| Title | : | Blackbird |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1681775050 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781681775050 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 232 |
| Publication | : | First published September 5, 2017 |
The SR-71 Blackbird, the famed “spy” jet, was deliberately designed to be the world's fastest and highest-flying aircraft—and its success has never been approached since.
It was conceived in the late 1950s by Lockheed Martin's highly secret 'Skunk Works' team under one of the most (possibly the most) brilliant aero designers of all time, Clarence “Kelly” Johnson. Once fully developed in 1964, the Blackbird represented the apogee of jet-powered flight. It could fly at well over three times the speed of sound above 85,000 feet and had an unrefueled range of 3,200 nautical miles. It flew with great success until 1999). Despite extensive use over Vietnam and later battlefields, not one was ever shot down (unlike the U2 in the Gary Powers incident).
The Blackbird's capabilities seem unlikely ever to be exceeded. It was retired because its function can be performed by satellites—and in today's steady trend toward unmanned military aircraft, it is improbable that another jet aircraft of this speed and caliber will ever again be conceived.
Blackbird Reviews
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Of all the aircraft ever developed the SR-71 ‘Blackbird’ is probably one of the most distinctive. Conceived by Clarence 'Kelly' Johnson along with a team of brilliant engineers at 'Skunk Works', Lockheed Martin's highly secret military development site, the design first saw the light of day in the late 1950’s. That is seventy years ago and it still looks futuristic now. Built to replace the U2 spy plane, it was designed to be the fastest and highest flying aircraft. When development finished in the mid-1960’s it was the pinnacle of aero and jet development, it could fly at 85,000 feet at a speed of Mach 3 (approximately 2000mph) for a range of 3200 miles. The various versions of the plane flew missions over the world from then until the end of the nineties and it was never shot down. It was only retired as the job it was designed to do could now be done better with satellites.
The Blackbird is an engineering marvel. The engineering team had to solve so many problems in using titanium, then an exotic material, even finding that the cadmium plating on their tools would affect it. The pilots had to be dressed as astronauts as the plane flew so high and the fuselage was mostly fuel tanks. They had a reputation for leaking fuel all over the place, but that was not entirely true. The plane holds various speed records including one for travelling from New York to London in just 1 hour 54 minutes, which is just staggering. It is a plane that looks fast even on the ground.
Hamilton-Paterson has managed to bring us a distilled history of an aircraft that is eminently readable and full of details and anecdotes on the development and challenges that the creation of this aircraft too. There is a limited amount of detail on the operations that the SR-71 undertook, probably because most are still classified. It is a good introduction to the aircraft, with some interesting photos as well, but if the book has one flaw, it was that it was too short. -
It’s not often a fiction book puts me on the edge of my seat with my heart racing and my mind lost in excited wonder. This book did just that. I picked up the book wanting to learn more about this plane, expecting a textbook experience. To my delight, that expectation was not met.
While the book touches on technical aspects, it is reachable and understandable for those of us who are not engineers or well schooled in the jargon surrounding military flight. While the first two chapters lay the groundwork for how the Blackbird program came to be, having that groundwork made the rest of the story stronger.
I also like that the author represented the perspectives of agencies, groups, and people who had influence on the program and how those perspectives helped shape what became the Blackbird. That being said, the target audience is those of us who are enchanted by these planes, and the author writes to our affections. -
A nice, easy read. In some ways it reads like a collection of fun SR-71 trivia (Did you know that one tire cost $18,634 in 2017 prices?), but it also goes pretty deep into the design process. Once you see the kinds of hurdles the makers had to overcome, you realize just how much the Blackbird is a technological marvel.
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Excellent book. Easy to read with the context set in a very readable way. Off to Duxford I go, I need to see one of these in person.
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The astonishing story behind one of the most distinctive & technically advanced planes ever built. 4.5 stars
