Fighter Pilot's Heaven presents the dramatic inside story of the American military's transition into the jet age, as told by a flyer whose life depended on its success. With colorful anecdotes about fellow pilots as well as precise technical information, Donald S. Lopez describes how it was to be "behind the stick" as a test pilot from 1945 to 1950, when the U.S. military was shifting from war to peacetime operations and from propeller to jet aircraft. An ace pilot who had served with Gen. Claire Chennault's Flying Tiger ...
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Fighter Pilot's Heaven presents the dramatic inside story of the American military's transition into the jet age, as told by a flyer whose life depended on its success. With colorful anecdotes about fellow pilots as well as precise technical information, Donald S. Lopez describes how it was to be "behind the stick" as a test pilot from 1945 to 1950, when the U.S. military was shifting from war to peacetime operations and from propeller to jet aircraft. An ace pilot who had served with Gen. Claire Chennault's Flying Tiger Fighter Group, Lopez was assigned at the close of World War II to the elite Proof Test Group of the Air Proving Ground Command. Located at Eglin Field (later Eglin Air Force Base) in Florida, the group determined the operational suitability of Air Force weapons systems and aircraft and tested the first operational jet, the P-80 Shooting Star. Jet fighters required new techniques, tactics, and weaponry. Lopez recounts historic test flights in the P-59, P-80, and P-84, among other planes, describing complex combat maneuvers, hair-raising landings in unusual positions, and disastrous crashes and near crashes. This memoir is peppered with lively accounts of many pilots and their colleagues, revealing how airmen coped with both exhilarating successes and sometimes tragic failures.
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Add this copy of Fighter Pilot's Heaven: Flight Testing the Early Jets to cart. $2.34, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1995 by Smithsonian Books (DC).
Add this copy of Fighter Pilot's Heaven: Flight Testing the Early Jets to cart. $2.34, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1995 by Smithsonian Books (DC).
Add this copy of Fighter Pilot's Heaven: Flight Testing the Early Jets to cart. $2.34, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1995 by Smithsonian Books (DC).
Add this copy of Fighter Pilot's Heaven: Flight Testing the Early Jets to cart. $2.37, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1995 by Smithsonian Books (DC).
Add this copy of Fighter Pilot's Heaven: Flight Testing the Early Jets to cart. $2.37, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1995 by Smithsonian Books (DC).
Add this copy of Fighter Pilot's Heaven: Flight Testing the Early Jets to cart. $2.51, fair condition, Sold by Goodwill of the Olympics rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from TACOMA, WA, UNITED STATES, published 1995 by Smithsonian Books (DC).
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Seller's Description:
Fair. An acceptable and readable copy. All pages are intact, and the spine and cover are also intact. This item may have light highlighting, writing or underlining through out the book, curled corners, missing dust jacket and or stickers.
Add this copy of Fighter Pilot's Heaven: Flight Testing the Early Jets to cart. $2.79, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by Smithsonian Books.
Add this copy of Fighter Pilot's Heaven: Flight Testing the Early Jets to cart. $2.79, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by Smithsonian Books.
Add this copy of Fighter Pilot's Heaven: Flight Testing the Early Jets to cart. $2.79, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by Smithsonian Books.
Add this copy of Fighter Pilot's Heaven: Flight Testing the Early Jets to cart. $2.79, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by Smithsonian Books.
Very interesting book. Covers the transition from prop planes to jets post WW 2 era. Primarily involved with weapons testing with enough technical information to satisfy me.
LBBrennan
Sep 9, 2010
essential intro to the early jet test pilots
Wonderful account of the harrowing days of the first jet tests. This is an important history of the dangers and development of experimental aviation. Great reading and valuable to students of aviation history and the men who facilitiated the development of tactical jets.
