Carrier Pilot, Norman Hanson
Carrier Pilot, Norman Hanson
2 Rating(s)
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Carrier Pilot

Author: Norman Hanson

Narrator: Chris MacDonnell

Unabridged: 12 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 07/20/2017


Synopsis

In 1942 Norman Hanson learned to fly the Royal Navy's newest fighter: the U.S.-built Chance Vought Corsair. Fast, rugged, and demanding to fly, it was an intimidating machine. But in the hands of its young Fleet Air Arm pilots it also proved to be a lethal weapon.

Posted to the South Pacific aboard HMS Illustrious, Hanson and his squadron took the fight to the Japanese. Facing a desperate and determined enemy, Kamikaze attacks, and the ever-present dangers of flying off a pitching carrier deck, death was never far away.

Brought to life in vivid, visceral detail, Carrier Pilot is one of the finest aviators' memoirs of the war; an awe-inspiring, thrilling, sometimes terrifying account of war in the air.


About Norman Hanson

Norman Hanson was a twenty-six-year-old civil servant at the outbreak of World War Two. Although working in a reserved occupation, Hanson was allowed to join the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm in 1941. After pilot training with the U.S. Navy, he served in Egypt; later, he was posted to the Far East aboard the HMS Illustrious. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his courage, skill, and determination in leading 1833 Naval Air Squadron. Hanson returned to civilian life in 1946. He died in 1980, shortly after the publication of his critically acclaimed memoir, Carrier Pilot.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jean on November 26, 2017

This memoir is about a pilot aboard the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious. Hanson was a squadron commander. Hanson tells about his time in boot camp and in pilot training. He then describes life on the carrier, HMS Illustrious. Hanson describes in detail the actions he fought on HMS Illust......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on June 10, 2022

Hanson is thorough in his recollections. He brings into focus the naval air arm of the British Armed Forces during WWII. It was interesting to learn the extensive nature of their training. It was also interesting to learn that the United States played a significant role in providing that training, e......more

Goodreads review by John on April 02, 2017

Excellent book about the overlooked British aircraft carriers in the Pacific. I would highly recommend this to anyone with an interest in carrier pilot training and life. Although about the Brits there are American connections. They flew the American F4U Corsair fighters and the author received his......more

Goodreads review by Edoardo on October 05, 2020

There’s a strange new fashion in publishing to make a book’s subtitle into an advertising blurb. Browse Amazon – particularly its Kindle pages – and you will see books with, right there on their title lines, advertising bumph such as ‘the most uplifting and romantic novel’, ‘the gripping, bestsellin......more