THE WILD BLUE: The Story of American Airpower

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 4, 1960

From the files of Air Force Magazine- over a period of 42 years- these pieces on every phase of flight activity and achievement have been collected and arranged in sections correlated to the early development of the plane, the various wars in which air power has figured, modern airpower today and the aerospace future. Since the average piece is short (some six pages) and since the volume runs to more than 600, it is a heavy bombardment; many of the contributors are known; many now famous figures tell their stories in their own words. Onward and upward from Kitty Hawk, there are peacetime flights, record flights, feats of all kinds- as well as crashes and rescue missions. From Pearl Harbor, ""caught with our planes down"", the entire war in the Pacific is viewed from the air- so is the war in Europe, the airlift to follow, and Korea. The changes in aircraft through the years; the new policies involved; nuclear warfare- and survival-it's all here, along with a solid formation of ace flyers-Lufbery, Rickenbacker, Frank Luke, Doolittle, Jabara- the first jet ace, etc., etc. Both as a history of aviation, of the planes from the cantankerous machines of 1914 to the big bombers which span the skies, and the many men who flew them- in incidents of striking action- the mission here is well accomplished.

Pub Date: Feb. 4, 1960

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1960

Categories: NONFICTION