With its twin tail, the F-15 Eagle is probably the most recognizable military jet fighter in the skies today, and is undoubtedly the most successful jet fighter of all time, having never been shot down in combat. Flown not only by the US Air Force but by the air forces of Israel, Saudi Arabi and even Japan, and, with almost 30 years service, the F-15 is the world's leading operational air superiority and interceptor. Steve Davies and Doug Dildy draw on a vast array of sources including combat records, technical documents, and unpublished first-hand accounts from the pilots themselves to tell the story of this amazing plane, detailing such incredible feats as the Israeli F-15 which was successfully landed despite losing a wing. Containing over 100 breathtaking color photographs and comprising detailed technical information, this definitive history and guide to the world's most successful jet fighter is a "must have" for anyone interested in modern aviation.

Without a doubt the finest air fighter currently in service with western air forces, the F-15 has held this position of dominance since it first entered service with the USAF in 1976. Dennis Jenkins delivers in-depth coverage of the systems, engines, and weapons of the incomparable F-15 Eagle. Contains coverage of the F-15s 20 test aircraft, the latest models and technology upgrades, and a Desert Storm kill log.

A US Air Force Captain tells the story of his life and service during Operation Desert Storm in this thrilling military memoir. A pilot all his life, Rick “Kluso” Tollini turned his childhood dream into a reality when he became a fighter pilot for the US Air Force. In Call Sign KLUSO, Rick “Kluso” Tollini puts the fraught minutes above the Iraqi desert that made him an ace into the context of a full life; exploring how he came to be flying a F-15C in Desert Storm, and how that day became a pivotal moment in his life. He recounts his training, preparation, and missions, as well as the life of a fighter pilot in a combat zone. He also explores life as an air force veteran, and his turn to Buddhism as he comes to terms with his actions in combat. Rick’s first experience of flying was in a Piper PA-18 over 1960s’ California as a small boy, and his love of flying through his teenage years was fostered by his pilot father, eventually blossoming into a decision to join the Air Force as a pilot in his late twenties. Having trained to fly jets he was assigned to fly the F-15 Eagle with the “Dirty Dozen,” the 12th Tactical Fighter Squadron, at Kadena AB, Japan, before returning Stateside to the 58th Tactical Fighter Squadron “The Gorillas.” Throughout training, Reagan’s fighter pilots expected to face the Soviet Union, but Rick’s first combat deployment was Desert Storm.

The F-15A entered service in 1972 as "the first dedicated USAF air superiority fighter since the F-86 Sabre." More than three decades and myriad models and variants later, the F-15 is still the U.S. Air Force's premiere air superiority weapon, a veteran of U.S. conflicts as recent as Operation Desert Storm and presently serving in the air forces of U.S. allies around the world. F-15 Eagle at War, featuring the spectacular aerial photography of author Tyson V. Rininger, follows the design, manufacture, and performance of the F-15 from its first appearance through its service in various Cold War and contemporary conflicts. The book profiles each model and upgrade in technology up to the F-15C, D, and E models that served in the Persian Gulf, where they claimed 36 of 39 Air Force victories in air-to-air combat. It is a fitting and thoroughly fascinating tribute to this celebrated aircraft and icon of the U.S. Air Force.

Becoming the best doesn’t happen overnight; you’ve got to work for it. Before becoming an instructor in the Navy’s Topgun program, Dave “Bio” Baranek was just another kid with a dream. Upon graduating from college, he joined the Navy with the goal of becoming a fighter pilot. But, his eyesight waning, he knew that he would never be able to reach that goal. Undaunted, he plowed ahead and found his niche as a radar intercept operator in the backseat of the sleek, new Grumman F-14 Tomcat. Join Baranek in Before Topgun Days as he takes you along for this greatest, most exciting time of his young life: training to become a naval flight officer. Taking place before the events recounted in his previous memoir, Topgun Days, Baranek brings to life the anxieties and excitement of entering the fast-paced world of fighter jocks. From a green recruit to an experienced flyer, discover what it took to become a Topgun instructor. Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

In February 1999, only a few weeks before the U.S. Air Force spearheaded NATO's Allied Force air campaign against Serbia, Col. C.R. Anderegg, USAF (Ret.), visited the commander of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe. Colonel Anderegg had known Gen. John Jumper since they had served together as jet forward air controllers in Southeast Asia nearly thirty years earlier. From the vantage point of 1999, they looked back to the day in February 1970, when they first controlled a laser-guided bomb strike. In this book Anderegg takes us from "glimmers of hope" like that one through other major improvements in the Air Force that came between the Vietnam War and the Gulf War. Always central in Anderegg's account of those changes are the people who made them. This is a very personal book by an officer who participated in the transformation he describes so vividly. Much of his story revolves around the Fighter Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base (AFB), Nevada, where he served two tours as an instructor pilot specializing in guided munitions.

A tiny nation has been transformed into a devastating threat to global peace by the awesome technology of war. The lives of 300 captured Americans dangle by threads clutched in the fist of a ruthless despot. Diplomacy is futile when dealing with an unprecedented madman and his minions. A superpower has been pushed to the breaking point. The time has come for the use of force. And the last desperate hope of a great nation held hostage lies with the best and the brightest of the U.S. Air Force--and in an impossible rescue mission that will lead them through the fiery gates of Hell.