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Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond the Secret Missions
In 1986 Paul Crickmore's first groundbreaking book about the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird was published. At that time, the Cold War was at its height and the SR-71 was an integral element in securing crucial intelligence from all parts of the globe. The highly sensitive nature of its missions couldn't be compromised, and it wasn't until the end of the Cold War that the operational exploits of this incredible aeronautical masterpiece could be openly written about.As time passed has more and more information has come to light, with a vast number of official documents declassified and key military figures able to talk openly about the Blackbird programme. Paul Crickmore has used these updated facts to revise his previous history of one of the world's most iconic aircraft of all time, creating what will surely be considered the definitive, timeless volume about the SR-71 Blackbird.
1012 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 11, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 8, 2022
An excellent history of an intelligence platform.
That's an important distinction: For sure this is a good history of a family of aircraft that were built to fly high and fast (the A-12, YF-12, M-12 and SR-71) and their crews. But to enable them to fly their missions and gather intelligence, far more was needed: engineers, maintenance crews, airborne tankers and tanker crews, mission planners, onboard sensors, processors of collected data, even diplomats. The approach followed in this hefty book gives an insight in the complexity of operating a reconnaissance platform such as the A-12 and SR-71. There is even an interesting glimpse of the opposing side, in the form of the recollections of a former Soviet pilot who trained to intercept the SR-71.
There are a few blemishes such as blocks of texts that have been repeated, but overall the production quality of this book is high. The "Blackbird" family was of course very photogenic, with its sci-fi, alien looks and snake-like forebody, and there are plenty of nice photographs of it.
That's an important distinction: For sure this is a good history of a family of aircraft that were built to fly high and fast (the A-12, YF-12, M-12 and SR-71) and their crews. But to enable them to fly their missions and gather intelligence, far more was needed: engineers, maintenance crews, airborne tankers and tanker crews, mission planners, onboard sensors, processors of collected data, even diplomats. The approach followed in this hefty book gives an insight in the complexity of operating a reconnaissance platform such as the A-12 and SR-71. There is even an interesting glimpse of the opposing side, in the form of the recollections of a former Soviet pilot who trained to intercept the SR-71.
There are a few blemishes such as blocks of texts that have been repeated, but overall the production quality of this book is high. The "Blackbird" family was of course very photogenic, with its sci-fi, alien looks and snake-like forebody, and there are plenty of nice photographs of it.
August 21, 2023
Riding A Bullet
This book is intense and comprehensive, so a reader probably needs to be fascinated by airplanes and flight.
I was a newspaper reporter and photographer assigned to cover Castle Air Force Base in Atwater, CA and its great museum, and therefore saw the last flight of SR-71 #960 that is now on display there. I will never forget that day.
Out on the flight line, one of our escorts pointed out a tiny black shape moving south at high altitude and moving very fast. In less than five minutes they were on the ground. At a post flight, the crew said they’d flown past Bakersfield then turned 180 degrees and flew back - a trip of about 500 miles from the time we saw them until they landed.
We won’t see another aircraft like that … ever.
It was a lot of fun to revisit Kelly Johnson’s masterpiece.
This book is intense and comprehensive, so a reader probably needs to be fascinated by airplanes and flight.
I was a newspaper reporter and photographer assigned to cover Castle Air Force Base in Atwater, CA and its great museum, and therefore saw the last flight of SR-71 #960 that is now on display there. I will never forget that day.
Out on the flight line, one of our escorts pointed out a tiny black shape moving south at high altitude and moving very fast. In less than five minutes they were on the ground. At a post flight, the crew said they’d flown past Bakersfield then turned 180 degrees and flew back - a trip of about 500 miles from the time we saw them until they landed.
We won’t see another aircraft like that … ever.
It was a lot of fun to revisit Kelly Johnson’s masterpiece.
April 25, 2019
5 stars for the research and detail. If you wanted to know absolutely anything and everything about the Blackbird program (and it's predecessors) this is definitely the book you want to read.
1 star for the readability. It's full of technical minutiae, a dizzying array of acronyms and a cast of characters dozens, perhaps hundreds, of people long. It's like reading a technical manual of the entire program. There were awesome facts spread throughout, but it was a slog between each of them.
1 star for the readability. It's full of technical minutiae, a dizzying array of acronyms and a cast of characters dozens, perhaps hundreds, of people long. It's like reading a technical manual of the entire program. There were awesome facts spread throughout, but it was a slog between each of them.
October 19, 2022
Wow !!!
Lots of technical info, but intermingled in all of this is a story of epic accomplishments by ordinary people with vision, drive and a desire to succeed! Overall, I enjoyed it. Its just hard to put all of this in the 60's.
Lots of technical info, but intermingled in all of this is a story of epic accomplishments by ordinary people with vision, drive and a desire to succeed! Overall, I enjoyed it. Its just hard to put all of this in the 60's.
December 4, 2018
The best complete history of the Blackbirds from inception to retirement.
December 4, 2012
If there was ever anything you wanted to know about the SR-71, A-12, and YF-12 program, THIS is the book to get. The author starts with the basics; design, development, and specs and performance of the Blackbird family, and all kinds of other technical information that most folks outside of the small fraternity of "Habu" drivers wouldn't know about. He also dives into the operational history of these amazing aircraft, covering their deployments overseas to RAF Mildenhall and Kadena, Okinawa. And of course, first-hand accounts from pilots and RSOs, documenting some of the more interesting missions (and even the mundane ones). And like any aviation book, a nice selection of photos is scattered throughout the book, including a few amazing photos taken by the Blackbird during training and operational missions; amazing since they are crystal-clear, and were taken at Mach 3+, in excess of 80,000ft. This book is loaded with pics and information; indeed, it's the size of a small phone book. Despite that, any true fan of Kelly Johnson's crowning achievement during his tenure at Lockheed's famed "Skunk Works" should have this book in their library.
August 18, 2008
I bought this book for my little brother and ended up reading it myself. This book is heavy on acronyms and random names. One of the the things that I would have enjoyed is either a glossary or an acronym round-up to help me keep everything straight.
This book does a good job of including personal accounts of specific missions flown by actual Blackbird pilots. Most of these were very interesting. A few of the accounts are those where the crew returns safely to earth, but the plane does not.
It was interesting to get a small glimpse into the spy plane world, both American as well as Soviet.
Beware, this book reads like a textbook. I was almost expecting homework problems at the end of every chapter.
This book does a good job of including personal accounts of specific missions flown by actual Blackbird pilots. Most of these were very interesting. A few of the accounts are those where the crew returns safely to earth, but the plane does not.
It was interesting to get a small glimpse into the spy plane world, both American as well as Soviet.
Beware, this book reads like a textbook. I was almost expecting homework problems at the end of every chapter.
December 14, 2007
It flew several times the speed of sound.
It flew even faster than the Concorde
It flew even faster than the Concorde
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews