For ten years the United States Air Force operated its own squadron of MiG fighters...and no one knew! The history of that unit - the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron - is chronicled in this 2008 release from Osprey Publishing.

Some two dozen other reviewers have already weighed in on Steve Davies' book and I second many of their comments. The 4477th TES/"Constant Peg" Program was a vital element in the USAF producing fighter crews that could survive - and flourish - in modern combat. The acquisition of the MiGs used in the program, the exploratory flights flown, the tactics evolved by 4477th crews, the personalities and politics involved in Constant Peg, the mishaps, etc. make for engrossing reading. I thought RED EAGLES was a great read.

Personally I think Davies deserves a "Sierra Hotel!" for the information he uncovered in his research. Years ago I plowed similar ground regarding Constant Peg's predecessors (Have Drill/Have Doughnut) which is why I'm so impressed by all the info Davies unearthed. At that time (late 1980s/1990s), Have Drill/Doughnut was still pretty hush-hush and some pilots like Tom Cassidy won't talk. Fortunately, Tooter Teague, Mugs and a few others opened up enough so I could include a chapter on Drill/Doughnut in my MIG KILLERS OF YANKEE STATION book. Perhaps Davies could have included even more on "what effect did it all have" but in terms of who-did-what-when, I think he did a first-rate job.

Short and sweet: Fascinating history, fine book. Highly recommended.

"Red Eagles" is an adequate first published account of US operated Soviet aircraft in the late cold-war era. If it turns out to be the only book written on this minor but innately interesting bit of aviation history, then it will have been "decent". It is a chronological, by-the-numbers history that meanders from episode to episode in the history of a series of inter-related programs and fills the space with a lot of chatty personal and organizational stuff, that, while perhaps worth "putting on the record" in some sense, is also dull while many much more interesting aspects of the story were basically ignored.

Since the related units and personnel involved in operating Soviet aircraft (note to the author and others: they were "SOVIET" aircraft, not "Russian" aircraft - shouldn't a professional aviation writer know the difference and/or not write in blatantly incorrect colloquialisms?) changed often, there are no central characters to the story. Instead, it's the story of a series of a number of closely inter-related programs, and so over the course of the book, various pilots are introduced with half page travelogues of the various units they belonged to and the planes that they flew. To a man, essentially, we are told how such and such was a legend from whose backside the sun shone, and then a bit later this individual leaves the unit, never to be heard from again. I have no doubt whatsoever that these men were superb pilots and individuals of the highest caliber, but that the book focuses on them - and focuses on them in such a shallow and chatty way - is ultimately its undoing.

The book's strengths:
1. Interesting topic! Kudos to Steve for tackling the largely unreported.
2 Vignettes of pilots. The first few were interesting to read.
3. Providing a chronological/organizational history and a good sense of how they operated in a grey/black sense regarding things like financing.
4. Some good technically-oriented flying stories as reported by the pilots.

The book's weaknesses:
1. No interviews were conducted with ex-Soviet and current Russian, Ukrainian, etc Air Force pilots to verify or say something more intelligent about the aircraft and their characteristics to balance and frame the Aggressor pilots' observations. As such, the description of the aircraft have the depth and feel of the proverbial blind men describing an elephant. I'm not saying that this book should have been, for example, "about" the MiG-17. However, by having virtually everything written "from the inside", it loses a lot of analytical and objective possibility.
2. Too many vignettes of pilots (what a reviewer on amazon.co.uk calls "name dropping") that are included in lieu of potentially more interesting stuff as above. It gets really old and annoying after a while, and one gets the sense that our author is laying the groundwork for future free rides. Unfortunately, the readers suffer.
3. Essentially zero discussion of interesting technical questions relating to maintaining foreign-aircraft. Even the brief discussion of engine overhaul is done by a pilot, who would have but the vaguest notion of its specifics. How, exactly, do you overhaul a foreign aircraft engine and fabricate replacement parts of alloys not necessarily easily available in your country?
4. Essentially zero analysis from people with a more over-arcing and external view of the program. Just like a doctor isn't necessarily an expert on the economics of health care, the pilots and local commanders profiled for the book don't provide much objective insight into the program. Sure, these guys flew fast, had wild adventures, and suffered a few tragic mishaps. And sure, there are plenty of stories of pilots who went in with their F16s, got their butts kicked by a humble fresco or whatever, and then triumphed the next day, the lessons learned. But what did this mean more broadly? The authors' claim of direct link from the programs to success over the gulf of Sidra is a bit unconvincing.
5. Sloppy writing. I'm not a rivet counter. However, there's only so many times you can see a turbojet referred to as a "motor." Similar mistakes abound.

