Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed

"A must-Read for any Fan of the Skunk Works and the creation of the hottest and highest aircraft (even to date)!" according to Amish Techie. Ben Rich, the designated head of the Skunk Works following Kelly Johnson, speaks his mind about both his time creating the fastest and highest--let alone the stealthiest aircraft on earth. Rich gives us the full story of working with the irascible Kelly Johnson and fills in many personal details that Johnson leaves out of his autobiography "More than My Share of It All". He carries through the creation of the SR-71 and other successes, as well as the failures of other exotic aircraft.Rich carries on to the details of stealth (blowing away the plots of many Techno-Thrillers of the 80's and 90's like Dale Brown's "the Flight of the Old . Good book, a must read! I read this book when it first came out in the mid 90's. I was in my early teens & couldn't put the book down. I am now in my mid 30's & I still love reading it. My father owns the copy I first read & loves reading it over & over as well. The book is an easy read. Ben Rick & Leo Janos keep the reader enthralled with a well written & intriguing true story of one of America's best de-classified military developments during my lifespan.. Extraordinary story; great writing that could've been even better maelje This is a phenomenal book, and I want to stress that the few criticisms I'm going to offer should not dissuade people from picking this up and reading it. With help from co-writer Leo Janos, Ben Rich has written a fascinating account of one of the most secretive and successful "black projects" outfits in American military history.Lockheed's "Skunk Works" was responsible for developing the P-38, but its real fame began to build as it concentrated on spy planes during the Cold War, specifically the U2 and the SR-71 Blackbird. Rich's account of the conception, construction and deployment of these two iconic aircraft is absolutely well,

Here are up-close portraits of the maverick band of scientists and engineers who made the Skunk Works so renowned. From the development of the U-2 to the Stealth fighter, the never-before-told story behind America's high-stakes quest to dominate the skies Skunk Works is the true story of America's most secret and successful aerospace operation. Filled with telling personal anecdotes and high adventure, with narratives from the CIA and from Air Force pilots who flew the many classified, risky missions, this book is a riveting portrait of the most spectacular aviation triumphs of the twentieth century.. As recounted by Ben Rich, the operation's brilliant boss for nearly two decades, the chronicle of Lockheed's legendary Skunk Works is a drama of cold war confrontations and Gulf War air combat, of extraordinary feats of engineering and human achievement against fantastic odds

Under its presiding genius, Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, the Skunk Works produced America's first jet fighter, the world's most successful spy plane (U-2), the first three-times-the-speed-of-sound surveillance aircraft and the F-117A stealth fighter. Writing with freelancer Jonas, Rich also recounts Skunk Works' failures, including experiments with liquid hydrogen as a propellant and spy-drone flights over China's remote nuclear test facilities. . In an entertaining style, the authors describe Johnson's tyrannical managerial style, his thorny but productive relationship with the Air Force and the stealth-technology breakthrough that revolutionized military aviation. Photos. From Publishers Weekly Lockheed's Advanced Development Project has set standards for the aerospace industry for half a century. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. Rich was Johnson's right-hand man and succeeded him as director in 1975, retiring in 1990. He has much to say