Terror of the autumn skies : [the true story of Frank Luke, America's rogue ace of World War I

The New York Times –bestselling author "refreshingly re-tells, and corrects, the story of Frank Luke's life and amazing aerial exploits" ( War Bird Ace author Jack Stokes Ballard). Frank Luke Jr. was an unlikely pilot. In the Great War, when fliers were still "knights of the air," Luke was an ungallant loner—a kid from Arizona who collected tarantulas, shot buzzards, and boxed miners. But during two torrid weeks in September 1918, he was the deadliest man on the Western Front. In only ten missions, he destroyed fourteen heavily defended German balloons and four airplanes, the second highest American tally in the entire war. Author Blaine Pardoe retraces and refreshes Frank Luke's story through recently discovered correspondence. Frantic, short, and splendid, the life of Frank Luke Jr. dramatizes the tragic intervention of an American spirit in the war that devastated Europe. "A brisk, nuts-and-bolts description of air warfare in the murderously flimsy flying machines of 1918." — Kirkus Reviews "This painstaking biography of World War I ace Frank Luke will earn Pardoe kudos . . . Thorough annotation makes the book that much more valuable to WWI aviation scholars as well as for more casual air-combat buffs." — Booklist **The __New York Times__–bestselling author "refreshingly re-tells, and corrects, the story of Frank Luke's life and amazing aerial exploits" (__War Bird Ace__ author Jack Stokes Ballard).** Frank Luke Jr. was an unlikely pilot. In the Great War, when fliers were still "knights of the air," Luke was an ungallant loner—a kid from Arizona who collected tarantulas, shot buzzards, and boxed miners. But during two torrid weeks in September 1918, he was the deadliest man on the Western Front. In only ten missions, he destroyed fourteen heavily defended German balloons and four airplanes, the second highest American tally in the entire war. Author Blaine Pardoe retraces and refreshes Frank Luke's story through recently discovered correspondence. Frantic, short, and splendid, the life of Frank Luke Jr. dramatizes the tragic intervention of an American spirit in the war that devastated Europe. "A brisk, nuts-and-bolts description of air warfare in the murderously flimsy flying machines of 1918." — "This painstaking biography of World War I ace Frank Luke will earn Pardoe kudos . . . Thorough annotation makes the book that much more valuable to WWI aviation scholars as well as for more casual air-combat buffs." — An accurate, thoroughly researched, and riveting tale of a World War I American fighter ace. Frank Luke, Jr., was an unlikely pilot. In the Great War, when fliers were still "knights of the air," Luke was an ungallant loner, a kid from Arizona who collected tarantulas, shot buzzards, and boxed miners. But during two torrid weeks in September 1918, he was the deadliest man on the Western Front. In only ten missions, he destroyed fourteen heavily-defended German balloons and four airplanes, a rampage unequaled even by the dreaded von Richtofen, and the second highest American tally of the entire war. Cocksure and constantly reprimanded, Luke was actually under arrest on the day of his final flight, but he stole a plane to join the fatal action that won him the first Congressional Medal of Honor awarded to a pilot. Blaine Pardoe retraces and refreshes Frank Luke's story through recently discovered correspondence. What emerges is a portrait of a life out of an "Old West" that was, by the late Teens, colliding with modernity. Frantic, short, and splendid, the life of Frank Luke, Jr. dramatizes the tragic intervention of an American spirit in the war that devastated Europe. 30 black-and-white illustrations A Portrait Of The First Pilot To Win The Congressional Medal Of Honor Traces His Rise From A Young Loner To A Formidable Soldier On The Western Front, Documenting His Military Contributions Throughout Ten Missions As Well As The Daredevil Spirit That Placed Him At Perpetual Odds With His Superiors. 1 First Blood 1 -- 2 The Wild Boy 13 -- 3 Fly With The Eagles 29 -- 4 Into The Air 43 -- 5 The American Expeditionary Force 53 -- 6 The Front 71 -- 7 Busting Balloons 87 -- 8 Fire In The Sky 99 -- 9 The Dynamic Duo 107 -- 10 Roar In The Skies 117 -- 11 Recognition 127 -- 12 The Darkest Of Times 133 -- 13 In The Limelight 141 -- 14 Ivan The Missing 151 -- 15 Crescendo 161 -- 16 Watch For Burning Balloons Ahead ... 165 -- 17 Into The Setting Sun 173 -- 18 When Time Stood Still 181 -- 19 One Man, Many Lives 195 -- 20 The Stuff Of Legends 207. Blaine L. Pardoe. Subtitle From Jacket. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 247-299).