Rating: 
Summary: Close to the Cockpit
Review: Gandt does an excellent job in revealling the real navy, not the hollywood stuff you always see. He explains almost everything about what the pilots go through in such amazing detail, the only way to get closer to the cockpit would be in one.
Rating:
Summary: awesome
Review: I felt like I was right there, and now have the utmost appreciation of what military pilots endure not only in training, but in day-to-day ops.
Rating:
Summary: Really great book - exciting and action-packed!
Review: I loved this book and recommend it as the best in its category of books about Navy pilots. A lot happens to each of the pilots-in-training that are covered. I learned a lot about how pilots are trained and what their day-to-day life is like (very busy!). A lot of the parts were very interesting, such as when the author talks about pilots who quit the Navy after all the expensive and difficult training has been given to them, and about going in front of review boards in danger of losing your wings after a particularly scary performance in the air, or even giving up your wings voluntarily if you grow to fear the "smoking hole in the ground" too much (what you'll end up as if you crash your jet and can't eject safely.) Could easily be made into a great movie.
Rating:
Summary: For everyone who has ever wondered "what's it like"
Review: If you've ever watched an air show routine performed by fighthers you have probably wondered"how do you get from here to there"The answere lies in Gandt's book. I was amazed to learn the rigors of fighter pilot training and I am admittedly more than a little envious of those who had the opportunity. Captain Gandt writes credibly and well from a vantage point that few can offer. He relates the entire experience, even the social and political aspects of nugget life that are a part of every career but often understated. Photographs are included which give faces to these real people.
Rating: 
Summary: Syruppy version of undertreated topic
Review: In technothrillers and memoirs about fighter pilots, the man (or women) at the controls is either an experienced and fearless aviator or becomes one in the sort of leap of capacity that is unknown in the real world, but in any case, is anything but the nervous, insecure nugget who looks at the older hands and thinks that there's no way in hell he'll be able to so much as taxi an airplane let alone fly it at the edge of its performance specs. In "Bogey's and bandits", Robert Gandt takes on the job of detailing just who manages to go from one-of-us to King of the Sky by following the pitfalls and triumphs of a class of Navy and Marine aviators learning to fly the F/A-18 fighter, aka the "hornet". The most souped up jet in the Navy's inventory - until the arrival of a souped up version of that plane tentativelt called the "super hornet" - the Hornet was designed to handle a variety roles once filled by several planes - interception, dogfight, and a number of distinct strike roles. To compensate for the workload, the Hornet's controls are computer augmented - the pilot's commands go through a computer that actually controls the plane. The potential for flying virtually any type of mission insures that training will be expansive, and the lack of attentiob given undergraduate flight training in any service means that "Bogeys and Bandits" won't read like any book you've ever read about military aviation. Unfortunately, Gandt's monopolization of a subject doesn't cure some flaws in the book - some admittedly impossible to avoid. Gandt's class of trainees covers the gamut - two whiz kids who chose naval aviation when they couldn't get into nuclear subs; two women - one of whom adjusts better than the other to training; an aging marine with unremarkable but dependable flying qualities, who's only recently transitioned from helicopters; and "Highway", an African American pilot meant to inspire memories of the "Tuskeegee Airmen" of WWII. None of these ever dominates the book, but going between them does little to make them the flesh-and-blood people that their flaws. Gandt's treatment needs fleshing, but failing to do so, it only sounds fake and syruppy - like the trainee who gets killed while his family is visiting the base, or Highway's return home in an F-18 at the book's conclusion. Highway's return is meant to vindicate those who helped him as a child - a repayment of a debt, but that's pat and conclusory, and shows the mis-focus of the book. Training to fly anything isn't about conclusions like a made-for-TV-movie; it's about proving your ready for the next step and the step after that. As in "Top Gun", the inhabitants of "Bogeys and Bandits" seem to have no inkling that they are becoming warriors, and not just the drivers of 600 MPH Porsches. Unfortunately, Gandt offers no inkling of this either, and once a trainee is brought up to highlight a particularly difficult segment of training (like flying treetop level at 400 MPH, or carrier-landings), it's back on the backburner. Some treatment just makes me wince, as when one of Gandt's female charachters, declining in performance, lashes back with allegations of chauvanism. Gandt's respinse - not found in any dialog from his trainees is along the lines of - oh no, not more of that. Without any substance lent to allegations of sexism in the wake of tailhook, Gandt sounds patronizing and condescending. The crash of F-14 driver Kara Hultgreen, ultimately blamed on pilot error, underlines that women are being rushed into service to satisfy political correctness, and the satisfactory performance of the class' other female trainee suggests (not conclusively however) that sexism is not a factor. But Gandt's femaile pilots remain one-dimensional, one to cry foul, the other to negate allegations of sexism. The title refers to two types of flying targets - Bogeys being unknowns, possibly friendly or hostile; Bandits are definately dangerous - meant to symbolize the transition of the trainees from unknown quantities to proven fighter-pilots. But Bogyes they remain.
