Black Lightning—The Legacy of the Lockheed Blackbirds Revised edition of The Archangel and the Oxcart Black Lightning—The Legacy of the Lockheed Blackbirds—brings to life the unique and mesmerizing story of Kelly Johnson’s Lockheed Blackbirds; The A-12 Cygnus, M-21/D-21 mother daughter reconnaissance drone, the YF-12 Interceptor and of course, the magnificent SR-71. As the Cold War became more deadly, the United States needed to find answers to the Soviet Union and their dangerous games. As the USSR progressed in technology, the United States had a need to know what was happening on the other side of the Iron Curtain. The "spy on the ground" was not viable anymore. The CIA had to find an answer to replace that spy. Aerial Reconnaissance in the U.S. was in trouble. The USAF was recycling its WWII methods of aerial reconnaissance. The "Silent Warriors", those who took those reconnaissance missions unbeknowest to family and many in the military itself, were crews that were becoming casualties of the USSR MiGs faster than anyone thought possible. A new answer was needed and that answer was speed. Lockheed and the CIA came up with the speed, Mach 3 speed for the first time in aerial reconnaissance and aviation history. Black Lightning—The Legacy of the Lockheed Blackbirds tells the story of the men and aircraft that covered enemy territory, alone, and unarmed. These CIA pilots and their speed hungry aircraft returned the "photographic material" for the U.S. faster than ever before. Black Lightning—The Legacy of the Lockheed Blackbirds documents the history of the fastest aircraft ever known and the men that flew them.

Eagle Eyes—the Development of Aerial Reconnaissance in the United States encompasses the amazing history of how the U.S. developed its most potent weapon, along with the aircraft, methods and tools that carried the load. Beginning with the start of the Civil War and the use of balloons as a method of finding out what the enemy was doing, aerial reconnaissance came into its own. The U.S. learned much of what it needed from the British Intelligence during WWI and WWII. From there, the United States developed its awe inspiring tactics of how to get the “goods” on the enemy. Through WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the current hot bed of the Mid-East, aerial reconnaissance has been the means to a most critical end. Eagle Eyes explores the development of not only the aircraft, but the methods for image interpretation. Cameras, film T.V. and satellites are all a part of this mosaic of U.S. Intelligence gathering. It also looks at the very near future of the next high speed, stealth aircraft and how drones developed from a loitering camera in the sky, to a killing machine. Eagle Eyes is a fascinating look at a critical and important part of the U.S. intelligence gathering operations.

To Slip The Surly Bonds—NASA, The Shuttle Disasters and the Demise of the U.S. Manned Spaceflight Program: To Slip the Surly Bonds—enters into the world of NASA and tells the story of not just why the shuttle disasters happened, but exposes NASA’s inner workings and what actually led up to the two most horrifying space accidents known. It explores the new CEV and explains the need for the United States to pay more attention to space. NASA’s budget had been gutted many times by various Presidential administrations and Congress, following the halcyon days of Apollo and the Moon. NASA was short on money and mission profile after we landed on the moon. The Space Shuttle was truly a successful program and the ISS gave the shuttle an excuse for being. Congress was also having a field day with budget cuts, not to mention devastating the programs with pork barrel projects that were hooked into the NASA budget. NASA too, had been its own worst enemy due to its static, bureaucratic, way of doing its internal business. China, and Japan, and India are forging their way to the stars while NASA sits on a lonely launch pad, waiting for the next crumb to fall from the Congressional table. The U. S. Commercial Aerospace sector has had some brilliant successes with reaching the space station with robotic cargo flights, but there is nothing that is now man-rated for travel to the ISS or anywhere else. The new CEV or Crew Exploration Vehicle is in the process of testing, but the money is again short. NASA must continue to struggle for its needs while other nations reach higher. To Slip the Surly Bonds explores the intricacies of how and why NASA was created, the Manned Spaceflight program, how the shuttle disasters happened and why the United States’ position in the space frontier is in jeopardy.

The Lockheed Martin Skunk Works was founded in the summer of 1943 to develop a jet-powered high-altitude interceptor for the USAAF, and ever since it has been at the forefront of technological development in the world of aviation. From the XP-80 to the U-2, SR-71, F-117, F-22 and now the F-35, the Skunk Works team has designed aircraft that are the pinnacle of innovation and performance. 75 years of the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works takes us through the history of this legendary facility from its foundation at the height of World War II under the talented engineer, Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, through to the present day. Illustrated with over a thousand photographs and drawings, it details the 46 unclassified programmes developed by the Skunk Works, following them through prototype build-up, first flight and, if they reached the frontline, operational service.

This classic history of America's high-stakes quest to dominate the skies is "a gripping technothriller in which the technology is real" (New York Times Book Review). From the development of the U-2 to the Stealth fighter, Skunk Works is the true story of America's most secret and successful aerospace operation. 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. Here are up-close portraits of the maverick band of scientists and engineers who made the Skunk Works so renowned. 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. "Thoroughly engrossing." --Los Angeles Times Book Review

Except in a few instances, since World War II no American soldier or sailor has been attacked by enemy air power. Conversely, no enemy soldier orsailor has acted in combat without being attacked or at least threatened by American air power. Aviators have brought the air weapon to bear against enemies while denying them the same prerogative. This is the legacy of the U.S. AirForce, purchased at great cost in both human and material resources.More often than not, aerial pioneers had to fight technological ignorance, bureaucratic opposition, public apathy, and disagreement over purpose.Every step in the evolution of air power led into new and untrodden territory, driven by humanitarian impulses; by the search for higher, faster, and farther flight; or by the conviction that the air way was the best way. Warriors have always coveted the high ground. If technology permitted them to reach it, men, women andan air force held and exploited it-from Thomas Selfridge, first among so many who gave that "last full measure of devotion"; to Women's Airforce Service Pilot Ann Baumgartner, who broke social barriers to become the first Americanwoman to pilot a jet; to Benjamin Davis, who broke racial barriers to become the first African American to command a flying group; to Chuck Yeager, a one-time non-commissioned flight officer who was the first to exceed the speed of sound; to John Levitow, who earned the Medal of Honor by throwing himself over a live flare to save his gunship crew; to John Warden, who began a revolution in air power thought and strategy that was put to spectacular use in the Gulf War.Industrialization has brought total war and air power has brought the means to overfly an enemy's defenses and attack its sources of power directly. Americans have perceived air power from the start as a more efficient means of waging war and as a symbol of the nation's commitment to technology to master challenges, minimize casualties, and defeat adversaries.