Crusader!: Last of the Gunfighters

by Paul T. Gillcrist

Book Overview

Once known as the "Last of the Gunfighters", the Vought F-8 Crusader has since become a legend in the histories of the U.S. and French navies, as well as a scourge in the skies over North Vietnam in the late 1960s! CRUSADER! is a vital oral history of one of the most controversial fighter planes in carrier aviation. A key to the authenticity of this story are the author's personal interviews with sixteen of the seventeen living Crusader pilots who...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0887407668
• ISBN13: 9780887407666
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Schiffer Publishing
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 3.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 8.7" x 11.3"

Customer Reviews

Not a reference book for the modeller!

While I would agree that this book turned out to be an engaging read, it was far from what I expected. As an aircraft modeller, I was looking for a book along the lines of Don Logan's excellent books, also published by Schiffer, which are filled with color photographs of aircraft from many different units as well as excellent information on technical data, such as weapon loadouts. Not so with this book. Yes, there are color and B/W photographs, but there are many portions of the book where it is nothing but page upon page of text. In summary, a great history book, but not a good reference for the modeller.

Crusader!: The Last of the Gunfighters

An outstanding book for those who love Naval Aviation and a must for Crusader fans. Well written and outstanding graphics. Highly recommended.

Excellent aircraft history

A "must read" for anyone who appreciates the F-8 (or wants to) or just loves military aviation. A thorough history of this amazing airplane and those who flew it through a collection of great first-hand fighter pilot's stories. Some are told from the author's own experience and many more from other Crusader pilots interviewed by the author. For example: John Glenn's record-breaking flight in his own words, along with many accounts of Vietnam MiG encounters. I loved this book and plan on reading much more by this author.

I Cannot Recommend This Book Highly Enough

This is a fantastic collection of pilot's stories dealing with the "Last of the Gunfighters" the Vought F-8 Crusader. Rear Admiral Paul T Gillcrist has 2000 hours of Crusader time and his impressive knowledge and affection for the aircraft is very apparent throughout. The first part of the book arms the reader with background knowledge of early jet carrier operations as well as the story of Crusader speed records. The bulk of the book deals with the experiences, both harrowing and amusing, of numerous Crusader pilots including fascinating interviews with each pilot to shoot down a MiG in the aircraft. The final chapters give the author's expert analysis of the air war in Vietnam, and an overview of the use of the aircraft by the French Navy, the Naval Reserve and NASA. The book does not suffer from the shortfall of other books in that it is very skilfully written so that a layman can imagine theirself in the thick of the action. After reading this book you are left with a great respect for the men of the US Navy and Marine Corps who flew and fought in the Crusader and operated the aircraft from small aircraft carriers. As a commercial pilot I can only wonder how I would cope with landing a Mach2 airplane on a small heaving 27C carrier deck at night. To these men it was routine. Anyone who is remotely interested in aviation will find this book a great asset to their collection and I cannot recommend it highly enough