Cheap Flying Fury: 5 Years in the Royal Flying Corps (Greenhill Military Paperbacks) (Book) (James, Vc McCudden) Price

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Customer Reviews of Flying Fury: 5 Years in the Royal Flying Corps (Greenhill Military Paperbacks)

For anyone with a curiosity about what air warfare in the First World War was really like, READ THIS BOOK. I highly recommend it.

A True Classic!
This biographical account of the one of Britain's leading aces from World War I is one of the best flying tales ever written of any era. At the age of fifteen, McCudden started out as a bugler in the Royal Engineers before becoming a mechanic in the Pre-WWI Flying Corps when aeroplane technology was still very immature. He witnessed, indeed participated, in the trials and tribulations of the nascent Flying Corps and, as war arrived, saw the fragile craft used in experiments with armed combat against troops on the ground and against enmey flying machines. His interest in flying led to passenger rides in a variety of aircraft and eventually to his performing aerial observer and gunner roles in combat where he was decorated. That was just another step in his aeronautical adventure as he was subsequently selected to train as a pilot and thrown into combat in the same sector as some of the leading German aces such as Voss and Richtofen where he not only survived, but eventually become a leading ace himself. His description of his five years in the Royal Flying Corps was written while the war was still ongoing and literally days before his posting as a squadron commander and tragic death in a flying accident en route to his new squadron. His writing style is fresh and immediate capturing the day today life and passions of WWI aviators. His impressions of his foe and the relative performance of the various flying machines are unique and better than any other author from that conflict. The publishers deserve credit for recognizing the value of this slice of history and making sure it remains available to the public. The rating system only allows 5 stars...this book deserves special status beyond that. Indeed, it has such on my shelve.

Brave simple man who loved his King and country
James McCudden's book is one of the finest written about aviation of the first world war. It is basically written by a man who was a hero who was very modest, It takes the form of a diary and gives more or less a day to day event of what it was really like to fly planes made of canvas against an enemy who McCudden had great respect for. For anyone who has a passion for first world war history this is a book not to be missed,(maybe i'm biast) Please remember when reading this book that the man had very little schooling and wrote the book in a matter of weeks and the last entry is only a few days before he was killed. A GREAT BOOK.