Join the author, fresh from earning his wings, as he begins his short operational training, learning all about flying the Grumman F9F-2 jet fighter. There is little time for training before deployment aboard the USS Antietam. Carrier Air Group 15 soon will meet the enemy. The grind of combat flying becomes quickly apparent. The enemy gunners try to destroy the fighter-bombers with multiple anti-aircraft artillery installations while trying to stop the flow of supplies. For the jet pilots, it is not only the enemy flak that is faced day after day, but also the additional difficulty of operating jets off the World War II carrier. The flights are either boring as hell or suddenly hellish as the enemy’s guns’ tracer shells chase airplanes. No matter what, every flight ends with the split-second timing required to land aboard the carrier’s short flight deck.

Join the author, fresh from earning his wings, as he begins his short operational training, learning all about flying the Grumman F9F-2 jet fighter. There is little time for training before deployment aboard the USS Antietam. Carrier Air Group 15 soon will meet the enemy. The grind of combat flying becomes quickly apparent. The enemy gunners try to destroy the fighter-bombers with multiple anti-aircraft artillery installations while trying to stop the flow of supplies. For the jet pilots, it is not only the enemy flak that is faced day after day, but also the additional difficulty of operating jets off the World War II carrier. The flights are either boring as hell or suddenly hellish as the enemy’s guns’ tracer shells chase airplanes. No matter what, every flight ends with the split-second timing required to land aboard the carrier’s short flight deck.