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Top Gun became a household name with the worldwide success of the film of the same title. The 1986 blockbuster starring Tom Cruise as a hotshot U.S. Navy fighter pilot was so popular (drawing $356 million worldwide) that recruiters set up desks in theaters that were showing it, l...ooking to attract the next generation of combat aviators. The movie did for Navy pilots what The Right Stuff did for astronauts. With the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the real TOPGUN-as the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons program was known-approaching in 2019, and with Jerry Bruckheimer's sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, set to shoot next year, this is the time to publish the real story of the actual risk takers, disruptors, and innovators who revolutionized the art of aerial combat and created the center for excellence and incubator of leadership that thrives to this day. Here is the inside story of TOPGUN, told by the man who was picked to lead it at the start, from war to peace and back to war again, on and off the flight line, and through all six of our decades. Though Pedersen was a part of it at the beginning, some other great pilots carried on our work and he is eager to pay them tribute and make the book a celebration of our whole community. It's a great story, full of interesting characters and exciting history that American should know.
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In Tasmania, John Cook is known as: 'The Keeper of the Flame'. John's renowned as one of the last of the kerosene keepers : he spent a good part of his 26-year career in Tasmanian lighthouses tending kerosene, not electrical, lamps. He joined the lighthouse service in 1969, after... a spell in the merchant marine. Far from reviling work on isolated islands such as Tasman and Maatsuyker, Australia's southernmost lighthouse, he discovered that he loved the solitude and delighted in the sense of purpose that light keeping gave him. He did two stints on Tasman, in 1969-71 and 1977, and was the head keeper on Maatsuyker for eight years. Tasman's kerosene light was a pressure lamp fuelled by two big bottles that had to be pumped up to 75 pounds per square inch (about 516 kilopascals): It was the equivalent of pumping up a tyre every 20 minutes, John says. Then you had to wind up the weights - they went down the tower and turned the prism around like a big clockwork. If the weights went all the way to the bottom, the light would stop. The main thing was that 365 nights of the year you sat in that tower, 100 feet up, and you had to stay awake, John says of Tasman. If you fell asleep the light would stop and then you were in trouble. Keepers took watches around the clock, in a system similar to that on a ship. Day watches weren't a chance to slack off: standing orders required the watchkeeper to look seawards at least every half-hour and to log sightings of any vessels, and their course, in the area. But the main thing was there was always maintenance to do, John says. Because Mother Nature was your boss. She'd blow gutters off, that sort of thing - she was always stickin' her bib in, and you were repairin' it. Tasman keepers also ran a herd of up to 500 sheep. They didn't have a freezer, so they'd kill and dress a sheep every fortnight. John supplemented his bulk stores, delivered every three months by the lighthouse supply vessel, with extras brought on the bi-monthly mail bo
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Author was one of the UK s early aviation pioneers. As manager and chief instructor of the Bristol Flying School at Brooklands, he had many pupils who subsequently became famous
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Volplane Press in association with the Aviation Historical Society of New Zealand is proud to announce publication of the first volume of Errol Martyns new trilogy - A PASSION FOR FLIGHT, a history of New Zealand aviation before the Great War of 1914-1918. This definitive work pr...esents for the first time a detailed record of all known New Zealand-related aeronautical activity of the long-neglected pioneering period of 1868-1914. The complete trilogy will undoubtedly become an indispensible first place of resource for historians, aviation enthusiasts and genealogists alike.
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By Sweet, Robert
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- RRP: $41.00
- $38.95
- Save $2.05
- Temporarily out of stock
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The operator's manual that should come with every boater's GPS receiver or chart plotter.
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Covers the technologies and conveniences that have transformed the boats and the power cruising lifestyle. This book includes sections on crew communications and managing emotions; the cruising community and how to get along within it; how to deal with a reluctant spouse; and usi...ng email and Skype to keep in touch with loved ones on land.
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By Wells, Duncan
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- RRP: $43.50
- $34.80
- Save $8.70
- Internationally sourced
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This indispensable visual guide takes the stress out of mooring, with step-by-step photographic instructions helping sailors with mooring and berthing situations in a yacht or motorboat.
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365 tips, tricks, hints and cheats relating to all areas of practical seamanship--a daily ready-reckoner to improve skills in boat handling, navigation, living aboard and repairs.
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A retrospective look at the world's first passenger jet, and the ways in which it changed the world, including new evidence on the technical flaws which led to a spate of fatal accidents.
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By Beaver, Paul
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- RRP: $80.99
- $64.79
- Save $16.20
- Pub Date
12 Nov 20
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The extraordinary life of Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown - aviator, record-breaker, and Britain's greatest pilot
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