Warriors at 500 Knots
Intense Stories of Valiant Crews Flying the Legendary F-4 Phantom II in the Vietnam Air War.
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Narrated by:
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Dick Hill
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By:
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Robert F Kirk
About this listen
As the ground war struggled for success in Vietnam, it became intensely clear that the skies had to be owned by the allies for victory to have a chance. It was the F-4 and its pilots that made that possible. The author, a Phantom pilot himself, details intense stories of undaunted and valiant American pilots with their legendary fierce Phantom. These are personal stories of intrepid courage and self-sacrifice to get the mission done - whatever the cost. Fierce, unflinching battles to save friendlies and destroy a ruthless enemy are all recorded 40 years later. True tales of war at 500 knots!
©2011 Robert F Kirk (P)2011 Robert F KirkListeners also enjoyed...
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- Length: 17 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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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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Top Notch Audiobook
- By R. A. Frank on 10-08-10
By: Robin Olds, and others
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Vietnam: A Tale of Two Tours
- By: James C. Mooney Jr.
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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This is a US Army helicopter pilot's candid, firsthand account of his Vietnam experience in the air and on the ground at the height of US troop strength and then again when he returned for a second tour of duty at the very end of the war. It is a nonpolitical description of what life was really like for him and others who served in Vietnam. There is no embellishment or any secondhand stories from anyone else about their experiences in Vietnam.
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no action, just talk
- By Amy on 10-13-19
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War for the Hell of It
- A Fighter Pilot's View of Vietnam
- By: Ed Cobleigh
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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In War for the Hell of It, Cobleigh shares his perspectives in a deeply personal account of a fighter pilot's life, one filled with moral ambiguity and military absurdities offset by the undeniable thrill of flying a fighter plane. With well-crafted prose that puts you into his Phantom's cockpit, Cobleigh vividly recounts the unexplainable loss of his wingman, the useless missions he flew, the need to trust his reflexes, eyesight, aggressiveness, and his survival instincts in the heat of combat.
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Best book on the USAF air war in Vietnam.
- By S. Mersereau on 08-26-16
By: Ed Cobleigh
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The Mighty Eighth
- The Air War in Europe as Told by the Men Who Fought It
- By: Gerald Astor
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 23 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Europe has fallen. Pearl Harbor is in flames. Enter: the Eighth. In 1941 the RAF fought a desperate battle of survival against the Luftwaffe over Britain. Then, from across the Atlantic, came a new generation of American pilots, gunners, and bombardiers, a new generation of flying machines called the B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-24 Liberator, the P-47 Thunderbolt, and the P-51 Mustang fighter.
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A Good Listen with 1 problem
- By Matthew Schuller on 08-23-19
By: Gerald Astor
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The Wild Blue
- The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Jeffrey DeMunn
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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The very young men who flew the B24s over Germany in World War II against terrible odds were an exemplary band of brothers. In The Wild Blue, Stephen Ambrose recounts their extraordinary brand of heroism, skill, daring, and comradeship. Stephen Ambrose describes how the Army Air Forces recruited, trained, and chose those few who would undertake the most demanding and dangerous jobs in the war.
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Required Reading
- By Lyle on 11-22-11
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Hero Found
- The Greatest POW Escape of the Vietnam War
- By: Bruce Henderson
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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In February 1966, U.S. Navy pilot Dieter Dengler was shot down over "neutral Laos". He crashed deep in territory controlled by North Vietnamese army regulars and the communist Pathet Lao, who would eventually capture him and hold him prisoner in a fortified jungle prisoner-of-war camp.
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Extremely interesting and well-written!
- By Matthew on 08-28-10
By: Bruce Henderson
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Tanker Pilot
- Lessons from the Cockpit
- By: Mark Hasara, Rush Limbaugh - foreword
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Get a glimpse of life in the pilot's seat and experience modern air warfare directly from a true American hero. Lt. Col Mark Hasara - who has 24 years of experience in flying missions around the world - provides keen and eye-opening insights on success and failure and emphasizes the importance of always being willing to learn. He provides 12 essential lessons based on his wartime experience and his own personal photographs from his missions during the Cold War, Gulf War, and Iraq War.
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NKAWTG! Nobody!
- By David Stefano on 11-10-17
By: Mark Hasara, and others
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None Braver
- U.S. Air Force Pararescuemen in the War on Terrorism
- By: Michael Hirsh
- Narrated by: Corey Snow
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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From award-winning journalist and combat veteran Michael Hirsh comes the thrilling inside story of the Air Force's pararescue operations in Afghanistan. The first journalist to be embedded with an Air Force combat unit in the war on terrorism, Hirsh flew from Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, with the 71st Rescue Squadron to their expeditionary headquarters at a secret location in Central Asia. Unparalleled access to the pararescue jumpers - or PJs - as well as to the courageous men and women who fly them where they have to go, often under enemy fire, allowed Michael Hirsh to uncover incredible stories of courage.
