Officers in flight suits
Subtitle: the story of American Air Force fighter pilots in the Korean War
By: John Darrell Sherwood.
Publisher: New York University Press
Published: 1996
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 239
Subjects: United States. Air Force -- History; Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Aerial operations, American; Fighter pilots -- United States; Fighter planes -- United States -- History
Description: The United States Air Force fought as a truly independent service for the first time during the Korean War. As a result, the fighter pilots reigned supreme. Korea, then, is the perfect laboratory for studying the culture of fighter pilots, a culture based on self-confidence and risk-taking, one which has promoted what John Darrell Sherwood calls "flight suit attitude.".

In Officers in Flight Suits, Sherwood explores the flight suit officer's life, drawing on memoirs, diaries, letters, novels, unit records, and personal papers as well as interviews with over fifty veterans who served in the Air Force in Korea. The book provides an illuminating portrait of fighter pilot culture, demonstrating how this culture affected their performance in battle and their attitudes toward others, particularly women, in their off-duty activities.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 221-227) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: An absence of ring-knockers : the social background and education of flight suit officers; title: Stick and rudder university : training and the creation of the flight suit officer; title: MiG alley : air-to-air combat in Korea; title: Headhunters and fighting cocks : the fighter-bomber in Korea; title: Thunderboxes and sabre dancers : base life and recreation in the Korean War; title: Life after Korea; title: Epilogue.