Hampton, Dan

An account of Charles A. Lindbergh's first transatlantic flight from New York to Paris.

Tells the story of the little-known American pilot named Charles A. Lindbergh who climbed into his single-engine monoplane, the Spirit of St. Louis, and was the first pilot to fly nonstop between New York and Paris.

Author Dan Hampton, a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, describes his time flying F-16 fighter jets, "Vipers," in over 150 combat missions. Discusses his training, missions, fellow pilots, and time in the Iraq War, Kosovo conflict, and first Gulf War.

Vietnam, 1965: on July 24, a USAF F-4 Phantom jet was shot down out of the sky by a mysterious and lethal weapon. It turned out to be a Soviet SA-2 surface missile (SAM) launched by Russian "advisors" to North Vietnam. As the U.S. tried to counterattack, they realized that the SAMs were the deadliest threat in military history and that Soviet technology might win the war. The Pentagon ordered a top secret program called Wild Weasel I to counter the SAMs. A small group of maverick fighter pilots and Electronic Warfare Officers volunteered to fly behind enemy lines to eliminate the SAMs threat. Those who survived the fifty percent casualty rate would revolutionize warfare forever.

"At the height of the Cold War, America's most elite aviators bravely volunteered for a covert program aimed at eliminating an impossible new threat. Half never returned. All became legends."--.

From 1986 to 2006, Lt. Col. Dan Hampton was a leading member of the Wild Weasels, the elite Air Force fighter squadrons whose mission is recognized as the most dangerous job in modern air combat. Weasels are the first planes sent into a war zone, flying deep behind enemy lines purposely seeking to draw fire from surface-to-air missiles and artillery. They must skillfully evade being shot down--and then return to destroy the threats, thereby making the skies safe for everyone else to follow. Today these vital missions are more hazardous than direct air-to-air engagement with enemy aircraft. Hampton's record number of strikes on high-value targets make him the most lethal F-16 Wild Weasel pilot in American history. Hampton spearheaded the 2003 invasion of Iraq, leading the first flight of fighters over the border en route to strike Baghdad. In the war that followed, he earned three Distinguished Flying Crosses with Valor. With manned missions rapidly giving way to remote-controlled UAV drones, Viper Pilot may be the last memoir by a true hero of the skies.--From publisher description.