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Glen Edwards: The Diary of a Bomber Pilot
 
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Glen Edwards: The Diary of a Bomber Pilot [Hardcover]

Daniel Ford (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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From Kirkus Reviews

The fascinating diary of the WWII bomber and postwar test pilot (after whom Edwards Air Force Base was named) placed into context by Ford, a contributing editor at Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine. Although many WWII memoirs have appeared in recent years, Edwardss rises above the rest with his honest and captivating accounts of daily life for a combat pilot in Africa. Also excellent is Fords commentary: He gives non-flying readers all the necessary technical information without attempting a course in aeronautical engineering. Edwardss training and combat career are interesting, but less colorful than his indoctrination into the first ranks of the armys test pilots (this in the days before the Air Force was formed). His accounts of jumping into any plane he could get near, and of hopping through the country in search of beautiful womensometimes, even, Hollywood starletsoffer a unique perspective on the world just after the war, when multitudes of young men returned from overseas and the military pilot was just as much a symbol of glamour as the movie idol. Edwards himself was assigned soon enough to head the test program on the radical and ill-fated Northrop Flying Wing Bomber (he would be killed during testing).While at work on that, he contributed important findings to aircraft research and helped to change the position of test pilot from one offered to any skilled pilot to that of a highly trained scientist. Edwardss own words are skillfully interwoven with Fords, offering a richly detailed account of postwar aviationand the infant years of the military-industrial complex. (photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Book Description

In 1941 at the age of 23, Glen Edwards learned to fly in a wood, metal, and fabric biplane; in 1948, he died in the fiery crash of a Northrop Flying Wing, one of the Air Force's most advanced jet-propelled bombers. Conveying both the exhaustion of combat and the exhilaration of flying some of the world's fastest, most sophisticated planes, Edward's diary entries trace the full trajectory of his career: the near-daily bombing missions over Africa and Italy for which he won the Distinguished Flying Cross, a record-breaking cross-country flight in 1945 as the lead pilot of the Douglas XB-42 "Mixmaster, " his assignment to Wright Field, "the Mecca of all Army pilots, " a stint at Princeton to study aircraft stability and control, and participation in developing the Northrop YB-49 Flying Wing. Setting Edwards's career in historical context and describing the strengths and weaknesses of the planes he flew, including the controversial Flying Wing, a precursor of the B-2 Stealth Bomber, Daniel Ford provides both a first-person look at the life of a bomber pilot and a broad view of aviation in an era of extraordinary change.

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5.0 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating portrait of an American hero., Jan 15 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Glen Edwards: The Diary of a Bomber Pilot (Hardcover)
This book is nothing short of captivating. The author provides brief explanatory narratives to connect entries from Edwards' diaries, beginning with flight training, then combat in North Africa, and the early post-war years in America.

Just ferrying his airplane from the States to North Africa was a big adventure, considering the rather primitive nature of navigation aids and weather forecasts in that era.

Combat in Africa and Italy is described in detail, some of it surprising. For example, a military advance had a down side. Moving forward to a newly captured air field meant that the American aviators were subjected to more ground attacks by German aircraft.

The second half of the book covers the early post-war years, when American factories were building new airplanes almost faster than the Air Force could flight test them. Many exotic, one-of-a-kind vehicles are described here.

To some extent, the reader has a sense of foreboding at this point, knowing that this story is destined to end as unhappily as the maiden voyage of the Titanic. Yet this knowledge serves to accentuate the daily events described here.

There are many memorable tidbits in this book, such as tales of a man who actually intimidated Chuck Yeager!

Glen Edwards is portrayed in these pages as so heroic, embodying so many virtues, yet so modest and unassuming. This is someone you would want to know and to spend time with. Through this book, you can.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A pilot's read!, Jan 12 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Glen Edwards: The Diary of a Bomber Pilot (Hardcover)
A superb book about Glen Edwards. I thoroughly enjoyed and empathized with his career. The pace was like reading a literary version of Ravel's "Bolero" with the crescendo building to the final flight. The description of the crash was wrenching, superb.

A pilot's read! Bravo Zulu!

Paul M. (USN Ret.)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Well researched. Well told, Nov 10 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Glen Edwards: The Diary of a Bomber Pilot (Hardcover)
"The amount of reseach Ford wove into Glen Edwards: The Diary of a Bomber Pilot" is remarkable. The result is a wonderfully readable tale of one man's contribution to freedom and flight. Nice to 'know" such a man as Edwards and to have Ford, a historian/author who brought him back to life."
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