American MIG Pilot - by Rob Zettel (Hardcover)

About the Book

After being outflown over Vietnam, the US launched a top secret operation to acquire Soviet aircraft, train pilots to fly them, and pitch them against American planes in training scenarios.

Book Synopsis

After being outflown over Vietnam, the US launched a top secret operation to acquire Soviet aircraft, train pilots to fly them, and pitch them against American planes in training scenarios.

Get inside the head of one of America's most experienced MiG pilots, Lt Col Zettel, as he tells the thrilling tale of Constant Peg, a top secret US operation that wouldn't feel out of place in the plot of Top Gun.

At the height of the Cold War, America illicitly obtained Russian Fighters, transported them to the Tonopah Test Range, and pitted them against star US fighter pilots in simulated combat exercises. With controls labelled in Russian and the only spare parts being the ones they could salvage, the pilots who climbed into the MiGs accepted all of the risks associated with operating these aircraft. Vivid accounts of training engagements put the reader right there in the cockpit, flying alongside the "Red Eagles" as they trained the best pilots America had to offer. Historical photographs help paint the picture of an operation that took the US Air Force from its dismal performance in the Vietnam War to an unprecedented air-to-air kill ratio in Operation Desert Storm.

About the Author

Lt Col Rob 'Z-Man' Zettel, USAF (ret.) is a veteran of the 4477th Test & Evaluation Squadron. Flying MiG-21 and MiG-23 fighters as an Instructor Pilot and Functional Check Flight pilot from 1983-86, he was a key member of the squadron during its most prolific years. In his 37-year career he has flown extensively, logging more than 17,000 flight hours in everything from Stearman biplanes to frontline fighters in the USAF and at the controls of both Boeing and Airbus' most advanced airliners.