Skunk Works
Ben Rich
21 people recommended it in 13 threads, 2014–2025.
What people on Hacker News said
Such an awesome book about not only the engineering feats achieved by Lockheed Martin during the Cold War Era, but the incredible ability to keep developments secret from the mostly everyone.
worth reading for rich's crazy jokes alone. the fact he is telling them to senior military brass in the context of negotiating his division's survival after kelly johnson's retirement makes them even funnier.
And the amount of details he's had to leave out (such as creating a hybrid turbojet/ramjet engine nacelle or a top speed of around Mach 4) is also interesting.
It's an account of the work of Lockheed's legendary skunk works division - behind the U2 spy plane, stealth fighter and the blackbird sr-17.
It's over 20 years old now but still really good, especially if you're into planes like the U-2, F-117, and SR-71
Details, among other things, the engineering challenges faced during the development of the F-117 Nighthawk and the SR-71 Blackbird.
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