Steve Ladd - From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog: Memoirs of a Cold War Fighter Pilot
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- Book:From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog: Memoirs of a Cold War Fighter Pilot
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From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog: Memoirs of a Cold War Fighter Pilot: summary, description and annotation
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This behind-the-scenes account of a USAF career is an absorbing read, written with the classic humor fighter pilots seem to have (Flight Line Book Review). From Baron von Richthofen to Robin Olds, the mystique of the fighter pilot endures. The skill, cunning, and bravery that characterizes this distinctive band of brothers is well known, but there are other dimensions to those who take to the skies to do battle that have not been given the emphasis they deserveuntil now. You dont have to be an aviation aficionado to enjoy Colonel Steve Ladds fascinating personal tale, woven around his twenty-eight-year career as a fighter pilot. This extremely engaging account follows a young man from basic pilot training to senior command through narratives that define a unique ethos. From the United States to Southeast Asia, Europe to the Middle East, the amusing and tongue-in-cheek to the deadly serious and poignant, this is the lifelong journey of a fighter pilot. The anecdotes are absorbing, providing an insight into life as an Air Force pilot, but, in this book, as Colonel Ladd stresses, the focus is not on fireworks or stirring tales of derring-do. Instead, this is an articulate and absorbing account of what life is really like among a rare breed of arrogant, cocky, boisterous, and fun-loving young men who readily transform into steely professionals at the controls of a fighter aircraft. This book will appeal to a variety of readers with its Vietnam War combat stories and accounts of flying the Warthog in Cold War Europe. Fun, flying, international experiencesyou wont want to put it down. Aviation News
Steve Ladd: author's other books
Who wrote From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog: Memoirs of a Cold War Fighter Pilot? Find out the surname, the name of the author of the book and a list of all author's works by series.
William R. Dunn
Robert L. Richardson
Mike OConnor
Dörflinger
Christina Olds
Hugh Dundas
James C. Curran
von Richthofen
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From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog
Dedication
For my wife, Elaine. For all these years shes been my lover, my best friend, my strongest supporter and my cherished (despite todays obsession with political correctness, winglady or wingperson just doesnt cut it). Without her patience, strength, understanding and inspiration our lifelong adventure would not have happened and this book simply would not exist. Thank you for being my Elaine and for always coloring my world.
To those Ive flown fighters with over the years, I thank you for your friendship and for providing the essence of a unique brotherhood that I could fashion a legend around. Your spirit, courage and dedication define a truly unique vocation. As its reflected in the Tribute to the Fighter Pilot that follows, Yours is a dying breed and when you are gone, the world will be a lesser place.
From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog
Memoirs of a Cold War Fighter Pilot
Colonel Steve Ladd, USAF (Retired)
First published in Great Britain in 2020 by
Air World Books
An imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
Yorkshire Philadelphia
Copyright Steve Ladd 2020
ISBN 978 1 52676 124 8
eISBN 978 1 52676 126 2
mobi ISBN 978 1 52676 127 9
The right of Steve Ladd to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.
Pen & Sword Books Limited incorporates the imprints of Atlas, Archaeology, Aviation, Discovery, Family History, Fiction, History, Maritime, Military, Military Classics, Politics, Select, Transport,
True Crime, Air World, Frontline Publishing, Leo Cooper, Remember When, Seaforth Publishing, The Praetorian Press, Wharncliffe Local History, Wharncliffe Transport, Wharncliffe True Crime
and White Owl.
For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact
PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England E-mail: enquiries@pen-and-sword.co.uk
Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
Or
PEN AND SWORD BOOKS
1950 Lawrence Rd, Havertown, PA 19083, USA
E-mail:
Website: www.penandswordbooks.com
Contents
Acknowledgments
A s I put the finishing touches to my manuscript, I think about the passage of time. It seems as though Ive taken nearly as long to write these memoirs as it took to live them. Ive had lots of help along the way.
Initial production has been down to a team of two: my wife Elaine and me. Elaines all about precision: methodical, meticulous and patient. Im the antithesis of these: disorderly, imprecise and hasty a broad brush kind of guy. The blending of these approaches has, I hope, resulted in a work you will find both enlightening and enjoyable.
Throughout the project, Elaine has been my motivator, memoryjogger and, simultaneously, a tireless reviewer and my fiercest critic. Without her, everything on the pages to follow would still be firmly lodged between my ears. I could never thank her enough for all she has meant to me throughout our life together and the role she has played in committing so much of it to this narrative.
Normally, when youre looking for someone to introduce your book you focus on crusty old guys (like me) who influenced you along the way. As has occasionally been my custom, Im flaunting this convention just a bit. Brigadier General (Retired) Pat Malackowski is a great friend and fighter pilot, years younger than I am. We served together when he was a captain at Bentwaters and I was a full colonel, but we share beliefs, philosophies and membership in a fighter pilot social fraternity that stands for nothing, except our families and a brotherhood commitment. Most importantly, Pats a long-time driver and just the kind of guy I wanted to exemplify in this book Im grateful for his endorsement as author of my Foreword.
Thanks to Kate Chetwynd, daughter of a very good friend, for pointing me in the right direction towards my publisher, Pen & Sword.
Thanks again to my brothers in the fellowship of the cockpit. Some of you have contributed war stories, thoughts and images to stimulate my memory and for this I am particularly grateful. It is those shared experiences that provide the foundation for the book.
Foreword
W hat you do when one of your lifes heroes asks you to write a foreword to a book hes written? First, let me acknowledge, writing a foreword to a book, any book let alone his book, is not something I ever expected to accomplish. After I read his request, I sat alone for a few minutes and reflected on our shared experiences over the last 30 plus years. There is no doubt Steve Ladd, the author of this memoir, had a significant impact on me professionally and personally. Honored, humbled, and somewhat ill-at-ease, I said of course, and I asked if I could read the book first. We shared a laugh as we joked on how long it might take me to read it an inside joke that undoubtedly isnt nearly as funny to you as it was to us.
I met Colonel Steve Ladd in 1988. I served for and with him until his retirement from the United States Air Force in 1994. Additionally, we share similar backgrounds. I was an American Airman from 1982 2016. I enthusiastically flew the A-10 , and Nellis Air Force Base.
The author doesnt tell you in this reading, so I will. Steve Ladd was a superior warrior, a leader of leaders, and an extraordinary fighter pilot. His presence, skill, and exuberance were an inspiration. From the moment we met, I tried to emulate his example in the air and on the ground. In addition to being a gifted fighter pilot, Steve Ladd is a flat-out, wonderful person. Incredibly talented, but never a braggart. Courteous, gracious, and funny too. He is that guy at the bar you want to enjoy your nightcap with; as it turns out, Steve is a terrific writer as well.
Knowing the author personally, being in the fighter community for 30 plus years, and having shared a similar background, I was naturally excited about this memoir. Reading that his purpose would be to provide an insight into the fighter communitys spirit, culture, and psyche enhanced my interest even further. What follows in this book is the terrific account of the backstory of one of my heroes, and a wonderful peek behind the scenes of his adventures in the United States Air Force fighter community. There is a straight-forward, casual style to his writing that pulls the reader into the scenario and experience. I didnt want to stop reading, put it down, or for it to end. I enjoyed this book tremendously. His humor is intricately woven throughout this work and I laughed myself to tears numerous times. Although I know its difficult to accurately document a communitys culture in one written work, Steve captures the spirit, essence, and life-experience of the s fighter community spanning the last four decades as well as anything Ive ever read.
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