Robert Gandt

Robert Gandt is an author and aviator whose career spans military aviation, commercial airline operations, and writing on aviation history and military adventure. Gandt published his first story at age 16, the same year he first soloed an airplane, and has since logged more than 25,000 flight hours and written 18 books. His aviation career includes roles as a Navy fighter and attack pilot, weapons test pilot, flight instructor, air show performer, and airline captain. At age 20, Gandt was the youngest aviator and officer on active duty in the U.S. Navy. As a carrier-based attack pilot, he logged over 300 carrier landings and nearly 2,000 hours in the A-4 Skyhawk.

Following his naval service, Gandt joined Pan American World Airways as an airline pilot. After Pan Am's Atlantic routes were sold, he transferred to Delta Air Lines as a captain and check airman. Gandt flew for Pan Am for 26 years, and his technical expertise and insider perspective inform his writing on aviation and airline history. In addition to his airline career, Gandt was a founder and team member of the Redhawk Formation Aerobatic Team. His writing career began in Hong Kong, where he produced a newspaper series for South China Morning Post, which became the foundation for his first book, "Season of Storms: The Siege of Hong Kong 1941."

Gandt has published more than a dozen books on military and aviation history and military adventure fiction. His nonfiction work "China Clipper: The Age of the Great Flying Boats" explores Pan Am's history, while "Skygods: The Fall of Pan Am" provides an insider's account of the airline's decline. His naval aviation chronicle, "Bogeys and Bandits," was adapted for the CBS series "Pensacola: Wings of Gold," for which Gandt served as a writer and technical consultant. With co-author Bill White and a foreword by Senator John McCain, Gandt wrote "Intrepid: The Epic Story of America's Most Legendary Warship," which received the Admiral Farragut Book Award. His account of the World War II battle for Okinawa, "The Twilight Warriors," won the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature.

Gandt's book "Angels in the Sky: How a Band of Volunteer Airmen Saved the New State of Israel" was published by W.W. Norton & Co. and has been adapted for a documentary film. His fiction works include "With Hostile Intent," "Acts of Vengeance," "Black Star," "Shadows of War," "The Killing Sky," "Black Star Rising," and "The President's Pilot." Gandt has appeared as a commentator on Fox News, in a BBC documentary on Pan Am, and as a guest expert on the PBS television series "They Made America." He is a member of the Authors Guild, Mensa International, and the Naval Order of the United States. Gandt's background in aviation, military history, and writing provides a foundation for his work in both nonfiction and fiction genres.