Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds Top Quality

Few pilots have so personified the two-fisted, hard-fighting, hard-partying macho fighter pilot as USAF ace Robin Olds. For 30-odd years, Olds lived and breathed AIR COMBAT, flying fighters in two wars and notching up 16 kills. Retiring as a one-star general in 1973, he left a legacy of devotion to duty and combat leadership second to none. In the years before his death in June 2007, he began work on his autobiography. Following his death, his daughter Christina crafted this tremendously appealing life history of one of America's top fighter pilots and leaders.

Olds was to the manor born, his father being Captain - later Major General - Robert Olds. Olds' mother died when he was four. Consequently, Olds grew up in the Air Corps environment, meeting many famous military and civilian airmen. The young boy dreamed of serving in the Air Corps but in fighters as opposed to the bombers his dad flew. After graduating from West Point, he get his wish, serving in the 8th Air Force's 479th FG. Olds downed 12 e/a while flying P-38s and -51s. Steadily rising in rank in the postwar years, he held various commands before seeing combat in Vietnam in 1966-67. As CO of the 8th TFW, Olds made the 'Wolfpack' the deadliest F-4 unit of the war and personally downed four MiGs. Olds was arguably the most famous American airman of the Vietnam War. He later served as Commandant of Cadets at the Air Force Academy before retiring. Excepting the Medal of Honor, he received every major decoration awarded to American servicemen.

Reading FIGHTER PILOT is a wondrous experience; it's one of the best fighter pilot memoirs I've ever read! Olds comes across as a fascinating, complex and tremendously appealing individual who absolutely lived for and loved flying fighters, especially in combat. Supremely self-confident in his abilities, he was devoted to the men under his command and personalified the 'led-by-example' combat leader the Air Force so needed in the skies over North Vietnam...and so often lacked. In return, his men loved and respected him. A few others did not. Olds' disregard for idiotic regulations and hidebound staff weenies along with his larger-than-life persona did not endear him to Air Force bureacrats.

FIGHTER PILOT is filled with exciting descriptions of dogfights, memorable peacetime missions, goofs and gaffes on Olds' part and memories of famous and rank-and-file Air Force blue-suiters along with insightful, sometimes painful, looks into Olds' private life. He married movie star Ella Raines but the demands of an Air Force life eventually brought the marriage crashing down. For all the 'yanking-and-banking' stories found in FIGHTER PILOT however, the most poignant parts of the book dealt with the death of Olds' beloved father and the death of his infant son.

Christina Olds deserves a big thumb's-up for crafting such an appealing account from the various bits and pieces Olds left behind. The book is a marvelous tribute to the life and times of one of America's finest airman. Highly recommended.

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