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Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond the Secret Missions (General Aviation)

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Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond the Secret Missions (General Aviation)
Paul Crickmore
Manufacturer: Osprey Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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A-12 Blackbird Declassified (Motorbooks ColorTech)

ASIN: 1841766941
Release Date: 2004-11-11

Book Description

In this book, expert author Paul Crickmore leads the reader deeper than ever before into the 'Black World' of the A-12 and SR-71 top-secret reconnaissance mission. For the first time, detailed first-hand accounts from CIA and USAF pilots bring to life the experience of flying highly classified missions in the Blackbird, whilst Allied and former Warsaw Pact fighter pilots describe their efforts to intercept the spy-plane. Travelling more than a mile every 2 seconds and flying fifteen miles above the earth's surface, the SR-71's performance capacities were truly awesome. This book draws on hundreds of newly declassified Top Secret documents and the experiences of the author's key military contacts to provide the most detailed information available on the SR-71.

SR-71 Blackbird: Stories, Tales and Legends

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Astonishing Blackbird
Don't bother
An excellent book about a remarkable aircraft
5 STARS IS TOO LITTLE!!!!
Blackbird Memories

SR-71 Blackbird: Stories, Tales and Legends
Rich Graham
Manufacturer: Zenith Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond the Secret Missions (General Aviation)

ASIN: 0760311420

Amazon.com

For a quarter-century, Lockheed's Mach 3 SR-71A Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft dominated the skies as no other. The men that flew the 55-ton "Habu" (so dubbed by Okinawans near one of its bases because of its resemblance to a local deadly black snake) at 80,000 feet and 33 miles per minute were the rarest of fraternities, and author and former 9th Recon Wing commander Richard Graham provides a score of them--as well as key ground personnel--a generous forum for their self-penned recollections here. Where Graham's first book, SR-71 Revealed: The Inside Story, dealt more with the Blackbird's remarkable hardware and history, this volume details the human dimensions of the SR-71 program, from its dangerous days of development and testing through decades of intelligence-gathering operations in the world's hot spots, to its final, bittersweet confrontation with the one foe it couldn't elude: self-serving Pentagon politics. Inspired by flying a plane that often seemed to have a mind of its own--and a sometimes malicious one at that--the anecdotes here are seasoned with a compelling mix of boyish humor, sheer terror, and enviable camaraderie. As Graham's fellow SR-71 pilot and author Brian Shul once noted, more people have stood atop Mt. Everest than have flown what remains the world's fastest, highest-flying jet. (The author is donating all royalties to the J.T. Vida Memorial Fund, set up to preserve Blackbird 972, whose 1990 transcontinental, record-setting retirement flight is recounted herein, currently housed at the Smithsonian Museum) --Jerry McCulley

Book Description

Feel the Mach 3 power generated by Lockheeds incredibly fast SR-71 Blackbird! Former SR-71 pilot, instructor and wing commander, Richard Graham, presents the most intriguing SR-71 stories ever told. This once highly classified program is fully revealed through the words of pilots, commanders, mechanics, and instructors involved in the Blackbirds creation and flight-testing. From grueling reconnaissance missions to the Persian Gulf conflict, this insightful book tells stories of bravery and daring determination.

Customer Reviews:

Astonishing Blackbird.......2007-02-22

For aircraft enthusiasts at a non professional level this is a well written book with a wealth of information about this amazing plane. It truly gives a feeling for the heroic men who first flew this aircraft , the first of its kind for power and speed. In an easy to understand way it imparts the difficulties and struggles of developing this plane. True pioneers and men with vision put the Blackbird in the air. Pity we only get to see them on the ground now.

