Surprised at Being Alive
An Accidental Helicopter Pilot in Vietnam and Beyond
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Surprised at Being Alive
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Narrated by:
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David Colacci
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By:
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Robert F. Curtis
About this listen
Sometimes you do everything right, but it just isn't your day. A part fails and your helicopter comes apart in flight, or, another aircraft runs into you and the pieces of both fall to the ground below, or the enemy gunner pulls the trigger at just the right moment and his rounds find your aircraft in exactly the right spot to take it out of the sky. Whichever way it happens, it wasn't your day.
Which is why, after 24 years and over 5,000 flight hours with four armed services, Major Robert Curtis was so surprised at being alive when he passed his retirement physical. Starting with enlisting in the Army to fly helicopters during Vietnam, and continuing on through service with the National Guard, Marine Corps, and Royal Navy, he flew eight different helicopters - from the wooden-bladed OH-13E, through the Chinook, SeaKnight, and SeaKing, in war and peace around the world. During that time over 50 of his friends died in crashes, both in combat and in accidents, but somehow his skill, and not an inconsiderable amount of luck and superstition, saw him through.
©2014 Robert F. Curtis (P)2019 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Surprised at Being Alive
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 12-12-20
A great listen!
I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy this at first but it wasn’t long before I was really enjoying it! A really good biography of an interesting career across four military services.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 17-04-23
truthful and insightful
The laconic way the book is written beautifully counterpoints the very painful memories of the author. The account of a professional airman not a politician. Much enjoyed.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- deltavee
- 23-06-24
A worthy addition to the Helicopter pilot genre
I liked that the author took a slightly different approach to the “classical” stories that tend to come out of the experience of helicopter pilots in Vietnam. The author doesn’t spend too much time on his training experiences, and he has a much wider variety of experience than just his time in Vietnam. His story gives us an overview of an entire career in helicopter flying flying, in different services in different countries. He’s also very straightforward about the risks and how he dealt with them. There are no shortage of biographies from helicopter pilots, but of the many that I’ve listened to I would rate this is one of the best.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 25-11-22
Very entertaining
Extremely informative insight into the life of a military pilot, informative, interesting, funny and at times very touching. Nicely written and very well read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- S. W. Cheshire
- 07-11-19
Excellent biography
An excellent account of a helicopter pilots flying career. Brilliant narrator as well. A great read that was thoroughly enjoyed
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Thomas Lane
- 19-02-23
Very enjoyable!
Really enjoyed this book. Very interesting stories, funny in places, intense and sad in other places also. All very well written and very well narrated!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Stevomtb1
- 10-11-22
So glad to have heard this amazing story
What can I say...
I've listened to many Helicopter based life stories but this one really drew me in.
What an amazing life, filled with both happy and really sad memories.
Brilliant.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 28-04-23
Interesting life story
This isn’t a patch on Chickenhawk but it spans a much longer period with a lot of interesting near misses on different helicopters. But it really grates when he keeps saying cheated death again - luck and superstition that’s all it is - ok ok I get it
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