Red Eagles; America's Secret MiGs

Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2008. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. 352 pages. Illustrations (some in color). Endnotes. Appendices. Glossary. Index. Foreword by General J. Jumper. DJ has slight wear and soiling. For the first time, this book tells the story of "Constant Peg" and the 4477th Red Eagles Squadron in the words of the men who made it possible. Steve Davies is a military aviation photojournalist based in Cambridge, England. He has authored eleven critically acclaimed books and co-authored five more, and he's written for the world's leading monthly, quarterly and partwork aviation publications. He has worked both in front of and behind the camera as a subject matter expert on multiple military aviation television documentaries. Finally, his photography has been used not only by the aviation press, but also by leading defence contractors and aviation corporations. From the late 1960s until the end of the Cold War, the United States Air Force acquired and flew Russian-made MiG jets, culminating in a secret squadron dedicated to exposing American fighter pilots to enemy technology and tactics. "Red Eagles" tells the story of this squadron from the first tests of MiGs following the Vietnam War when the USAF had been woefully under-prepared in aerial combat. These initial flights would develop into the "black" or classified program known internally as "Constant Peg." At a secret air base in Nevada, ace American fighter pilots were presented with a range of different MiG jets with a simple remit: to expose "the threat" to as many of their brethren as possible. Maintaining and flying these "assets" without without spare parts or manuals was an almost impossible task, putting those flying the MiGs in mortal danger on every flight. More than 5,900 aircrews would train against America's secret MiGs, giving them the skills they needed to face the enemy in combat.