Skunk Works

This reconnaissance airplane can reach Mach 3, 2000+ mph, and has a ceiling of more that 80,000 ft. It also tells of a personal “behind-the-scenes” experience that could not be shown with just a person researching the facility.

This book was excellently written, and even though a difficult subject to write about with all the technical aspects, this book was very easy to read. Many important ideas of technology were embedded in this book, while it was enjoyable to read. Skunk Works also created the SR-71 Blackbird, the fastest airplane known to the civilian community. I learned of the classified security of the plant, the products that came out of it, and what it was like to be involved with the program. facility that has produced many famous and important airplanes, such as the U-2, a spy plane that can reach altitudes above 70,000 ft. The U-2 was especially helpful during the Cold War to spy on the Russians.

Personally, I thought this was an excellent book. This is not true, as the F-86 and the F-100 preceded the F-104, and they were both supersonic jets. This book didn’t have a major impact on economics, but it did change technology which eventually changes the market. Not all of the information was accurate. The least visible, by radar, airplane ever made was also created at Skunk Works. With a radar cross-section the size of a marble, the F-117 Nighthawk proved to be the most practical airplane in the Gulf War. This is so high and so fast that the titanium shell of the airplane can stretch more the one-foot by heat.