Additionally, while not a direct weakness, the book would have benefitted a bit from explanatory diagrams a la shaw's "Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering." But, it's clear that Davies has no real technical background (his background is in IT recruitment, which explains the emphasis on organization and recruitment) and that he's kind of "faking it" the whole way, relying on direct quotations and couched, vague technical analysis.

But, despite my criticisms, as I said, it's a decent book.

Anyone who has read any titles from this author would expect a great deal of primary research and this book doesn't disappoint. In fact, it goes beyond anything else he has produced, which is remarkable considering the absolute secrecy surrounding the Red Eagles. As a former customer of the Red Eagles, I can attest to the close hold nature of the entire operation. Nobody talked about it, period. It was just such a unique and good deal that nobody wanted to jeopardize it. This books captures all the details and even illustrates it lavishly with photos that just didn't exist until now. Well done! Make that, extremely well done tribute to those who flew as Red Eagles and made this remarkable unit a reality and kept it going for so long. No serious library on air combat would be complete without it.

I highly recommend this book. Red Eagles tells about how the TAC part of the USAF went from being the worst in fighting ability of the US Military air services to becoming the cutting edge.

This books is divided into parts of a third. One third is related to the people, one third is related to the structure of the USAF, and one third is about the MiGs.

I was suprised by a few things. First, the USAF had to reverse engineer the ejector seat explosives and the disk brakes for the MiG-21s. What was weird is Finland was flying the MiG-21 at the time and it's just strange that the CIA was not able to get a chemical formulation for the seat ejector cartridge nor able to get one good brake disk for the MiG-21. There was quite a bit of non-coordination between the various intellegence agencies of the USA.

Second, I thought it was strange that in the mid and late 70s the USAF was training pilots to fly against the MiG-17. That school was 10 years too late for Vietnam. Also, after the fall of East Germany the USAF/USN were asked by Germany if they wanted a full squadron of MiG-29 aircraft. But the budgets had turned so tight in the early 90s the USAF and USN was having a hard time paying the light bill.

In full disclosure this reviewer did his first tour of service in the USAF before going over the the US Army (this writer is blind as a bat). One of my friends ended up working on the F-117 side of the runway. My hat is off to Mac for never talking about it and I knew the guy for 30 years. He got to see the MiGs every working day. What a life!

This book is fairly good. I wish they had spend more time on the "geek" stuff of the MiGs. I just love reading about the aircraft. I didn't like the day to day Bee Ess of reading about the politics of the USAF. I was sort of surprised that the Red Eagles had an accident rate of 22/100,000 sorties. That is fairly dreadful.

This book is fully worth the money and a good read about the people who defended this nation from post Vietnam until the fall of the Berlin Wall.

As an old fighter pilot who was stationed at the edge of the Mojave desert and only about 30 miles from Edwards AFB, this was a most interesting book to me. Yes, I was stationed at Nellis prior to the times mentioned in the book, and I was amazed at the projects that were taking place. A good book for any fighter pilot.

Steve Davies has obviously had extraordinary access to detailed information on this once highly classified project. His characterizations of individuals are subject to challenge but the detailed account of the program is the overriding issue. The book is certainly not for everyone. Although he makes a serious effort to simplify, readers who will be most interested in his account are those closely associated with the fighter community in military aviation or those who wish they were. Among that group, the book stands as an excellent record and something of a revelation. There is good reason to believe that it will be the history of Red Eagles (as well as a credible partial account of the Aggressors and other programs that overlapped)absent an official USAF accounting.

Red Eagles is largely a unit history of the 4477th TES (originally TEF, officially known as the "Red Eagles") that was based at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada and which flew three types of MiG's to train American fighter aircrew against them, the MiG-17, -21 and -23, over a period of nearly twenty years. This history focuses primarily on the pilots and other officers who developed this unit and their flying exploits over the course of its life. As such has as its strongest flavor a stream of personal histories, and the characters, antics and interplay of the aircrew assigned to the unit ranging from hilarious to quirky to autocratic. But the unifying thread is the American efforts at exploiting captured, borrowed, and bought MiG's and as such the book also touches, sometimes briefly and sometimes more generously, on the squadron's maintenance efforts, how the MiG's were brought to America or how American pilots managed to fly foreign MiG's in their host countries, the corollary exploits of the "Red Hats" at Groom Lake -which was the equivalent of a test squadron vice the training squadron that the 4477th became and which explored a larger variety of Soviet designed aircraft-, and the technical details of the aircraft.

