Get inside the head of one of America's most experienced MiG pilots, Rob Zettel, as he tells the thrilling tale of the top-secret US operation that wouldn't feel out of place in 'Top Gun'.

After finding themselves outflown over Vietnam, the American military launched a top-secret operation – the Red Eagles – using illicitly obtained Russian Fighters pitted against star US fighter pilots in simulated combat exercises. With controls labelled in Russian and the only spare parts being the ones they could salvage, the pilots who climbed into the MiGs accepted all of the risks associated with operating these aircraft.

This book tells the true inside story of what it was like to be there day in and day out at one of the most access-restricted airfields in the entire USAF, flying top secret MiGs alongside some of the very best fighter pilots hand-picked from the ranks of the USAF, US Navy and US Marine Corps. Rob “Z-Man” Zettel tells the Red Eagles story through the experiences of a pilot who flew these aircraft to their maximum performance in simulated combat engagements, often several times a day, against frontline fighter pilots of the three US sister services.

Vivid accounts of training engagements put the reader right there in the cockpit, while historical photographs help paint the picture of an operation that took the US Air Force from its dismal performance in the Vietnam War to an unprecedented success in Operation Desert Storm.