When Navy fighter pilot C.J. "Heater" Heatley III took his camera into the cockpit of an F-14 and onto the deck of a carrier, he wanted to convey the unique sights and sensations that pilots experience: Russian bombers investigating the battle group, a crippled plane making an emergency landing, shock waves circling a supersonic aircraft, an F-14 TV camera targeting an airplane. These are common sights to naval aviators, but only Heater has been able to photograph them with all their intensity and emotion. Heater's keen photographic eye, his passion for aviation, and his access to the subject make The Cutting Edge a truly unique collection of naval aviation images. A foreword by Senator Jake Garn, naval aviator and recent passenger on the Space Shuttle Discovery, sets the stage for the dramatic photographic narrative of The Cutting Edge. Heatley's introduction provides a more intimate view of the highly professional and dedicated Navy pilot. Along with the photographs in The Cutting Edge are interviews with attack, fighter, antisubmarine, electronic countermeasure, and helicopter pilots. A Topgun instructor flying against his students in a mock dogfight, an SH-3 pilot matching his wits against a submarine CO, an air boss directing 400 men and 40 airplanes on the deck of a carrier-their candid accounts dramatize the clockwork precision and split second decisions demanded of naval aviators. The reference section of The Cutting Edge contains three-view line drawings of the aircraft pictured, as well as their mission, flight specifications, and performance capabilities. Facts about the aircraft include nicknames, dimensions, weight, speed, range, ceiling, crew, power plant, and armament. The section also provides page numbers for convenient identification of the aircraft photographed. This book, through words and pictures, allows even those who have never flown an aircraft to experience the drama, excitement, and sophistication of modern naval aviation.