Jet Age Man: SAC B-47 and B-52 Operations in the Early Cold War - Couverture rigide

Casemate Publishers

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1907677461 ISBN 13 : 9781907677465

Editeur : Casemate Publishers, 2011

Synopsis

The events in Jet Age Man took place during the early Cold War, an era that will go down as a period when civilization teetered on the edge of the abyss. To some, nuclear deterrence appeared as utter madness, and was in fact commonly referred to as M.A.D. The concept of Mutually Assured Destruction provoked protests and marches, and the architect of M.A.D, General Curtis LeMay, became a symbol of madness himself. Raised during those turbulent times, most contemporary historians conclude that we were lucky to have survived. What they fail to recognize is that for LeMay and the thousands of Cold War warriors who fought and won while serving in the Strategic Air Command, the proof of concept lies not in the "what if?" but in the reality, "what did." Historically, M.A.D. succeeded where appeasement, diplomacy and even hot wars failed. When The Wall came down, strength, not weakness, had prevailed. Most of this story takes place in the Cold War trenches of the Strategic Air Command. It is about those who served and the many who died, told by someone who, as a young man, literally held the fate of all mankind within reach of a switch. More particularly, this is a story of man's interaction with two bombers that changed the course of political history, and were perhaps the most influential aircraft in the annals of aircraft development. The author piloted and instructed in both the B-47 and the B-52, starting out as a copilot in the B-47, then aircraft commander and finally, instructor pilot in both aircraft. Jet Age Man chronicles his fifteen-year relationship with the B-47 and the aircraft the B-47 became, the B-52 - a bomber still in service today.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

After winning his pilot's wings in December 1950, the author flew 28 missions as a B-29 copilot in the Korean War. His next assigned aircraft was the RB-47E six-engine jet reconnaissance bomber. During his six-year SAC assignment at Forbes AFB, Kansas, he advanced from copilot to instructor, and in 1960 transitioned to B-52s at Castle AFB, California. He, his wife and three sons moved to El Paso and later to Fort Worth, Texas where he logged over 3,000 hours as aircraft commander and instructor pilot in B-52s. In nine years he flew eighteen airborne alert missions and shuttled back and forth to the island of Guam fourteen times. He survived the Cuban Missile Crisis, nuclear ground and airborne alert, and a stint in the Vietnam War to retire from the Air Force in 1969. He and his wife of 59 years have lived in Arizona for the last 42.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Casemate Publishers
• Date d'édition: 2011
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1907677461
• ISBN 13: 9781907677465
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 288
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible