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Jet Age Man: SAC B-47 and B-52 Operations in the Early Cold War
Nominated as Best Military History Book 2013 in the prestigious journal Air Power History, published by the US Air Force Historical FoundationThe events in Jet Age Man took place during the early Cold War, an era that will go down as a period when civilization teetered on the edge of the abyss. To some, nuclear deterrence appeared as utter madness, and was in fact commonly referred to as M.A.D. The concept of Mutually Assured Destruction provoked protests and marches, and the architect of M.A.D, General Curtis LeMay, became a symbol of madness himself. Raised during those turbulent times, most contemporary historians conclude that we were lucky to have survived. What they fail recognize is that for LeMay and the thousands of Cold War warriors who fought and won while serving in the Strategic Air Command, the proof of concept lies not in the "what if?" but in the reality, "what did." Historically, M.A.D. succeeded where appeasement, diplomacy and even hot wars failed. When The Wall came down, strength, not weakness, had prevailed. Most of this story takes place in the Cold War trenches of the Strategic Air Command. It is about those who served and the many who died, told by someone who, as a young man, literally held the fate of all mankind within reach of a switch. More particularly, this is a story of man's interaction with two bombers that changed the course of political history, and were perhaps the most influential aircraft in the annals of aircraft development. The author piloted and instructed in both the B-47 and the B-52, starting out as a copilot in the B-47, then aircraft commander and finally, instructor pilot in both aircraft. Jet Age Man chronicles his fifteen-year relationship with the B-47 and the aircraft the B-47 became, the B-52--a bomber still in service today.
296 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 20, 2025
Earl J. McGill's 2012 Jet Age Man: SAC B-47 and B-52 Operations in the Early Cold War interestingly recounts the author's experience as a pilot of Strategic Air Command from the early-ish jet days after Korea through U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
As readers may recall from his 2008 Black Tuesday Over Namsi: B-29s vs MiGs--The Forgotten Air Battle of the Korean War, 23 October 1951, which was revised and expanded in 2012, McGill during the Korean War flew B-29s. The huge queen of the skies of the Second World War, however, and mighty deliverer of the atom bomb upon Imperial Japan, now was sorely outclassed by new jet interceptors. After the disastrous failed raid on Namsi, the author's squadron was assigned an attempt at the MiG-guarded target, which fortunately was scrubbed even as the ships were lined up on the runway at Kadena.
Not quite a year after the armistice of 1953, though, McGill began a "love affair" with another Boeing multi-engined bomber, the B-47, whose "grace and slender beauty made [him] weak with desire to caress her and subvert her to [his] will." Even though "[t]here would be no release for her, or for [him], as long as she existed," soon "she began killing [his] friends, and for the six more years she tried to kill [him]" (2014 Helion softcover, page 24).
The B-47 was streamlined and swept-winged and fast, but it was "sheer beauty with deadly implications," with performance that forced the pilot into "walking a tightrope of invisible threads, holding the yoke of equilibrium with fingers as sensitive as a surgeon's" (page 27). Sensitive at high altitude, requiring the autopilot to keep it within the "so narrow" limits between stalling at lower speed--and spinning, an effect of the swept wing--and being "buffeted to destruction" at high speed (page 27), the aircraft also had a tendency for control reversal above 440 knots indicated airspeed, with controls "produc[ing] an opposite from expected effect. Above 440 KIAS, the pilot had to steer right to turn left" (page 30).
The pylon-mounted engines of the bomber "were as fickle as she was," explains McGill, "slow to wind up," and yet if pushed too hard, easy to have "overheat and fly apart" (page 34). And just as the aircraft had a long takeoff roll, requiring longer runways than any other "production airplane before or since" (page 33), the ship's "extreme streamlining also made it harder to slow down," so one parachute was incorporated in the tail for slowing during descent, and another for braking during the landing roll (page 41).
