
The Fight in the Clouds
The Extraordinary Combat Experience of P-51 Mustang Pilots During World War II
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Narrated by:
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Adam Grupper
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By:
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James P. Busha
About this listen
Get as close as you’ll get to a World War II-era P-51 Mustang without flying one yourself with this spellbinding collection of tales from the men who actually flew the planes into war.
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang first started appearing in real numbers in 1943, at the climax of the Allied campaign in World War II. Able to fly long ranges, it was the perfect escort, keeping bombers protected all the way from Allied bases in Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific to a variety of Axis industrial targets and military installations and back. The Mustang would go on to provide pivotal air support on D-Day, and by the end of the war, the P-51 would be responsible for nearly half of all enemy aircraft shot down.
In The Fight in the Clouds, aviation writer and EAA Warbirds of America editor James P. Busha draws on interviews conducted with dozens of veteran P-51 pilots to trace the progress of war through the men’s exciting, chronologically organized experiences. You’ll encounter:
- Mustangs tangling with Soviet-built Yaks
- A Mustang ace shooting down an Me 262 Stormbird
- An epic long-range battle over the Pacific Ocean
- And a score of other riveting accounts underscoring the P-51’s versatility and its vital importance to the Allied victory
Bolstered by Busha’s own commentary and historical analysis, The Fight in the Clouds offers a cockpit-seat view of one of WWII’s most celebrated aircraft and the men who bravely flew it into harm’s way.
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Critic reviews
“Just when you think you have enough Mustang books in your library, Jim Busha comes along and makes buying another absolutely mandatory! His research and writing abilities shine in this very personalized tale of the famous P-51 and its heroic young pilots. The book begins with a moving tribute to those who gave their lives flying the fighter and then profiles the brilliant history of the aircraft throughout World War II. A great book from a master storyteller who loves and knows the subject!”—Walter J. Boyne, USAF (Ret.), former director of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
“The variety of stories in The Fight in the Clouds is exceptional, covering units in the European, Mediterranean, and Pacific Theaters of World War II, with RAF pilots as well. Today, when WWII veterans are ‘departing the pattern’ in growing numbers, the remembrances in Jim Busha’s book assume even greater importance for future readers. Well done!”—Barrett Tillman, author of Whirlwind: The War Against Japan, 1942-1945
“James Busha (editor for EAA’s Warbirds of America as well as EAA’s Vintage Airplane, to name only two of his literary accomplishments) has accomplished a wondrous job in the writing of, The Fight in the Clouds. Get this book to feel what it is like to fly a Mustang as well as what it felt like to be a World War II combatant in North America’s defining aircraft.”—Travel for Aircraft Blog, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Story
Thunderbolt is the incredible true life story of Robert S. Johnson, one of America’s leading fighter pilot aces in World War II. His memoir is an action-packed account of how a young man from Lawton, Oklahoma went on to amass 28 enemy kills, the first US Army Air Force pilot in the European theater to surpass Eddie Rickenbacker's World War I tally of 26 enemy planes destroyed.
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My favorite flying book of all time.
- By S. H. Moore on 10-07-21
By: Robert S. Johnson, and others
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The Cactus Air Force
- Air War Over Guadalcanal
- By: Eric Hammel, Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
- Narrated by: Adam Henderson
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Cactus Air Force, Pacific War expert Thomas McKelvey Cleaver worked closely with Eric to build on his collection of diary entries, interviews and first-hand accounts to create a vivid narrative of the struggle in the air over the island of Guadalcanal between August 20 and November 15, 1942.
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Excellent Book!
- By Eric Peterson on 09-16-22
By: Eric Hammel, and others
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Race of Aces
- WWII's Elite Airmen and the Epic Battle to Become the Master of the Sky
- By: John R. Bruning
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1942, America's deadliest fighter pilot, or "ace of aces" - the legendary Eddie Rickenbacker - offered a bottle of bourbon to the first US fighter pilot to break his record of 26 enemy planes shot down. Seizing on the challenge to motivate his men, General George Kenney promoted what they would come to call the "race of aces" as a way of boosting the spirits of his war-weary command.
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Boring, confusing storyline, some technical details wrong
- By ATM on 04-09-20
By: John R. Bruning
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Damn Lucky
- One Man's Courage During the Bloodiest Military Campaign in Aviation History
- By: Kevin Maurer
- Narrated by: Holter Graham, John Luckadoo
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was a world away from John Luckadoo’s hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee. But when the Japanese attacked the American naval base on December 7, 1941, he didn’t hesitate to join the military. Trained as a pilot with the United States Air Force, Second Lieutenant Luckadoo was assigned to the 100th Bomb Group stationed in Thorpe Abbotts, England. Between June and October 1943, he flew B-17 Flying Fortresses over France and Germany on bombing runs devised to destroy the Nazi war machine.