Suffering a rude awakening from its combat experience in F-4's and F-105's against North Vietnamese MiG-17's and -21's in the Vietnam War, the USAF was handed a golden opportunity to recover its aerial fighting prowess when Israel offered it the temporary use of several MiG's flown to her by pilots defecting from several other middle eastern countries. This was the simmering catalyst of what eventually grew into a much larger (but almost always infused with a rag-tag and secretive character as a result of being an extremely black program half dependent on chance for its continued operation) effort to acquire soviet aircraft from foreign countries for exploitation (notably Indonesia and Egypt). As such the Red Eagles continually grew from a ramshackle flight with a small handful of aircraft at a remote, dusty and nearly forgotten base to a fully professional, integrated Air Force squadron with a relatively large number of MiG's. On this foundation they could offer more consistent and reliable training exposures to Air Force units at Nellis, particularly during Red Flag, Navy units from TOP GUN at Miramar or undergoing work-ups at NAS Fallon, and USMC units from El Toro. The value of this training to US pilots, consisting of actual exposure to the type of aircraft they could expect to encounter in hostile situations and flying the spectrum from standard enemy tactics to anything goes, full out dogfighting, was obviously tremendous. The Red Eagles truly deserve many of the laurels for later American aerial victories against Libya and Iraq, and the story of the squadron is a great one well told by Davies.

The history of the unit is pretty captivating and exciting, with many fascinating details, particularly how the MiG's were acquired and maintained, the experiences the pilots had learning to fly them, and the results of match-ups between the best of what the Soviets built and the primary American fighters of the day. As a complete history it of course also includes the unfortunate deaths of several people involved in the squadron and the poignant effects these deaths had on the deceased's families, made worst by the fact that the details and true story of how they died and why could not be revealed even to loved ones until sometimes decades after the fact. The in depth thoroughness of this book is truly impressive though, and a great credit to its author who clearly spent a very long time investigating this recently declassified subject.

While the 80% of the book is the personal exploits of the pilots involved in the program and thus make this a great read for people who have served in military aviation, the technical and operational details of the MiG's themselves, although sometimes disappointingly scant, will also prove fascinating to those interested in aerospace engineering and aircraft design. The Russian philosophy of aircraft design was decidedly more rugged, reliable, and less complex than the American, but delivered mixed results. All of the Russian aircraft suffered from extremely poor range, and very poor cockpit design which hampered everything from visibility to ergonomic efficiency of use, but they also showed some surprising levels of performance and operability. The MiG-17 truly was an outstanding low speed dogfighter, and the MiG-21, in spite of its high energy bleed rate from its delta wing and supersonic dash optimized design, also held up admirably in the dogfight. The MiG-23 on the other hand was a dud as an individual aircraft, more dangerous to its own pilot and a nightmare to fly due to its poor handling characteristics. While it was practically useless in a dogfight it did deliver nearly stunning acceleration and high speed. Used with cunning tactics even this "turkey" could prove deadly, making dash intercepts against American AWACS (it was even able to out accelerate the F-15), chasing down F-111's, and being used either as a lure for more nimble MiG-21's or used to make lightning fast swiping runs against American fighters lured by the slower -17's and -21's.

There is a lot of great information in this book about a truly amazing chapter in aviation history, and it is well told in a very personal and humanizing manner. Definitely recommended!

This book is fascinating. It provides some great information on not only the Red Eagles of the 4477th TES, but some good background on the founding of the USAF Aggressors. If you have any interest in modern air combat, I suggest picking this book up. Packed with great stories, it is an entertaining read as well as being incredibly informative. When read in conjuction with Wings of Fury: From Vietnam to the Gulf War-The Astonishing True Stories of America's Elite Fighter Pilots, you truly get a sense of what being a fighter pilot must have been like in the 1980's.

I only wish there were more photos included, but that may be limited to those that are unclassified, those that haven't been lost to the ravages of time, and space considerations. Overall, though, the lack of photos does nothing to detract from the overall story and information contained in the book.

