I am always on the lookout for books on aviation history that “fill in the blanks” for me, so I was very happy indeed to be sent a review copy of “Choppers” by noted aviation historian Robert F. Dorr.  The subtitle, “A history of American military helicopter operations from World War II to the War on Terror” says it all.  These are stories few people not directly involved in American military helicopter operations are aware of, thus the book “fills a blank” for me that is a very big blank indeed.

      I for one particularly like that the stories are told in first person and an interview format, with enough historical background at the beginning to provide a context and setting for the tale.

      Eighteen years ago, I spent eighteen months trying to convince Hollywood that the story of Army father-and-son helicopter pilots Mike Novosel Sr. and Jr. - two of the most famous medevac chopper pilots of the Vietnam War - and was very glad to find their stories, both separately and together, told here.  At the time of his retirement in 19185, Mike Sr. was the last American pilot from the Second World War still flying active military operations.  The story of how he won the Medal of Honor on October 2, 1969, is one of the most incredible stories of aviation heroism I’ve ever read.

      From the very first chapter, a story about the first combat use of a helicopter - Lt. Carter Harman’s mission on April 20-26, 1944, flying an early Sikorsky R-4 into Burma to rescue commandos cut off in the jungle - the book holds a reader’s attention.  Harman’s mission was the stuff of adventure from beginning to end, since the closest base to the men was still twice as far as the helicopter could fly, requiring him to carry jerry cans of fuel so he could land in the jungle and gas up in order to get to the advanced base behind enemy lines.  When he got to where the commandos were, Harman could only lift out one and a time, ferrying them to a sand bar where they could be flown out in L-5 Sentinels.  The R-4 was unproven, its engine unreliable, and the mission required the helicopter to be pushed to its limits.

     Many of the stories, beginning with operations in Korea, and moving up to Afghanistan involve helicopter crews taking their vulnerable machines deep into enemy territory to rescue American flyers.  As Captain Dale Stovall, pilot of the HH-53 Jolly Green on the deepest rescue mission into North Vietnam, to pick up a downed flyer 60 miles south of Hanoi, puts it, “There’s nothing to compare in satisfaction to a successful combat rescue of a fellow airman.”  That sense comes through in each of these stories, every one of which is a page-turner.  For me, the most interesting was the mission of “Moccasin-60,” flown on March 27, 1999, into Serbia to rescue the pilot of the F-117 Stealth Fighter shot down during Operation Allied Force, the Kosovo operations.  Again, this is a story of men and machines pushed to the limits and beyond to accomplish the mission.

      Helicopters don’t seem to get much respect from most modelers, but after reading this book I am sure you will be looking to add a model of one of these birds to your collection.

      Highly recommended.

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