As something of an adjunct to the F-18 Autoland thread there is a new book out that tries to examine the fighter pilot culture academically. I have not read the book and have only been through a fairly thorough review.
Michael W. Hankins, in Flying Camelot: The F-15, the F-16, and the Weaponization of Fighter Pilot Nostalgia
I will be reading the book (I'm a forever fan of Boyd, et al) but the review would seem to indicate the book itself is slightly at cross purposes to itself. Maybe to get attention it starts off at "Oh my goodness, look what they've done" with regard to how we got "here" via silk scarves, daring-do, dog fighting, knights of the sky...as if it were somehow questionable. And may end with how that yielded the best close-in Hi-Lo (cost) pair of fighters of the last 50 years - the F-15 and F-16. Notice I said pair, not to downplay the F-14. Those two have been exposed to way more combat opportunities worldwide than the F-14 just by the nature of things (fleet population, number of conflicts, etc. etc.). The review indicates the book is another tome on "the future is now" on how everything flying will be unpopulated....tomorrow and, we'll see if this is correct, too much emphasis on John Wayne and not enough emphasis on the desired unfair fight. At any rate I direct your attention to it if you're so inclined.
Michael W. Hankins, in Flying Camelot: The F-15, the F-16, and the Weaponization of Fighter Pilot Nostalgia
I will be reading the book (I'm a forever fan of Boyd, et al) but the review would seem to indicate the book itself is slightly at cross purposes to itself. Maybe to get attention it starts off at "Oh my goodness, look what they've done" with regard to how we got "here" via silk scarves, daring-do, dog fighting, knights of the sky...as if it were somehow questionable. And may end with how that yielded the best close-in Hi-Lo (cost) pair of fighters of the last 50 years - the F-15 and F-16. Notice I said pair, not to downplay the F-14. Those two have been exposed to way more combat opportunities worldwide than the F-14 just by the nature of things (fleet population, number of conflicts, etc. etc.). The review indicates the book is another tome on "the future is now" on how everything flying will be unpopulated....tomorrow and, we'll see if this is correct, too much emphasis on John Wayne and not enough emphasis on the desired unfair fight. At any rate I direct your attention to it if you're so inclined.