If You Ain't a Pilot...
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If You Ain't a Pilot...
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Narrated by:
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Robert Ferraro
About this listen
Cockpit chaos and classroom camaraderie fuel the entropic adventures of Second Lieutenant Ray Wright and his fellow classmates of UPT Class 88-07 at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi. Though competing against one another for the flying assignments of their dreams, like the fearsome F-15 and F-16 fighters, a good mission sometimes takes a backseat to a good party or punch line in this classroom of cut-ups.
The high stakes, however, loom over Lt. Wright. In a program where one out of three students fails, not everybody who starts UPT will finish it. And not everybody who does finish will get a desirable flying assignment. Some won’t even escape the Columbus Air Force Base. Will Lt. Wright get his dream assignment flying a C-141 cargo plane based out of beachside Charleston, South Carolina? Or be forced to perpetuate the If you ain’t a pilot...system as the dreaded FAIP (First Assignment Instructor Pilot) in Columbus, Mississippi?
Though a military memoir, If You Ain’t a Pilot...is a story of youthful innocence, a happy tale of the best of friends. Beneath the story’s surface layer of how an Air Force officer’s aeronautical rating determines his worth, similar thematic layers unfold around gender, race, and other ways people define each other. At its core, this story is about people, our relationships, and how we choose to treat each other. While 30 years have passed since the memoir’s events - and our aircraft, our enemy, and our pop-culture ties have changed - we still struggle with our differences.
©2014 Raymond John Wright (P)2019 Raymond John WrightListeners also enjoyed...
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,075
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,615
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5 out of 5 stars
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 71
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4 out of 5 stars
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-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 107
A powerhouse fusion of pathos and humor, brutal realism and intimate reflection, Flying Through Midnight is a landmark contribution to Vietnam War literature, revealing previously top-secret intelligence on the 606's night missions. Fast-paced, thrilling, and bitingly intelligent, Halliday's writing illuminates it all: the heart-pounding air battles, the close friendships, the crippling fear, and the astonishing final escape that made the telling of it possible.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Flying Through Midnight
- By Craig on 01-09-09
By: John T. Halliday
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Fighter Pilot
- The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds
- By: Robin Olds, Christina Olds, Ed Rasimus
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 17 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,075
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,615
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Story5 out of 5 stars 2,610
A larger-than-life hero with a towering personality, Robin Olds was a graduate of West Point and an inductee in the National College Football Hall of Fame for his All-American performance for Army. In World War II, Olds quickly became a top fighter pilot and squadron commander by the age of 22—a double ace with twelve aerial victories. But it was in Vietnam where the man became a legend.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Top Notch Audiobook
- By R. A. Frank on 10-08-10
By: Robin Olds, and others
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Bogeys and Bandits
- The Making of a Fighter Pilot
- By: Robert Gandt
- Narrated by: Thomas Block
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 71
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 65
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 61
Americans are fascinated by the undeniable mystique of the elite world of Navy fighter pilots. In Bogeys and Bandits, Robert Gandt takes listeners on a thrilling ride in the FA-18 Hornet, one of the fastest, sleekest, and deadliest aircraft in the world. Gandt lived and worked with several pilots learning to fly the Hornet: the identical twins from Middle America; the computer nerd with a penchant for speed; the grandson of a Tuskegee Airman, trying to live up to a proud legacy; and two women dealing with the post-Tailhook world of the Navy.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great book but the narrator...