Don't bother.......2003-03-08

This book [was bad]. How anyone could take such an interesting subject and make it boring is beyond me. I have read a lot of aviation books and this one tops my list of one to skip. There were a couple of good stories about engine failures at high altitude and mach numbers but mostly it was a celebration of the eliteism of the SR-71 crew members. The only thing greater than the performance figures of the airplane were the apparent egos of the crew. This book was obviously written for other SR-71 crew members. It constantly relives the things they had in common with each other but not with the rest of the Air Force
or us mere mortals. The special orange flight suits, the pressure suits, the drinking parties with the acceptible SR-71 jock drink 'The Basic Hook'(vodka tonic to us). Wasn't the simulator tough. Wasn't the physical thorough. Didn't you sweat the crew selection interview. [Wasn't it bad] that the Pentagon cancelled the program. Over and over and over, but from a different guy. And most of the stories were from the back seaters. Who wants to hear from those guys? I wanted to hear what it was like to fly the beast. How bad things could really get. What it felt like to land and take off an SR-71. Disappointed.

An excellent book about a remarkable aircraft.......2003-01-06

A number of books have been written about this remarkble aircraft. Most good, a few not so. This book definitely falls into the good (no, excellent) category. It is not as technical as some of the other books (although some technical concepts are very clearly explained) as much as it is a book relating some of the tales of those who actually operated the aircraft. It gives a wonderful insight into what is probably the best reconaissance system the US ever had. Even today, we have no systems that are capable of doing all the things the SR could. For one thing it was the only atmospheric system that could safely penetrate defended airspace. For another, it remains the only system that can do wide spectrum multi-sensor reconaissance of a given target on the same mission. This book relates some of the missions that demonstrated this as well as what was involved "behind the scenes" in pulling off these successes. Although satellites are wonderful, there are things they simply can't do that the SR-71 could (For one thing, since the orbits of the satellites are known, the bad guys know when to hide the stuff they don't want seen. The SR could surprise its targets).

The last part of the book is valuable in relating the real reasons this remarkable system was retired. It wasn't for cost and it wasn't for lack of capability. The hard numbers provided and the stories of the shenanigans pulled to "justify" a bad decision are almost worth the price of the book itself.

Col. Graham has done it again and this is a worthy companion piece to his excellent "SR-71 Revealed" book

5 STARS IS TOO LITTLE!!!!.......2002-12-10

For those who are already familiar with the bird (and for those who aren't as well!!), this is one of the most entertaining books out there. Col. Graham managed to put together several stories told by several different people involved with the program, and each story makes you feel like reading all the book in one single shot! I can't wait for Volume II!

Blackbird Memories.......2002-11-23

Colonel Graham has put together unique memories of 19 former pilots and RSOs for the 3 Blackbirds, (A-12, YF-12 & SR-71) in cronological order from the first A-12 ejection through the retirement of the SR-71, (both times). Most of the chapters deal with the SR-71 at it's two deployment detachments, Det 1 at Kadena AB, Okinawa and Det 4 at RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom.
These are fabulously interesting insights into the lives and times of the best men in the US Air Force who were chosen to fly the best plane in the US Air Force, the titanium wonder-bird, SR-71.
It doesn't provide much in the way of facts, figures, drawings and detailed photographs, but that was not the intent of this book. It is one of the most interesting books I have ever read.
All profits from the book go the J.T. Vida memorial fund to help maintain SR-71 # 17972 at the Smithsonian Musuem at the Dulles Air Port west of Washington, DC. Lt Col Vida spent 16 years as an RSO and amassed nearly 1400 hours in the SR-71, the most of any crew member. He was the RSO for 972 on it's record breaking flight from LA to DC in March of 1990.

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X-15 Rocket Plane Pilot's Flight Manual

SR-71 Blackbird Pilot's Flight Manual
Periscope Film.com
Manufacturer: Lulu.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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X-15: The Edge of Space

ASIN: 1411699378

Book Description

Created by Lockheed's brilliant designer Kelly Johnson, the SR-71 was one of the most legendary aircraft to emerge from the "Skunk Works". Capable of Mach 3 flight, the SR-71 could survey 100,000 miles of the earth's surface from an altitude of 80,000 feet. The Blackbird holds the coast-to-coast speed record of 64 minutes flown at over 2100 m.p.h. It was also one of the first aircraft to be shaped in such a way as to have a very low radar signature. Originally created for the elite group of men who drove "the sled", this Flight Operating Handbook provides a revealing look into the cockpit of one of history's great planes. Just recently declassified, this book contains all the basic pilot's instructions for the SR-71 and two-seat training model. This affordable facsimile has been reformatted, but care has been taken to preserve the integrity of the text. Please note, some pages are still classified and have been omitted.