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Rescue Rangers
- By Southard on 10-08-24
By: Michael Hirsh
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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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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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Why I got it...and glad I did.
- By Marie on 11-27-14
By: Truman Smith
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Finish Forty and Home
- The Untold World War II Story of B-24s in the Pacific
- By: Phil Scearce
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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During the early years of World War II in the Pacific theatre, against overwhelming odds, young American airmen flew the longest and most perilous bombing missions of the war. They faced determined Japanese fighters without fighter escort, relentless anti-aircraft fire with no deviations from target, and thousands of miles of over-water flying with no alternative landing sites.
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Pretty Good!
- By Robert on 02-01-13
By: Phil Scearce
What listeners say about Warriors at 500 Knots
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Anonymous User
- 01-22-23
Loved it absolutely amazing
The book was just incredible and I would highly recommend reading if you like aviation and the Vietnam war.
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- bob downing
- 03-28-15
Better editing needed
Written by someone obviously and justifiably proud of his service. The stories are interesting but suffer somewhat from the repetition of non-essential details such as the process of preparing for a mission which is repeated unnecessarily in each story.
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- Tom Owen
- 01-21-15
Duty, Honor, Country
Would you consider the audio edition of Warriors at 500 Knots to be better than the print version?
Dick Hill's narration brings the book alive and makes you feel as though you're in the back seat of the F-4 flying combat missions in Vietnam. Through his words, you share in the life and death decisions aircrews make on a daily basis, often times in split seconds.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Warriors at 500 Knots?
While there are many great moments in Robert's book, the most memorable one was the mining operation on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. As a retired Air Force pilot myself, flying 500 knots at 500 feet through a hail of enemy gunfire takes immense courage and dedication to mission. Taking battle damage, which forced multiple high "G" pitch ups, followed by high "G" pitch downs, then recovering the aircraft shows superior airmanship and coolness under fire.
What about Dick Hill’s performance did you like?
The correct pronunciation and annunciation of unfamiliar Air Force flying terms and acronyms, plus the reader's pacing of and emphasis on events leads to unforgettable drama that makes the reader want more.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
Experience the real life drama of F-4 pilots flying combat missions under the most difficult of circumstances. Know the fear and joy of aerial flight as you ride along at 500 knots, pulling high "G" turns in afterburner, while dodging enemy gunfire, knowing that weather obscures near by mountain tops.
Any additional comments?
Robert Kirk's book brings to life the experiences of ordinary men, some exceptional, some flawed, as they grapple with the realities of combat. The book doesn't glorify war or the military. Rather, the book takes an in-depth look at the men who risked their lives on a daily basis. These men did this not for glory, but for each other--their only goal to complete each mission successfully then go home at the end of their tours. This is a must read for anyone who wants to experience the courage and raw emotions Air Force pilots experienced fighting an unpopular war. In the end, the author answers the question, "Where do we get such men."
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2 people found this helpful
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- Shannon N. Hibbs
- 08-17-17
Another tortuous listen because of the narrator.
Over dramatic and makes all the voices sound as if the participants are either retarded or from New York or Arkansas. Cmon. Just freaking read.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Mark Murphy
- 12-31-14
Great Material
I loved the material. As a 26 year Air Force veteran who's known a lot of fighter pilots, I enjoyed the "there I was" stories. Kirk's firsthand familiarity with the subject shows, and he does a great job of putting you in the cockpits and minds of the aircrews. His storytelling style is warm and familiar to people like myself who have heard friends share stories over beer and finger foods. One of the anecdotes that I chuckled at most was the one that related the challenges of flying an out-of-rig F-4 across the Pacific, having to fight the jet the whole way by keeping constant pressure on the stick to hold it level because they didn't want to admit to the problem and be stuck somewhere on the way home...maintainers who've noted how often jets fly "Code 1" on redeployment sorties understand this kind of thing. At one point during an air refueling, the pilot made an unexpected stick movement during an air refueling and the boom operator complained. Not wanting to admit to the ongoing struggle with his flight controls, the pilot apologized and said "I was just scratching my nose." That's when I started chuckling...it's the kind of tongue-in-cheek, downplaying comment a fighter pilot would make, but he wouldn't say "nose" -- I know a "mixed company" edit of a "there I was" story when I hear one. Things like that drew me closer to the author.