Steve Davies has put together a well-researched history of the 4477th Red Eagles from early concept to final operations in the late 1980's. This book is a fantastic read and runs through the evolution of the USAF and USN Aggressors, the early "HAVE" programs, and offers some great insight into how all those black 'compartmentalized' programs are put together and made operational. Unlike most military aviation books I've read - which tend to be heavy on the photos and lacking in the prose, Steve's writing style makes this book very easy to enjoy!

well written and very accurate based on my own information about the time and situation.

Steve Davies has written an excellent book about one of the cold war's most highly classified "black world" flying programs. His research has probably gone well beyond his original mandate and exposed some things that the Pentagon, in hindsight, wishes he hadn't. This book is a "must read" for those who are interested in "black" programs that eventually help bring the cold war to an end.

What a great read. I agree it has more info on the personalities than I expected, but it flows well, I could not put it down. I'm waiting for the next volume on the technical exploitation of the planes, maybe some info on how they were acquired and supported, I'm sure many entertaining stories are waiting. What about the Mig-19, the Sukhois, the later Migs (the book mentions the US purchased a squadron of them, where are they), they are not even mentioned?. I recal seeing a few Mig-23's lined up at Tyndall AFB (Near Eglin AFB) in the late 90's, I assumed they came from the Red Eagles. One of my best reads in a few years.

What a wonderful story of an exciting time in Tactical Aviation!!
I was involved in the early days circa '73, before the Red Eagles were formed.
I flew the MiG-21 on about 37 sorties - a great experience.
The programs were well compartmentalized and protected - there was much more going on than I ever knew about while I was there.
Two points:
1. Find my photograph - does that not look like a fighter pilot in the happiest time in his life??
2. The names in this book are a list of my personal heroes - men I respected, sought to emulate; and I would have flown on their wing into the teeth of any enemy, any time, any where.
Joe Lee Burns, Col AF Ret
64 FWS Aggressors '72-'74

Covers a little known aspect of USAF ops. Heavy coverage on personalities. Would have liked a little more technical coverage particuarly on the MiG-23

Wow Steve, I get to add my review after "Paco"?!?!?!
Why bother with an endorsment like that already in there!
Well for what it's worth, this is an absolutely brilliant book.
To be given such insight into what will remain one of the most amazing programs in military aviation is simply priceless.
(I would have paid twice the price for this book and still been delighted with it!)
These pilots and maintainers did something incredible and Steve Davies account of their exploits helps connect you to their stories almost as if you were sitting at the bar getting an oral checkout on a Mig-17/21/23 or being told why the hydraulic pump off the 17 will fit a 23 but not a 21 and why.
It took me two days to read it (would have been one if I didn't have to work!) and I whole heartedly recommend this fantastic book to all. For me it was a magical read - as if I shouldn't be allowed to read it, but I could. Brilliant.

What an absolutely great read. One of the best flying books ever. From page one to the very last when you thought it was no longer possible to learn, chuckle, grin or laugh, Steve Davies came through. Not many writers can take technical or serious flying material and capture the day to day humor and challenges pilots face and how they actually deal with it and see it all, Red Eagles did. If you flew fighters or attack aircraft especially from that era you knew we were flying Mig's and even pilots that flew them. Not much else was said. Red Eagles put another piece of the puzzle together for me and I thank Steve for that. Finally, and the most important observation of all, many, many Kudos to all the Bandit pilots and support personnel for their hard work and personal risk's they took without regard to personal advancement and stresses on their family lives etc to make the program work. Job well done and lives saved for the "good guys" and better yet, finally some long overdue and deserved recognition

I can remember killing a few single-ship Fishbeds over Cedar Pass in the Kawich Mountains during the Mission Employment (ME) phase of the F-15 Fighter Weapons Instructor Course (FWIC) in April 87. My two-ship was capping south of Revelle Peak. The MiGs would fly east out of Tonopah, cap over Cedar Pass, and then run back west to Tonopah. (Cedar Pass was 20 miles east of Tonopah.) It was "the sport of kings", flying and fighting against these Soviet fighters. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in fighter aviation and the development of modern aerial combat fighters and weapons.

[...]

An excellent summary of the history and antics of the Red Eagles. Well written and easy to read, it is the exciting tale of one of the premier flying units of the era. As a former Red Eagle, the book contains details that even I hadn't been briefed on! Highly recommended.

Tony Mahoney

When I heard that Steve's book was out, I couldn't get a copy fast enough. It's a 'must have' for anyone interested in the advanced training programs of the USAF in past years. I was fortunate to be one the folks who benefited from this training, and I can attest to it being a highlight of my career. I wholeheartedly endorse every word in the book.

This book is excellent reading. A friend is in it, and he was NEVER allowed to talk about what he did. I finally learned what it was. I highly recommend it.

Information about the United States Air Force's (USAF) secret arsenal of Russian-built MiG fighter planes, known as Constant Peg, is just beginning to emerge, and aviation journalist Steve Davies has the scoop. The story of the squadron that flew the MiGs, known as The Red Eagles, is like something straight out of the movies. There are Cold War covert ops, fighter pilots with gigantic egos, genius mechanics, and a visionary commander who shakes up the status quo. From 1966-1988, the USAF acquired, restored, maintained, and flew a squadron of MiGs. They employed them in training missions against USAF and Naval fighter pilots. Using recently declassified documents and dozens of interviews with former Red Eagles personnel, Davies captures the history of this enigmatic program that helped catapult America to world air dominance. This is an amazing book!

I find it difficult to praise this book highly enough. It would have been easy for the author and publishers to have been carried away with all the hoopla and gee whizz that often surrounds such subjects. Instead we benefit from a carefully balanced, extremely readable account of one of the most audacious programs in aviation history. The depth and precision of Mr Davies's research is of epic proportions and he does his subject proud. Even where mistakes and errors of judgement have occurred within the unit these are dealt with sensitively. This is a book which casts light into the deep dark of black world secrets, opening up a vista of previously forbidden delights. It informs, educates and entertains in a masterclass of investigative journalism. It brings together the facts behind the rumours and hints and presents them in a most refreshing and erudite way. Quality research quality writing. A must for any aviation enthusiasts book shelf. Make sure you allow yourself enough time, you wont want to put it down.
Enjoy
David S. Truman
Aviation historian, researcher and enthusiast

It also needs for the US-operational MiG story of the 1960's to be de-classified, THAT would be interesting! To the book at hand: the author really needed an editor worthy of the name to keep him on a tight leash. It would seem he showed up at beercall with his trusty taperecorder and just added material to the book as he heard it. I got pretty tired pretty quickly of the broken record narrative, how many times does one have to read of the short legs of the MiG 17? The wonderful handling qualities of the MiG 21? The pernicious flying characteristics of the MiG 23? I pretty much got that rightaway. Yet it just goes on and on. It seems as though Steve Davies was being paid by the word, ala Dickens. At least he has no problems with pronouns, quite surprising in a technical writer. But with an editor, this book would have magically shed 100 or so pages and been a lighter, more compelling read, a fitting salute to the dedication, ingenuity, and ability of intrepid American birdmen!

Steve Davies has shined a light into one of the many dark corners that still remain after the end of the Cold War, and was able to tell a story that needed to be told. A fascinating look into one of those "black programs" that was arguably worth every penny the Department of Defense spent on it.

This is a fascinating insight into one of the biggest success stories of the cold war. Hearing from the participants in their own words makes this one of the most compelling books I have read. Well done!

"Red Eagles" is a good story, period. The fact that it's all true just makes it better.

Steve Davies did a great job of crafting a very readable story from the dark corners of this formerly very highly classified program and the memories of the pilots and the maintainers who made it all happen.

Realistic training is the best form of protection in the high stakes game of air-to-air combat. It's hard to be any more realistic than to face the aircraft that the enemy flew.

An amazing program covered in a very enjoyable way. This is a keeper!

This book is simply outstanding. Davies has seemingly talked to everyone of consequence in the Constant Peg program and gotten an incredible story down for the first time anywhere. This is a must book for anyone interested in American military aviation and the REAL story and rationale behind the Nellis AFB Aggressors and Top Gun. Also, he stresses just how difficult it is to keep planes flying when you don't have the owner's manual!!!

I'm Bandit #35 in the book! I was a Red Eagle pilot in the 4477th TES and am featured in the book. I flew 500 MIG 21 sorties in support of Project: Constant Peg. I just finished reading the book and it's factual! Must read. Col (Ret) Frank "Paco" Geisler