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Product Details
Hardcover: 312 pages
Publisher: Casemate; First Edition edition (December 30, 2014)
This book offers a really unique look into the life of a military helicopter pilot. In fact, I found the book very unusual in a very good way - it concentrates on Curtis' training, experience, daily life and adventures at a very micro level. He lets us readers inside of his head. The detail is all there - but never tedious. His Vietnam coverage isn't about the war as a whole - the battle strategies, the big picture, the politics - it's about HIS experiences flying in it all. And the closing chapter - subsequent visit to The Wall - try to read that with a dry eye! Wow.
The writing is stellar and this book really captured and held my interest throughout. I plan on a future re-read - it's that good. The Kindle edition did have some annoying typos throughout - many, many sentences starting without capitalization and many numbers represented as seemingly random letters, but the writing was so good and the stories so compelling that I didn't downgrade the review.
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Somehow the transition to Kindle version messed with the formatting of this book. Where it should have 100 or 250 or whatever it has JLL or KNL or similar. There are also numerous places with other formatting/editing errors. Were it not for the extreme number of such problems it would get at least one more star. It is an interesting story. It gives good insight to military service, Vietnam, differences in various branches and lots of other information. It also describes piloting helicopters and the challenges they present in such a way as to make you feel as if you are in the jump seat. I hope there is an updated Kindle version sometime that automatically updates. I'd like to read it again and get all the actual numbers for speed, altitude, etc..
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As an aviator myself, I quickley realized that I was going to get a realistic tale, told without any hyperbole. The author tells you about a good number of flights that he remembers well. Why these? Because he was either moved by something he saw or that happened, was frightened by what happened or was so extraordinarily normal that it became memorable to him. To say more here would spoil it. Suffice it to say that the man had a flying career filled with a wide variety of experiences from war to simple retrieval work in far flung places and in three distinct services. If you want to learn something about a military aviation career, this book provides a balanced, realistic and highly readable source. The author flew for the U.S. Army, the US Marines an a stint as an exchange pilot with the British Royal Marines. I recommend this book.
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It's a fairly good read and the author does do a really good job of putting you in the pilot's seat of a military helicopter, and he certainly flew a wide variety. The book is really a collection of memorable flights, some of which are very entertaining, while others are mildly interesting. While I think the author has a good writing style, the Kindle edition that I received is full of typos. Some are quite distracting, such as the frequent errors with numbers (speed, altitude, and, etc...) This is the worst Kindle edition of any book that I've read. Certainly don't hold that against the author, but it does somewhat diminish his book.
All in all not a bad read, just not a great one.
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It's not great literature, but it is an awesome story. This book is about flying helicopters. I had always thought that flying helicopters was simply a matter of mastering the techniques. Once you master the art of chewing gum and rubbing your tummy at the same time you know how to fly a helicopter. It turns out that nothing could have been farther from the truth. It's more complicated then I could have dreamed. But, clearly the author had a long and deep relationship with these giant ungainly bumble bees. If you want to see a man meeting interesting challenges, surviving and growing this is a terrific tale - and clearly not fiction.
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Great book at helo ops during and after the Vietnam War. Interesting parallels and differences between US Army and USAF / Navy training of their pilots. Because the author also spent time in other branches as well as serving with other nations his experiences are very interesting and informative. I really enjoyed this book, it was a book that both a pilot and a non-pilot could appreciate.
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What a masterful story teller he is. From being a teenage Army Pilot in Vietnam, National Guard Pilot in College followed by a full career with the Corps he had a helluva ride. If you are enamored with helo's and the Military as I am , then you should read this.
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I was in the service during the later part of his career. I know all of the areas in the new river area he talks about and remember some of the incidents he talks of . I even was a DOC assigned to a support unit in WTI . Great experiences and training. Even the sheriff incident I remember. Great book, fun read and highly recommend this to purchase
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This item: Surprised at Being Alive: An Accidental Helicopter Pilot in Vietnam and Beyond
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