Books by Ted Spitzmiller

The Civil Air Patrol, like most volunteer organizations, takes on the persona of its people to create a distinct culture. While the cast of characters changes over the years, the enduring qualities of those who have gone before remains a legacy for those who follow. The New Mexico wing has been fortunate to have had people from many walks of life who have contributed to the organization. This is their story.

Lieutenant David Miller has all the right credentials: Annapolis graduate, the gold wings of a naval aviator, and the recent completion of the Navy''s counterintelligence school. But he is lacking the most important ingredient in the real and deadly world of espionage-experience. His clandestine assignments use the luxurious Boeing 314 flying boat, operated by Pan American, as a cover and on this trip he is to assure the safe passage of a Chinese Envoy, who is to deliver a secret document from President Roosevelt to Premier Chiang Kai-shek.The new four-engine ''Pacific Clipper'' arrives in San Francisco in June 1941, to start the first leg of its 8,000-mile journey to the orient and Miller begins an unintended relationship with one of the passengers, a Japanese-American. His prejudice is tempered by her decidedly ''American'' culture and personality but he is unsure of her loyalty to America. While aware of his shortcomings in espionage, Miller is totally unsuspecting of how ill prepared he is for a first serious encounter with a young lady who is aggressive for his affections. Will this relationship compromise the mission?

This is the history of fighter aircraft that transitioned the United States Air Force into the supersonic era. By 1952, fighter designations that started with the Curtiss P-1 in 1923, reached the century mark with the North American F-100 - thus the term Century Series. This occurred at the very point where operational fighters could exceed the speed of sound. The useful lives of the six century series aircraft that saw operational service were long and varied - one performing its military role almost fifty years after its prototype first took to the air. Even today, current production fighters barely surpass the speeds and altitudes at which these aircraft flew. The Century Series story is also one that moves past their initial operational period and into the war in Vietnam. This book includes first-hand accounts by the men who flew intercept missions in the F-102 and F-106. See what it was like to fly reconnaissance in the F-101, Wild Weasel F-100 sorties, and bombing runs in Southeast Asia in an F-105. Experience the tension of a night refueling in an F-100 or the exhilaration of strapping on an F-104 for a flight beyond Mach 2. This is their story; a chronicle of the men, machines and ideas that set the standard for a half-century of fighter development - a must read for aviation enthusiasts.