Dick Hill's narration, however, was somewhat off-putting from my personal perspective. Hill is a very talented and accomplished narrator, but fighter pilots have a particular way of using the language in terms of tone, inflections, mannerisms, etc. and cockpit communication is a style all its own. When they push the mic button, it's calm, precise, and almost robotic, even in stressful situations. When you've spent two and a half decades hearing the real thing, Hill's dramatization seems exaggerated and it creates a sense of auditory vertigo. The words are fighter pilot words, but the voice being used isn't even close to fighter pilot...it's like what Hollywood thinks fighter pilots sound like. So to my biased and overly-sensitive ear, Hill tended to sound somewhere between J. Peterman and the Skipper from the Madagascar Penguins. Most people would think I'm being picky, but it's like a veteran watching a war movie and latching onto the crush of a cap, position of a piece of gear, way a firearm is handled, or how someone says "good morning." It took a bit to get used to, but I let go of my biases and enjoyed the book. If Hill read cockpit communication as it is typically delivered in the real world, it would've been more accurate but far less entertaining for most people.
Overall, the book isn't Faulkner, nor is it intended to be. It's a collection of stories to pay tribute to F-4 pilots, and as such it's solid entertainment for anyone interested in the military or aviation history. It's appeal is in its unvarnished frankness and familiarity.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Carlos Vera
- 10-06-15
Great flying book, but...
The person who read it speaks to slow for a pilot story. Pilots usually speak fast when flying. The accent sound is not for this story.
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2 people found this helpful
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- R. Denton
- 02-03-15
Lots or stories, lots of repetition
Would you try another book from Robert F Kirk and/or Dick Hill?
Probably so, but I would carefully read the reviews on multiple sites and try to find out the actual structure of the "book." I've listened to Dick Hill before and he's a good narrator, but this "book" has so many characters and situations, it really needed several different readers to break it up more.
Clearly a lot of the short stories that comprise this book are real, names changed, etc., but why set it all up as fiction. Either get the rights from the pilots and crews or else weave this whole thing into a larger book about a squadron, wing, etc.
Since these are all "stand-alone" short stories, there is a lot of repetition of pre-flight, takeoff roll, talking to FAC, ejection sequence, etc. This is made even worse by using the same callsigns and same crew names almost for every flight.
I was on the ground and I've heard and talked to enough different callsigns from fast-movers to populate this book. Also surprised at hearing pretty much the same ordnance all the time, and never hearing a load referred to as "snake-n-nape" though we heard that plenty.
This clearly does not compare with "Fighter Squadron at Guadalcanal" by Max Brand or "Fighter Pilot" by Robin Olds, or the three "Punk" books by Ward Carroll.
If you’ve listened to books by Robert F Kirk before, how does this one compare?
n/a
Did the narration match the pace of the story?
Mostly. Dick Hill did okay with what he had, but there should have been multiple narrators for this bag of short stories.
Do you think Warriors at 500 Knots needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
NO! Not unless Kirk is actually going to write some original content, create and give life to some characters with different names and blend it into a cohesive story. He clearly has the experience to do so.
Any additional comments?
The stories are good in themselves, but use different names, callsigns, and such so we "buy into" that crew a little. These are all anonymous aircrews and their story, good, bad, brave, tragic is over in few minutes. It really looks like this was a collection of anecdotes and experiences looking for a container. With a good writer and editor, this could have worked well. The fact that it does not, is no reflection on the brave men who risked it all on a daily basis.
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- S Sheffield
- 01-20-15
A Great Read
Would you consider the audio edition of Warriors at 500 Knots to be better than the print version?
I thought both were great. The narrator in the audio version did a great job. His voice, in my opinion, lent itself to the book at hand and the material that was being read. For me, the varying tone and inflection of the narrator made it more lifelike. Whether it was hearing about the first mission and the feeling of going into the unknown, a plane going down and thinking about the emotions of losing crew members, or to the trip home knowing the pilots (and all of the military personnel involved) gave all they could to defend our country, I was engaged throughout.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Many moments moved me. With so many details of what was going on and the surroundings the author provided (from real life experiences the author was able to glean from), it gave me the opportunity to, in my imagination, put me right there in that jet. I could feel the varied emotions the author was conveying at every turn of the page.
Any additional comments?
A great book! I have recommended this to others (especially the audiobook format) including my sons who have a great interest in the military, flying and of our country's past.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Chad
- 02-06-15
I liked it and would read it again
I love every book so far read by Dick Hill.
The story was pretty cool, a nice collection of short anecdotes that make you feel a little what it was like for the airmen operating in Vietnam.
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- Randy A Wagner
- 08-21-19
worth the read
great material. only downside was having all the verbal exchanges played by a Howard Cosell-like voice.
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