num_pages: 346
description: Revised and updated version! STEPHEN COONTS NY Times best-selling author of Flight of the Intruder -- D. D. Smith's personal memoir of his years in naval aviation is more than a I was there tale. He captures the myriad of challenges that was Naval Aviation before the Vietnam War. When I arrived in the fleet D. D. Smith and his compadres were the squadron execs or COs who led us nuggets into the inferno of Vietnam A huge tip of the hat to D.D. Smith. This book will appeal to every naval aviator or NFO of whatever era. Highly recommended. But the book is much more. It is a cleverly written and refreshingly honest story of the authors life and times as he fights his way from rural Minnesota to the blazing skies over North Vietnam. Commander Smith flew 138 combat missions and made more than 800 carrier arrested landings. As the Navys first Chief Test Pilot his tests in the F-14 led to the first EVER flat spin in a Tomcat  and it nearly killed him. No swaggering bravado here; this is a fresh insightful look at life luck and guts  in Vietnam and beyond.
language: English
title: Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way
publisher: None