Book Review: Air Combat: An Oral History of Fighter Pilots

Robert F. Dorr
Air Combat: An Oral History of Fighter Pilots
New York: Berkley Publishing Group, 2006
Category: U.S. Air Force - History

Rating: 5-Stars


For those who enjoy first-hand accounts from the cockpit, Robert Dorr brings us a collection from some of the best.  Chronicling stories of U.S. fighter aviation from Pearl Harbor to the War on Terror, Dorr has collected an array of stories that illustrate the common threads that have connected the world of fighter aviation across six decades of flight.

Each chapter is devoted to a particular story or incident, beginning with the background leading up to the engagement, followed by the pilot's description of the events as they took place, and concluding with a description of the aircraft involved.  From Zeros to MiGs, from piston powered warbirds to the first jet-on-jet aerial duel, Dorr provides an assortment of stories that leave you hungry for more.

Book Review: Advanced Tactical Fighter to F-22 Raptor

David C. Aronstein, Michael J. Hirschberg and Albert C. Piccirillo
Advanced Tactical Fighter to F-22 Raptor
Reston, VA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1998
Category: U.S. Air Force - Aircraft

Rating: 5-Stars


The F-22 set a standard for air dominance that no fighter either before, or since is likely to ever come close to approaching.  Relative to its peers, the F-22 combines superior thrust-to-weight ratio with extremely low wing loading, to deliver an advantage in acceleration, maximum speed, and turn rate, together with advantages in sensors and low observables technology.  Taken together, the F-22 dominates any opponent either existing or on the drawing board to a degree that no other air superiority platform has ever done before.

Advanced Tactical Fighter to F-22 Raptor tells the story of the F-22 from the pre-development studies, through the development phase, to the eventual fly-off between the YF-22 and YF-23.  This is the story of this remarkable airplane from the point of view of the engineering professional, with attention paid to the many trade studies and technology development programs that contributed to its eventual success.  The book chronicles the wind tunnel studies, weapons integration, engine test and development program, avionics integration, and many more elements that were part of this program.

This combination makes this book unparalleled in the retelling of the F-22 saga.  This is not a picture book, although it does include a wide number of black-and-white illustrations detailing the test schedule and design decisions that had to be made.  Rather, this is a unique look, that conveys just how vast and comprehensive a modern fighter development program is.

Book Review: F-86 Sabre Aces of the 4th Fighter Wing

Warren Thompson
F-86 Sabre Aces of the 4th Fighter Wing
Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2006
Category: U.S. Air Force - History

Rating: 4-Stars


Thompson's book stands as an introduction to the F-86 Sabre, and to air combat during the Korean War.  Although nowhere as complete as the works by Futrell or Werrell on this subject, Thompson's book includes a fair cross-section of the history, pilot accounts, and photographs from the era.  This is further supplemented with color profiles of the various aircraft and squadrons that participated in the campaign.

For over a year, the 4th Fighter Wing would be the only Sabre wing to be stationed in Korea.  The ability of the Sabre and its air crews to maintain air superiority over the skies of Korea was a crucial element, both in protecting U.S. and allied ground forces from air attack, and in providing cover for allied strike aircraft to support the ground war.

Taken together, F-86 Sabre Aces is a good first introduction into what was one of the most hard-fought wars in U.S. history.

Book Review: The United States Air Force in Korea

Robert F. Futrell
The United States Air Force in Korea
Washington, DC: Air Force History and Museums Program, 1996
Category: U.S. Air Force - History

Rating: 4-Stars


First published in 1961, revised in 1983 and republished again in 1991 and 1996, Robert Futrell's account of the Korean air war is undoubtedly the most comprehensive available.  Some 823 pages in length, this is the detailed account of the Korean air campaign, battle-by-battle.

Futrell's account is by no means light reading.  Replete with maps, operational details on the strategies and preparations to win the war, Futrell's comprehensive history reflects the long, hard-fought war that Korea was.  Although short on first-hand pilot accounts, Futrell describes in detail each phase of the war, focusing equally on the wins and the losses.  This is the honest picture of the air campaign in the "forgotten war."  A total of 1,040,708 allied sorties.  Some 467,000 tons of ordnance dropped by the US Air Force alone.  Over a thousand allied aircraft lost in battle.  The breadth and magnitude of this air war often goes unappreciated by succeeding generations.  Futrell's account is not light reading.  It is the record of an immense air campaign intended for the serious historian, and a reminder for how hard-fought this war really was.

Book Review: Sabres Over MiG Alley

Kenneth P. Werrell
Sabres Over MiG Alley
Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2005
Category: U.S. Air Force - History

Rating: 5-Stars


The Korean War saw the world's first jet-on-jet fighter engagements, with stories of the match-up between the F-86 Sabre and MiG-15 becoming legendary.  Kenneth Werrell has compiled a most readable history of this exchange, combining the story of the evolution of the F-86 and the air war over Korea, with first-hand pilot accounts that help to bring that era to life.  Each pilot account includes a profile of the pilot, and his wartime experience, further cementing the picture.

There have been a wide array of books on the Korean War and the Korean air war.  What sets Werrell's book apart is its steady flow, interlacing between the technical story behind the evolution of the F-86, and the pilot experience in the war.  His book is not as all-encompassing as Robert Futrell's The United States Air Force in Korea, for example, but it's far more accessible to the reader.  It also does not have the broad expanse of photography that some books tend to emphasize, but it does have just enough photographs to help the reader to visualize the airplane and the era in which it flew.  Taken together, Werrell has assembled what is probably the most balanced book available chronicling the experience of the F-86 squadrons over Korea.

