Bogeys and Bandits: The Making of a Fighter Pilot

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Summary: Bogus Bogeys
Review: My impression of Gandt's book is that it isa simplistic and superficial portrayal of what isa potentially fascinating subject. The characters are superficial and stereotypical and the plot (if there is one), is very disjointed. If the San Diego Union Tribune's review is correct and Gandt took no notes and did no research to corroborate his facts, then this book should be fiction instead of non-fiction. I find it interesting that basically only the women pilots' names were changed. If Gandt and his sources are so "unimpeachable" and the facts are true and indisputable, then why would Gandt feel the need to change the names of the women? The book clearly demonstrates an agenda, the question is whether it is Gandt's agenda or the Navy's.

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Summary: Sure would like "a reader, 7/1/97" to fill in the gaps.
Review: OK "reader". You make serious allegations to Gandt's lack of research and his own own Navy background yet you choose to remain anonimous. What kind of fighter pilot were you?

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Summary: very very good writing, on one of my favorite subjects
Review: Really an enjoyable book! I have to confess I was actually in a squadron with two of the characters, though in one case the name was changed to protect the guilty party :) 'Nuff said, but I would like to thank the writer profusely for "rubbing it in" to her poor thin skin. She had it coming........ :) Actually Jugs (her REAL callsign) was kinda a nice gal in some ways, but the Gender Thang is something that is going to haunt the US Navy for a while to come. I don't know what the answer is, and I say that as a former WAVE. Hello to any of my shipmates reading, who shared those "best of times, worst of times" and "Have a Bandit Day".........

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Summary: Robert Gandt does a great job expressing the pilots thoughts
Review: Robert Gandt is a great Writer. Whilre I was reading this book I could truley undrstand hoew the pilots felt durring the various stages of their training. Gandt explains how the nuggets felt about the training the navey and their classmates.He writes with skill too, the book is easy to understand and fun to read. You wouldn't expect such good writing abillity from a naval aviator.

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Summary: Excellent detailed account of fighter pilot training
Review: The book was a fascinating insight into the making of a modern Navy fighter pilot. As a former Navy pilot I found the detail very real. The female students and the other for that matter were quite similar to what I experienced as a flight instructor in flight training for the airline business. I encountered a somewhat similar cross section of pilot types and skills and gender situations in commercial aviation. Mr. Gandt defined some of the things I had witnessed. He has opened some interesting questions in regard to gender integration in the work place. It could be that some genetic differences should be considered for work assignments etc when the differences can raise questions of saftey. In all I found this a wonderful account of modern hight tech aviation

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Summary: Heart-pounding action written with real style!
Review: The Fighter Attack (F/A)-18, Hornet Class of 2-95 must have been shocked to see Bob Gandt sitting in their classroom on the first day. A Delta B767 Captain? Approved by Navy brass to observe and record their journey through F-18 Hornet school? It would be like having Barbara Walters riding in the backseat of your first high school date to report on your progress. And he did. The classmates are real folks. This is not a work of fiction. Life is indeed stranger than fiction. An identical pair of red-headed twin brothers? In the same class together? Who would believe that in a fictional novel? My favorite passage (which captures Gandt's style) is when he talks about their first ride in the F-18 Hornet: "It was one of those events you always remember, like a first kiss. The first day of school. First solo. First heartbreak. A new relationship with an airplane was like a love affair. The whole process was a tumult of joy and discovery. If you were lucky, not until later would come disillusionment, the realization of flaws and foibles." -J^3

Rating:
Summary: Just a great book
Review: the man got his info from other men aboard ship. NONE of them like women pilots and hated the one he talked so much about. If you want the truth, read Hornets Nest by Missy Cummings. She was drummed out of the Navy and this man that wrote the book didn't make it any easier for her, shame on him. She mentioned him in her book and he's "way" out of line. He's in the "good ole boy" club, nuts.

Rating:
Summary: not true
Review: the man got his info from other men aboard ship. NONE of them like women pilots and hated the one he talked so much about. If you want the truth, read Hornets Nest by Missy Cummings. She was drummed out of the Navy and this man that wrote the book didn't make it any easier for her, shame on him. She mentioned him in her book and he's "way" out of line. He's in the "good ole boy" club, nuts.

Rating:
Summary: What a book!
Review: This book really describes what it is like to learn the techniques of landing a high-tech Navy fighter--perhaps the toughest realm of aviation in all of the American armed forces. And Gandt's book describes the grueling ordeal of training, from study through the exasperating ordeal of landing on a carrier at night so perfectly. I am a BIG Tom Clancy fan--I have read most of his fiction and all of his nonfiction--but Gandt beat Clancy hands down with this book! As I write this, the chances of the United States taking military action against Iraq look very strong, and aircraft and pilots such as the ones depicted in this book might be involved. No matter what happens, however, I will be very appreciative of the aircraft, their pilots, and the U.S. Navy because of reading this book.

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Summary: A RAG like no other
Review: This book takes you on a journey through a fighter jockeys training and life. It follows the line of 8 piolets going through the training system call RAG. It is the FA/18 fighters training program. It is a true, real life story and is a great read for anyone who was,is or want's to be a fighter piolet. It shows the bores of inside the classroom learning, the thrill of one of the piolets first flights and the way it affects the wives and children of the piolets. A great story and great read!