- By AshliDF on 08-03-17
By: Robert Gandt
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Making a Night Stalker
- By: David Burnett
- Narrated by: Matthew Moyer
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 251
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 227
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 227
David Burnett takes listeners into a unique world of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. His journey starts in a conventional army unit where he feels unfulfilled. This lack of fulfillment drives David to pursue his dream of becoming an MH-47G Chinook helicopter crew chief in the best and most secretive aviation unit in the world. David faces hurdles and set backs trying to achieve, but he is more determined than ever. He is trained and ready to deploy with the 160th, and it is nothing short of intense.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Random lines from other chapters would play
- By Robert Stefan on 04-06-19
By: David Burnett
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The Last Man On the Moon
- By: Eugene Cernan
- Narrated by: Eugene Cernan
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 301
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 264
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 262
This is the story of a unique American hero who came of age as an astronaut during the few dramatic years when man reached the moon. Cernan's career spanned the entire Apollo program, from the tragic fire that killed three of his comrades on Apollo 1, through the moment when he left man's last footprint on the moon as commander of Apollo 17.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Yet Another Perspective
- By Shellbin on 12-28-12
By: Eugene Cernan
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Guts 'N Gunships
- What It Was Really Like to Fly Combat Helicopters in Vietnam
- By: Mark Garrison
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,125
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,015
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,012
In the summer of 1967, Mark Garrison had dropped out of college at Southern Illinois University just before entering his third year. He had run out of money and had to work for a while. These were the days before the lottery and the draft soon came calling. In order to somewhat control his own future, he enlisted in the US Army's helicopter flight school program. Little did he know that this adventure would be the most profound experience of his life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating
- By Jean on 04-25-16
By: Mark Garrison
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Riding Rockets
- The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut
- By: Mike Mullane
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 216
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 193
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Story5 out of 5 stars 193
In 1978, the first group of space shuttle astronauts was introduced to the world - 29 men and six women who would carry NASA through the most tumultuous years of the space shuttle program. Among them was USAF Colonel Mike Mullane, who, in his memoir Riding Rockets, strips the heroic veneer from the astronaut corps and paints them as they are - human.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not for the young...
- By Collecting Warehouse on 11-14-18
By: Mike Mullane
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The Wrong Stuff
- The Adventures and Misadventures of an 8th Air Force Aviator
- By: Truman Smith
- Narrated by: James Killavey
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,105
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 984
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 993
Between April and July 1944, Truman Smith flew 35 bombing missions over France and Germany. He was only 20 years old. Although barely adults, Smith and his peers worried about cramming a lifetime's worth of experience into every free night, each knowing he probably would not survive the next bombing mission. Written with blunt honesty, wry humor, and insight, The Wrong Stuff is Smith's gripping memoir of that time.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Why I got it...and glad I did.
- By Marie on 11-27-14
By: Truman Smith
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Come Up and Get Me
- An Autobiography of Colonel Joe Kittinger
- By: Joe Kittinger, Craig Ryan
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 72
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 66
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 66
A few years after his release from a North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp, in 1973, Colonel Joseph Kittinger retired from the Air Force. Restless and unchallenged, he turned to ballooning, a lifelong passion as well as a constant diversion for his imagination during his imprisonment. His primary goal was a solitary circumnavigation of the globe, and in its pursuit he set several ballooning distance records, including the first solo crossing of the Atlantic in 1984. But the aeronautical feats that first made him an American hero had occurred a quarter of a century earlier....
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4 out of 5 stars
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A rewarding read
- By Andrew Braddick on 03-25-13
By: Joe Kittinger, and others
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A Race to Freedom
- The Mira Slovak Story
- By: David Williams
- Narrated by: Brian Callanan
- Length: 16 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 31
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 28
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Story5 out of 5 stars 28
Mira Slovak was born in Czechoslovakia and endured both the Nazi occupation and the brutal Russian liberation. He joined the Czech Air Force, rising to captain by the age of 21. When he could no longer tolerate life under the Communists, he hijacked an airliner and flew across the Iron Curtain to freedom. He outlasted communism, and when it collapsed in 1990, he returned to his home, only to realize his true home was and always would be the US.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Free to live as an American.
- By cosmitron on 06-08-18
By: David Williams
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The Right Stuff
- By: Tom Wolfe
- Narrated by: Dennis Quaid
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,645
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,123
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,098
Millions of words have poured forth about man's trip to the moon, but until now few people have had a sense of the most engrossing side of the adventure: namely, what went on in the minds of the astronauts themselves - in space, on the moon, and even during certain odysseys on earth. It is this, the inner life of the astronauts, that Tom Wolfe describes with his almost uncanny empathetic powers that made The Right Stuff a classic.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Righteous Book, Righteous Narrator, Righteous MEN!