Book Review: Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle

Steve Davies
Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle
Ramsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing, 2003
Category: Aviation History

Rating: 5-Stars


There are many books that have been written about the F-15 Eagle, but fewer it seems that have focused on the F-15E Strike Eagle.  This is unfortunate, since while much attention has historically been focused on the air-to-air mission, it is the air-to-ground mission that ultimately contributes directly to the outcome of war - and where the majority of fighter jet losses will ultimately occur.

Steve Davies has therefore filled an important vacuum in the story of the F-15, detailing the development and deployment of the Strike Eagle version of this impressive aircraft.  As many of us are aware, transforming the air-to-air Eagle into an air-to-ground platform required an array of structural and avionics alterations, allowing the Eagle to carry far more payload and fuel that it was originally designed for.  Davies follows this evolution, providing the associated technical background, and then follows up with the deployment and operational history of this remarkable aircraft.  I particularly appreciated the operational perspective from U.S. and foreign pilots.  The additional weight made early versions of the Strike Eagle less nimble than its F-15C predecessors - but with the addition of an enhanced thrust version of the F100 engine, the Strike Eagle truly came into its own.  This is further supplemented by an appendice that lists the serial numbers for every Strike Eagle - foreign or domestic - that was delivered to date.

In summation, an impressive and well told tale.

Book Review: Debrief: A Complete History of U.S. Aerial Engagements 1981 to the Present

Craig Brown
Debrief: A Complete History of U.S. Aerial Engagements 1981 to the Present
Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2007
Category: Aviation History

Rating: 5-Stars


For anyone who loves first-hand accounts of air combat, this book is a must-have.  Covering the period from 1981 to 2006, it provides a summary of every air-to-air kill recorded by U.S. pilots during that period.

The author provides a brief introduction for each description, introducing the pilots involved and the mission they were assigned to at the time.  Then he "gets out of the way" and allows the pilots to retell their experiences in their own words.

Libya during the 1980s, through Desert Storm in 1991, to Operation Allied Force over Bosnia in the 1990s - it's all here, accompanied by a wide assortment of photographs and illustrations.  Strap-in, and enjoy the ride!

Book Review: Fighter Combat: Tactics and Maneuvering

Robert L. Shaw
Fighter Combat: Tactics and Maneuvering
Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1985
Category: Aviation History

Rating: 4-Stars


For years Shaw's book was part of the required curriculum at the U.S. Navy's "Top Gun" fighter weapons school.  What it offers is a rare insight into some of the tactics of a modern air force.  This includes basic fighter maneuvers (such as the high and low yo-yo, and scissors), but more importantly tactics for one-on-one, two-on-one, two-on-two, and multi-aircraft engagements.

The chapters dealing with two-on-two fighter engagements are probably the most valuable, and the most hard to come by from other resources.  A wingman is more than just another set of eyes, and in any truly professional air force the wingman does more than just staying glued to his lead's wing the entire engagement.  There are a variety of modern tactics that make maximum use of a wingman, including "double attack" and "loose deuce".  In essence, a professional air force must operate as a team.  That is what makes a pair of fighters far more deadly than two airplanes with one leading and one following.  Working together, two aircraft are many times more lethal than one - as this book makes clear.

There will be technocrats, of course, who will argue that in the modern missile age, the kind of tactics that Shaw describes are no longer necessary.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  A pilot is not a passenger, and the electronics - as amazing as they have become - do not do the work for you.  Energy management is essential in any air combat engagement, whether within visual range or beyond.  A pilot has to know how to bring his weapons to bear for maximum effect without giving his enemy the advantage.  Moreover, even in a missile age, during the large-scale air engagements of the 1991 Gulf War, over half of all air-to-air kills occurred within visual range.  A pilot is a tactician, not just a passenger or a radar operator.

This book is not a novel, and not a biography.  It was not intended for the casual reader.  Like a textbook, you have to be paying attention and taking notes as you read.  But for anyone who wants to understand what goes into fighter tactics - and not just what the movies portray - this book is an exceptional find.

Book Review: Viper Pilot

Dan Hampton
Viper Pilot
New York: HarperCollins, 2012
Category: U.S. Air Force - Biography

Rating: 5-Stars


Dan Hampton was a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot from 1986 to 2006, flying the F-16 "Viper" in Wild Weasel squadrons during both the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.  For those not already aware, U.S. pilots have referred to the F-16 as the "Viper" since it first entered service in the latter 1970s, and the "Wild Weasel" squadrons are the units dedicated to hunting down and eliminating the surface-to-air missile batteries intended to shoot them down.  Awarded four Distinguished Flying Crosses and one Purple Heart, Hampton would retire as a Lt. Colonel, and one of the most decorated U.S. fighter pilots of the past twenty years.

Dan Hampton delivers the kind of in-the-cockpit memoir that comes along only once in a decade.  His accounts of life as a pilot, of the cocky self-assurance that is needed to strap yourself into a supersonic jet and fly towards, not away from missile batteries firing at you, is what brings the adhrenaline pumped world of fighter aviation to life.  Hampton was also a "patchwearer" - meaning that he was one of the select few pilots to pass the rigorous training regimen of the USAF's Fighter Weapons School (the Air Force's equivalent of the Navy's "Top Gun").  Only the very best pilots are selected to attend the full training program at Nellis - and many of those who do attend are washed out before completing the program.

In addition to being an exceptional, well-written book, Hampton's descriptions also highlight the evolution of the U.S. Wild Weasel fleet between the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 Iraq War.  In 1991, the Wild Weasels were primarily tasked with suppressing enemy air defenses (SEAD) - utilizing radar-homing missiles to eliminate the missile tracking stations (or at least coax them to shut-down).  By 2003, the electronics and missile technology had evolved to the point where the Wild Weasels could focus on the destruction of enemy air defenses (DEAD), targeting the missile launchers themselves.

All told, one of the best first-hand pilot accounts out there.