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X-15 Rocket Plane Pilot's Flight Manual.......2006-05-16

The X-15 rocket plane flew at Mach 6.72 and at altitudes above 67 miles -- at the threshold of space! The men who flew this amazing plane became the USAF's first astronauts. Powered by an XLR-99 engine capable of producing 70,000 pounds of thrust at peak altitude, the X-15 pushed the envelope for manned aircraft past the post office. Notably, both Apollo commander Neil Armstrong and Space Shuttle commander Joe Engle piloted the X-15. Originally highly restricted, the manual was recently declassified and is here reprinted in book form. This affordable black and white facsimile has been reformatted. Care has been taken however to preserve the integrity of the text

SR-71 Blackbird: Lockheed's Mach 3 Hot Shot (Osprey Colour Series)

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SR-71 Blackbird: Lockheed's Mach 3 Hot Shot (Osprey Colour Series)
Paul F. Crickmore
Manufacturer: Osprey Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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SR-71 Blackbird -Cmbt Leg (Combat Legends)

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A fine introduction to a trully legendary plane

SR-71 Blackbird -Cmbt Leg (Combat Legends)
Paul Crickmore
Manufacturer: The Crowood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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SR-71 Blackbird: Stories, Tales and Legends
SR-71 Revealed: The Inside Story
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Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond the Secret Missions (General Aviation)
Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed

ASIN: 1840373822

Book Description

No other aircraft has approached the spectacular performance of the Blackbird. It flew at over three and a half times the speed of sound at 88,000 feet, an altitude that was at the very edge of space. It had an unrefuelled range of 3,500 miles and its two Pratt and Whitney J58 bypass turbojets generated 60,000 pounds of thrust and guzzled 8,000 gallons of fuel per hour. It was an awesome airplane in every respect. In 1964 America's President Johnson announced that Lockheed had developed an aircraft dedicated to strategic reconnaissance and so fast that no other aircraft could catch it. It took the world by storm. It was developed by the renowned Lockheed Skunk Works and employed many forms of new technology made necessary by the excesses of speed, altitude and temperature to which the aircraft was subjected. It served for many years during the Cold War until superseded by satellite technology. This is the perfect introductory book for the general reader, enthusiast and modeler alike wishing to find a succinct yet detailed introduction to the design and history of the Blackbird. Why was the aircraft conceived? What was it like to fly in combat? Who were the people who designed it and became famous for flying it? What were its virtues and vices? These and many more questions are answered here, plus a host of illustrations that show variations of color schemes used in different operational theatres of combat and rare photographs taken when the heat was on.

Customer Reviews:

A fine introduction to a trully legendary plane.......2005-11-08

Paul Crickmore is among the top experts on the Blackbird and with this book he presents many facts about the design, the construction and the operational history of the A-12 and the SR-71 without suffocating the reader in a sea of details, like his other books on the subject. While the account of the various missions flown by the SR-71s was very interesting, I found the technical chapter "Design Accomplishments" a real marvel. Crickmore gives also interesting appendices with the serial numbers and the fate of every single A-12, F-12 and SR-71, some guide to modellers looking for available kits, information on the NASA use of the aircraft and the world records set by the Blackbird that still stand. The photographs are very good (most of them black and white) with highly informative captions, the drawings are excellent, but there is the serious omission of not including in the book a table of technical characteristics.

Lockheed Sr-71/Yf-12 Blackbirds (Warbirdtech Series , Vol 10)

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Surprisingly Complete, Extensively Illustrated
Fantastic!!!!
Excellent Blackbird family history. Unique information!

