Ragwings and Heavy Iron: the Agony and the Ectasy of Flying History's Greatest Warbirds

by Martin Caidin

Of all the fanatics in America, none are more dedicated to their pursuits, more romantic in their aspirations, more expert in their craft, more daring in their exploits, or more joyous in their fellowship than the part-time pilots who search out, recondition, and fly "the Warbirds," those World War II military aircraft from Mustangs to Flying Fortresses, from Messerschmitt 108s to Yaks. Here are the machines that are more than machines, that have about them the kind of personal aura that seems to have vanished in the age of jets.

In this rousing account of the hair-raising airshows presented by these pilots, as well as the incredible adventures and misadventures that inevitably occur when a near maniac takes to the air in a rusty or otherwise neglected antique, Martin Caidin allows you to share the cockput with himself and his fellow flying addicts, and also to share the joy of seeing a neglected old Warbird rise phoenix-like from the runway and roar in the really wild blue yonder. A must for all pilots, private or professional, and for anyone else who has dreams of being one.

Genres: Aviation

294 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1984

About the author

Martin Caidin was a prolific and controversial writer. Most of his work centered around the adventures of pilots and astronauts. A number of his books were notable for their reasonable, realistic predictions of then-futuristic technology.

Caidin's body of work was prolific and varied, ranging from additional speculative/SF novels such as Marooned, which was made into an acclaimed film and considered a harbinger of the Apollo 13 accident, to a novel based upon the character Indiana Jones. He also wrote many non-fiction books about science, aviation and warfare.

Caidin began writing fiction in 1957. In his career he authored more than 50 fiction and nonfiction books as well as more than 1,000 magazine articles. His best-known novel is Cyborg, which was the basis for "The Six Million Dollar Man" franchise. He also wrote numerous works of military history, especially concerning aviation.

In addition to his writing Caidin was a pilot and active in the restoration and flying of older planes.

Reviews

[Erik Jay Weber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Made it half through; really dug the stories of starting the warbird movement and bringing the old planes up to snuff but got lost in the technical nitty gritty from about the second chapter of Messerschmitt through. Skimmed then read a bit of the Iron Annie discovery which was fun, then skimmed off to the end. Great for a real aviation head. I prefer more the general tales than technical wonder.

[Nicholas Kokolakis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun glimpse into the world of Warbird restoration and flying including air shows. Truly loved the stories of the B-17 flight across the Atlantic, the restoration of the JU-88 and the bf-108. Super cool!

[The Maverick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each chapter is reminiscent of something you would have read as an article in a 1980's aviation magazine - with some chapters being much better than others. Definitely a nostalgic read for fans of seventies and eighties airshows, but overall not as good as I was hoping for.

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides · Rating 3 out of 5]

This caught my eye while I was at the library looking for something completely unrelated. I like airshows and cool old planes, so I figured why not. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but it wasn't this, exactly. There's a lot of inside baseball here concerning airshows, how to run them, and the internal politics of the warbird movement. (If you're like me, you read "warbird" and think "Star Trek?", but no. That's apparently the term for vintage military aircraft.)

For me, this has some utterly skippable parts as well as some very awesome parts. If you're interested in how mechanical things work, the sections on restoring and repairing old planes will hold some appeal. If you generally like to geek over old planes, the section about flying three B-17s across the Atlantic and the retired military pilot talking about carrier landings and how they apply to learning to fly a particular plane (and the general difference between civilian and military aviation training) will likely be of interest.

Several sections are apparently unedited letters or recorded statements. Those, plus the rather, um, antiquated tone and style and viewpoint, were a little off-putting. But overall, I don't feel like I wasted my time.