Teacher Wore A Parachute Author:Joe James The Navy called it the N2S Stearman Kaydet, but among the instructors and cadets in the flying schools of World War II it was know affectionately as the "Yellow Peril." These rugged and highly maneuverable biplanes were truly the last link with the open cockpit fighters flown by the Von Richthofens, the Nungessers, and the Rickenbackers of the p... more »revious World War. The "Yellow Perils" and the men who flew them earned a unique place in the annals of military aviation. With their primitive gosport speakng tubes, and their kerosene-fueled flare pots to light the runways at night, they were the last military pilots to fly in open cockpits, the last to know the sting of the wind on their faces and to hear the hum of flying wires. Incredibly, under these conditions, 59,000 pilots were trained by the Navy in five years.
The legends and the lore of those days is now told by Joe James, who was himself a World War II flight instructor and who has logged almost 4,000 flying hours, many of them in the "Yellow Peril." This is truly a beautiful story with lots of photographs.« less