Bob
Norris will always be a fighter pilot...but his days in the cockpit are over.
The son of a test pilot, Bob - a retired
naval aviator and combat veteran - has logged nearly 500 carrier landings and thousands of
flight hours in the hottest planes of both the Navy and the Air Force, fighters like the
F-14 Tomcat, the F-15 Eagle, and the F/A-18 Hornet. But his toughest mission
involved an enemy that he could not outmaneuver in a dogfight. |
|
After being
selected to command his own F/A-18 Hornet squadron, Bob was diagnosed with a rare
neurological disorder that required experimental brain surgery. Due to
complications, doctors kept him constantly awake and immobile in the week following the
operation to monitor his brain functions.
To remain sane, he followed the POW training given to U.S. combat pilots to mentally
prepare for being shot down and captured. One of the secrets handed down by men who
have endured life's toughest ordeals is to choose an impossible mental task and commit to
finishing it.
Flat on his back in a military hospital, Bob composed the novel,
Check Six!
, in his mind. Remarkably, he was able to hold onto it
for several months until he was well enough to use a keyboard.
With the help of a couple mentors, the manuscript was polished and published by HarperCollins in October, 1998. A year later, FLY-OFF
followed suit. |
