- A riveting and absorbing memoir of an RAF Lightning fighter pilot
- Historically rich in detail with previously unpublished photographs
- Meticulously researched and of interest to the aviation and military historian as well as scale aviation modellers
- A RAF pilot’s view of the Cold War, which conveys the excitement, danger and comedy of flying during that momentous historic period. Crafted to satisfy all aviation enthusiasts, novice and professional alike
As a young boy during the Second World War, the seeds were sown to fly in the blue sky. Terry Adcock made up his mind with a great determination to reach for the sky in a Supermarine Spitfire.
He joined the RAF but twists of fate caused him to become a nuclear bomber pilot. It was RAF policy not to shift from that complicated role to another and yet he pushed for change: he became an instructor, display pilot and made the final move to the single seat air defence Lightning. He eventually instructed on the Lightning and commanded two squadrons.
Adcock’s original dream came true but it was complicated in a way that he had not envisaged. There were dangerous incidents, the loss of friends, the thirty-one moves of his family and the politics associated with senior rank. At the outset, he had not understood the demands of a Cold War or the need to sail the major oceans of the world with a sea-going admiral.
The one compensation for his family was to live together on a tropical island for two years.
| BOOK ISBN |
9781781557983 |
| FORMAT |
234 x 156 mm
|
| BINDING |
Hardback |
| PAGES |
352 pages |
| PUBLICATION DATE |
30 April 2020
|
| TERRITORY |
World |
| ILLUSTRATIONS |
53 black-and-white and colour photos |
Terry Adcock was grammar school educated and joined the RAF early and did not go to university. He did, however, complete his education at RAF and Joint Services Staff colleges and spent a year at the London Business School. After thirty years in the RAF, he joined Bae Dynamics as Head of Operational Assessment and lastly, managed two large projects for NATS. Adcock sailed for the RAF and became a senior national windsurfing champion at the age of 54.
