Fightin' Air Force #16

Leon J. Murtha looks every inch the meek cost analyst he was before joining the Air Force Reserve—mumbling, soft-spoken, the kind of guy other pilots call "Milktoast" without thinking twice. But when his Marauder Squadron ships out to Korea for ground support missions, Murtha's careful, statistical mind and sharp tactical instincts prove far more valuable than swagger in the cockpit, earning him a reputation as a pilot who wins through brains instead of bravado.

Major Ray Valmey pilots the Lockheed F-104A Starfighter to its maximum capability—Mach 2.5, an incredible 1,650 miles per hour—proving the revolutionary aircraft's worth to Air Defense Command, but the real test comes when an unidentified intruder breaches radar defenses with a dangerous low-altitude approach. Sergeant Kehoe watches from the ground as the pilot he's trained springs into action, facing a moment that forces him to reconsider his decision to leave the Air Force.

Lt. Tobey Rusk's F-86F Sabre catches fire over Korea, trapping him in the cockpit as he struggles to reach safety—but his brush with flames leaves deeper scars than his body will bear. When he returns to combat, Rusk must confront an unexpected psychological battle: the haunting memory of his own near-fatal burn threatens to paralyze him when facing an enemy pilot in the gunsight. His path to recovery hinges on learning what it truly means to do his duty.

A pilot ejecting from his crippled F-84 over hostile territory discovers his greatest enemy isn't just the MIG-17 that shredded his plane—it's his own conviction that he needs a faster jet to survive. When a slow but steady rescue pilot appears in the crosshairs of enemy fire, our protagonist learns a hard lesson about not judging a book by its airspeed in this grounded Korean War tale.