "The Wrong Stuff" expecting another self-congratulatory throttle-jockey memoir (not that there's anything wrong with those :), you'll be sorely disappointed, because John Moore isn't the self-congratulatory throttle-jockey type. He seems frankly surprised that he survived his aviation career, and his tongue-in-cheek delight at being alive permeates the work. Somehow, this man managed to wind up involved in some of the wackiest projects in aviation history, and his wry reminiscences make this the funniest flyboy book in history. I'm just amazed, with his karma, that Moore didn't end up testing the Pogo Planes.

Highly, highly, highly recommended.