Topgun
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2.9 • 494 Ratings
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
"If you loved the movie, you will love the real story in the book." -- Fox & Friends
On the 50th anniversary of the creation of the "Topgun" Navy Fighter School, its founder shares the remarkable inside story of how he and eight other risk-takers revolutionized the art of aerial combat.
When American fighter jets were being downed at an unprecedented rate during the Vietnam War, the U.S. Navy turned to a young lieutenant commander, Dan Pedersen, to figure out a way to reverse their dark fortune. On a shoestring budget and with little support, Pedersen picked eight of the finest pilots to help train a new generation to bend jets like the F-4 Phantom to their will and learn how to dogfight all over again.
What resulted was nothing short of a revolution -- one that took young American pilots from the crucible of combat training in the California desert to the blistering skies of Vietnam, in the process raising America's Navy combat kill ratio from two enemy planes downed for every American plane lost to more than 22 to 1. Topgun emerged not only as an icon of America's military dominance immortalized by Hollywood but as a vital institution that would shape the nation's military strategy for generations to come.
Pedersen takes readers on a colorful and thrilling ride -- from Miramar to Area 51 to the decks of aircraft carriers in war and peace-through a historic moment in air warfare. He helped establish a legacy that was built by him and his "Original Eight" -- the best of the best -- and carried on for six decades by some of America's greatest leaders. Topgun is a heartfelt and personal testimony to patriotism, sacrifice, and American innovation and daring.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The name Topgun makes many of us think of Tom Cruise in aviators—but even Maverick himself has nothing on Dan Pedersen. The mind behind the US Navy’s Topgun fighter pilot training program details one of the most impactful military careers in history in his illuminating memoir. Having witnessed firsthand the troubling ineffectiveness of US aerial-combat strategy in Vietnam, Pedersen was allowed to start a training program in California that ultimately restored American air superiority. The exploits of the instructors who ran that program (known as the Original Bros) had us absolutely riveted. Pedersen is a fascinating man who isn’t afraid to take aim at bureaucratic nonsense—or at himself, for letting his service impact his personal life. Befitting the high-flying action, Jim Meskimen keeps his narration moving at a brisk clip. If the movies left you even a little bit curious about the real Topgun school, this blistering listen will not disappoint.
Customer Reviews
Great Insight of the USN
I really enjoyed how much Dan revealed about the way Top Gun came to be. His description of the tuff lessons learned by our military from the cockpit is very insightful. He doesn’t sugarcoat the bad things & doesn’t blindly glorify the good things.
Historical Masterpiece!!
First time writing a review, but this book was too good to pass it up. Reading this book just fills you with a sense of wholesome Patriotism. Grateful for the sacrifice each and everyone of our veterans gave to serve our country. Leaving behind a life that could of been, to give the opportunity to have a life of what can be. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your service is not so easily forgotten! God bless Always!
Back to basics
Every pilots dream to fly a fighter jet , this book made me feel like i was there in the action.