CADILLAC FLIGHT

Air Force flyers carry out their bombing missions in the face of increasingly capable North Vietnamese defenses--in a realistic military-adventure/first novel by a veteran pilot. Cadillac Flight consists of four F-105 Thunderchiefs and their pilots operating out of a Thai air base at the height of the Vietnam War. The flight leader is dumpy, middle-aged Major Delbert ""Donkey"" Sheehan, a superb pilot whose military career has never taken off, thanks to his rowdy ways and lack of tact. The flight's new, highly skilled pilot Jim Broussard is a handsome young man with no interest in an Air Force career--he just wants to make it through the war and then sign on with the airlines. The F-105s are the biggest, fastest fighter bombers in the Vietnamese skies, but their speed is offset by a lack of maneuverability--a dangerous problem when faced with the enemy's endless supply of missiles and the thousands of angry farmers armed with rifles. But the greatest danger to Cadillac Flight is Major Richard Stark--a gutless, politically protected officer on the make who joins the unit even though he can't fly worth a darn. Stark's errors cost lives and lead to the shooting down of Donkey Sheeban by Vietnamese ace Lt. Minh. Broussard takes comfort in the arms of a nifty nurse, and Maj. Sheehan crawls back through the jungle to have another crack at Major Stark. Competent storyline supports a lot of first-rate flying scenes.