Phantom Over Vietnam

I bought the book in 1989 in a Californian bookshop and ever since I read parts of it, must have read it 50 times together with Jack Broughtons books. Some years ago I had contacts with John and he told me about his flights in a MIG21 and how tricky that plane was on landing (like an F100 or F104)and always wondered what has become of him. I was in the Dutch airforce myself and am still shocked how politicians till this day destroy professional soldiers with their stupid rules of engagement. This book is a must for all people interested what really goes on in an airwar and the aftermaths of it. Thank you John !

I have to admit I am biased - I flew with John Trotti on at least one flight as his RIO (backseater). And, naturally, I hoped to find someone had done a good job of describing life in a Marine Phantom, something I lived for 316 combat missions over North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. As the stars indicate, I think John did an excellent job. True, it is not the book I would have written - aerial combat is intensely personal, always has been, and so every account, if it is honest and well written, will be different. Trotti has a little difficulty understanding why anyone would be a backseater (lack of 20/20 vision is a place to start, but being able to be in fighters is the big reason; again, my perspective rearing its head), but he has his fingers on the pulse of combat flying in Southeast Asia. The fatigue of both planes and men is seldom mentioned in most accounts of the air war and the cost was higher than most realize. The intensity of flying close air support in conditions where even seagulls preferred to walk is well described in this book. Above all, it is a personal account, provided by a man who was a good observer of both himself and the world around him. For readers looking to make the dry accounts of the air war's political decisions and combat statistics real, then Trotti's book is the place to begin.

This book covers the authors two tours of vietnam flying f-4s. The story is told on two levels, one being the personal development and maturing of a young fighter pilot world view regarding his feelings about what and why we were " there " in the first place and the second is a veritable flight manual of the f-4 phantom. Remarkably, he manages to hold our interest while describing the political climate and the way it changed so drastically during his second tour of vietnam, no mean feat when considering how many books on vietnam exist out there now(opposed to 1982 when major trotti wrote this. The real heart of this book is the f-4 and trotti gets you in the pilot seat like few others (lindberg comes to mind and of course pappy boyington) have done. trotti is a serious engineer type and his explanations of every phase of the mission are so detailed that you need to re-read some of it to keep it up front so to speak. nursing a wounded bird back as close to the sea as possible in an attempt to protect them from being captured by the north and calculating times and distances against a bad fuel leak and hydraulic system failure, finnaly ejecting moments before the plane "departs control" is told with restrained emotion and a dramatic tightness surprising in an "amatuer" author. this is a great book well worht the hunt required to find it via the net...5 stars Cal Caligiuri, Vacaville,Ca.

Trotti uses the exotic fighter pilot's language, but explains the meanings in context, so I know what's going on and can visualize every movement of the aircraft. As a Cub pilot, I can now picture the dynamics of jet flight, and combat technique in particular. I read portions of the first combat sequence to a former Phantom pilot, and he was shaken. "It was just like that," he said. I asked him why he hadn't told me. He said "I couldn't tell it like that." We are reading the rest of the book together, just a page or two at a time, and then we talk about it.

John Trotti tells hi story of flying in combat from the pilots perspective. His details of flying makes you almost feel like you are there with him. He also accounts on stupidity that command placed on fighter operations in Vietnam which of course diluted the efforts of the air war.You will feel the action and the dangers he face flying day to day into the flak and SAM's. After reading this book, you will realize how stupid we were to force these men to fight with their hands tied. Related to this book are two books by Col. Broughton. Thud Ridge and Going Downtown.