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Description
After being outflown over Vietnam, the US launched a top secret operation to acquire Soviet aircraft, train pilots to fly them, and pitch them against American planes in training scenarios.
Get inside the head of one of America's most experienced MiG pilots, Lt Col Zettel, as he tells the thrilling tale of Constant Peg, a top secret US operation that wouldn't feel out of place in the plot of Top Gun.
At the height of the Cold War, America illicitly obtained Russian Fighters, transported them to the Tonopah Test Range, and pitted them against star US fighter pilots in simulated combat exercises. With controls labelled in Russian and the only spare parts being the ones they could salvage, the pilots who climbed into the MiGs accepted all of the risks associated with operating these aircraft. Vivid accounts of training engagements put the reader right there in the cockpit, flying alongside the "Red Eagles" as they trained the best pilots America had to offer. Historical photographs help paint the picture of an operation that took the US Air Force from its dismal performance in the Vietnam War to an unprecedented air-to-air kill ratio in Operation Desert Storm.
Table of Contents
1. Like Ice Skating
2. A Distant Memory
3. Improbable Odds
4. Tweets and Talons
5. F-4 Phantom II - The Beast
6. A Vector
7. The Fork in the Road
8. Sharpening the Edge
9. Inherent Risks and Cheating Death
10. Right Place, Right Time
11. "How'd You Get this Assignment?"
12. Going Up North
13. The Assets
14. Light the Rocket
15. "I'm Not Him"
16. Behind the "Black Curtain"
17. "Stink Bugs"
18. The Aggressors
19. The Crapper
20. "You're Grounded!"
21. TOPGUN
22. Coincidence or a Prelude to History?
23. MiG-21 vs F-15
24. "Sir, Can He Do That?"
25. "Flogger!"
26. "Knock It Off!"
27. "We Lost One"
28. Pushing the Envelope
29. The Final Push
30. Going Back
Epilogue
Product details
| Published | Feb 10 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Hardback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 368 |
| ISBN | 9781472808554 |
| Imprint | Osprey Publishing |
| Illustrations | 16 pages of colour plate section |
| Dimensions | 9 x 6 inches |
| Series | General Aviation |
| Short code | GNA |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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