The Fight in the Clouds: The Extraordinary Combat Experience of P-51 Mustang Pilots During World War II Hardcover – March 15, 2014

Well written interviews with lots of pilots of P-51 Mustang fighters. Includes reports about fights that I have never seen in any other publication. Including shooting down Mistel combos and fights with Soviet Yak fighters that have only recently be declassified. Really does a good job in putting you in the cockpit of the plane,

This was an excellent book with some redundancies about the plane itself by the pilots who flew the P-51s.The book is filled with first hand accounts by the pilots, and provides excellent tactical and experiential descriptions of the training and combat flights by the aviators.Since these are independent accounts some narratives repeat facts about the actual hardware of the plane that are redundant. For example positive comments about the "bubble dome" cockpit of the P-51D providing better 360 visibility than previous versions of the plane. Also since this is from the pilots point of view, sometimes the larger strategic role of the combat mission is obscured.However, I would recommend this book highly for those who enjoy the actual feel and personal sense of combat in the P-51. The book also contains several accounts of "Aces" and how they earned their five combat victories. In addition the information on the German aircraft is very complete, including advantages and weak points vs. the Mustang. Also included is an excellent description of the K-14 sighting mechanism which gave US forces a combat advantage in sighting and accurate firing.Overall an excellent book, filled with details and insight of both Mustangs and the men who flew them.

This book is an anthology of first hand anecdotes about flying combat in the P-51 Mustang. That is what the book states as its theme and that is what it delivers in a well done fashion. Perhaps half to three quarters of the way through, one can say that the stories all start sounding similar. That should come as no surprise since the air war was a collective endeavor. Perhaps in a left hand sort of way that is a mark of the book's honesty in that there is no embellishment of facts nor hero worshiping. Bear in mind that the P-51 came out later on in the war and thus the cream of the Luftwaffe, many of its best pilots, were already dead. In a way one can say that makes the stories somewhat anti-climactic. That does not mean to say at all that the flying did not put the young men relating these stories in mortal danger. They most certainly were.

This was a very good, first-hand account of flying the various models of the P-51 (and a few other aircraft) in combat in the European Theater during WW2. Reading the accounts provided by the men who flew these aircraft gave it a high level of authenticity & credibility. As I read through the book I anticipated eventually reading an interview provided by at least one member of the 332nd FG, yet as the book ended there was no mention of this pioneering group. With four squadrons (99th, 100th, 301st, 302nd) and over 95 DFC's awarded, you'd think the author could have found at least ONE pilot from this Group to interview for the book. If he had I'm certain he could have found additional outstanding accounts of P-51 aerial combat over Europe!

If combat flying is your thing, you will find it hard to put down Jim Busha's new book, "The Fight in the Clouds: The Extraordinary Experience of P51 Mustang Pilots during World War II." Busha brings together the voices of some of our country's greatest warriors as they recount actual aerial skirmishes that will get the reader's heart racing.These are true-life events burned in the memories of pilots from a war unlike any other. Combatants on both sides began the war with similar mounts. However, as time went on, the U.S. continued to introduce planes such as the Mustang, while the miracle airplanes of Germany became scarcer in number and were poorly used. While the Mustang gets a lot of credit, as Yeager said, the better pilot will always win, no matter who has the superior airplane. There is ample evidence of that in Busha's excellent book.Will MartinAuthor, So I Bought an Air Force

Once I opened this book I read through it very quickly...it was that good. The book was written by the pilots themselves, making it all the more worthwhile.I don't wish to nit-pick, but the title of the book, "The Fight In The Clouds," is really a misnomer. In that era before radar contolled gunsights and other electronic wizardry, aerial battles were, out of necessity, see and be seen battle engagements. Fight in the clouds? Hardly.The photos are worthwhile, however, the pilot shown with Don Gentile is not Duane Beeson, it is John Godfrey who tragically died in 1958 of an incurable disease. Jimmy Doolittle did not assume command of the 8th Air Force in the summer of 1942 as alledged on page 173, Doolittle assumed commannd of the Mighty Eighth on Januasry 1, 1944.Just a couple of minor errors in an otherwise supurb book.

I was on a roll finding and reading WWII fighter pilot stories, especially from P-51 pilots, and truly enjoyed this read! Definitely recommended!

A compilation of P-51 stories, from it's inception, first use as a dive bomber/attack aircraft, to the fitting of the Merlin engine which turned it into an excellent dogfighter, with outstanding range. It's a good read, fast moving, told from many points of view; from the famous, as Bud Anderson, to pilots that flew the aircraft towards the end of the war. I liked the inclusion of stories from the Pacific Theater, where the Mustang was a blessing with it's long range ability.

Overall this is exactly as it says on the cover - a collection of first-hand combat accounts of those flying the P-51. To be honest I found this a bit dry and after some reading repetitive. Apart from a couple of accounts they were mostly unremarkable compared to other books out there on the subject. Saying that it's by no means a bad book, it just that in this reviewer's opinion there are better and more vivid accounts out there by P-51 pilots.

Interesting and informative of the period.

great book

Easy to read, it takes you to the skies with short and straight to the point stories about Mustang pilots stories. If you like this kind of books you will like it.Few of what is told provides details or little known aspects about flying a Mustang, but nevertheless is still a good reading.

This book is Great! It has history, both color and black/white pictures. My boyfriend is going to love it!! I would buy from this seller again!!