Skunk Works
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. 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.
Stats for nerds
104recommend
203mentions
166people
2009–2026years
60% recommend39% neutral1% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- I’m sure it’s been mentioned a few times in the older thread that came up the other day but I can only recommend the book by Ben Rich, Skunk Works, if you want learn more about how this plane came to be.
- If you haven't already read it Ben Rich's Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed is truly excellent read. Highly recommended.
- I suggest you read the book Skunk Works by Ben Rich, to get reliable account about the SR-71 and its relation to Soviet air defenses from the horse's mouth. Besides, it's genuinely well-written and enjoyable book
- In "Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed", which is a great read, there is discussion of the incredibly difficult time they had setting up tooling for working with titanium. This remains largely true today. Making things at any scale in titanium, while controlling cost is very, very difficult. Even if the titanium itself is gotten very cheaply.
- Obligatory plug for the excellent book Skunk Works by its former director, Ben Rich.
- "Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed" by Ben R. Rich and Leo Janos.
Details, among other things, the engineering challenges faced during the development of the F-117 Nighthawk and the SR-71 Blackbird.
