F-4 Phantom: A Pilot's Story

F-4 Phantom: A Pilot's Story

<b>‘A stone cold classic. One of the best military aviaton memoirs ever written' Rowland White, author of <i>Vulcan 607</i></b><p><br /><i><b>‘I only have to think Speed, and I am at 600 knots in seconds. Think Height and I am gazing down from a eight-mile-high perch within one minute. Think Freedom and I am wrested away from a dank, cold world, cloudbase at 300 feet, through a brief shock of cloud to emerge into a golden blue world, another dimension, crystal clear for miles and miles'</b></i></p><p><br />Fighter Pilot. Robert Prest had never wanted to be anything else. And even as a boy he had set his sights on flying the awesome McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom. The big, twin-engined interceptor offered an irresistible combination of charisma, power and performance. Air combat, strike, gunnery, bombing and rocketry, the F-4 was jack-of-all-trades, master of most.</p><p><br />From the lonely pursuit of Soviet intruders out over the North Sea and strength-sapping high-g dogfights, to maintaining Quick Reaction Alert on Germany's Eastern border, ready to scramble Battle Flight at a moment's notice, Prest and his fellow aviators stood toe-to-toe with a powerful opponent. But the defence of the West came at a cost, and comrades in arms would pay with their lives.</p><p><br />No other book so vividly brings to life the high-pressure, high stakes, high-speed world of an RAF fighter pilot on the Cold War frontline. But it's more than that. In capturing a sense of the wonder and magic of flying, Prest's book ranks aviation classics from writers like Saint-Exupéry, Richard Bach, Cecil Lewis and Ernest Gann.</p><p><br /><b>‘The best book I've ever read about flying fast jets for the Cold War RAF. Both thrilling and elegaic, <i>F-4 Phantom</i> makes poetry of complex, exacting world of the fighter pilot. This is as close as you'll ever get to flying the Phantom yourself.' Rowland White, author of <i>Vulcan 607</i></b></p><p><b><br />‘What <i>First Light</i> does for Spitfires and the Battle of Britain, Robert Prest does for the F-4 Phantom in RAF service … Superbly written.' Royal Aeronautical Society Insight</b></p><p><br /></p><b>Perfect for fans of books like <i>Skyfaring, Apache, First Light, Tornado Down, Fate is the Hunter</i> or <i>Sagittarius Rising</i></b>