Fighter Pilot

The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds

Robin Olds with Christina Olds and Ed Rasimus

St. Martin's Griffin

Download Image Robin Olds with Christina Olds and Ed Rasimus Fighter Pilot
Buy it now

Available Formats

BookeBook

Robin Olds was many things to many people. To his West Point football coach he was an All American destined for the National College Football Hall of Fame. To his P-38 and P-51 wartime squadrons in WWII he was the aggressive fighter pilot who made double ace and became their commander in nine short months. For the pioneers of the jet age, he was the wingman on the first jet demo team, a racer in the Thompson Trophy race, and the only U.S. exchange officer to command an RAF squadron. In the tabloid press he was the dashing flying hero who married the glamorous movie star. For the current crop of fighter pilots he is best known as the leader of the F-4 Wolfpack battling over North Vietnam. For cadets at the Air Force Academy he was a role model and mentor. He was all of those things and more.

Here’s Robin’s story in his own words and gleaned from the family and friends of his lifetime. Here’s the talent and learning, the passion and leadership, the love and disappointments of his life. Few men have written on the tablets of aviation history with such a broad and indelible brush. Olds was a classic hero with vices as well as virtues, a life writ large that impacted many.

Connect with the Author

Macmillan Newsletter

Sign up to receive information about new books, author events, and special offers.

Sign up now

Reviews

Praise for Fighter Pilot

Praise for Fighter Pilot:

“A gripping narrative...Compelling reading, likely to become a classic.” —Booklist

“Robin Olds is probably the greatest aerial warrior America ever produced. His autobiography tells it like it was...and provides written proof why the people who served with him made him a legend. This book will be an instant classic.” —Stephen Coonts, New York Times bestselling author of The Assassin

 “One man’s account of war and, in its way, a tribute to a vanished breed of men.” —The Wall Street Journal

“Excellent...at times, his poetic descriptions reveal a humanity rarely exhibited in public by this swashbuckling, handlebar-mustachioed giant of air power.” —Aviation Weekly

In the Press

Book Review: Fighter Pilot - WSJ.com
Daniel Ford reviews Robin Olds's Fighter Pilot, a memoir of flying combat missions in Vietnam.
- The Wall Street Journal

Back

About the Author

Robin Olds with Christina Olds and Ed Rasimus

Robin Olds (1922-2007) was a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot. A triple ace, he achieved a combined total of 16 victories in the Second World War and the Vietnam War. Born into an army family in Honolulu and raised in Virginia, he was educated at West Point, where he was an All American football player. He fought in Europe during World War II, and was regarded as the best wing commander in the Vietnam War. He was promoted to brigadier general after Vietnam, and also served as Commandant of Cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy.  Christina Olds is the daughter of Robin Olds. She holds a B.A. in English and creative writing from Vassar. Ed Rasimus is a retired USAF fighter pilot whose books on the Vietnam air war include When Thunder Rolled and Palace Cobra.

Christina Olds
Ed Rasimus
Robin Olds

Robin Olds

Related Links

Related

Back

Community

Command Posts

Latest Blog Posts

5/28/2012 9:59:11 PM
Vietnam War Commemoration Ceremony at Vietnam Veterans Memorial: May 28, 2012
5/28/2012 7:17:00 PM
Midnight at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
5/26/2012 3:01:07 AM
Vietnam Reading and Viewing List
More Blog Posts
 

Latest on Facebook

Latest on Twitter

Back

Buy the Book

Available Formats and Book Details

Fighter Pilot
The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds
Robin Olds with Christina Olds and Ed Rasimus

Trade Paperback

Trade Paperback
St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Griffin
May 2011
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9780312569518
ISBN10: 0312569513
6 1/8 x 9 1/4 inches, 432 pages, Plus 1 sixteen page black-and-white photograph insert
$15.99
Buy

Hardcover

Learn more about this edition
Hardcover
St. Martin's Press
April 2010
Hardcover
ISBN: 9780312560232
ISBN10: 0312560230
6 1/8 x 9 1/4 inches, 416 pages, Includes one 16-page black-and-white photo insert
$26.99
Buy

e-Book Agency

Learn more about this edition
e-Book Agency
St. Martin's Press
April 2010
e-Book Agency
ISBN: 9781429929097
ISBN10: 142992909X
416 pages
$9.99
Back

From The Publisher

St. Martin's Griffin

Latest on Facebook

Latest on Twitter

Back

{ About }

{ Services }

{ Store }

{ Publishers }

Education

Children's

© 2011 Macmillan