Pushing the Envelope

First published in 1994, this stirring autobiography of a fighter and test pilot takes readers full throttle through Marion Carl's imposing list of "firsts." Beginning with his World War II career, he became the Marine Corps' first ace, was among the first Marines to fly a helicopter, and was the first Marine to land a jet aboard an aircraft carrier. His combat duty included the momentous battles at Midway and Guadalcanal. Not one to rest on his laurels, however, he participated in photoreconnaissance operations over China in 1955 and flew missions in Vietnam. In peacetime he gained fame for "pushing the envelope" as a test pilot, adding the world's altitude record to his wartime feats and becoming the first U.S. military aviator to wear a full pressure suit. Such achievements led to Carl's being the first living Marine admitted to the Naval Aviation Hall of Honour, as well as the first Marine to be named to the Navy Carrier Aviation Test Pilots Hall of Honour. As forthright and compelling as the man it chronicles, this very readable memoir was written with the help of noted aviation historian Barrett Tillman. The Author The late Maj. Gen. Marion E. Carl retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1973 with eighteen aerial combat victories and 14,000 flight hours. Award-winning aviation writer Barrett Tillman is also the author of books on the Corsair, Crusader, Hellcat, and Dauntless Dive Bomber, all published by the Naval Institute Press. From Publishers Weekly Carl's life story is the stuff of film scripts and TV miniseries. At Midway and Guadalcanal he became the first Marine ace of WW II. He was a test pilot in the pioneer days of jet aviation, flying early versions of almost every model of fighter adopted by the U.S. armed forces and flew clandestine reconnaissance missions over China in the 1950s. More than a pilot with the "right stuff," Carl, as a brigadier general, commanded the first Marines to land in Vietnam; in 1973 he retired as Inspector General of the Marine Corps.