Zettel, Rob American MiG Pilot

Inside America's Top Secret MiG Squadron

After the American military proved to be inferior in Vietnam, it launched the top-secret Operation Constant Peg, in which illegally procured Russian fighter jets competed against the best US fighter pilots in simulated combat exercises. With Russian-labelled controls and only the spare parts they could salvage themselves, the pilots who climbed into the MiGs the Red Eagles accepted all the risks associated with operating these aircraft. This book describes what it was like to be on one of the most heavily secured airfields in the entire US Air Force day after day, flying MiGs alongside some of the best fighter pilots hand-picked from the ranks of the US Air Force, US Navy and US Marine Corps. Rob Z-Man Zettel tells the story of the Red Eagles for the first time through the experiences of a pilot who flew these aircraft to their performance limits in simulated combat missions, often several times a day, against front-line fighters from the three US armed forces. Vivid descriptions of the training battles transport the reader directly into the cockpit, while historical photos paint a picture of an operation that took the US Air Force from its disappointing performance in the Vietnam War to unprecedented success in Operation Desert Storm.