Rating:
Summary: Syruppy version of undertreated topic
Review: In technothrillers and memoirs about fighter pilots, the man (or women) at the controls is either an experienced and fearless aviator or becomes one in the sort of leap of capacity that is unknown in the real world, but in any case, is anything but the nervous, insecure nugget who looks at the older hands and thinks that there's no way in hell he'll be able to so much as taxi an airplane let alone fly it at the edge of its performance specs. In "Bogey's and bandits", Robert Gandt takes on the job of detailing just who manages to go from one-of-us to King of the Sky by following the pitfalls and triumphs of a class of Navy and Marine aviators learning to fly the F/A-18 fighter, aka the "hornet". The most souped up jet in the Navy's inventory - until the arrival of a souped up version of that plane tentativelt called the "super hornet" - the Hornet was designed to handle a variety roles once filled by several planes - interception, dogfight, and a number of distinct strike roles. To compensate for the workload, the Hornet's controls are computer augmented - the pilot's commands go through a computer that actually controls the plane. The potential for flying virtually any type of mission insures that training will be expansive, and the lack of attentiob given undergraduate flight training in any service means that "Bogeys and Bandits" won't read like any book you've ever read about military aviation. Unfortunately, Gandt's monopolization of a subject doesn't cure some flaws in the book - some admittedly impossible to avoid. Gandt's class of trainees covers the gamut - two whiz kids who chose naval aviation when they couldn't get into nuclear subs; two women - one of whom adjusts better than the other to training; an aging marine with unremarkable but dependable flying qualities, who's only recently transitioned from helicopters; and "Highway", an African American pilot meant to inspire memories of the "Tuskeegee Airmen" of WWII. None of these ever dominates the book, but going between them does little to make them the flesh-and-blood people that their flaws. Gandt's treatment needs fleshing, but failing to do so, it only sounds fake and syruppy - like the trainee who gets killed while his family is visiting the base, or Highway's return home in an F-18 at the book's conclusion. Highway's return is meant to vindicate those who helped him as a child - a repayment of a debt, but that's pat and conclusory, and shows the mis-focus of the book. Training to fly anything isn't about conclusions like a made-for-TV-movie; it's about proving your ready for the next step and the step after that. As in "Top Gun", the inhabitants of "Bogeys and Bandits" seem to have no inkling that they are becoming warriors, and not just the drivers of 600 MPH Porsches. Unfortunately, Gandt offers no inkling of this either, and once a trainee is brought up to highlight a particularly difficult segment of training (like flying treetop level at 400 MPH, or carrier-landings), it's back on the backburner. Some treatment just makes me wince, as when one of Gandt's female charachters, declining in performance, lashes back with allegations of chauvanism. Gandt's respinse - not found in any dialog from his trainees is along the lines of - oh no, not more of that. Without any substance lent to allegations of sexism in the wake of tailhook, Gandt sounds patronizing and condescending. The crash of F-14 driver Kara Hultgreen, ultimately blamed on pilot error, underlines that women are being rushed into service to satisfy political correctness, and the satisfactory performance of the class' other female trainee suggests (not conclusively however) that sexism is not a factor. But Gandt's femaile pilots remain one-dimensional, one to cry foul, the other to negate allegations of sexism. The title refers to two types of flying targets - Bogeys being unknowns, possibly friendly or hostile; Bandits are definately dangerous - meant to symbolize the transition of the trainees from unknown quantities to proven fighter-pilots. But Bogyes they remain.
Rating:
Summary: The Roar of the Hornet
Review: It's got to be every kid's dream - to be one of those gods who fly the fast metal, the hot jets, the fighter planes that command the skies. And then to go that Top Gun step beyond and be one of the two thousand pilots in the entire world who are qualified to land a jet on an aircraft carrier. This book tells how it's done, and it's a collection of yarns and descriptions and portraits and moments, some poignant, some routine, some heart-stopping, some heart-pounding that puts the reader through the process. The author is an old aviator and knows his stuff. He's not fooled. You or I would get a lot of tall stories if we tagged along with a notebook, but Robert Gandt knows what's going on, and he gives us the good guff as he follows a class of "nuggets" learning how to fly, fight, strike, and carrier qualify with the F/A-18 Hornet. Along the way he looks at some if the issues facing the US Navy. Race, education, sex, safety. And warfighting. This is deadly serious stuff, and these people are the cream of America's crop just to have got to the stage where they are even considered for fighter training. It's a hell of a lot of fun, to live that little boy dream, but also a hell of a lot of work, and I take my hat off to the aviators Gandt describes. I also took my shoes off and put my feet up for a day while I read the book, and though the world outside was calm and sunny, inside my head the windows were rattling and the floor shaking with the roar of these high performance aircraft flying off the pages of this most excellent book. Strap yourself in before you read it!
Rating: 
Summary: Check the facts
Review: James Crawley of the San Diego Union Tribune only hit the tip of the iceberg when he discovered that
Gandt took no notes during his interviews and did
no research to determine if any of his *facts* were
true. Gandt
should be a tabloid writer instead of a non-fiction
author. His book contains blatant errors and downright malicious material meant to discredit and
defame, not to portray the actual events. I think
the general public would find it interesting that
Gandt's primary Navy sources are being investigated
for their criminal conduct and admitted lies about
their stories. His story is a piece of fluff that
is not an accurate depiction of a fighter pilot's training. If you want the real scoop on his time in
the squadron and the real story behind his book, feel free to contact me. You will be amazed at the
complete lack of responsible journalism.
Rating:
Summary: Just a great book
Review: Just a good book. Funny, sad, exciting. It's a must!!
Rating: 
Summary: Well-worth reading.
Review: Mr. Gandt gives the reader the opportunity to follow the lives of a class of "nugget" Naval aviators as they train in the USN's top strike fighter, the F/A-18 Hornet. He gives just enough detail in his writing to make the reader feel comfortable with the terms and processes, glossing over the technical aspects of the aircraft and the training methods in order to "move the plot along". Its an insightful book that makes for quick reading. The chapters are short, which makes it tailor-made for snatching a couple pages in between work breaks and lunch periods. More detail than "Top Gun" (which incidentally is mentioned in the book) but less detail than Robert Shaw's "Fighter Tactics and Maneuvering". If you enjoyed Stephen Coonts' fictional "Flight Of The Intruder", you'll love this book too. I am, and I'm not even half-way through it yet.
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