Whistling Death is the true story, by the test pilot, of the rush to produce the F4U Corsair, the Navy fighter that brought America air superiority over the Japanese Zero in World War II. Here is the crash program - complete with crash landings - powered by the dedicated men and women of the home front who designed and built this revolutionary, tide-turning airplane. Boone T. Guyton, an experimental test pilot at Chance Vought during and after World War II, flew 105 types of aircraft in 45 years as a pilot.
There is technical data galore, but this is readably done. World War II was fought on American soil, too, by the author and his well-described comrades (including Charles Lindbergh), who tamed the raw power of the innovative F4U and made it ready to fight in the Pacific. Aviation readers yearn for stories just like this, and they are too rare in coming. General readers can skip the numbers and be entertained, too.

Straigtforward and quite thorough overview of the development and evolution of the Chance Vought F4U Corsair. The plane was initially rejected by the Navy as unsuitable for carriers. SOP for the Navy was to give their rejects to the Marines. Subsequent experience, with a slightly different version, by the Brits on their carriers and the US Marines, from ground bases initially. eventually demonstrated that for once the marines received an outstandingpiece of warfighting equipment. The Corsair was an outstanding fighter that evolved into argueably the best fighter bomber for the rest of WW 2 as well as in the Korean war. The AU4 version seems to have been reborn again in the A 10 Warthog.

Guyton aptly documents that being a test pilot, perhaps not as dangerous as combat, was an exciting and essential part of the war effort. Some interesting visits from Charles Lindbergh which provide insights into his role in airplane development and pilot training during WWW2. ( )