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must read
- By td godfrey on 10-06-22
By: Kevin Maurer
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Escape from the Deep
- A True Story of Courage and Survival During World War II
- By: Alex Kershaw
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In the early morning hours of October 24, 1944, the legendary U.S. Navy submarine Tang was hit by one of its own faulty torpedoes. The survivors of the explosion struggled to stay alive one hundred-eighty feet beneath the surface, while the Japanese dropped deadly depth charges. As the air ran out, some of the crew made a daring ascent through the escape hatch. In the end, just nine of the original eighty-man crew survived. But the survivors were beginning a far greater ordeal.
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Fascinating story or survival
- By J. vanDijk on 04-18-25
By: Alex Kershaw
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The Few
- The American "Knights of the Air" Who Risked Everything to Fight in the Battle of Britain
- By: Alex Kershaw
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
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The Few tells the dramatic and unforgettable story of eight young Americans who joined Britain's Royal Air Force, defying their country's neutrality laws and risking their U.S. citizenship to fight side-by-side with England's finest pilots in the summer of 1940—over a year before America entered the war. Flying the lethal and elegant Spitfire, they became "knights of the air" and with minimal training but plenty of guts, they dueled the skilled and fearsome pilots of Germany's Luftwaffe. By October 1940, they had helped England win the greatest air battle in the history of aviation.
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Absolutely wonderful story!!
- By MStewart on 12-12-24
By: Alex Kershaw
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Indestructible
- One Man's Rescue Mission That Changed the Course of WWII
- By: John R. Bruning
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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In this remarkable WWII story by New York Times best-selling author John R. Bruning, a renegade American pilot fights against all odds to rescue his family - imprisoned by the Japanese - and revolutionizes modern warfare along the way. From the knife fights and smuggling runs of his youth to his fiery days as a pioneering naval aviator, Paul Irving "Pappy" Gunn played by his own set of rules and always survived on his wits and fists. But when he fell for a conservative Southern belle, her love transformed him from a wild and reckless airman to a cunning entrepreneur.
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You will love Pappy's story
- By A. L. DeWitt on 11-15-16
By: John R. Bruning
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Vanishing Act
- The Enduring Mystery Behind the Legendary Doolittle Raid Over Tokyo
- By: Dan Hampton
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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In the dark days after the devastating Pearl Harbor attacks during the spring of 1942, the United States was determined to show the world that the Axis was not invincible. Their bold plan? Bomb Tokyo. On April 18, 1942, sixteen B-25s, known as the Doolittle Raiders, hit targets across Japan before escaping to China. The eighth plane, however, did not follow the other raiders. Instead, Plane 8's pilots, Captain Edward "Ski" York and Lieutenant Bob Emmens, never attacked Tokyo, but headed across Japan to the Soviet Union, supposedly due to low fuel.
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I never knew
- By A. Canavan on 02-19-25
By: Dan Hampton
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Mustang Ace: Memoirs of a P-51 Fighter Pilot
- By: Robert J. Goebel
- Narrated by: Gary Goebel
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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When Bob Goebel left home to join the Army Air Corps in 1942, he was 19 years old and a high school graduate. Cadet Goebel worked his way steadily through Basic, Primary, and Advanced phases of military flight training, and found in himself an aptitude for flight. After graduation from flight school, with his new wings and new commission as a 2d Lieutenant, he and his classmates were posted to a fighter squadron defending the Panama Canal. By the spring of 1944 he was on his way to Italy and the 31st Fighter Group, one of the top fighter outfits of the war.
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Interesting personal account of a fighter pilot
- By Dos Angeles on 01-07-23
By: Robert J. Goebel
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Lords of the Sky
- Fighter Pilots and Air Combat, from the Red Baron to the F-16
- By: Dan Hampton
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 17 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The New York Times best-selling author of Viper Pilot and retired USAF F-16 legend Dan Hampton offers the first comprehensive popular history of combat aviation - a unique, entertaining, and action-packed look at the aces of the air and their machines, from the Red Baron and his triplane in World War I to today's technologically expert flying warriors in supersonic jets.
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Great history, but ending goes off-topic
- By Lugal on 07-31-14
By: Dan Hampton
I read it in portions as it is very descriptive and detailed.
A must for everyone to understand the air war in WW2.
Great book about WW2
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Great could not put the book down!
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One thing I learned is that the A 36--an early dive bomber variant of the Mustang--was quite successful and beloved by its pilots.
If you are very familiar with the Mustang, this book may not be worth your time. If you are not, it is, as said, a good introduction.
Good Introduction to P-51 Combat Stories
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Courage and dedication
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And, regarding connective tissue, there was a good deal of rah-rah America but very little emotion. Things like, "Two of our flight were lost that day." is tragic. So, where is the emotion associated with that?
Perhaps, when I was younger, I'd find a book like this exciting, but, having read and listened to many aviation books, I didn't feel there is a lot to learn here, and after a while, all the excitement got a little boring.
Monotonous excitement
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