Overview

""Top Gun"" became a household name with the worldwide success of the film of the same title. The 1986 blockbuster starring Tom Cruise as a hotshot U.S. Navy fighter pilot was so popular that recruiters set up desks in theaters that were showing it, looking to attract the next generation of combat aviators. The movie did for Navy pilots what THE RIGHT STUFF did for astronauts. With the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the real TOPGUN-as the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons program was known-approaching in 2019, and with Jerry Bruckheimer's sequel, TOP GUN: MAVERICK, set to shoot next year, this is the time to publish the real story of the actual risk takers, disruptors, and innovators who revolutionized the art of aerial combat and created the center for excellence and incubator of leadership that thrives to this day. Here is the inside story of TOPGUN, told by the man who was picked to lead it at the start, from war to peace and back to war again, on and off the flight line, and through all six of our decades. Though Pedersen was a part of it at the beginning, some other great pilots carried on our work and he is eager to pay them tribute and make the book a celebration of our whole community. It's a great story, full of interesting characters and exciting history that American should know.

Full Product Details

9780316416269

Table of Contents

Reviews

Goose and Maverick, move over -- this is the true heart of Topgun, told with energy, style, humor, and tactical brilliance...a masterpiece that captures the essence of naval aviation in all its complexity and beauty. Dan Pedersen takes us on a high-speed jet ride through the fast times of Topgun, the Navy, and the need to fight our enemies from a position of superiority. --Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret.), Supreme Allied Commander of NATO (2009-2013), chairman of the U.S. Naval Institute, and author of Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World's Oceans

With the hot-seat velocity and cockpit realism of a military combat thriller, the author delivers exacting details and emotional acuity....A noble, thrillingly realized combat aviation memoir from one of America's finest. --Kirkus Reviews Teeming with white-knuckled action and the dynamic personalities who would come to define a generation of combat pilots, Topgun brings the deadly dance of air warfare alive. --Dick Couch, New York Times bestselling author of The Warrior Elite and Chosen Soldier If an institution is the lengthened shadow of a single man, then the history of modern naval aviation might well be described as the lengthened shadow of Dan Pedersen. Here, in direct, vivid, and unvarnished prose, is the high-flying, supersonic tale of the Topgun program and its extraordinary founder. Through it all, Pedersen's innovative spirit, as well as his essential modesty, shines through. --Hampton Sides, New York Times bestselling author Ghost Soldiers and On Desperate Ground A superb read...Dan Pedersen's Topgun is a riveting, seat-of-the-pants flight into the lethal world of the fighter pilot told by the man who started it all! --Dan Hampton, New York Times bestselling author of Viper Pilot and Lords of the Sky For those who will never experience the thrilling privilege of soaring at Mach 2 in the back seat of a Navy F-4 Phantom fighter, Dan Pedersen's superb memoir is the next best thing....Many aviators-turned-authors lose readers in jargon and procedures, but Pedersen's full-hearted personal narrative engages them with maverick charm, showing how he and his innovative team reinvented the art of air-to-air combat in the jet age. Topgun: An American Story is as revelatory as a freshly declassified briefing, written with the flair and insight of Tom Clancy. --Michael Fabey, author of Crashback: The Power Clash Between the U.S. and China in the Pacific Goose and Maverick, move over -- this is the true heart of Topgun, told with energy, style, humor, and tactical brilliance...a masterpiece that captures the essence of naval aviation in all its complexity and beauty. Dan Pedersen takes us on a high-speed jet ride through the fast times of Topgun, the Navy, and the need to fight our enemies from a position of superiority. --Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret.), Supreme Allied Commander of NATO (2009-2013), chairman of the U.S. Naval Institute, and author of Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World's Oceans

Author Information

Dan Pedersen entered the U.S. Navy in 1953. He was the senior officer in the group of nine men who formed the Navy's legendary ""TOPGUN"" program at Naval Air Station Miramar in March 1969. He served in combat during the Vietnam War, with a flying cruise on USS Hancock (CVA-19) and three on USS Enterprise (CVN-65). He retired as a captain, having accumulated 6,100 flight hours and 1,005 carrier landings while flying 39 types of aircraft. He lives with his wife outside San Diego.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available