Whistling Death is the true story, by the test pilot, of the rush to produce the Corsair, the Navy fighter that brought America air superiority over the Japanese Zero in World War II. Here is the crash program--complete with crash landings--powered by the dedicated men and women of the home front who designed and built this revolutionary, tide-turning airplane.

Terrified Japanese pilots dubbed the F4U Corsair "Whistling Death" for the high-pitched shriek that came from its 1800-hp Pratt & Whitney engine as it dove in for the kill. With the most powerful engine of any World War II fighter, the Corsair became the first to exceed 400 mph. Its six 50-caliber machine guns blazing the Corsair destroyed 2140 enemy planes while taking only 189 losses--a success rate better than 11 to 1.

This is a test pilot's story, in the tradition of Chuck Yeager, John Glenn and others popularized by Tom Wolfe in The Right Stuff. Guyton tells a tale of courage in the cockpit, of close calls and crack-ups, including one that he survived literally by fractions of an inch. His coolness under pressure saved his skin many times, and his descriptions of the hairy moments--and there were several--make the pulse beat faster.