Flyboy #1

Military cadets undergo rigorous ground and flight training to master the skills that will keep them alive in combat—from precision landing techniques and aerobatic maneuvers to instrument flying and emergency procedures. Every drill, from practicing spins and loops to simulating blind flight in the Link Trainer and testing ejection seats, builds the muscle memory and reflexes that could mean the difference between survival and disaster in the air. This behind-the-scenes look at aviation training shows why the grueling preparation is essential preparation for the realities of war.

Larry Jett dreams of becoming a flyboy and enlists in the Air Force, but a clerical error nearly derails his shot at flight school when upper-classmen learn he's not a college graduate and scheme to force him out. When his tormentor "Slide-Rule" Slade blacks out during an in-flight maneuver, Larry must rely on whatever he can remember from the textbook to bring the crippled plane safely back to earth.

"Flyboy" Larry Jett and his pal Happy Holiday land right in the middle of trouble when a boastful Korean War veteran named Cal Calvert steals Larry's spotlight at cadet school—that is, until the big parachute jump reveals Cal's heroic story to be pure fiction. After a wild encounter with a charging bull and a sudden rainstorm, the pair stumble into a shack full of counterfeit currency and find themselves face-to-face with hardened criminals who'll stop at nothing to keep their secret safe.

Larry "Flyboy" Jett and his roommate Happy Holiday discover that their notoriously strict Commandant, Colonel "Chicken" Chickering, has mysteriously transformed into a charming, friendly officer—but the cadets soon realize that kindness and camaraderie aren't what they signed up for. When the Colonel's true nature reasserts itself, the boys learn that some things, however difficult, have their own peculiar comfort.

A recently commissioned ensign on his first combat mission discovers that leadership means more than just pulling rank when a harrowing emergency forces him to rely on his crew's quick thinking and bravery in the skies above Korea. Ensign Tim Crandall learns a hard-won lesson about respect and humility when his fighter-bomber returns from a bombing run with an armed payload that refuses to drop, putting both men in mortal danger.