One Desert Jet Turner: A Perspective on Youth, Fighter Aircraft, and Cold War

One Desert Jet Turner is an aviation book introduction to USAF fighter jet culture written by a F-4/F-16 fighter mechanic who shares all. This aviation career book provides information from the same perspective about the USAF Thunderbirds, and accident investigation as observed by the author at Nellis AFB, near both Las Vegas, NV and Area 51. Earl Heron also details the sensational transition from F-16 mechanic to C-130 flight engineer. One Desert Jet Turner is illustrated, but unlike many books about fighters that are primarily pictorial, this work concentrates on the realities behind the images. Author Earl Heron enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in the spring of 1980. He served three years as an F-4 and F-16 mechanic at Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas, Nevada, before accumulating more than 900 flying hours as a flight engineer on the C-130 at Pope AFB, Fayetteville, North Carolina. After six years in the Air Force, he left the military to complete a baccalaureate degree in technology and management. He holds the FAA Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) mechanic certificate.