CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

INTRODUCTION: Helicopters

FLYING LIFE ONE: The Army 1968–1971

  1:   The Accidental Aviator

  2:   Chasing Buzzards

  3:   Engine Failure

  4:   The Playtex Club

  5:   First takeoff of the Day

  6:   Luck and Superstition

  7:   Survival Instruments

  8:   Tracers

  9:   Army Night Flight

10:   Flares

11:   Napalm

12:   Last ’Nam Flight

FLYING LIFE TWO: The National Guard 1972–1975

13:   Truck Strike

14:   National Guard Night Flight

15:   Tornados

16:   National Guard Summers

FLYING LIFE THREE: The Marine Corps 1975–1973

17:   Night Vision Goggles

18:   Marine Corps Night Flight

19:   Wires

20:   Externals

21:   The Ritual

22:   Special Operations Capable

23:   Broken on a moroccan Beach

FLYING LIFE FOUR: The British Royal Navy 1983–1985

24:   Sand

25:   Introducing the Arctic to Captain Curtis

26:   Royal Navy Night Flight—the Difficult Valley

27:   Troop Lifting, with Night and Heavy Snow Showers

28:   Long Flight Home

29:   Sea Fog

30:   Day and Night Passengers

31:   Final Flight with the Royal Navy

EPILOGUE: The Wall, 20 Years After

GLOSSARY

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS