Fran's Backpack brings to you various products on travel, adventure, flying and photography.
They could be books, ebooks, videos, or gear. Check each one out as it's highlighted on the day.
Today's item in the Backpack is Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds [Hardcover].
I've picked this book because it's about war time flying.
My interest in aviation was sparked by reading my cousin John's books about fliers during World War II, not the Vietnam War. It was his collection that inspired me to take up flying later on.
Unfortunately, John never lived to see me become a pilot because he died at age 23 when I was only 3 years old. He flew with the Citizen's Air Force out of Parafield Airport near Adelaide. I also now use this airport sometimes when I fly.
John died in a car accident, not a plane accident. It must run in the family that pilots have car accidents (I've had two which haven't been caused by me) not plane accidents. So flying is safer than driving!
Click on the ad for more information.
Product Description
The widely anticipated memoir of legendary ace American fighter pilot, Robin Olds
Robin Olds was a larger-than-life hero with a towering personality. A graduate of West Point and an inductee in the National College Football Hall of Fame for his All-American performance for Army, Olds was one of the toughest college football players at the time. In WWII, Olds quickly became a top fighter pilot and squadron commander by the age of 22—and an ace with 12 aerial victories.
But it was in Vietnam where the man became a legend. He arrived in 1966 to find a dejected group of pilots and motivated them by placing himself on the flight schedule under officers junior to himself, then challenging them to train him properly because he would soon be leading them. Proving he wasn’t a WWII retread, he led the wing with aggressiveness, scoring another four confirmed kills, becoming a rare triple ace.
Olds (who retired a brigadier general and died in 2007) was a unique individual whose personal story is one of the most eagerly anticipated military books of the year.
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