Great history, but ending goes off-topic

Any additional comments?

I grabbed Lords of the Sky after having read Hampton's other excellent book Viper Pilot. Most of my knowledge of air combat is from WWII and later. Hampton's history of the very beginnings of military aviation and fighter combat was very interesting. It also provides a basis to show the sharp contrasts in just how quickly aviation matured. And how some things (the core of air combat) remained the same. I appreciated the author's telling of stories from more than just an American point of view.

If I had any qualms it would be that the post-Korea part of the story mostly involves Americans, SAMs, and Weasels. Given that Hampton was a USAF Weasel pilot this is not surprising. There's a good account of Weaseling in Viper Pilot and I found it very interesting. However, I think the focus here takes the story off-topic.

I was disappointed that harsh lessons of air combat in Vietnam and America's losing touch with ACM prior to it weren't really touched on. Neither was the creation of Red Flag and Top Gun. John Boyd and the theory of energy-manueverability weren't mentioned. The Air Force's air superiority fighter, the F-15, is mentioned only in passing, and its replacement the F-22 is also mentioned just once (as a multi-billion dollar, single-mission waste).

Those qualms aside it was a great all around book, with me learning something in every chapter. His stories do a good job of immersing you into combat in various eras. The narration was fantastic. I recommend it to anyone with an interest in air combat.

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Don't let the title fool you

I was hoping some in-depth stories about the air aces through the years. Instead I got a story about the history of war, from WWI through Iraq. The author goes into minutia that has NOTHING to do with air combat, like the names of foxholes built by the French in Viet Nam. Great research, nothing to do with air combat.

I found myself screaming at the radio, asking what this chapter had to do with air combat. SO many aces that were never mentioned, or mentioned only in passing.

If you want the history of war, this is for you. If you want the history of the actual 'Lords of the Sky', skip this book.

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Waste of time

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Rewrite it by someone who know how to write.

Would you ever listen to anything by Dan Hampton again?

No

Any additional comments?

I want my money back, this one just sucked.

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Outstanding history of the fighter pilot

This book weaves histories of the pilots, planes, tactics, weapons and personal stories together in an informative and entertaining way. John Pruden's narration was very good.
A very good book combined with a very good narration yields a very pleasurable listen.

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Interesting, but very technical

Any additional comments?

If you are very familiar with all types of airplanes, flying jargon, military anachronisms, flying formations and military terminology, you will like this book. If, like me, you are not so well versed in these things, you will find this book a slow read and a bit hard to follow. I would have preferred to see the author pick out a few key, milestone advances in fighter planes and to have developed those in detail rather than cover so many different types of planes and training evolutions.

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This book is a shack (hits a bullseye)

Would you listen to Lords of the Sky again? Why?

After reading Edward H. Sims - The Greatest Aces, I thought I had gotten the fighter pilot history lesson. Little did I know there were yet vast unpublished information about the historical ascent of fighter pilots that had contributed to their rise. Dan Hampton has scored a hit here and retrieved history lessons I had never heard before. He does a great job with detail (with audio you must not slumber least you will miss something important). Well arranged with a historical rise beginning with the Wright brothers to modern day aircraft, he manages to describe why a fighter pilot can be skillfully honed but not created. This skill is in so many ways (he calls it hands) must be part of the natural order of creation.

What did you like best about this story?

Puts together history in the right order to explain the rise of the fighter pilot, his tactics and their strategies.

Have you listened to any of John Pruden’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Great

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Pride. Someone has finally explained the uniqueness of the fighter pilot

Any additional comments?

If you are disappointed that you are not a fighter pilot and upset that you never got the chance, than this book is not for you. If you can find objectivity in your heart without the jealous pains of "Why not me!", then you will find out why the fighter fraternity is for just a few precious individuals. I have seen so many pilots think they have the "Right Stuff", only to be losers.

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Lost in the details

The information in this book was lost in the details. It lacked focus, and there are several examples of details that I felt were important, but left out.

I felt that there wasn't that much emphasis on the air to air fighting in the Pacific theater of WW2 and that Japanese fighter pilots weren't given the same level of credit as a lot of the other nations. Emphasis was also made of how aircraft were improved during the wars, and again the Pacific theater wasn’t emphasized, such that the F4F and the F6F were casually mentioned as if they were the same, when in reality, they were very different. The F4F was generally inferior to the Zero, but the F6F was superior, which changed the tide of that fighting.

The book started at the Great War, and spent a good deal of time on this period, but failed to mention another interesting piece of the development of fighter pilots: They didn’t have parachutes because it was thought it would make them cowardly. So even if a plane was hit but the pilot was not, he could end up as a fatality trying to land the damaged plane.

Another tidbit that was left out was the period of time when dog fighting was considered obsolete. This was because weapons had been developed that allowed pilots to take out enemies from miles away without ever actually seeing them. During this time planes weren’t even equipped with guns or cannons, which are essential in close air to air combat when all missiles have been fired, or cannot be locked on the enemy. This thinking was later reversed. Ironically the book also briefly talked about the Israeli Air Force, which actually knew that guns were essential, and had them added to their planes during the time when they weren’t considered necessary.

These are just a few examples of some of the details that could have been included. For a book that contains so much detail, it is surprising that these were left out.

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Very little flying

This book is 90% a history lesson on the causes of the wars in the past century and 10% actual flying and combat.
It’s very well researched and written however very little flying.

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History from a little bit different angle

This a a great piece of history for those interested in aviation. Best if you have a basic background, i.e. know what flaps are. There is a fair amount of the surrounding history though the author sticks pretty much to the subject matter and gives background just for context. I found this book totally enjoyable but I am a history and aviation enthusiast (read plane nut) so it was a natural fit. It helps if you know some of the history but do not think it is totally necessary. The narration is great especially when he goes into "radio com" mode. Best if you are really into the subject matter as the book would be a bit detailed for someone looking for a causal read.

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YES! If you love flight and air combat, this is a must read. Sweeping history of fighter pilots.

I loved this book. As an Air Force pilot, I can’t get enough of Dan Hampton’s books. He writes as a pilot for other pilots and interested enthusiasts. Well done!

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