Moreover, the fighter-style tandem layout, which looks so sexy and allows that streamlining, was hell on what we now call crew resource management, for the pilots could not simply glance left or right to see what the other was doing with hands on the yoke or feet on the rudder pedals. In fact, in those early days, ergonomics were iffy as well, with, for example, "[t]he radio control panel...buried deep down on the right of the aircraft commander's seat," such that the pilot had to hand off control to the copilot while "focus[ing] his flashlight on the dial so he could line up the proper numbers" (page 30). Had McGill not been bumped from a training flight in October 1954, the confluence of these cockpit issues--the necessity of going off the controls to switch channels, a hand-off misunderstood, and lack of visual double-check--would have left him, like three others, including the man who replaced him in a malfunctioning ejection seat (page 30), "buried beneath the rubble at the bottom of a fifty-foot[-]wide, smoldering pit" (page 31).
But McGill escaped, and lived to fly ever more through the years, with luck and with growing skill. He flew the reconnaissance version of the B-47, probably at one point in 1955 ready to be sent on an overflight of Siberia...except in April another RB-47 was shot down on such a penetration, so their August missions were changed to side-looking photography from off the coast (page 63). The life of a Stratojet jockey was still a dangerous one, though. As McGill puts it, "For an airplane that never officially flew combat missions, [the] numbers are staggering. Roughly twelve percent of all production B-47s crashed and never flew again--251 losses at a cost of over 470 lives" (page 69).
After B-47s, the author transitioned to B-52s, the rugged 8-engined Boeing bombers still in service after an astonishing 70 years. McGill's walk-through of the development of design of the Stratofortress, like that of the B-47, is excellent, but even more fascination are his recollections of nuclear deterrent--like flying airborne alert during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the 18-hour Chrome Dome missions toward failsafe points above the Arctic Circle and then back, and insider accounts of various now-famous crashes and weapon losses--and also his eventual posting to Arc Light conventional bombing in Vietnam. This latter campaign, by the way, he considered "an utterly ridiculous, futile exercise" (page 208) in comparison to the "originally planned goal...to paralyze the North by a bombing campaign of unprecedented magnitude" prior to the widespread arrival of surface-to-air missiles in the Haiphong-Hanoi corridor" (page 206).
In any event, Earl J. McGill's Jet Age Man: SAC B-47 and B-52 Operations in the Early Cold War, nicely illustrated throughout and--despite some very obvious weakness in mechanics like commas and hyphens, though not as much as in his book on the Namsi mission over Korea--a delightful combination of technical detail and hands-on experience, of history both national and personal, of pride and humility and humor as well, will be a very enjoyable 5-star read for any interested in aviation, military history, or the Cold War.
As readers may recall from his 2008 Black Tuesday Over Namsi: B-29s vs MiGs--The Forgotten Air Battle of the Korean War, 23 October 1951, which was revised and expanded in 2012, McGill during the Korean War flew B-29s. The huge queen of the skies of the Second World War, however, and mighty deliverer of the atom bomb upon Imperial Japan, now was sorely outclassed by new jet interceptors. After the disastrous failed raid on Namsi, the author's squadron was assigned an attempt at the MiG-guarded target, which fortunately was scrubbed even as the ships were lined up on the runway at Kadena.
Not quite a year after the armistice of 1953, though, McGill began a "love affair" with another Boeing multi-engined bomber, the B-47, whose "grace and slender beauty made [him] weak with desire to caress her and subvert her to [his] will." Even though "[t]here would be no release for her, or for [him], as long as she existed," soon "she began killing [his] friends, and for the six more years she tried to kill [him]" (2014 Helion softcover, page 24).
The B-47 was streamlined and swept-winged and fast, but it was "sheer beauty with deadly implications," with performance that forced the pilot into "walking a tightrope of invisible threads, holding the yoke of equilibrium with fingers as sensitive as a surgeon's" (page 27). Sensitive at high altitude, requiring the autopilot to keep it within the "so narrow" limits between stalling at lower speed--and spinning, an effect of the swept wing--and being "buffeted to destruction" at high speed (page 27), the aircraft also had a tendency for control reversal above 440 knots indicated airspeed, with controls "produc[ing] an opposite from expected effect. Above 440 KIAS, the pilot had to steer right to turn left" (page 30).
The pylon-mounted engines of the bomber "were as fickle as she was," explains McGill, "slow to wind up," and yet if pushed too hard, easy to have "overheat and fly apart" (page 34). And just as the aircraft had a long takeoff roll, requiring longer runways than any other "production airplane before or since" (page 33), the ship's "extreme streamlining also made it harder to slow down," so one parachute was incorporated in the tail for slowing during descent, and another for braking during the landing roll (page 41).
