Flying Camelot

Flying Camelot
Author: Michael W. Hankins
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2021-12-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 150176067X

Flying Camelot brings us back to the post-Vietnam era, when the US Air Force launched two new, state-of-the art fighter aircraft: the F-15 Eagle and the F-16 Fighting Falcon. It was an era when debates about aircraft superiority went public—and these were not uncontested discussions. Michael W. Hankins delves deep into the fighter pilot culture that gave rise to both designs, showing how a small but vocal group of pilots, engineers, and analysts in the Department of Defense weaponized their own culture to affect technological development and larger political change. The design and advancement of the F-15 and F-16 reflected this group's nostalgic desire to recapture the best of World War I air combat. Known as the "Fighter Mafia," and later growing into the media savvy political powerhouse "Reform Movement," it believed that American weapons systems were too complicated and expensive, and thus vulnerable. The group's leader was Colonel John Boyd, a contentious former fighter pilot heralded as a messianic figure by many in its ranks. He and his group advocated for a shift in focus from the multi-role interceptors the Air Force had designed in the early Cold War towards specialized air-to-air combat dogfighters. Their influence stretched beyond design and into larger politicized debates about US national security, debates that still resonate today. A biography of fighter pilot culture and the nostalgia that drove decision-making, Flying Camelot deftly engages both popular culture and archives to animate the movement that shook the foundations of the Pentagon and Congress.

Aviation Whistleblower Protection

Aviation Whistleblower Protection
Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Public Works and Transportation. Subcommittee on Aviation
Publisher:
Total Pages: 502
Release: 1988
Genre: Aeronautics
ISBN:

Capturing Camelot

Capturing Camelot
Author: Kitty Kelley
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 380
Release: 2012-11-13
Genre: Photography
ISBN: 1250018838

A bestselling author goes behind the lens of a legendary photographer to capture a magical time A consummate photojournalist, Stanley Tretick was sent by United Press International to follow the Kennedy campaign of 1960. The photographer soon befriended the candidate and took many of JFK's best pictures during this time. When Kennedy took office, Tretick was given extensive access to the White House, and the picture magazine Look hired him to cover the president and his family. Tretick is best known today for the photographs he took of President Kennedy relaxing with his children. His photographs helped define the American family of the early sixties and lent Kennedy an endearing credibility that greatly contributed to his popularity. Accompanied by an insightful, heartwarming essay from Kitty Kelley—Tretick's close friend—about the relationship between the photographer and JFK, Capturing Camelot includes some of the most memorable images of America's Camelot and brings to life the uniquely hopeful historical era from which it emerged.

Harry the Poisonous Centipede

Harry the Poisonous Centipede
Author: Lynne Reid Banks
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2010
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0007364725

Harry is a poisonous centipede but he's not very brave. Harry likes to eat things that wriggle and crackle, and things that are juicy and munchy. But there are some things that a poisonous centipede must never eat - dangerous things like flying swoopers, belly wrigglers, furry biters and Hoo-mins.

Jack & Helen Frye Story

Jack & Helen Frye Story
Author: Randall D Reynolds
Publisher: Sedona Legend Publishing
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2015-04-07
Genre: History
ISBN: 1502220342

From the shadows of beyond the words pour forth like summer rain…. The Jack and Helen Frye Story is much more than the chronology of two people’s lives, it’s a spiritual quest, a yearning from the heart of soul-mates Helen and Jack who desire their story to be told, their priceless paths not be erased! Time has a way of forgetting who was, and what was, but the written word lays it all at our feet. From a small town in West Virginia, to the gold-paved streets of Fifth Avenue, Helen Varner knew she was born to walk a path; a path that would lead her far and away from her origins. Her talents as a hat-maker and seamstress, writer, sculptor, and artist, opened doors to a gilded and rose-hued horizon. Within these pages, unfolds the sojourn of a woman who knows what she wants and goes after it. Voluptuous and beautiful, the world’s most powerful men fall at her feet. In 1935, 26-year-old Helen Varner marries 36-year-old playboy Cornelius Vanderbilt IV. Later, after a separation, she moves to mystical Shanghai and Hollywood. By 1938, Helen meets the love of her life, aviation-legend Jack Frye. As President of TWA, Frye trail-blazes the dawning of aviation and tames Helen’s heart with his fleet of sleek airliners and big western charm. Jack and Helen marry by January 1941, and embark on the wings of an American Love Story, as only soul mates can share. In flights over the Western United States in their private plane, Jack and Helen settle on the Red Rock Country of Sedona Arizona to build a new life together. With a grand act of chivalry, Jack buys a massive ranch adjoining Oak Creek and hands the deed to Helen. Frye and Howard Hughes develop the Lockheed Constellation during W.W. II and Frye loans his planes to the U.S. Government, culminating in a wartime partnership with the White House. Meanwhile, Helen secures a grand colonial mansion on the shores of the Potomac, as a political power-center for TWA, and a home. By war’s end, in 1946, TWA has gained enough experience flying war personnel overseas, for Jack to secure the world’s commercial air routes. Jack’s dream of the first transatlantic commercial air service and round-the-world passenger travel is realized and the ‘Camelot Years of TWA’ have unfolded! By 1950, after Helen and Jack divorce, Helen remains at their Sedona Ranch. Soon though, she is engaged to Tyrone Power. Later still, she plans a re-marriage to Frye. Tragically, though, Frye is killed by a drunk driver, returning home from a secret meeting with Howard Hughes at Tucson. Sinking into the depths of despair, Helen becomes fodder for a notorious new-age cult called Eckankar. By 1979, she dies of cancer, but not before the group fleeces her of most her assets. Helen’s Will is burned by an ex-cult member con artist who had craftily befriended Helen before her death with his youthful charm ending her saga with a sensational estate trial. Is this really the end of Helen’s story? Thankfully, no, Helen saw to that! Reaching across the sands of time, she engaged the services of a kindred spirit, a member of her soul-family, a writer with the passion and dedication to insure that she and Jack; their ‘telling’ was not forgotten. Welcome to the World of Jack and Helen Frye! Note: (The Jack & Helen Frye Story – The Camelot Years of TWA is a Biography, however, it is written in a Novel format. This to reflect a movie script style for future development.) Cover photo by Randall Reynolds- Helen Frye’s Wings of the Wind House- View of Cathedral Rock to the North.

