Summary of Robin Olds, Christina Olds & Ed Rasimus's Fighter Pilot

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 I was excited to be leading the 479th Fighter Group on D-day. We had been taking the war to Hitler, and it felt good. I had two kills, and I wanted more. I was scanning the horizon for contrails or telltale dots that didn’t belong there. It was quiet.

#2 The single-engine pilot doesn’t know about the pulse, but in the Lightning, you live with it all of the time. The engines have a rhythm that signals the minor differences in props and rpm, and when it is constant and steady, you feel relaxed. When it is loud or too fast or too slow, it jangles the nerves.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jun 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822528109

IRB Media

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Insights on Robin Olds and Christina Olds & Ed Rasimus's Fighter Pilot

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 14

Insights from Chapter 15

Insights from Chapter 16

Insights from Chapter 17

Insights from Chapter 18

Insights from Chapter 19

Insights from Chapter 20

Insights from Chapter 21

Insights from Chapter 22

Insights from Chapter 23

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I was excited to be leading the 479th Fighter Group on D-day. We had been taking the war to Hitler, and it felt good. I had two kills, and I wanted more. I was scanning the horizon for contrails or telltale dots that didn’t belong there. It was quiet.

#2

The single-engine pilot doesn’t know about the pulse, but in the Lightning, you live with it all of the time. The engines have a rhythm that signals the minor differences in props and rpm, and when it is constant and steady, you feel relaxed. When it is loud or too fast or too slow, it jangles the nerves.

Insights from Chapter 2

#1

I grew up listening to my father’s friends talk about flying, and I was always surrounded by an extended family of loving adults in comfortable surroundings. I was always a fighter pilot.

#2

The Air Corps was created in response to World War I, and it was made up of flyboy pilots who dreamed of using air power to change the war. When publicly expressed, their vision was met with scorn and resistance. It was not until World War II that their theories were proven correct.

#3

I was accepted to West Point in June 1940, becoming the first Olds to go to the military academy. I was determined to increase my preparation, rising before dawn to do push-ups and run laps around the parade ground at Langley.

#4

I was a cadet at the US Military Academy in 1944, and my plebe year was an intense grind with the rigors of locked-down cadet life and academics. I met Ben Cassiday my first day in Beast Barracks, and we became close friends.

#5

The Army-Navy game was played in Yankee Stadium in November 1941, and was the most memorable football game of my life. Army lost to Navy, but it didn’t matter who won or lost. Fans rushed onto the field and celebrated with both teams.

#6

In 1942, the class of 1943 graduated early, and the class of 1944 graduated in June. The cadet corps was excited to be going to war with America.

#7

I was finally a pilot, and I loved it. I was able to pass the check ride with the Air Corps, and was declared ready for basic training. I was twenty years old and completely full of myself.

#8

During the year, we had to fit in two years of college classes and flight training at Stewart Field. The daily schedule was not for the faint of heart. We were graded on every subject, and the grades were posted. Very few, if any, of my classmates failed courses that year.

#9

I was extremely disappointed to be assigned to bombers instead of fighters, but I continued to do my best. The Gloom Period at the Point was filled with pranks and laughs, but also lots of studying.

#10

I graduated from West Point in 1943, and was sent to fly fighters. I was devastated when I learned that my father had died of a heart attack the month before graduation. I was dedicated to the memory of my father when I received my wings and commission.

Insights from Chapter 3

#1

I joined the 479th Fighter Group and went to war together. One was killed, two became POWs, one almost finished a tour but quietly disappeared, two finished and went home, and the remaining member went on to fly two tours.

#2

The base adjutant, a crusty old first lieutenant, gave me a hard stare