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Feet Wet Reflections of a Carrier Pilot Schiffer Military History Paul T Gillcrist 9780764302848 Books

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Feet Wet Reflections of a Carrier Pilot Schiffer Military History Paul T Gillcrist 9780764302848 Books

Rear Admiral Paul Gillcrist, USN (Retired), gives an account of his 33-year Navy career from training in a radial engined SNJ to combat in Vietnam to his final carrier trap in a supersonic F-14A Tomcat. The book is presented in an anectodal form, like an old salt spinning his yarns for a fascinated audience.
Gillcrist's memoir has several high points. One of the most interesting parts of the book is how the Navy transitioned from a propeller-driven fleet to a jet-plane, supersonic navy. He gives a good layman's discussion of the three important advances required for jet carrier aviation: the angled carrier deck, the powerful steam catapult, and the optical landing system (aka "the meatball" or "the ball").
His accounts of two ejections (one of which left him in recovery for sixteen months) are harrowing. Some stories are laugh-out-loud funny, like the one about a pilot landing on the wrong carrier and his grace and humor dealing with the inevitable ribbing. It's easy to devour this book, and wish you had a story of your own that was half as good as only one of Gillcrist's!
What impresses me most is Gillcrist's complete lack of egotism. It's hard to write one's memoirs and not come across as at least a little self-promoting, but he pulls it off in grand style. Gillcrist is humble, and loves naval aviation enough to make it the star of the book. His account of his last trap on a carrier is Gillcrist at his most humble; it's a sad goodbye indeed.
The biggest fault of the book is its episodic format. That format worked wonderfully in Gillcrist's book "Tomcat! The Grumman F-14 Story," which was heavy on the pictures but the text was effective and authoritative as well. In "Feet Wet" the stories don't have the narrow-subject connection that "Tomcat!" does so it feels disjointed and jumpy at times; mere vignettes instead of threads in a grand story. It's easy to get the feeling that these are stories that Gillcrist would tell you over a few beers--you'd love the stories but not have too much of an idea about the man or the hows and whys of his profession.
But then again, how many times do you get to have a few beers with a man who's "been there, done that" like Admiral Gillcrist?


Tags : Feet Wet: Reflections of a Carrier Pilot (Schiffer Military History) [Paul T. Gillcrist] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Paul Gillcrist was a navy carrier pilot for almost thirty years, from the early days, of flying propeller planes from straight deck carriers,Paul T. Gillcrist,Feet Wet: Reflections of a Carrier Pilot (Schiffer Military History),Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.,0764302841,General,Admirals;United States;Biography.,Aircraft carriers;United States;History.,Fighter pilots;United States;Biography.,History,Military History,Admirals,Aircraft carriers,Biography,Biography & AutobiographyGeneral,Fighter pilots,Gillcrist, Paul T,HISTORY Military Aviation,History - Military War,Military - General,Non-Fiction,POLITICAL SCIENCE General,Political Science,PoliticsInternational Relations,PoliticsIntl Relations,United States,Warfare & defence,Navy,History: World

Feet Wet Reflections of a Carrier Pilot Schiffer Military History Paul T Gillcrist 9780764302848 Books Reviews

Amazing book!
Very well written; and as a former naval aviator and roughly a contemporary of Admiral Gillcrist myself, the book put me right back in the cockpit again. -very authentic
Being an old Flight Deck troubleshooter I can vouch for the authenticity of this book. Enjoyable and a good read. Paul was my CAG on the USS Saratoga.
For anyone who's interested in military aircraft, this book is unputdownable!!!! It's almost like being there with the author in the cockpit, in the air and on the ground. There were some hilarious anecdotes that had me cracking up, too!!! This book is a must read for aviation fans. Love it!!
Rear Adm. Gillcrist has put together a recollection of small stories about chapters in his Navy (flight) career, told in a vivid first-person style full of Navy and pilot slang. If you have a little aviation knowledge and some command of the English language, you will have no problem in following the stories, but don't expect a complete biography or a thorough fluid story across the book. There is no doubt that the author has a unique knowledge and tons of experience in US Naval aviation, and that he is not only a passionate aviator but also a good writer, albeit with no further goals as to tell interesting short stories in a descriptive and catching way. This is a good book for reading in-between, as you don't need to follow a complex plot or story-line.

Overall, considering his background, Rear Adm. Gillcrist with the help of a professional writer could have put together a much more complete book instead of dividing it into many volumes (see the author's other books).
The book is well written with no clear intentions other than to provide a good insight in the days of the transformation to a jet powered navy. The writing style is simple meaning no use of unnecessary words was used to tell readers what he wants to tell. It was very enjoyable to read this mainly because the things you need to know are properly explained. You hardly need to know any USN lingo to understand the book. Certainly it helps if you can visualize certain parts of the story.

A big plus is also the various funny scenes explained such as when a very gifted and talented flight leader mistakenly landed aboard another carrier and the treatment he got from the rival squadron stationed on that carrier.

I don't award it five stars as I missed some pictures to liven up things a bit and to make it just that little bit more easy to understand what he means. I immensely enjoyed reading this book and plan to purchase more books written by Rear admiral Gillcrist (ret).
After reading this book, I was hooked on reading more about Navy carrier ships and Naval aviation. Paul T. Gillcrist is an excellent writer, easily explaining Naval vernacular as he shares his experiences over many years of flying. This is an excellent autobiography and highly recommended for anyone who loves stories of adventure, whether true or fiction. I will definitely read it again to enjoy the stories and perhaps find interesting things I missed on the first read.
Rear Admiral Paul Gillcrist, USN (Retired), gives an account of his 33-year Navy career from training in a radial engined SNJ to combat in Vietnam to his final carrier trap in a supersonic F-14A Tomcat. The book is presented in an anectodal form, like an old salt spinning his yarns for a fascinated audience.
Gillcrist's memoir has several high points. One of the most interesting parts of the book is how the Navy transitioned from a propeller-driven fleet to a jet-plane, supersonic navy. He gives a good layman's discussion of the three important advances required for jet carrier aviation the angled carrier deck, the powerful steam catapult, and the optical landing system (aka "the meatball" or "the ball").
His accounts of two ejections (one of which left him in recovery for sixteen months) are harrowing. Some stories are laugh-out-loud funny, like the one about a pilot landing on the wrong carrier and his grace and humor dealing with the inevitable ribbing. It's easy to devour this book, and wish you had a story of your own that was half as good as only one of Gillcrist's!
What impresses me most is Gillcrist's complete lack of egotism. It's hard to write one's memoirs and not come across as at least a little self-promoting, but he pulls it off in grand style. Gillcrist is humble, and loves naval aviation enough to make it the star of the book. His account of his last trap on a carrier is Gillcrist at his most humble; it's a sad goodbye indeed.
The biggest fault of the book is its episodic format. That format worked wonderfully in Gillcrist's book "Tomcat! The Grumman F-14 Story," which was heavy on the pictures but the text was effective and authoritative as well. In "Feet Wet" the stories don't have the narrow-subject connection that "Tomcat!" does so it feels disjointed and jumpy at times; mere vignettes instead of threads in a grand story. It's easy to get the feeling that these are stories that Gillcrist would tell you over a few beers--you'd love the stories but not have too much of an idea about the man or the hows and whys of his profession.
But then again, how many times do you get to have a few beers with a man who's "been there, done that" like Admiral Gillcrist?