Lockheed Sr-71/Yf-12 Blackbirds (Warbirdtech Series , Vol 10)
Dennis R. Jenkins
Manufacturer: Voyageur Press (MN)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond the Secret Missions (General Aviation)
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ASIN: 0933424752

Book Description

This is the first and only series to take a technical look at some of the world's most exciting combat aircraft. Each volume emphasizes the unique, the groundbreaking, and the technical characteristics of each aircraft.

Dennis Jenkins of Cape Canaveral, Florida has been a software programmer for the Space Shuttle Program for the past 15 years.

Customer Reviews:

Surprisingly Complete, Extensively Illustrated.......2005-02-09

Even though it was retired by the Air Force in 1990 and the NASA version has been grounded since 1999, the Blackbird is still one of the most fascinating aircraft ever built. Conceived by the CIA the project was turned over to the Air Force. It was never very popular with the Air Force. Most of the missions were actually conducted at the direction of the National Reconnaissance Office (then so black an organization that even the name was secret) but the budget for operating the plane came from the Air Force which wanted to spend the money on other projects such as the B-1B Bomber.

This book gives an excellent history of the airplane from its first concept (at the request of the CIA) through it's last flight. The book also covers the several variations of the plane including the M-21 (which carried the D-21 drone), the original A-12 (single seater), the YF-12A (the fighter version), and of course the SR-71A, the main production version. It also gives a list of the final dispositions of the remaining aircraft so you can find out where to go see one.

Fantastic!!!!.......2004-11-24

As with any reprint, your first thought is they must have found one new photo and are trying to sell it as updated. This is so not the case with this book. It has been completely done over from scratch. Very little from the original volume is in this book. There are a bunch of 'new' A-12 and YF-12 images along with more photos, drawings and info on the Fish and Kingfish than I have seen in any other book. If you are a fan of the Blackbirds like I am, then this book is definitely worth picking up.

Excellent Blackbird family history. Unique information!.......1997-12-23

Before you say "Oh no, not ANOTHER book on the SR-71" take a look at what Dennis Jenkins has done. He broaches subjects that I've never seen written on the whole Blackbird heritage. Jenkins is careful to cover the A-12, YF-12, M-12, D-21 and SR-71 all in equal detail.

Jenkins organizes his book in chronological order as to the development of the various subject aircraft. The first chapter is devoted to the development projects that led up to the A-12 Oxcart (this is all new material to me considering the detail Jenkins is able to go into, even including prototype wind tunnel model photos and line drawings!). The next four chapters then methodically cover the development of the A-12, YF-12, D-21 and M-12/21 and then the SR-71. In these chapters the Blackbird equipment is also covered (the start-carts, avionics and reconnaissance packages).

There are two follow-on chapters about the SR-71 retirement and then resurrection (Jenkins will need to add an appendix now about the recent SR-71 forced retirement by Clinton's line-item veto). A few more interesting pages summarize important acronyms (Black Shield, Senior Bowl and such) and also list important dates in the Blackbird heritage (Kelly Johnson died on 22 December 1990).

The line drawings are excellent and make the price of the book worthwhile by themselves. Drawings show the structural detail of the Blackbirds, temperature distribution in flight (interesting), cockpit layout, engine/inlet operation and crash rescue procedures among other things. This is the most detail you'll see on the Blackbirds outside of hard-to-obtain Lockheed and NASA documents (I know, I've worked at NASA).

There is a lot information packed into these slim volumes of the Warbird Tech Series, but I will complain about the preponderance of black and white photos. There is a special color section in this book, but for the same price (or nearly so) I have found books on the F-15 and other aircraft packed with color photos. The absence of color in this book is not so disturbing as the SR was black! I would like to see more color in other books of the series though.

