Topgun: An American Story

Product Information

Yes, the book starts out with Pedersen’s description of how poor tactics and training made US fighter pilots’ perform relatively poorly against the North Vietnamese and their Soviet supporters flying MiGs, and how Topgun was started on a shoestring to turn that around. But once we get past that, it’s more about Pedersen’s career in the Navy and his deployments as a fighter pilot and on aircraft carriers.

A riveting seat-of-the-pants flight into the lethal world of the fighter pilot' Dan Hampton, author of Viper Pilot Read more Details First off, this was a difficult book to obtain. I remember from another film that said print is dead, yet lo and behold they re-released the novelization of that film. Sadly, I cannot say the same for this film. But what's the sudden urge to find an almost forty-year-old novelization? Because it's Top Gun and that is all there is to say about it? Also, the fact that it was the best movie of 1986, and its sequel became the best movie of 2022. This deserved to be read. In April 1975, he joined Carrier Air Wing Fifteen aboard the USS Coral Sea in preparation for taking command of the wing. During this time, he flew fighter cover in support of the Mayaguez Incident. [2] :212–9Due to political opposition as a result of Trerice's death, his name was removed from the 1983 promotion list to Rear admiral and he retired from the Navy on 1 March 1983. [2] :258 Later life [ edit ] Pedersen begins with ripping former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara up one side and down the other for clueless micromanagement of the air war in Vietnam, and also for McNamara’s using his political and corporate connections to make choices of building contractors, rather than making decisions on the basis of what would be best for the people actually using the military equipment. Pedersen really slams the connections between military contractors, politicians and administration officials and top brass in the military who retire and take cushy jobs with the contractors. With this kind of setup, he argues, decisions about what to fund are corrupt and not in the best interests of the armed forces and US readiness. He gives a number of examples, but in particular he argues that stealth technology and too many electronic bells and whistles make the costs of today’s aircraft way too high and that not enough attention is paid to simply making fighter aircraft that pilots will be able to deploy effectively.

This book was so fun to read! It didn’t feel like you were reading a book, but more so like you were sitting down with your grandpa as he told you about his life. It was just one big story that was more of a one-sided conversation.

When I did the first interviews, I had somebody from the Navy sitting in,” he explains. “After the first interview, I said, ‘This is not going to work. I’m sorry, I can’t talk to these people with you sitting in the room.’ They agreed, so I went forward. Not that [the pilots] had anything to say that was wrong or anything, but they could open up a little more about their private lives.”

In February 1973 he joined VF-143 on the USS Enterprise and flew combat operations over Laos and Cambodia until the Enterprise returned to Pearl Harbor in June 1973. He was later appointed commander of VF-143 and the squadron embarked onboard USS America for a Mediterranean cruise from 3 January to 3 August 1974. [2] :182–193 On the 50th anniversary of the creation of the "Topgun" Navy Fighter School, its founder shares the remarkable inside story of how he and eight other risk-takers revolutionized the art of aerial combat. American jets are getting shot down at an unprecedented rate over Vietnam. In an urgent effort to regain the advantage the Admirals turn to a young naval aviator called Dan Pedersen. This is the extraordinary, thrilling story of how TOPGUN saw America reclaim the skies, by the man who created it.The author does trash talk the Air Force, though there is a bit of truth behind it. The Air Force is rigid in their tactics and any push to change would have been stamped out. The Air Force thinks they are better dogfighters, but their adherence to unwavering tactics ensures their weaknesses will be found. The service’s internal politics is such that they want aircraft that can dogfight, but the real threat is SAMs. day trial period in which Topgun would operate semi-independently to evaluate whether the trial balloon rose or popped The last chapter, as well as other parts of the book, felt like they were an outlet for Pedersen’s frustration with the government, specifically Secretary McNamara. It was interesting to read about what is happening with naval aviation in modern times and read about Pedersen’s perspective, but he was definitely dissing on people in the book. In 2018, one year prior to the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of TOPGUN, Pedersen was honored at Palm Springs Air Museum Gala. [16]