- By Gillian on 02-08-18
By: Tom Wolfe
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Inside Marine One
- Four U.S. Presidents, One Proud Marine, and the World's Most Amazing Helicopter
- By: Lee Kelley, Ray L'Heureux
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 71
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 71
Inside Marine One is Colonel L'Heureux's inspiring story of a young man who dreamed of flying, trained, studied, and worked hard to become the pilot who ended up serving four US Presidents - George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. It's also a personal guided tour inside the world's most famous helicopter by a man who knows that flying machine better than any other. Inside Marine One is a great American success story of a young boy who dreamed big, worked hard, and finally flew the President of the United States as his number one passenger.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A great book
- By John A. on 01-05-23
By: Lee Kelley, and others
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Hover
- By: Anne A. Wilson
- Narrated by: Angela Dawe
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 144
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 131
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 131
Helicopter pilot Sara Denning joins an all-male navy battle group with little fanfare - and that's just the way she likes it. Her philosophy is simple - blend in, be competent, and above all, never do anything to stand out as a woman. But somewhere along the way, she lost herself - her feminine, easy-going soul now buried under so many defensive layers, she can't reach it anymore.
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5 out of 5 stars
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"You Knooow Him!!"
- By Empress Karen on 07-30-16
By: Anne A. Wilson
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Skies to Conquer: A Year Inside the Air Force Academy
- By: Diana Jean Schemo
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 28
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Story4 out of 5 stars 29
Diana Jean Schemo covered the Air Force Academy's sexual assault scandal in 2003, one of a series of academy embarrassments that have included drug use, rape complaints, and charges of evangelical officers pushing Christianity on cadets of all faiths. Today, the institution is in flux - a fascinating time to look at the changes being made and the experience of today's cadets. Schemo followed a handful of academy cadets through the school year. From the admissions process and basic training to graduation.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Hates the military
- By Brian Alofs on 01-10-24
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Tail-End Charley
- Stories from an American Fighter Pilot in World War II
- By: James E. Brown
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 246
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 218
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 218
On his 19th birthday, James E. Brown tries to fake to his flight instructor that he has flown before. On his 21st birthday, Brown is on his way home after logging 85 missions in a P-47 fighter over Italy, France, and Germany. Brown's stories surrounding his training and combat experiences in World War II reveal brushes with death, continuous peril and, ultimately, a coming of age for a young man whose freshman year in college becomes instead a heroic engagement with one of the fiercest enemies his country has ever encountered.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Good read !
- By kevin on 06-19-18
By: James E. Brown
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Absolutely American
- Four Years at West Point
- By: David Lipsky
- Narrated by: David Lipsky
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 150
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 85
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
As David Lipsky follows a future generation of army officers from their proving grounds to their barracks, he reveals the range of emotions and desires that propels these men and women forward. From the cadet who struggles with every facet of West Point life to those who are decidedly huah, Lipsky shows people facing challenges so daunting and responsibilities so heavy that their transformations are fascinating to watch.
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5 out of 5 stars
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He got it right.
- By Andrew on 05-15-04
By: David Lipsky
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Apollo 8
- The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon
- By: Jeffrey Kluger
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,709
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,558
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Story5 out of 5 stars 1,557
In August 1968 NASA made a bold decision: In just 16 weeks, the United States would launch humankind's first flight to the moon. Only the year before, three astronauts had burned to death in their spacecraft, and since then the Apollo program had suffered one setback after another. Meanwhile, the Russians were winning the space race, the Cold War was getting hotter by the month, and President Kennedy's promise to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade seemed sure to be broken.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great history of NASA and Apollo 8: a must listen
- By J on 11-17-17
By: Jeffrey Kluger
What listeners say about If You Ain't a Pilot...
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- gmarie
- 04-20-19
Great listen! Ray Wright's audible is Excellent!
Ray Wright's book is a terrifically witty and humbly truthful rendition of his life as a US air Force student pilot. Ray and his classmates formed lifetime bonds as they pushed through the trials and tribulations of the year-long course while finding time for fun antics to keep their youthful faces in laughter.
Definitely a Must Read for all who enjoy aviation!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 11-20-19
Boring
The narrator is HORRIBLE. Story about kids in flight school with very little flying.
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