Turn and Burn
A Fighter Pilot’s Memories and Confessions
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Narrated by:
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Eric Jason Martin
About this listen
In Turn and Burn the author takes the readers with him in the cockpit as he shares the fulfillment of his boyhood dream and some of his most memorable adventures and misadventures during a 24-year flying career as a fighter pilot, both in combat and peacetime. Share the author’s emotions when being surrounded by enemy anti-aircraft flak, when having to crash land twice, during occasions when the aircraft’s response was violent and uncontrollable, when having a large turkey buzzard crash through the windscreen into the cockpit when the aircraft was 200 feet off the ground and traveling nearly 600 mph, just to mention a few of those memorable occasions the author shares.
Along the way, the listeners are given vivid accounts of the joys and delights, the fears and terrors, the frustrations and fulfillments, the thrills, intensity, and humor involved in the fighter pilot’s unique life, and the special and inseparable bond that exists in the fighter pilot community. The author’s account is also deeply personal as he shares his opinion of the top leadership, both civilian and military, during the Vietnam War. His criticism is shared by the vast majority of those who fought in that war, and includes the leadership’s lack of understanding of the enemy, a prime requisite when going to war, their lack of will to do what was necessary to win, a prime requisite when going to war, and worst of all, their unconscionable willingness to allow the US military to suffer substantial losses in personnel and resources by fighting a war they were not allowed to win.
The author’s pride in being part of the fighter pilot community can be summed up by the final phrase of a poem about military aviators written by an unknown author that goes, “Because we flew, we envy no man on earth."
About the author:
Darrell Ahrens is a former US Marine, Air Force fighter pilot and operations staff officer, high school teacher, and pastor. He holds degrees from Chapman University, Boston University, and Fuller Theological Seminary, as well as diplomas from the Armed Forces Staff College, the Air War College, and the National Defense University. He and his wife Louise and her mother live in the Southwest, joined by their three-legged cat Masio.
©2020 Darrell J. Ahrens (P)2021 Darrell J. AhrensListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
On August 9, 1945, on the tiny island of Tinian in the South Pacific, a 25-year-old American Army Air Corps major named Charles W. Sweeney climbed aboard a B-29 Superfortress in command of his first combat mission, one devised specifically to bring a long and terrible war to a necessary conclusion.... The last military officer to command an atomic mission, Maj. Gen. Charles W. Sweeney has the unique distinction of having been an integral part of both the Hiroshima and the Nagasaki bombing runs.
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the history of the details.
- By Don on 10-23-24
By: Maj. Gen. Charles W. Sweeney, and others
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Vulcan Boys
- From the Cold War to the Falklands: True Tales of the Iconic Delta V Bomber
- By: Tony Blackman
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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The Vulcan, the second of the three V bombers built to guard the UK during the Cold War, has become an aviation icon like the Spitfire, its delta shape instantly recognizable, as is the howling noise it makes when the engines are opened for takeoff. Vulcan Boys is the first Vulcan book recounted completely firsthand by the operators themselves.
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a compelling work but slow to start
- By Josh Boyle on 08-06-16
By: Tony Blackman
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Skybreak
- The 58th Fighter Squadron in Desert Storm
- By: Mike Guardia
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 5 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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August 1990: Iraqi forces under the command of Saddam Hussein invaded the tiny emirate of Kuwait. In response, the US military led a coalition of thirty-four nations in what became known as Operation Desert Storm—a violent air and ground campaign to eject the Iraqis from Kuwait. At the tip of the spear were the men of the US Air Force’s 58th Fighter Squadron. Based on hours of interviews and archival research by author Mike Guardia, this book reveals an intimate, no-holds-barred account of modern aerial combat…as told by the men who lived it.