Moreover, the fighter-style tandem layout, which looks so sexy and allows that streamlining, was hell on what we now call crew resource management, for the pilots could not simply glance left or right to see what the other was doing with hands on the yoke or feet on the rudder pedals. In fact, in those early days, ergonomics were iffy as well, with, for example, "[t]he radio control panel...buried deep down on the right of the aircraft commander's seat," such that the pilot had to hand off control to the copilot while "focus[ing] his flashlight on the dial so he could line up the proper numbers" (page 30). Had McGill not been bumped from a training flight in October 1954, the confluence of these cockpit issues--the necessity of going off the controls to switch channels, a hand-off misunderstood, and lack of visual double-check--would have left him, like three others, including the man who replaced him in a malfunctioning ejection seat (page 30), "buried beneath the rubble at the bottom of a fifty-foot[-]wide, smoldering pit" (page 31).
But McGill escaped, and lived to fly ever more through the years, with luck and with growing skill. He flew the reconnaissance version of the B-47, probably at one point in 1955 ready to be sent on an overflight of Siberia...except in April another RB-47 was shot down on such a penetration, so their August missions were changed to side-looking photography from off the coast (page 63). The life of a Stratojet jockey was still a dangerous one, though. As McGill puts it, "For an airplane that never officially flew combat missions, [the] numbers are staggering. Roughly twelve percent of all production B-47s crashed and never flew again--251 losses at a cost of over 470 lives" (page 69).
After B-47s, the author transitioned to B-52s, the rugged 8-engined Boeing bombers still in service after an astonishing 70 years. McGill's walk-through of the development of design of the Stratofortress, like that of the B-47, is excellent, but even more fascination are his recollections of nuclear deterrent--like flying airborne alert during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the 18-hour Chrome Dome missions toward failsafe points above the Arctic Circle and then back, and insider accounts of various now-famous crashes and weapon losses--and also his eventual posting to Arc Light conventional bombing in Vietnam. This latter campaign, by the way, he considered "an utterly ridiculous, futile exercise" (page 208) in comparison to the "originally planned goal...to paralyze the North by a bombing campaign of unprecedented magnitude" prior to the widespread arrival of surface-to-air missiles in the Haiphong-Hanoi corridor" (page 206).
In any event, Earl J. McGill's Jet Age Man: SAC B-47 and B-52 Operations in the Early Cold War, nicely illustrated throughout and--despite some very obvious weakness in mechanics like commas and hyphens, though not as much as in his book on the Namsi mission over Korea--a delightful combination of technical detail and hands-on experience, of history both national and personal, of pride and humility and humor as well, will be a very enjoyable 5-star read for any interested in aviation, military history, or the Cold War.
March 26, 2022
Very interesting account of B-47 and B-52 operations during a very tense period of the Cold War. The fact that this book is written by a former pilot gives a more personal touch to the narrative. McGill mainly focuses on what it was like to fly these aircraft (including the inherent dangers of which there were MANY) but also gives some technical background as well. In particular, he gives very good descriptions of the many fatal crashed that plagued these aircraft, reminding the reader of how dangerous his job was. The only issue I had was that I would have liked him to go into a bit more detail of his Air Force career before be started flying B-47s.
Very good book overall.
Very good book overall.
March 31, 2020
A very good factual and sobering read.
highly technical but an engaging read
A realisation of how close the world came to a nuclear holocaust
Highly recommended as interesting history of the B52 and B47 deterrent
The authour writes in a engaging manner making the book hard to put down
Thank you , Colonel McGill.
highly technical but an engaging read
A realisation of how close the world came to a nuclear holocaust
Highly recommended as interesting history of the B52 and B47 deterrent
The authour writes in a engaging manner making the book hard to put down
Thank you , Colonel McGill.
February 4, 2019
The author was a B-47 and B-52 pilot in the US Air Force and tells interesting stories about operating both aircraft.
December 8, 2023
Colonel McGill's best effort and is a must read for B-47 and B-52 enthusiast.
