If You Fly... Don't Crash!

By Charles Bailey
$2.99 Rating: Not yet rated.
Published: Oct. 08, 2012
Words: 28,737 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781301010141

Short description

“There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots.” — W.W. Windstaff The author piloted Air Force heavy jets for over two decades, in peacetime and wartime. IF YOU FLY… DON’T CRASH! (Confessions of a White-knuckle Pilot) highlights some of the good, the bad, and the simply silly aspects of aviation experienced during his thousands of hours airborne.

Extended description

If You Fly... Don't Crash! is a rollicking "war story" covering 22 years of a heavy jet driver in peacetime and wartime. Along the way, the pilot author handles a variety of aircraft in action around the world. He functions well as an aircraft commander in charge of strong-willed professionals facing emergencies with life and death consequences. He begins his Air Force career as an Officer Training School (OTS) "90-day Wonder," then earns his wings (just barely!) after a year-long tour at Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT). His first assignment places him at a northern air force base flying airborne gas stations refueling bombers armed with nuclear weapons destined for the Soviet Union. The author survives a variety of close calls, even as his air-sense matures in short order. His flying puts him over Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and South Vietnam in unarmed tankers during the Vietnam War. As a senior tanker instructor pilot at a west coast air base, his student pilots challenge him with.. (Read more) If You Fly... Don't Crash! is a rollicking "war story" covering 22 years of a heavy jet driver in peacetime and wartime. Along the way, the pilot author handles a variety of aircraft in action around the world. He functions well as an aircraft commander in charge of strong-willed professionals facing emergencies with life and death consequences. He begins his Air Force career as an Officer Training School (OTS) "90-day Wonder," then earns his wings (just barely!) after a year-long tour at Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT). His first assignment places him at a northern air force base flying airborne gas stations refueling bombers armed with nuclear weapons destined for the Soviet Union. The author survives a variety of close calls, even as his air-sense matures in short order. His flying puts him over Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and South Vietnam in unarmed tankers during the Vietnam War. As a senior tanker instructor pilot at a west coast air base, his student pilots challenge him with a never-ending variety of "Oh Shit" situations, all of which prepare him for his next assignment as a Follow-on Test & Evaluation (FOT&E) pilot flying new Air Force jumbo jets derived from commercial airliners. His missions ranged from over the Polar Ice Cap to frigid the air over Antarctica and much of the airspace in-between. Along the way our hero meets a slew of famous personalities from the world of military aviation and civilian life.
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Tags

military, celebrities, air force, boeing, lindbergh, aviation history, douglas, wright brothers, crashed aircraft, rutan, yeager

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Videos

If You Fly... Don't Crash!
This video is a "book trailer" that lists/highlights aviators, celebrities, and aircraft that the author came into contact with as an Air Force pilot. The book may be of interest to aviation buffs of different generations. The Air Force Song that plays at the start of the video, plus successive slides of people and their flying machines, follow along memory lane into "The Wild Blue Yonder."

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