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Desert Storm Fighter Action
- By David T. Gato on 07-23-24
By: Mike Guardia
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Hawkeye
- The Enthralling Autobiography of the Top-Scoring Israel Air Force Ace of Aces
- By: Brigadier General Giora Even-Epstein
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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For more than 30 years, Giora Even-Epstein flew fighters for the Israel Air Force, achieving recognition as a highly skilled military aviator and the highest-scoring jet-mounted ace with the most number of confirmed victories in the French Mirage. Having overcome numerous hurdles just to learn how to fly, he went on to compile a record of Arab MiGs and Sukhoi kills that bettered any other combat aviators' tally in the entire world. This fast-moving autobiography details his experiences particularly in the intense conflicts of 1967, the Six Day War, and 1973, the Yom Kippur War.
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Not a writer
- By Checco on 11-26-21
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The Vietnam Air War
- From the Cockpit
- By: Colonel Dennis M. "Mike" Ridnouer
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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The Vietnam War is one of the most misunderstood military conflicts in 20th-century America. Showcasing 72 true stories told by American servicemen who fought from the skies, this unique and historically significant collection is a stunning record of the air war in Southeast Asia during the 1960s and 1970s.
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Overall worthy and perspective broadening
- By Clayton Cartier on 11-03-20
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Razor 03
- A Night Stalker’s Wars
- By: Alan C. Mack
- Narrated by: Alan C. Mack
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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The attacks of September 11, 2001, prompted the creation of a robust and deadly special operations force—Task Force Dagger. Alan C. Mack, Callsign Razor 03, led a team of MH-47E helicopters and armed MH-60s. Their two-fold mission–Personnel Recovery (PR) and Unconventional Warfare (UW) involved flying in terrain and weather previously not thought possible. If that wasn’t enough, they pushed the flight envelope of their specially modified Chinooks to the limit and beyond.
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The honesty of the author
- By Daniel on 06-10-24
By: Alan C. Mack
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Dragon's Jaw
- An Epic Story of Courage and Tenacity in Vietnam
- By: Stephen Coonts, Barrett Tillman
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Every war has its "bridge" - Old North Bridge at Concord, Burnside's Bridge at Antietam, the railway bridge over Burma's River Kwai, the bridge over Germany's Rhine River at Remagen, and the bridges over Korea's Toko Ri. In Vietnam it was the bridge at Thanh Hoa, called Dragon's Jaw. For seven long years hundreds of young US airmen flew sortie after sortie against North Vietnam's formidable and strategically important bridge, dodging a heavy concentration of anti-aircraft fire and enemy MiG planes. Many American airmen were shot down, killed, or captured....
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At some point the political commentary is exhausting
- By Tyler White on 06-07-19
By: Stephen Coonts, and others
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Inferno
- By: Joe Pappalardo
- Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Joe Pappalardo's Inferno tells the true story of the men who flew the deadliest missions of World War II, and an unlikely hero who received the Medal of Honor in the midst of the bloodiest military campaign in aviation history.
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Great listen I
- By Amazon Customer on 06-21-21
By: Joe Pappalardo
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SR-71, the Blackbird, Q&A
- By: Terry Pappas
- Narrated by: Chris Abell
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Higher, farther, faster - what every real aviator aspires to. The SR-71 was the epitome of this dream for three decades. The only way to beat the SR-71 was to rocket into space, and every astronaut in the office with me in the 1960s would have loved to have flown the Blackbird. In many ways it placed greater demand on piloting proficiency than any spacecraft.
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Great in sight on life and times of Blackbird crew
- By J Bo on 11-11-15
By: Terry Pappas
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The Men Who Killed the Luftwaffe
- The U.S. Army Air Forces Against Germany in World War II
- By: Jay A. Stout
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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In this dramatic story of World War II, Jay A. Stout describes how the US built an air force of 2.3 million men after starting with 45,000 and defeated the world's best air force. In order to defeat Germany in World War II, the Allies needed to destroy the Third Reich's industry and invade its territory, but before they could effectively do either, they had to defeat the Luftwaffe, whose state-of-the-art aircraft and experienced pilots protected German industry and would batter any attempted invasion.
