Phantom in the Cold War
Phantom in the Cold War

Author: David Gledhill

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2017-06-30

Total Pages: 504

ISBN-13: 1526704102

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An RAF veteran presents an in-depth study of one of the Cold War’s most effective fighter, defense, and reconnaissance planes. The McDonnell Douglas F4 Phantom was a true multi-role combat aircraft. Introduced into the Royal Air Force in 1968, it was employed in ground attack, air reconnaissance and air defense roles. Even after the arrival of the Jaguar in the early 1970s, it continued to play a significant role in air defense. In its heyday, the Phantom was Britain’s principal Cold War fighter. There were seven UK-based squadrons, two Germany-based squadrons, and a further Squadron deployed to the Falkland Islands. Phantom in the Cold War focuses on the aircraft’s role as an air defense fighter, exploring its contribution to the Second Allied Tactical Air Force at RAF Wildenrath during the Cold War. Author David Gledhill, who flew the Phantom operationally, also recounts the thrills, challenges, and consequences of operating this temperamental jet at extreme low-level over the West German countryside, preparing for a war which everyone hoped would never happen.

The Phantom Major
The Phantom Major

Author: Virginia Cowles

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2011-06-13

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 1848849648

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An action-packed biography of “one of the legitimate storybook heroes of World War II” and the special forces regiment he founded (The New York Times). In the dark and uncertain days of 1941 and 1942, when Rommel’s Afrika Korps was sweeping toward Egypt and the Suez Canal, a small group of daring raiders made history for the Allies. They operated deep behind German lines, driving hundreds of miles through the deserts of North Africa. They hid by day and struck by night, destroying aircraft, blowing up ammunition dumps, derailing trains, and killing many times their own number. These men were the Special Air Service. The SAS was the brainchild of David Stirling, a deceptively mild-mannered man with a brilliant idea. Under his command, small teams of resourceful, highly trained men penetrated beyond the front lines of the opposing armies and wreaked havoc where the Germans least expected it. From Virginia Cowles, whose biographies have been praised as “splendidly readable” (Sunday Times) and “fascinating” (Kirkus Reviews), this is a classic account of these raids, an amazing tale of courage, impudence, and daring packed with action and high adventure. Her narrative, based on the eyewitness testimony of the men who took part, gives a compelling insight into the early years of the SAS.

US Marine Corps F-4 Phantom II Units of the Vietnam War
US Marine Corps F-4 Phantom II Units of the Vietnam War

Author: Peter E. Davies

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2012-11-20

Total Pages: 205

ISBN-13: 1782003185

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Twenty-five US Marine Corps squadrons flew versions of the Phantom II and 11 of them used the aircraft in South-East Asia from May 1965 through to early 1973. Rather than the air-to-air missiles that were the main component in the original F-4 armament, these aircraft carried an ever-expanding range of weaponry. Some toted 24,500-lb bombs and others strafed with up to three 20 mm gun pods, while most flew daily sorties delivering napalm, Snakeye bombs and big Zuni rockets. Many US Marines holding small outpost positions in Laos and South Vietnam against heavy Viet Cong attack owed their lives to the Phantom II pilots who repeatedly drove off the enemy. The book will examine these missions in the context of US Marine Corps close-support doctrine, using the direct experience of a selection of the aircrew who flew and organised those missions.

From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog
From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog

Author: Steve Ladd

Publisher: Air World

Published: 2020-09-30

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 1526761254

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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 deserve—until now. You don’t have to be an aviation aficionado to enjoy Colonel Steve Ladd’s 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 experiences—you won’t want to put it down.” —Aviation News

War Is Hell
War Is Hell

Author: Garth Ennis

Publisher: Marvel Comics Group

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780785132240

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Tells the story of Karl Kaufmann, an ambitious and idealistic young aviator who learns the ugly truth of life in wartime. As he joins up with a squadrom of the Royal Flying Corps in France, Kaufmann must hide his past from his fellow pilots, while surviving the rigors and heartbreak of war.

Phantom Army of the Civil War
Phantom Army of the Civil War

Author: Frank Spaeth

Publisher: Castle Books

Published: 2008-05-15

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 9780785812876

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This is a haunting collection of personal encounters with the spirit world as they appeared in FATE magazine. These are tales handed down over the years that have their basis in the horrors of the Civil War.

Phantom Letters
Phantom Letters

Author: Gary K. Thrasher

Publisher: Hillcrest Publishing Group

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 9781936183524

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â¿¿Phantom Lettersâ¿¿ follows a group of 389th Tactical Fighter Squadron pilots as they fight in Vietnam. The story is a timeless one of young men going to war, the dangers they face, how they live, and the emotional changes they undergo as the rigors of combat affects their lives and ideals. In this account of his life, author Gary Thrasher admits to finally understandingâ¿¿ after forty-some years â¿¿ the price they all paid to serve their country. Killing and conflict have left permanent marks on his subconscious, as well as the lives of the people he loves. Containing letters written home to his wife over 40 years ago, (which were kept by his wife through it all), Thrasherâ¿¿s story reveals his love for his family, but also the human being behind the gun sight of a fighter. This wide-reaching and inspiring true narrative of an ex-Vietnam War fighter pilot has something for everyone. It is a tale of battle, family, and hardships. But, most of all, it is a tale of love of family and country.

Kid Phantom
Kid Phantom

Author: Frew

Publisher:

Published:

Total Pages: 20

ISBN-13:

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The adventure of the Phantom as a young boy.

The Phantom Vietnam War
The Phantom Vietnam War

Author: David R. Honodel

Publisher: University of North Texas Press

Published: 2018-09-15

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 1574417436

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David R. “Buff” Honodel was a cocky young man with an inflated self-image when he arrived in 1969 at his base in Udorn, Thailand. His war was not in Vietnam; it was a secret one in the skies of a neighboring country almost unknown in America, attacking the Ho Chi Minh Trail that fed soldiers and supplies from North Vietnam into the South. Stateside he learned the art of flying the F-4, but in combat, the bomb-loaded fighter handled differently, targets shot back, and people suffered. Inert training ordnance was replaced by lethal weapons. In the air, a routine day mission turned into an unexpected duel with a deadly adversary. Complacency during a long night mission escorting a gunship almost led to death. A best friend died just before New Year’s. A RF-4 crashed into the base late in Buff’s tour of duty. The reader will experience Buff’s war from the cockpit of a supersonic F-4D Phantom II, doing 5-G pullouts after dropping six 500-pound bombs on trucks hidden beneath triple jungle canopy. These were well defended by a skillful, elusive, determined enemy firing back with 37mm anti-aircraft fire and tracers in the sky. The man who left the States was a naïve, self-centered young pilot. The man who came back 137 missions later was much different.

US Navy F-4 Phantom II Units of the Vietnam War 1964-68
US Navy F-4 Phantom II Units of the Vietnam War 1964-68

Author: Peter E. Davies

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2016-08-25

Total Pages: 99

ISBN-13: 1472814533

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The F-4 Phantom II is perhaps the most famous post-war fighter. Primarily used as a land-based fighter-bomber and reconnaissance platform, its naval origins and the immense contribution made to the US war effort in Vietnam by its original carrier-based versions began its legend. This title examines the unique aspects of the Phantom that made it so crucial to US Navy pilots during the Vietnam War – its massive engine power, long range, speed, the most powerful airborne search and fire-control radar installed in a fighter at the time, and of course its versatility as a ground attack and air-to-air platform. Packed with first hand accounts, unique profile artwork and rare photographs this is the history of one of the most important aircraft to be stationed on carriers off Southeast Asia during the war.