Coonts - War in the air: true accounts of the 20th centurys most dramatic air battles-- by the men who fought them

WAR IN THE AIR: True Accounts of the 20th Century's Most Dramatic Air Battles--by the Men Who Fought Them

by Stephen Coonts

"AWE-INSPIRING....

"The best twenty-six stories of aerial combat a person is likely to find."--Sport Aviation magazine

Stephen Coonts, America's foremost writer of aviation fiction, presents the most dramatic true stories ever told of men in aerial combat. From World War I to Vietnam, here are full-throttle accounts of war at its worst--and men at their best.

American, British, German, Japanese --join their aces to skim the clouds in wood-and-fabric biplanes; shave the treetops in adrenaline-fueled helicopter battles; and scream off an aircraft carrier's swaying decks into dogfights conducted at the speed of sound. You'll meet and experience the world's most thrilling aviation legends, including:

-- Captain Eddie V. Rickenbacker, America's first air hero, whose legendary exploits set the standard for all fighter pilots to follow -- "The Doolittle Raid," the story of the famed bombing run by sixteen B-25 Mitchells into the heart of the Japanese empire -- "The Flight of Enola Gay," the mission that changed the shape of war and of history--target: Hiroshima -

"The Last Ace," an original, never-before-published account by Stephen Coonts of the first victory of Vietnam jet ace Captain Steve Ritchie -- Plus many more!

These are not stories about airplanes, but rather of those who flew them--of the steady hands, bold hearts, and raw nerve that it takes to survive on aerial battlefields. Brimming with the special bravery that helped these men return to tell their tales, WAR IN THE AIR is an epic of tragedy and courage writ large against the sky.

Published by: POCKET BOOKS, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

Copyright 1996 by Stephen P. Coonts and Martin Greenberg

"Impressive.... will keep aviation buffs at the edge of their seats."--Nashville Banner STEPHEN COONTS is a decorated Navy attack pilot who flew combat missions from the USS Enterprise during the Vietnam War. All six of his novels--Flight of the Intruder, Final Flight, The Minotaur, Under Siege, The Red Horseman, and The Intruders--have been New York Times bestsellers. He is also the author of The Cannibal Queen, an acclaimed nonfiction account of a flight across America in a vintage biplane. A former attorney, Stephen Coonts resides with his wife and son in Clarksville, Maryland.

Mr. Coonts maintains a World Wide Web site at www.stephencoonts.com.

Praise for Stephen Coonts's WAR IN THE AIR

"A GLORIOUS MEDLEY CELEBRATING HEROES OF YESTERYEAR'S AERIAL WARS.

... Coonts rescues some genuine treasures from undeserved obscurity." --Kirkus Reviews

"COONTS IS THE BEST THERE IS WHEN THE SUBJECT IS AIRCRAFT.... The reader will feel he's a copilot or "the guy in the backseat." The author's impressive knowledge of aviation history, his passion for planes and his respect for the men who fly them come together in this superb book." --Chattanooga Free Press (Tonight)

"FASCINATING.... Coonts has expertly packaged the most dramatic segments from larger works into a concise compilation of awe-inspiring stories. Through the pages of WAR IN

THE AIR you'll meet some of the world's greatest pilots and read about their most exciting moments." --Sport Aviation magazine

"A REAL BEAUT...." --Star Tribune (minneapolis)

"COMPELLING.... A UNIQUE AND RARE COLLECTION OF STORIES." --The Pilot (southern Pines, NC)

Novels by Stephen Coonts

Flight of the Intruder * Final Flight The Minotaur Under Siege * The Red Horseman * The Intruders *

Nonfiction Books by Stephen Coonts

The Cannibal Queen: An Aerial

Odyssey Across America * ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

* Published by POCKET BOOKS

CONTENTS

Story Page

"The First Air Hero" from The Zeppelin Fighters by Arch Whitehouse

"An Overrated Pastime" from Flying Fury by James McCudden

"The Hero's Life" from Fighting the Flying Circus by Eddie V. Rickenbacker

.................... 59

"The Reprieve" from Nine Lives by Alan C. Deere

............... 75

"Scramble" from Ginger Lacey, Fighter Pilot by Richard Townshend Bickers

........................ 86

"Spitfire Tales" from Fly for Your Life by Larry Forrester

...... 105

"Spitfires Get the Kommodore" from The Greatest Aces by Edward H. Sims

..................... 123

"The Doolittle Raid" from Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo by Ted W. Lawson

"Kimigayo" from Miracle at Midway by Gordon W. Prange with Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon

........... 185

"Saved for Another Day" from A Proud American by Joe Foss with Donna Wild Foss

............ 214

"Target: Hong Kong" from God Is My Copilot by Robert L. Scott, Jr.

.................. 243

"Long Flight Home" from Thunderbolt! by Robert S. Johnson with Martin Caidin

........................ 261

"A Fighter Pilot's Christmas" fromBaa Baa Black Sheep by Gregory "Pappy" Boyington

... 307

"The Stars Still Shine" from Bomber Pilot by Philip Ardrey

....... 315

"The Runner" from Stuka Pilot by Hans Ulrich Rudel

.......... 339

"The Greatest Ace" from The Blond Knight of Germany by Raymond F. Toliver and Trevor J.

Constable

... 372

"Cross of Lead" from The First and the Last by Adolf Galland

.......... 391

"The Last Samurai" from Samurai! by Saburo Sakai with Martin Caidin and Fred Saito

................. 407

"The Flight of Enola Gay" from Enola Gay by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan Witts

........... 431

"Spad Pilot" from Skyraider by Rosario Rausa

............... 472

"Ia Drang Valley" from Chickenhawk by Robert Mason

.... 486

"A Filthy Little War" from Thud Ridge by Jack Broughton

........ 525

"The Professionals" from On Yankee Station by John B. Nichols and Barrett Tillman

.... 552

"Carrier Pilot" from The Heart of a Man by Frank Elkins

.......... 559

"Hotdoggin' It" from Low Level Hell by Hugh L. Mills, Jr. with Robert Anderson

............... 575

"The Last Ace" by Stephen Coonts

WAR IN THE AIR

Foreword

The other day someone asked me about this book. "It's about airplanes, right?"

Wrong. This volume is a collection of true stories about men flying airplanes in battle. This book is no more about airplanes than Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade" is about horses.

Since the airplane is a creation of twentieth-century man, the stories compiled in this anthology are of necessity about this century's wars, thus the fliers are men. As this foreword is written, women are gaining access to the cockpits of combat aircraft in the United States.

Presumably other nations will also open the trade of combat aviator to those women who volunteer and prove they have what it takes. For better or worse, women will be in the thick of the next war when it comes.

So what does it take? What qualities must a man or woman possess to succeed in aerial combat? First one must define success. Success to me means the ability to conquer your enemy, to shoot him down or bomb him, and survive the encounter. Said another way, to succeed one must be able to fly the aircraft, employ it as a weapon, hit what one aims at, and then fly home to fight again. As the stories in this book will make graphically clear, success is a lot easier to define than to achieve.

Yet even after the most careful reading of these excerpts from larger works, it will still be unclear precisely what qualities of physical ability, character, intelligence, and aptitude make up an aerial warrior. Excellent health and perfect vision would seem to be required, until one reads of Mick Mannock, who was essentially blind in one eye and still shot down seventy-three German airplanes, or the Luftwaffe's Hans Rudel, who flew for several months before World War II ended with just one leg, or of Douglas Bader, who lost both legs in a prewar crash and still became one of the leading aces during the Battle of Britain.