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A must read for WWII buffs
- By david on 07-27-17
By: Jay A. Stout
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Flying from the Black Hole
- The B-52 Navigator-Bombardiers of Vietnam
- By: Robert O. Harder
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Air Force navigators and bombardiers have long labored under the shadow of pilots - their contributions undervalued, misunderstood, or unknown to the general public. This was especially the case with the non-pilot officer aircrew in the Vietnam and Cold War-era B-52 Stratofortress. Of the six people who operated the bomber, three wore navigator wings - two of those men were also bombardiers, the other an electronic warfare officer. Without the navigator-bombardiers in particular, executing the nuclear war strike plan or flying Southeast Asian bombing sorties would have been impossible.
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Today I learned something new.
- By Rob Wilson on 02-20-21
By: Robert O. Harder
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From F-4 Phantom to A-10 Warthog
- Memoirs of a Cold War Fighter Pilot
- By: Steven K Ladd
- Narrated by: Jeff Bolton
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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You do not have to be an aviation aficionado to enjoy Colonel Steve Ladd’s fascinating personal tale, woven around his 28-year career as a fighter pilot. This extremely engaging account follows a young man from basic pilot training to senior command through the narratives that define a unique ethos. From the United States to Southeast Asia; Europe to the Middle East; linking the amusing and tongue-in-cheek to the deadly serious and poignant, this is the lifelong journey of a fighter pilot.
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A 28 year history of Air Force fighter duty.
- By David H Milton on 07-09-22
By: Steven K Ladd
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Before Topgun Days
- The Making of a Jet Fighter Instructor
- By: Dave Bio Baranek
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 4 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Before becoming an instructor in the Navy's Topgun program, Dave "Bio" Baranek was just another kid with a dream. Upon graduating from college, he joined the Navy with the goal of becoming a fighter pilot. But, his eyesight waning, he knew that he would never be able to reach that goal. Undaunted, he plowed ahead and found his niche as a radar intercept operator in the backseat of the sleek, new Grumman F-14 Tomcat.
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SHB
- By Kindle Customer on 06-10-23
By: Dave Bio Baranek
What listeners say about Turn and Burn
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- S. H. Moore
- 03-31-22
Honest humble and exciting look into a fighter pilots life
This book covers the training and combat stories of a fighter pilot during the pre-Vietnam era through to his retirement well after Vietnam. Each chapter is a story, a format not regularly seen in this type of book but one that enjoyed. There isn’t much filler. It’s still however captures the life of a fighter pilot and the dangers in even daily operations better than most. He also is not a cocky as most fighter jock tails and when you hear what he did with his post military career you’ll see that he truly brings a different view of his take away from flying most do. 5 of 5 stars.
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- Norma Miles
- 04-15-21
"I never claimed to have the market on smarts."
This is the accounting of Lt.Colonel Darell 'Curly' J.Ahrens' life as a fighter pilote, from his youthful love of military figures and his intensive reading about World War II, through a period in the Marines, marriage and family (very brief), and the trainings, 'planes and flying experiences, both civic and wartime. His love of flying comes through very strongly and there are passages which read as exciting as any action thriller.
Straightforwardly written, the author interspersed his life story with personal experiences which in part illustrate his thoughts at the time but, more importantly, break up the linear account with anecdotes which are exciting, amusing or both, keeping the reader's attention focused. Altogether, he comes over as the dashing, rule breaking, devil may care, charming but superior pilot of war story fame, and one who carries his belief in God with him. There are some aspects I personally find a little incongruous, like confining all mention of his wife and children to a single, short chapter. Why include them at all as they are obviously not really part of this story? Or why not give mention of them in an introduction or epilogue?
Eric Jason Martin is the narrator of Turn and Burn and he performs with lerfection, his very pleasant to hear voice well paced and modulated. He reads all with a hint of wry humour and is easily identifiable as his first person counterpart.
