Discount Price: $8.95
Price fluctuation possible.
How soon does it ship: Normal ship time within one day
Shipping? Absolutely FREE if you qualify for Super Saver Shipping.
Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 355
EAN num: 9781574888867
ISBN number: 1574888862
Label: Potomac Books Ltd.
Manufacturer: Potomac Books Ltd.
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 268
Printing Date: September 30, 2005
Publishing house: Potomac Books Ltd.
Sale Popularity Level: 192123
Studio: Potomac Books Ltd.
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
A valentine for one of the ugliest, albeit most lethally effective, warplanes ever built--as well as for the men who flew them during the Desert Storm campaign. Drawing on interviews with over one hundred A-10 pilots who served in the Persian Gulf during the 1990-91 hostilities, Smallwood (himself an aviator and Korean War vet) offers riveting perspectives on aerial combat. Setting the stage with an informative briefing on how, in the 70's, the Air Force developed the A-10 (a.k.a. ``Warthog'') as a means of supporting ground troops with massive firepower, he moves into anecdotal vignettes detailing the ways in which so-called ``hog drivers'' and their commanders whiled away the weary hours of the calm before the storm in Saudi Arabia's inhospitable clime. At the heart of his narrative, however, are vivid accounts of how A-10s accomplished their tank-busting missions and then some once the battle was joined. Tasked, among other objectives, to take out missile launchers and artillery emplacements far behind the front lines (assignments normally reserved for jet fighters), the slow-moving, heavily armed Warthogs were credited with over half the bomb damage inflicted on Iraqi forces and installations. Employing improvisational tactics, A-10s also flew reconnaissance and assisted in rescues of coalition pilots; they even scored air-to- air kills, downing a couple of enemy choppers. Indeed, the plane's ungainly Gatling-gun platform performed so well that pilots demanded their craft be redesignated ``RFOA-10'' (for ``reconnaissance/fighter/observation/attack'').
'An absorbing tale of how a decidedly ugly duckling became a military hero of some consequence.' —Kirkus Reviews
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
Quick, easy read about the role of the A-10 in the Gulf War. I'm a big fan of oral histories and this uses a lot of interviews with pilots and is written directly from those conversations. A great look into the buildup before Desert Storm and what the pilots did before and during the War in the Gulf area.
Rated by buyers -
The A-10 "Warthog" is a slow, ugly warplane but deadly efficient in battle given that it operates under complete air supremacy. The author has done a great job describing in vivid details this potent aerial weapon as well as the brave fliers who took it in the Gulf War for its battle debut. The destruction that A-10s achieved against the Iraqi Army was awesome and the enemy's armour was decimated by the combination of Maverick missiles and the GAU-8/A Anenger gun. Smallwood gives many behind the scenes details of improvisation regarding the use of weapons, the tactics and the ways the pilots used to bring more firepower on the enemy. The vast array of the iraqi air-defense weapons and the dangers that Warthog pilots faced are also presented. Highly recommended!
Rated by buyers 
-
This is a nice little book that provides detailed and moving information about the A-10 pilots during the very first Gulf War in 1991. It is a quick read. As the author has stated, it is strictly a snapshot about the A-10 during this war and not about the development of the A-10 program. The listing of the A-10 pilots that served during the war at the end of the book is a nice touch and the author did do very well in conducting extensive interviews with the pilots that participated in the war.
The only complaint that I have is that there is sometimes a little bit too much pilot lingo in describing some of the missions and there are no references listed for other books or articles. The references would have been good when descibing some of the unique features of the plane.
Rated by buyers -
This is a very entertaining and informative book. It tells the many interesting stories about the awesome plane, the A-10. I would recommend this book to anyone.
Rated by buyers -
I am a former Comm/Nav troop from the 76th that got out before the Gulf War. This book really helped me see what our planes did over there when all the news footage and other specials only show other bases! It was great to "hear" from people I knew on their experiences! I couldn't put the book down!
Find other books like this one:
