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WINGMEN Peter J. Wurts & William R. Yoakley

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"I've known and flown with the best pilots on the planet, and you'll meet two of them here. From jet combat, flight testing, and precision aerobatics to just plain rat-racing and horsing around, Bill and Pete have done it all. I salute these WINGMEN and their careers."

—R.A. "Bob" Hoover, author of Forever Flying; legendary combat, aerobatic, and experimental test pilot.

“There is a bond that happens when two men fly as wingmen. They link in mind and heart. This is a story of two of Americas finest.”

—Ralph A. Bufano, Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, President Emeritus, Seattle Museum of Flight.

“Bill Yoakley is one of those rare men [whose]...enthusiasm for flying and life is contagious. This book is chock full of fascinating stories that can only be told by a hot-shot fighter pilot and exemplary, daring test pilot. You'll enjoy the aviation feast.”

—Dan McKinnon, Former Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board, Naval Aviator, and past President/CEO of North American Airlines.

"The true story of two fighter pilots’ passion for flying and how their lifelong friendship grew stronger through their shared exploits. A remarkable book dedicated to the finest qualities of the human spirit: courage, dedication to family and country, and the thrill of exploring the frontiers of flight."

—Doug Champlin, Curator Emeritus, Champlin Fighter Collection.

"The fascinating experiences of two citizen-soldiers both as military pilots and successful entrepreneurs. To anyone thrilled by the magic of flight, this book will touch your heart."

—Curtis G. Williams, Brigadier General, USAF (Ret.), past Chairman of the American Hotel & Lodging Association.

WINGMEN
Two Friends, Four Wars,
Flying and Fighting
through the 20th Century

Peter J. Wurts & William R. Yoakley

“We lost one or two aircraft a day during our nine months in Korea–enough to replace every fighter in the Group. We F-80 drivers were just one rifle shot or flak burst away from being down in the mud with the infantry–or in a P.O.W. camp.”

WRY: I hit that mountain hard, but the airplane was still flying–barely. Willie Wall, my element leader, followed me over Wonsan Harbor, describing how my airplane was falling apart. When I finally ejected, the air blast at 500 knots hit me like a ton of bricks.

PJW: I talked to Willie the day Bill bailed out. “Bill’s plane just shattered when it hit that mountain,” he said. “He punched out, but I don’t know what happened next.” After the Navy rescued Bill, I ran to tell Willie but he was on another mission. Bill wanted to thank him too, but never got the chance. That same day, Willie was shot down and killed.

Wingmen are military flyers who look after each other in combat. These wingmen, Pete Wurts and Bill Yoakley, are something more. They made the joys and challenges of flying an integral part of their lives. In and out of the cockpit, their friendship spanned more than sixty years of comradeship and service. Through four wars–WWII, Korea, the Vietnam era, and the cold war–they manned our country’s ramparts as citizen-soldiers in such legendary machines as the P-51, B-24, B-25, F-80, F-86, F-100, F-104, T-39–even the globe-girdling C-97. You’ll ride with Bill as he tests some of America’s most awesome jets and take an insider’s peek at the Mach 3 XB-70, one of the most amazing aircraft ever built. With Pete, you’ll patrol the troubled skies of cold-war Europe in Lockheed’s Starfighter–the famous “missile with a man in it.” And in case you forgot that flying was fun, you’ll skim the Florida everglades in classic J-3 float-planes, hedge-hop in fabled trainers like the PT-17 Stearman and AT-6 Harvard. Along the way, you’ll meet such aviation greats as Charles Lindbergh, Chuck Yeager, Bob Hoover, Jimmy Dootlittle, James Stewart, Scott Crossfield, Neil Armstrong, and many more.

Wingmen is the intimate story of a remarkable friendship: two lives linked forever by triumph, tragedy, service and sacrifice–a book you can’t put down and will never forget. Illustrated with rare aviation photos.

Peter J. Wurts, Col., USAF (Ret), has logged over 24,000 flying hours–350 in combat–in dozens of aircraft types, from WWII-vintage trainers, fighters, bombers, and transports to supersonic interceptors, helicopters, single- and twin-engine private planes, even ultra-lights. A former police officer, Wurts also served as President of Best Western International, creating the world’s largest lodging chain.

William R. Yoakley Jr., Society of Experimental Test Pilots, spent 27 years testing a variety of classic aircraft for North American Aviation: from the famous F-86 series and the F-100–the USAF’s first supersonic fighter–to the elegant Sabreliner, America’s first corporate jet. Part of the development team for the legendary XB-70, he promoted U.S. air power to celebrities from around the globe, and was the last Director of the Champlin Air Museum in Arizona.