My thanks to the rights holder of Turn and Burn, who, at my request freely gifted me with a complimentary copy via Audiobook Boom. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. And as a personal memoir to leave for future family generations, the author's stated intent, he has more than succeeded - he has brought that fragment of his life alive.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Wayne Fannon
- 05-11-21
Absolutely Fantastic
I am an aviation buff, and this book was right up my alley.
Ahrens' memoirs are quite well done. His purpose in writing was to record all the great stories he thought his grandchildren and great-grandchildren may want to know after he's gone. That perspective hit home for me, because I know I wish I'd had heard a lot more of my own grandfather's stories of when he served in WWII aboard B-17s in Europe. Ahrens focuses on the parts most readers would find interesting. I'd estimate that about 40% of the book is combat flight stories, and all the rest is about his long career as a fighter pilot, with only a bit of childhood raising toward the beginning. The combat stories are interspersed throughout the book to spread out the most exciting parts, and the rest of the narrative is presented chronologically. Again, he hits the high points, and I was never bored. I was quite entertained, and I have to say I learned a lot about the planes he flew (I think it was the RF84-F, F-100, F-102, F-105, and F-4. I was also fascinated by the two jet trainers he described. I was already familiar with the T-38 because of it's use by NASA, but I had never heard of the "baby jet" T-37 that Ahrens began his training on, and I looked it up later. A really cool little trainer jet with side-by-side seating.
Ahrens is a committed Christian, and mentions that here and there throughout the book, but I didn't think he was pushy about it (disclaimer: I'm also a committed Christian). He discusses his thoughts on what went wrong in the Vietnam war, and what the government could have done to win it quickly and decisively. I'm sure some people will disagree with his conclusions, but I value hearing his perspective as a front-line fighter pilot directly participating in the war. Toward the end of the book, he goes into his thoughts on how American foreign policy has gone wrong, and how things could be done better.
The narrator was great. He spoke very clearly and the audio production values were pretty good. The great thing about listening on Audible is the ability to speed up or slow down any audiobook to listen at your desired pace. I usually listen to books at 1.1x or 1.2x but I thought this book was just right at normal speed, YMMV.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I'd recommend the book to anyone who is interested in aviation, especially fighter jets, or who enjoys accounts of the Vietnam war. I'm glad I was able to listen to this.
Disclaimer: This audiobook was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review. I have done my best to keep this review completely unbiased.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Cycletrash56
- 05-11-21
Oh! I Have Slipped the Surly Bonds of Earth
I was given this free review copy audio-book at my request and have voluntarily left this review. This review is for the audio copy of Turn and Burn-A Fighter Pilot’s Memories and Confessions by Darrell J. Ahrens and narrated by Eric Jason Martin. This story struck a chord with me. I had always wanted to be a fighter pilot. I had WW2 model airplanes all painted in camo with squadron designators and battle damage inflicted on them. They were all hanging from my bedroom ceiling. I ended up in the Navy on submarines, go figure. Anyway, this was a great story for me. I liked the layout and the way the author developed the story, interspersing his training and career path with tales of his flights and experiences. The narration was perfect for this story. I highly recommend this book.
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- Greg
- 01-26-23
awesome
this is a great true story.. I would like to meet the author. keept my attention through the whole book..
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- luis
- 12-04-22
we get it, you are a Christian
listened to hear about fighters, with the title turn and burn I'm expecting hearing about high performance combat flying. But instead author keeps talking and his faith... nothing against his faith but I did not want a Christian book
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- Daniel Cascaddan
- 06-29-22
Difficult Staying on Point
The endless god bothering gets a bit tedious, but the aviation was interesting, and the topic for which I read the book. I definitely could have done without his political “thoughts” near the end. I particularly wish that Audible would allow these pilot/authors to choose more appropriate narrators, better suited to their style and subject matter. Or at least explain to the narrator that we spell it AFB, but it is either pronounced “Air Force Base” or read silently, saying only Travis, Clark, or Wright-Patt, and not read as though trying to keep the interest of dull-witted children.
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1 person found this helpful