Alex’s Reviews > Gunship Ace: The Wars Of Neall Ellis, Gunship Pilot And Mercenary > Status Update

One Russian helicopter pilot tasked with supplying Coalition bases in Afghanistan along with his entire crew died because an American base commander refused to let him spend the night at the base, forcing him to take off in hazardous weather.

In general, the war was not fought offensively enough and the Coalition was too secretive, says Nellis.

"Eventually, the Hind was causing so much damage that the rebel command upped the price on Nellis’ head to US$2 million. Australian broadcaster Mark Corcoran reported that he saw a message addressed to the merc pilot saying that ‘if we ever catch you, we’ll cut your heart out and eat it’. Of course, that sort of thing appealed to Nellis. He was actually a little flattered and would quietly chuckle to himself."

"His [Nellis] logbook shows that in eight weeks he clocked more than 130 combat missions. Pilots in the majority of the world’s air forces—unless they are in a major war—rarely see that much action during the course of their careers."