Tales of a helicopter pilot

About this book

"Richard Kirkland is legendary for his P-38 Lightning missions in the South Pacific theater during World War II. After the war, he realized the potential of Igor Sikorsky's new flying machine, and he traded in his fighter-pilot wings for rotors. The nerve-racking chopper missions he has flown are the stuff of legend: scrambling to evacuate President Harry Truman after an unthinkable "code red one" alert comes over his red phone; bantering with the real "Hawkeye" at a MASH unit before flying into North Korea to rescue wounded soldiers. Equally riveting are his accounts of a medevac pilot in Vietnam who lands a ten-ton CH-46 "Frog" in the jungle at night, with no lights, under fire, with only a soldier's cigarette lighter for reference; and an aerial-tour pilot who routinely pulls people out of the water above, below, and right before Niagara Falls." "The sixteen tales also include incredible accounts of how helicopters are used by firefighters, law enforcement officials, and paramedics. Life in a helicopter doesn't get much more exciting than this."--Jacket.