The Wrong Stuff: Flying on the Edge of Disaster Overview:

The Wrong Stuff : Flying on the Edge of Disaster
John Moore

An aviation cadet during World War II, Moore finished training too late to see action then but made up for it with two tours of duty flying jets in Korea and a distinguished later career as a naval and civilian test pilot. He is eloquent on the number of things that can and, in the early days of jets, usually did go wrong in the air as well as on the virtues and vices of certain aircraft, the F7U Cutlass and the F8F Bearcat in particular.  And, he tells the story--one worthy of Monty Python--of experimentation in landing fighters with no landing gear on rubber flight decks and runways.

John Moore writes with wit, insight, and compassion as he shares his first-hand knowledge and technical expertise. Some of the near disasters Moore recounts include: 

* In 1947, he landed a Bearcat aboard aircraft carrier "Philippine Sea," with an engine fire drifting into the cockpit.

* In 1951, Moore was blown over the side of aircraft carrier "Essex" after another landing aircraft collided with his aircraft.

* In 1955, while landing a Cutlass at Pax River Air Station, the forward gear collapsed causing the aircraft to veer off the runway and explode in flames.

* In 1961, during a night test flight at 18,000 feet, the flight controls failed in the Vigilante bomber Moore was piloting. The plane fell out of control nearly three miles to within 2,000 feet of the ground before he was able to right the aircraft. 

His memoirs are breezy, anecdotal, and unrepentant about fighter pilots' traditional pursuit of wine, women, and song but also relay the story of mastering many suicidally dangerous skills and teaching them to others while remaining a loving husband and father.