• Viper Pilot

  • The Autobiography of One of America's Most Decorated Combat Pilots
  • By: Dan Hampton
  • Narrated by: John Pruden
  • Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (2,011 ratings)

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Viper Pilot  By  cover art

Viper Pilot

By: Dan Hampton
Narrated by: John Pruden
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Publisher's summary

151 combat missions

21 hard kills on surface-to-air-missile sites

Four Distinguished Flying Crosses with Valor

One Purple Heart

Sure to rank as one of the greatest aviation memoirs ever written, Viper Pilot is an Air Force legend's thrilling eyewitness account of modern air warfare.

From 1986 to 2006, Lt. Col. Dan Hampton was a leading member of the Wild Weasels, the elite Air Force fighter squadrons whose mission is recognized as the most dangerous job in modern air combat. Weasels are the first planes sent into a war zone, flying deep behind enemy lines purposely seeking to draw fire from surface-to-air missiles and artillery. They must skillfully evade being shot down - and then return to destroy the threats, thereby making the skies safe for everyone else to follow. Today these vital missions are more hazardous than direct air-to-air engagement with enemy aircraft. Hampton's record number of strikes on high-value targets make him the most lethal F-16 Wild Weasel pilot in American history. This is his remarkable story.

Taught to fly at an early age by his father, Hampton logged twenty years and 608 combat hours in the world's most iconic fighter jet: the F-16 "Fighting Falcon", or "Viper" as its pilots call it. Hampton spearheaded the 2003 invasion of Iraq, leading the first flight of fighters over the border en route to strike Baghdad. In the war that followed, he engaged in a series of brilliantly executed missions that earned him three Distinguished Flying Crosses with Valor; he notably saved a U.S. Marine unit from certain death by taking out the surrounding enemy forces near Nasiriyah. Two years earlier, on 9/11, Hampton's father was inside the Pentagon when it was attacked; with his dad's fate unknown, Hampton was scrambled into American skies and given the unprecedented orders to shoot down any unidentified aircraft. Hampton also flew critical missions in the first Gulf War, served on the Air Combat Command staff during the Kosovo War, and was injured in the 1996 Khobar Towers terrorist attack.

With manned missions rapidly giving way to remote-controlled UAV drones, Viper Pilot may be the last memoir by a true hero of the skies. Gripping and irreverently humorous, it is an unforgettable look into the closed world of fighter pilots and modern air combat.

©2012 Ascalon, LLC (P)2012 HarperCollinsPublishers

What listeners say about Viper Pilot

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

FINALLY A Pilot Tells it Like it is!!

The sheer brutal, cocky honesty that Hampton writes with is a breath of fresh air. I was expecting a murky, Pentagon-redacted, boring account of his adventures, but was I wrong! Hampton pretty much looks down on everyone that's not a fighter pilot, and yet this confident honesty sucks you right in. You see the world through his point of view, and you actually start "thinking like a fighter pilot".

This no-holds-barred account of a lesser known side of the military is not only fascinating, but exciting as hell. The air combat scenes are spectacular. There aren't many books out there, where the ex-military author truly speaks his mind, without giving a crap what others think, but this is one of them. Deserves 5 stars just for the mere fact that he bucked the trend and didn't write some politically-correct fluff piece about the Air Force.

Narrator is great.

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15 people found this helpful

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wonderful!

I was transfixed by the detail and honesty in this book. The flying stories were wonderful and hair raising at times. This man is a true master of his art and his story needs revisiting... and revisiting.... an aviation classic!

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Fast and Furious

This is the type of Fast and Furious I can support. The Wild Weasles help the make life of ground forces a bit easier. Written in the first person, it draws you into the world of the fighter pilot. As I listened, my appreciation for this group of men grew and I was totally fascinated at what they are able in accomplish in mere seconds. I thought the narration was rock solid . So if fast paced books and first hand accounts are your thing, you will love this one!

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8 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Want more about "2Dogs"

This is a great memoir. Lt. Col. Hampton writes with the suspense and drama of a fiction writer. The opening of the book has Hampton nearly out of gas, low on ammo and a sandstorm building; he is trying to help some marines being overrun on the ground. Then out of ammo and nearly bingo on fuel he heads for a tanker but cannot find it in the haze from the storm. Then Hampton leaves us hanging and tells the story of his military life and how he got to this point in the Iraqi war. At the end of the book he finally completes the opening story.

I learned about the role of the Wild Weasel Fighters. Hampton tells the history of the Weasels and the various planes modified for use hunting SAMs (surface to air missiles) over the years up to his last plane, the F-16 Fighting Falcon also called Viper. Col. Hampton also gave an overview of the modern Air Force, descriptions of the various schools he attended from pilot school to the prestigious Fighter Weapons School as well as a general overview of the Air Force.

The book is very well written. Hampton’s method of writing has the reader sitting in the cockpit with him. The reader can see, hear, feel and smell everything Hampton does. Hampton comes across as a typical macho fighter pilot, cocky, arrogant, irreverent and invincible. Hampton is one of the most decorated fighter pilots in the Air Force and that only adds to the story. Hampton writes great combat scenes. I agree with Hampton that there should be an ACE category for destroying SAMs, as more pilots are downed by SAMs than by other planes. John Pruden does a good job narrating the book.

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7 people found this helpful

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WOW!

This book kept me listening. The adrenaline filled battle engagements were described with incredible detail.

John Pruden’s narration rode the wave of emotion that Dan Hampton described.

I particularly appreciated the educational beginning that evolved into full blown combat.

Thank you Dan Hampton for your book but mostly for your service.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Riveting -edge of your seat story

I almost didn't pick this one because there were some mixed reviews. I'm sure glad I did as this was one of the better first-person accounts I've read. The author writes with such incredible detail that you feel as though you are in the cockpit next to him.

IMO this book serves a a lesson to today's generals as well. First- we succeeded in the gulf wars because we had trained to fight a super power (Russia). Also, in an era where many rear echelon generals are in charge of the military, and claiming that robot plains will replace fighter pilots and ground troops - we must never forget that wars will always be won through a combination of combat pilots AND infantry working towards a common objective.

The book was informative and entertaining and I'm certainly glad I selected it.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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A bit egomaniacal even for the title

Perhaps this was the wrong book to follow the story of John Boyd with, but this seemed over the top with ego. Even still, ever grateful for my fellow brothers in arms, especially the ones going mach speed with SAMs chasing them.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Didn’t finish

I have great respect for the author and am grateful for his service to our country. That said, the egocentricity and arrogance that may make for a great fighter pilot do not translate well into story telling. The frat boy mentality and self-aggrandizement conjure up visions of the glory days of Tailhook and the condescending attitude toward co-workers and xenophobic thread throughout this narrative led me to bail out on the mission prior to conclusion. The author’s innocent attribution of one of Newton’s basic laws to Einstein just confirms that the fighter pilot’s “rely only on yourself” mentality lends itself to egregious errors of writing/editing.

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4 people found this helpful

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Good, Modern view from the air.

If you could sum up Viper Pilot in three words, what would they be?

I love the old WWII aircraft stories. Viper brings those stories into present time. I enjoyed the story and learning the differences between then and now. Some things are still the same, but not much.

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Want to know what it is like to be a fighter jock?

This is a great book on what it is like. He tells the good and the bad. This is a short book and I unusually read Sci-Fi. But this was one of the most entertaining, honest and hard hitting books I have read (listen) to!

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