February 23, 2017
This book is both a memoir and an historical reference. It made me realize how dangerous the B-47 Stratojet was, no matter how beautiful-looking it may have seemed. America's first heavy jet bomber had a lot of growing pains, as is documented in this book. Many servicemen perished during the Cold War as a result of this new technology. Of particular interest is the Appendix in the back, which chronicles each and every B-47 accident, including the crew names if known. I appreciate the time and effort that was required to collect this information. The author talks extensively about SAC operations in the 1950s and 1960s with emphasis on B-47 and B-52 operations. If you want more information on Chrome Dome or Arc Light missions, I can't imagine a better resource than this book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one at a slower pace. Thanks to the author for his service and for detailing a lesser-known part of US history. The next time I see a B-47 in an aviation museum, I will have a much better appreciation of it.
July 11, 2018
Jet Age Man: SAC B-47 and B-52 Operations in the Early Cold War, by Lt Col Earl J. McGill, is an absolutely fascinating look at the life of a pilot in the Strategic Air Command during the B-47 and early B-52 years. I have to be careful, as too glowing a review is often tossed aside as possibly fake, so please forgive me and let me assure you that I am genuinely this impressed with McGill’s book.
First of all, keep in mind that the author is not only an exceptional pilot, but a great writer as well. That has a lot to do with the quality of the book itself as this genre is usually written by someone else on behalf of the armed forces member.
In Jet Age Man, we are taken into the cockpit of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet bomber, an aircraft seemingly designed to eliminate the pilot population in the US Air Force. I had read in previous books about the aircraft being unstable and suffering from a high loss rate, but until recently, the actual number of aircraft losses were classified. Now the truth is out, and you’ll have great respect for Lt. Col. McGill, simply because he is still alive.
Transferring to the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, McGill meets a totally different aircraft. A stable, long-range bomber designed to hit the target and bring its crew back home, assuming of course that ‘home’ still exists.
I’m going to stop here, simply because, again, I do not want the review to seem unbelievable. If you have any interesting in the Cold War, military aviation, and certainly strategic bombing, you will want to acquire this book. It is well written, incredibly informative, and difficult to put down. I’ve studied the topics covered in Jet Age Man for a large part of my life, and yet, I was amazed at how much more I learned from this book. The five stars says it all.
Reviewed by Daniel L Little on July 11 2018 – www.daniellittle.com
First of all, keep in mind that the author is not only an exceptional pilot, but a great writer as well. That has a lot to do with the quality of the book itself as this genre is usually written by someone else on behalf of the armed forces member.
In Jet Age Man, we are taken into the cockpit of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet bomber, an aircraft seemingly designed to eliminate the pilot population in the US Air Force. I had read in previous books about the aircraft being unstable and suffering from a high loss rate, but until recently, the actual number of aircraft losses were classified. Now the truth is out, and you’ll have great respect for Lt. Col. McGill, simply because he is still alive.
Transferring to the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, McGill meets a totally different aircraft. A stable, long-range bomber designed to hit the target and bring its crew back home, assuming of course that ‘home’ still exists.
I’m going to stop here, simply because, again, I do not want the review to seem unbelievable. If you have any interesting in the Cold War, military aviation, and certainly strategic bombing, you will want to acquire this book. It is well written, incredibly informative, and difficult to put down. I’ve studied the topics covered in Jet Age Man for a large part of my life, and yet, I was amazed at how much more I learned from this book. The five stars says it all.
Reviewed by Daniel L Little on July 11 2018 – www.daniellittle.com
December 29, 2012
Very interesting personal history of a pilots experiences in the Cold War with SAC. It is amazing what SAC was able to do those years. It was also amazing the operational losses that were suffered, with the at the time very immature technology of jet bombers. A great boom to get an idea of just how many people sacrificed during a "cold" war.
May 1, 2018
A Reminder of the Daily Risks in Cold War Flying
Enlightening first person account of the every day dangers of the Cold War strategic alert flying in early jet engine bombers. Includes insights on the B-52 bombing campaigns of the Vietnam War (ARC LIGHT and LINEBACKER II).
Enlightening first person account of the every day dangers of the Cold War strategic alert flying in early jet engine bombers. Includes insights on the B-52 bombing campaigns of the Vietnam War (ARC LIGHT and LINEBACKER II).
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews