"Red Eagles: America's Secret MiGs"

[Bergman]

Just a quick update to let BO readers know that the second edition of Red Eagles will be out on 24 January.

This edition contains 30,000 words of new material predominantly related to the involvement of the Foreign Technology Division (now NASIC), but also adds detail to five HAVE exploitation programmes that I was able to get declassified (FOIA) between editions.

I may be able to do a special deal on the paper book for BO readers once it's out. Standby for words on that... Otherwise, I understand it'll be out on Kindle, ePUB and PDF formats for those with ebook readers and the like.

Merry Christmas to you all.

Steve

Steve, I finally made time to read Red Eagles after picking it up at EGUN en route to the desert last month.

Have you ever resolved the "curious pentagon-shaped emblem" riddle, as pictured on "Red 49" on page 241?

[Steve Davies]

Bergman

Yes, it is the symbol that the Soviets used to show that a particular a/c has a good MX record.

The second edition contains a bit more information about it, but as a summary the MX guys called the FLOGGER a "pig" because it was always going wrong. The symbol was applied to those aircraft that required the least MX intervention, while the others received pig-related nicknames. The same system was applied to the other types.

[Guest]

The second edition contains a bit more information about it, but as a summary the MX guys called the FLOGGER a "pig" because it was always going wrong. The symbol was applied to those aircraft that required the least MX intervention, while the others received pig-related nicknames. The same system was applied to the other types.

What's with the all the Soviet swine hate?

I knew there were more reasons I hated those fuckers.

[Spur38]

Just got it from Amazon Kindle. Looking forward to reading it!

[Steve Davies]

What's with the all the Soviet swine hate?

I knew there were more reasons I hated those fuckers.

I think it's fair to say that a lot of the MX guys' hate came from the fact that they were quite literally learning on the job, and while the Dash-1 and Dash-34 type manuals had been sourced and roughly translated, codified maintenance procedures were not supplied.

Sometimes this trial and error approach caused more problems that only became evident when a catastrophic failure occurred. For example, they very nearly lost an aircraft and pilot to a complete hydraulics failure. When the aircraft landed, it was discovered that something big had punctured the main hydraulic line. The cause was traced to a wiring loom. The wing pylons had been removed on arrival in the US, and this particular loom and its coke can-size connector had been stuffed up inside the wing as an alternative to ripping them out; the slack cable had snagged the wing sweep mechanism, and each time the sweep was cycled the loom was pulled closer to the hydraulic line in the leading edge root extension. Eventually, the mechanism finally pulled the connector straight through the line - while the pilot was way above the Mach and flying ACM against a pair of F-15s. His survival was a very close run thing. So, I don't doubt that some of the hate also came from the fact that there was massive pressure to fix these things without really knowing what the consequences of their improvised procedures might be.

Same sort of thing happened with the US-installed fire warning detection system (taken from a KC-135, IIRC) which was installed because the Russian system was not trusted, but which constantly caused false alarms that MX was required to respond to by breaking the jet in half (a la F-100) and pulling the engine. Beyond that, the six month groundings due to wing through carry box cracks, leaking fuel cells, and a raft of other problems meant that I don't think that there was very much for the MX guys to like.

Everyone seemed to really like the early-model Fishbeds, though.

Just got it from Amazon Kindle. Looking forward to reading it!

Thanks!

[Bergman]

Bergman

Yes, it is the symbol that the Soviets used to show that a particular a/c has a good MX record.

The second edition contains a bit more information about it, but as a summary the MX guys called the FLOGGER a "pig" because it was always going wrong. The symbol was applied to those aircraft that required the least MX intervention, while the others received pig-related nicknames. The same system was applied to the other types.

Glad you got it figured out. We used to paint that symbol on the side of our RC-135 just to give the Ruskies a sincere "F U!" when they intercepted us.

(taken from a KC-135, IIRC)... but which constantly caused false alarms

Must have been taken from an E-model -135! Wish I had a case of beer for every time we shut one down only to find out the "fire" was a false indication.

[Muscle2002]

I'm almost finished with the book and have enjoyed it thoroughly.

Here is some press about the book's subject matter on the Nellis website.

Edited September 19, 2012 by Muscle2002

[KState_Poke22]

I'm almost finished with the book and have enjoyed it thoroughly.

Here is some press about the book's subject matter on the Nellis website.

2 on that. I'm a little over halfway through and it's been a great read. Tons of great history on the aggressor programs and the MiGs.

[Steve Davies]

Thanks for the feedback.

The Nellis link doesn't mention that "Evil" Peck's own book on the subject has just come out:

America's Secret MiG Squadron: The Red Eagles of Project CONSTANT PEG

It's getting mixed reviews, mostly because the publisher has clearly not given Evil any editorial input. However, I have read it and would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the story - it gives a much bigger voice to the enlisted guys than my book did, and there are some nice anecdotal gems in there, too.

[rancormac]

I've met Evil a few times and he's talked about the history of what's in his book. Good stuff. I plan on picking up a copy soon.

[Sketch]

I can't describe how happy I was when I spotted Red Eagles sitting on the top row of our extremely tiny bookshelf at the det last Dec (even more so because sitting next to it was Fighter Pilot: Memoirs of Col. Robin Olds which I also read.) I'd been wanting to read this for years but never the chance to pick up a copy. I Read it cover to cover in a few weeks and it was nothing shy of outstanding. I can't imagine how much effort it must've taken to piece together all of that information, some of it brand new out of the black world, into a tremendously detailed chronological story.

[BB Stacker]

It's getting mixed reviews, mostly because the publisher has clearly not given Evil any editorial input. However, I have read it and would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the story - it gives a much bigger voice to the enlisted guys than my book did, and there are some nice anecdotal gems in there, too.

I would agree with this...he really needed an editor. I don't really consider that a slam on him because even the best writers need editorial support, it's just a shame because like you said there are some decidedly mixed reviews out there but he tells a good story and the book has a lot of good primary source info (quoting at length from emails/letters/etc from others involved in the program), particularly from the enlisted guys. Of course, a lot of that is what is driving the disjointedness and the feeling that a good editor would've been worthwhile, but still. In any case your book is what I would recommend to someone who is relatively unfamiliar with Constant Peg and wants to get the story, Evil's is what I would recommend for someone who has read your book and wants more.

And FWIW I got to meet Evil a little while back because he happened to be up here during a Flag for something unrelated and spent a couple hours hanging out in our bar. Good guy.

[aceart]

Thanks for the feedback.

The Nellis link doesn't mention that "Evil" Peck's own book on the subject has just come out:

America's Secret MiG Squadron: The Red Eagles of Project CONSTANT PEG

It's getting mixed reviews, mostly because the publisher has clearly not given Evil any editorial input. However, I have read it and would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the story - it gives a much bigger voice to the enlisted guys than my book did, and there are some nice anecdotal gems in there, too.

Agree with what's been said about an editor, reading the book as we speak, but ... it's fascinating stuff and a nice companion to Steve's book. (Especially the updated version;) Evil was at the AFA convention signing copies a couple weeks back but whenever he was there I didn't have my copy with me. go figure.

Another book hit the shelves this week. Viper Pilot by Dan Hampton. We ran a chapter in our latest issue of Aviation History (should have been the cover IMO) He does a great job 'channeling' Robin Olds, especially talking early on about "training" and "training to fight."

[Guest]

Another book hit the shelves this week. Viper Pilot by Dan Hampton. We ran a chapter in our latest issue of Aviation History (should have been the cover IMO) He does a great job 'channeling' Robin Olds, especially talking early on about "training" and "training to fight."

LOL

[Sketch]

The Nellis link doesn't mention that "Evil" Peck's own book on the subject has just come out:

America's Secret MiG Squadron: The Red Eagles of Project CONSTANT PEG

It's getting mixed reviews, mostly because the publisher has clearly not given Evil any editorial input. However, I have read it and would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the story - it gives a much bigger voice to the enlisted guys than my book did, and there are some nice anecdotal gems in there, too.

Evil was at Aviation Nation over the weekend selling autographed copies of his book. I literally did a double take when I saw him sitting at a booth, and couldn't resist going up and shaking his hand. I chatted with him for a minute as well as a former enlisted Red Eagle as well. I felt embarrassed because his book was a bit out of my budget, but to my surprise another spectator decided to buy it for me! I was extremely grateful and asked to take a picture, which Evil obliged. He personalized the book and signed the back of a TAC patch I had, and then out of nowhere he friggin coined me... I was speechless.

As for the book I'm on the second chapter and while I agree it could use some editing I'm nevertheless enjoying it. Its not as structured as Steve's book but has some great stories and first hand accounts particularly of F-4 missions over Vietnam and the Fighter Weapons School.