Gerald G. O’Rourke

The F-4 fighter-bomber plays a big role in the Vietnam air war. Even without an enemy at hand, its pilot is entering a “hostile environment” at anything over 50,000 feet. Life in the cockpit of this remarkable airplane, which can move some twenty-eight tons of its own weight and cargo at twice the speed of sound, is told by Captain Gerald G. O’Rourke, USN, whose career in naval aviation began when he entered Annapolis at age sixteen. In August, 1955, the ATLANTIC published his “ Vertigo Alley,”a pilot’s experiences in night flying with carriers at sea.

In our tendency to regard the machine as all-sufficient, it is easy to lose sight of the indispensable human ingredient. LT. CDR. GERALD G. O’ROURKE entered the Naval Academy at sixteen and ivent on to a career in naval aviation. He served on a night fighter team on a carrier off Korea, and in Korea with Marine All-Weather Fighter Squadron 513. His account of a routine night mission shows what can happen when a pilot loses touch, even for a few seconds, with his mastery of his machine.