{"product_id":"pathfinder-pioneer-the-memoir-of-a-lead-bomber-pilot-in-world-war-ii-9781612003528","title":"Pathfinder Pioneer: The Memoir of a Lead Bomber Pilot in World War II","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"...this is an excellent personal account of the war as seen from the cockpit of a B-17.  The NYMAS Review  In this engaging book we see how an 18-year-old miner shoveling ore from deep in the ground in Utah suddenly found himself  only two years later  30 000 feet in the air over Nazi Germany  piloting a Flying Fortress in the first wave of Americas air counteroffensive in Europe.  Like thousands of other young Americans  Ray Brim was plucked by the U.S. Army to be a combat flyer  and was quickly pitted against the hardened veterans of the Luftwaffe. Brim turned out to have a natural knack for flying  however  and was assigned to the select squadron developing lead Pathfinder techniques  while experimenting with radar. He was among the first to test the teeth of the Luftwaffes defenses  and once those techniques had been honed  thousands of other bomber crews would follow into the maelstrom  from which 80 000 never returned.  This work gives us vivid insights into the genesis of the American air campaign  told with the humor  attention to detail and humility that captures the heart and soul of our Greatest Generation. Brim was one of the first Pathfinder pilots to fly both day and night missions leading bomb groups of 600-plus bombers to their targets. At the onset of his missions in the spring of 1943  B-17 crews were given a 50-50 chance of returning. Each of his raids were nerve-wracking forays into the unknown; with struggles to survive the damage to his plane due to flak and German fighter attacks  in order to bring his 10-man crew home  often wounded but still alive.  Table of Contents  Foreword Preface Acknowledgments  Part I Dividend  Utah  19221941 1. A Town Called Dividend 2. A Dividend Childhood 3. Down in the Mines 4. The Blind Date That Changed My Life  Part II The War Years  19411944 5. Enlisting in the Army Air Corps 6. Learning to Fly 7. The BT-13 and the AT-6 8. Bomber Pilot 9. Going A.W.O.L. 10. Final Days in the States 11. Overseas 12. England at Last 13. Escape and Evasion Training 14. Mounting a Mission 15. Preparation 16. Mission OneLorient Submarine Base 17. Missions Two and ThreeThe Piccadilly Princess 18. Missions Four and FiveTested to the Limits 19. Missions Six and SevenThe Dutch Coast 20. Pathfinding in the Eighth Air Force 21. Time Off 22. Mission EightFirst as a Pathfinder 23. Missions Nine and TenExperimental Flying 24. Missions Eleven and TwelveJohn Ford Gets Wounded 25. Mission ThirteenThe Bloody Hundredth 26. Missions Fourteen and FifteenThe Milk Run 27. Missions Sixteen through TwentyCounting Down 28. Mission Twenty-OneThe Big B 29. Missions Twenty-Two through Twenty-Fivethe Home Stretch 189 30. Special Orders  Part III After the War  19451975 31. The Black Days 32. Project Sandstone 33. All Over the Map 34. The Aleutian Islands 35. An Air Force Career 36. Command and Staff College  and Afterwards  Epilogue Appendices\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45656712249397,"sku":"ByrdShop_1612003524","price":27.57,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781612003528.jpg?v=1781987615","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/pathfinder-pioneer-the-memoir-of-a-lead-bomber-pilot-in-world-war-ii-9781612003528","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}