Overall: 5
Entertainment Value: 4
Education Value: 3
Pertains to the Air Force: 5
Review
Long before I was selected to be a RPA Pilot, I already knew that I wanted to fly them. I looked everywhere for more and more information. Eventually I found this audiobook. I’ve owned it now for just over a year, and have listened to it three times, and plan on listening to it again before I go to OTS.
The book is about a real life pilot, T. Mark McCurley, who transitioned from manned aircraft to a RPA during his career. The RPA community was fairly new, and at the time the main people flying RPAs were people that washed out of their advanced pilot school, or people that were getting punished. McCurley was one of the first few who actually volunteered for this assignment. He was tired of not being in the fight, and this was his last shot at getting into the thick of things.
The book follows McCurley’s RPA career, from training, to his first flights, to becoming a mission leader, to consulting troops overseas, to commanding a squadron in Djibouti. It is a very honest book, talking about the ups and down of the Air Force and the RPA program. He writes with no specific agenda, except to tell his story.
Entertainment – 4
The stories are great to listen to. The way he describes everything is superb. I got sucked into listening to the stories of his training, his strikes, his missions, and everything else that he does. He talks of “Pred Porn,” where dozens of pilots would hover around a 60 inch screen, watching a mission unfold. Listening to the book just made me more and more excited to one day get in the seat myself.
Educational – 3
The story is good enough to be interesting and still inform the audience of what it’s like to be a RPA pilot. He does a good job at talking about the RPA training pipeline. Of explaining about how the RPAs work. Of helping the audience understand the day to day life of a RPA pilot. I probably learned more about being a RPA pilot, and the RPA program, from this book alone than I did any other source.
How it pertains to the Air Force – 5
It 100% pertains to the Air Force, specifically the RPA program.
Should you read it? Yes!
If you are a RPA pilot select, or hope to be one, then this is a must read. Even if you are not, this is still a great book. Even my wife has listened to, and liked it. It teaches you a lot about the RPA program that you may not know about, and probably wouldn’t learn about in your other duties. For those that may believe that RPA pilots are just glorified video gamers, this helps you learn that that is not the case. Enjoy the book, you’ll like it!
Availability: It’s available as an audiobook, Kindle eBook, and paperback book. I listened to it as on audiobook from Audible. I commute an hour a day, so audiobooks are great for me, especially if the topic isn’t very deep. If you haven’t tried Audible, click on the link below to try it out, and new listeners can get this book for free!
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