Fighting the Flying Circus

the long version

One of the best first-hand accounts of air combat in World War I, by an American “ace of aces.” Eddie Rickenbacker had an extraordinary career: inventor, race car driver, fighter ace, Medal of Honor winner, and finally president of Eastern Air Lines. In this book he recounts how he achieved 26 confirmed kills in less than a year of combat on the Western Front, rising from the ranks to lead the famed “Hat-in-the-Ring” squadron. Early pilots had to contend with primitive engines, unreliable guns, no parachutes, no oxygen, and wings that could tear off in a dive. Just surviving was a daily challenge, and Rickenbacker saw many friends and comrades die through no fault of their own. In this book he unflinchingly explains all of the errors that he made in combat, and how he learned to become a better dogfighter. He also gives the reader a glimpse of the tremendous psychological pressure that came from being America's leading ace – every previous holder had been shot down – and from his own leadership style of leading from the front.