After Camelot

After Camelot
Author: J. Randy Taraborrelli
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Total Pages: 634
Release: 2012-04-24
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0446584436

In this ambitious and sweeping account, Taraborelli continues the family chronicle begun with his bestselling Jackie, Ethel, Joan and provides a behind-the-scenes look at the years "after Camelot." For more than half a century, Americans have been captivated by the Kennedys - their joy and heartbreak, tragedy and triumph, the dark side and the remarkable achievements. He describes the challenges Bobby's children faced as they grew into adulthood; Eunice and Sargent Shriver's remarkable philanthropic work; the emotional turmoil Jackie faced after JFK's murder and the complexities of her eventual marriage to Aristotle Onassis; the the sudden death of JFK JR; and the stoicism and grace of his sister Caroline. He also brings into clear focus the complex and intriguing story of Edward "Teddy" and shows how he influenced the sensibilities of the next generation and challenged them to uphold the Kennedy name. Based on extensive research, including hundreds of exclusive interviews, After Camelot captures the wealth, glamour, and fortitude for which the Kennedys are so well known. With this book, J. Randy Taraborrelli takes readers on an epic journey as he unfolds the ongoing saga of the nation's most famous-and controversial-family.

Earning Their Wings

Earning Their Wings
Author: Sarah Parry Myers
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2023-09-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 1469675048

Established by the Army Air Force in 1943, the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program opened to civilian women with a pilot's license who could afford to pay for their own transportation, training, and uniforms. Despite their highly developed skill set, rigorous training, and often dangerous work, the women of WASP were not granted military status until 1977, denied over three decades of Army Air Force benefits as well as the honor and respect given to male and female World War II veterans of other branches. Sarah Parry Myers not only offers a history of this short-lived program but considers its long-term consequences for the women who participated and subsequent generations of servicewomen and activists. Myers shows us how those in the WASP program bonded through their training, living together in barracks, sharing the dangers of risky flights, and struggling to be recognized as military personnel, and the friendships they forged lasted well after the Army Air Force dissolved the program. Despite the WASP program's short duration, its fliers formed activist networks and spent the next thirty years lobbying for recognition as veterans. Their efforts were finally recognized when President Jimmy Carter signed a bill into law granting WASP participants retroactive veteran status, entitling them to military benefits and burials.

Command Of The Air

Command Of The Air
Author: General Giulio Douhet
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
Total Pages: 620
Release: 2014-08-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1782898522

In the pantheon of air power spokesmen, Giulio Douhet holds center stage. His writings, more often cited than perhaps actually read, appear as excerpts and aphorisms in the writings of numerous other air power spokesmen, advocates-and critics. Though a highly controversial figure, the very controversy that surrounds him offers to us a testimonial of the value and depth of his work, and the need for airmen today to become familiar with his thought. The progressive development of air power to the point where, today, it is more correct to refer to aerospace power has not outdated the notions of Douhet in the slightest In fact, in many ways, the kinds of technological capabilities that we enjoy as a global air power provider attest to the breadth of his vision. Douhet, together with Hugh “Boom” Trenchard of Great Britain and William “Billy” Mitchell of the United States, is justly recognized as one of the three great spokesmen of the early air power era. This reprint is offered in the spirit of continuing the dialogue that Douhet himself so perceptively began with the first edition of this book, published in 1921. Readers may well find much that they disagree with in this book, but also much that is of enduring value. The vital necessity of Douhet’s central vision-that command of the air is all important in modern warfare-has been proven throughout the history of wars in this century, from the fighting over the Somme to the air war over Kuwait and Iraq.

Autumn of Our Discontent

Autumn of Our Discontent
Author: John Curatola
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Total Pages: 360
Release: 2022-06-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1682476219

In the Fall of 1949, a series of international events shattered the notion that the United States would return to its traditional small peacetime military posture following World War II. Autumn of our Discontent chronicles the events that triggered the wholesale review of United States national security policies. The review led to the adoption of recommendations advanced in NSC-68, which laid the foundation for America’s Cold War activities, expanded conventional forces, sparked a thermonuclear arms race, and, equally important to the modern age, established the national security state—all clear breaks from America’s martial past and cornerstone ideologies. In keeping with the American military tradition, the United States dismantled most of its military power following World War II while Americans, in general, enjoyed unprecedented post-war and peacetime prosperity. In the autumn of 1949, however, the Soviet’s first successful test of their own atomic weapon in August was followed closely by establishment of the communist People’s Republic of China on October 1st shattered the illusion that American hegemony would remain unchallenged. Combined with the decision at home to increase the size of the atomic stockpile on and the on-going debate regarding the “Revolt of the Admirals,” the United States found itself facing a new round of crisis in what became the Cold War. Curatola explores these events and the debates surrounding them to provide a detailed history of an era critical to our own modern age. Indeed, the security state conceived of in the events of this critical autumn and the legacy of the choices made by American policymakers and military leaders continue to this day.