Lockheed's SR-71 "Blackbird" Family -A-12, F-12, D-21, SR-71 -Aerofax
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Blackbird Summary

Lockheed's SR-71 "Blackbird" Family -A-12, F-12, D-21, SR-71 -Aerofax
James Goodall
Manufacturer: Midland
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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SR-71 Blackbird: Stories, Tales and Legends

ASIN: 1857801385

Book Description

The Lockheed 'Blackbird' aircraft family is arguably the most famous in the world. Developed for the USAF as reconnaissance aircraft nearly 40 years ago, SR-71s remained the world's fastest and highest-flying production aircraft throughout their operational existence. For the first time, the stories of the development program, the General Dynamics "Kingfish" competition, the M-21 and D-21 effort, the F-12 saga, and the operational history of the A-12 and SR-71 under the auspices of the CIA and the Air Force are all covered in detail.

Customer Reviews:

Blackbird Summary.......2003-03-23

This is the latest book on Lockheed's Blackbird family of "Titanium Wonderbirds" from the mind of aeronautical genius Kelly Johnson. The text is very complete with many details on development, various "firsts", record flights, summaries of individual airframes and operational statistics. There are many very good black and white photos and a color section at the end of the book. The color section has several never before published pictures, but the quality of most of them is definately not up to Mr Goodalls' normal standards. There are a couple of caption errors such as the one on top of page 126 that says it is of 2 reactivated SR-71s at Palmdale. It is actually of two SR-71s at the time of their 1990 retirement and it was taken on the south run up pad at Beale AFB, CA. The control tower and individual SR shelters are barely visible on the horizon between the two aircraft.
The book has very good coverage of the Tagboard/Senior Bowl program with the D-21 on the M-21 and B-52H. This program was also covered in Mr Goodall's previous book on the Blackbirds with some different pictures.
If you are interested in just one book that covers the entire Blackbird history from initial development to final retirement, this is the book to get.

Average customer rating:

Huge disappointment

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
Steve Pace
Manufacturer: Crowood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Aviation | Military | History | Subjects | Books

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Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond the Secret Missions (General Aviation)
SR-71 Revealed: The Inside Story
SR-71 Blackbird: Stories, Tales and Legends
SR-71 Blackbird -Cmbt Leg (Combat Legends)
Nighthawk F-117 Stealth Fighter (Motorbooks Classics)

ASIN: 1861266979

Book Description

The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird remains to this day the most sophisticated manned spyplane ever built and operated. It grew from the CIA-funded A-12, which made its maiden flight at the legendary Area 51 on April 26th, 1962. The A-12 was developed into the legendary SR-71 Blackbird, but not before its siblings, the F-12 and M-21 were created. These four very different - yet closely related - aircraft form the Blackbird series. The author has closely researched this extraordinarily advanced family of aircraft and this book includes full details of their design, manufacture and thirty-year service with the American Central Intelligence Agency, Us Air Force Strategic Air Command and NASA.

Customer Reviews:

Huge disappointment.......2005-12-24

Well, it may be not so bad for a newbie, but for a real SR-71 fan it is a waste af time and money. But that happens, when a book is a series book-it is just nice to have a book about Blackbird there. There are two or three excelent things-part of A-12 log written by Kelly himself and articles about SR-71( Kelly) and J-58 ( Mr Brown). The rest is low quality-known facts, to many and to big pictures instead of text. Description of pictures glorify the plane instead of giving sharp technical and historic data!! And what really made me angry. There are several the same photos that appear several times in the book!! And what even worse, the descriptions below these photos say that these are different photos,even when they are not. Book not worth its price. Better buy Paul Crickmore book.

Lockheed Sr-71: The Mach 3 Blackbird (Osprey Colour Classics)

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Lockheed Sr-71: The Mach 3 Blackbird (Osprey Colour Classics)
Paul F. Crickmore
Manufacturer: Osprey Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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SR-71 Revealed: The Inside Story
SR-71 Blackbird: Stories, Tales and Legends
Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond the Secret Missions (General Aviation)

ASIN: 1855327120

Book Description

Lockheed SR-71 - The Mach 3 Blackbird is a shorter full-colour photographic partner to the author's best-selling Lockheed SR-71 - The Secret Missions Exposed, and features a wealth of superb full colour photographs, accompanied by min-captions by the author.

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SR-71: Inside Lockheed's Blackbird
Michael O'Leary
Manufacturer: Motorbooks Intl
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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