Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War

by Robert Coram

Back in flight training, Boyd quickly went through basic maneuvers and soloed. And then he went out and threw the T-6 around the sky in such a fearless manner that it seemed to others as if he had done it a thousand times. It was difficult for his classmates to accept that he was a student just as they were, that he had never had flying lessons until now. He was, quite simply, a master of the T-6. To realize the significance of this, one must understand that the first time a young man slides into the cockpit of an aircraft and looks at the strange collection of instruments, a feeling of awe washes over him. No matter how intensely he wants to be a pilot, there is an inherent sense of wonder simply sitting in the cockpit. And when he goes aloft for the first time and realizes he is moving in a three-dimensional world, when he realizes that a moment of inattention can lead to a crash and a fiery explosion, he sometimes finds he has too much respect for the airplane. A pilot can be too cautious. He can be too methodical. He reads and memorizes the specifications, knows the boundaries of the performance envelope, and is careful never to nudge up against the performance limits. But Boyd did not believe the performance specs and had no fear of the aircraft. He jostled the T-6; he pushed it and horsed it around the sky. He flung the airplane up against the outside edges of the performance envelope and then beyond. If the book said the aircraft should never exceed 260 mph, Boyd pu...