Eye of the Viper: The Making of an F-16 Pilot

by Peter Aleshire

Hand-picked, pressure-tested, and full of astronaut gung ho, the young pilots of Eye of the Viper are poised for the toughest assignment of their the exhaustive six-month training course at Arizona's Luke Air Force Base, at a cost of $2 million each. Luke, the world's largest fighter wing, is the only F-16 fighter training base in the United States, and each year it produces one thousand pilots who will fly the F-16 from Korea to Afghanistan to Iraq. But being among the elite pilots who are selected for the course is by no means a guarantee that they will earn the right to fly the F-16. Only a few select individuals will have what it takes. Award-winning journalist Peter Aleshire provides a full blast of the rigors and intensity of the course--the personalities, the incredible machines, the irreverence, the bravado, and the toughness, not only of the hand-picked students seeking a place in the warrior subculture, but of the veteran pilots who must teach them how to stay alive.

Genres: Military Fiction, Aviation, History, War

312 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2004

Reviews

[Michael Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mean we all know why I read this🤷🏽‍♂️
Did not disappoint.

[Julie Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A past love of mine was one of the pilots/flight instructors interviewed by Aleshire. I remembered his time at Luke AFB well but lost track of him after he was sent to Korea. It was nice to read that he has made a good life for himself as I knew he would. Aleshire effectively portrayed his intelligence, talent, charisma, and personality well. Although a bit of a choppy read, the author does a fine job portraying the life, commitment, and dedication of a pilot.

[Claudia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great perspective into what goes into flight training. Content is good, writing style a little difficult to follow at times. I appreciated it as the mother of a pilot.

[Ben Y. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the book but I got lost in two of the chapters.