Glen Edwards: The Diary of a Bomber Pilot
Daniel Ford, Glen EdwardsSituating Glen Edwards's diary in the context of World War II, the development of flight testing, and the advent of an independent U.S. Air Force, Daniel Ford shows how military pilots during the 1940s were expected to augment seat-of-the-pants bravado and precision flying skills with rigorous academic training. Conveying both the exhaustion of combat and the exhileration of flying some of the world's fastest, most sophisticated planes, Edwards's diary entries trace the full trajectory of his career: the near-daily bombing missions over Africa and Italy for which he won the Distinguished Flying Cross, a record-breaking cross-country flight in 1945 as the lead pilot of the Douglas XB-42 "Mixmaster," his assignment to Wright Field, "the Mecca of all Army pilots," a stint at Princeton to study aircraft stability and control, and participation in developing the Northrop YB-49 Flying Wing.