Splash One: Air Victory Over Hanoi: A Novel

It is 1966 and North Vietnamese Migs, led by ace pilot Ngugen Thoan, are taking a heavy toll on American strike aircraft. To counter this situation, Col. Clint Adams, who commands the Phantoms of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, applies three key principles of fighter combat: lead from the front; be prepared; think ahead of the enemy. As his men gradually gain the upper hand over Hanoi, Adams plans Operation Bolo, a ruse that will draw the North Vietnamese into an all-out battle for air mastery. Kross, an Air Force general and former fighter pilot, borrows heavily fron history for his plot and personalities. Adams closely resembles Col. Robin Olds; Operation Bolo was a real campaign, planned and executed almost exactly as described. No roman a clef , however, this first novel delivers a gripping portrait of modern air combat--and of a fighter wing victorious within the rules of limited war that governed U. S. involv ement in Vietnam--that is refreshingly free of the self-pity infusing many accounts of the air war. Film rights to Nisus Entertainment. (Apr.)