 X-Plane Crashes: Exploring Experimental, Rocket Plane & Spycraft Incidents, Accidents & Crash Sites by Peter W. Merlin and Tony Moore
Known as "The X-Hunters", authors Peter W. Merlin and Tony Moore have located more than 100 crash sites of exotic aircraft from Edwards Air Force Base and Area 51. Together, they have recovered parts of supersonic rocket planes, stealthy spy craft, and vehicles that have reached the edge of space. Each story in the book profiles an unusual aircraft and the brave men who flew them. The authors examine the contributing causes of each crash and use then-and-now photographs to illustrate their findings. The stories end with The X-Hunters' search for the crash site and what they discovered. Each adventure combines C.S.I.-type skills with X-Files persistence, with a dash of Indiana Jones for adventure. Aircraft profiled include the YB-49 and a pair of N9M flying wings, X-1A, X-1D, VB-51, XB-70, SR-71, YF-12, U-2 prototype, and many more.
Hardcover, 160 pages (October 15, 2008): $24.05 |
 The Smell Of Kerosene: A Test Pilot's Odyssey by Donald L. Mallick with Peter W. Merlin
The Smell of Kerosene tells the dramatic story of a NASA research pilot who logged over 11,000 flight hours in more than 125 types of aircraft. Donald Mallick gives the reader fascinating first-hand descriptions of his early naval flight training, carrier operations, and his research flying career with NASA and its predecessor agency, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA).
This book puts the reader in the pilot’s seat for a "day at the office" unlike any other.
Paperback, 252 pages (January 30, 2005): $29.95 |
 From Archangel to Senior Crown: Design and Development of the Blackbird by Peter W. Merlin
The Lockheed Blackbirds hold a unique place in the development of aeronautics. In their day, the A-12, YF-12, M-21, D-21, and SR-71 variants outperformed all other jet airplanes in terms of altitude and speed. Now retired, they remain the only production aircraft capable of sustained Mach 3 cruise and operational altitudes above 80,000 feet.
This is the first book to address the technical aspects of these incredible aircraft. The author describes the design evolution of the Blackbird, from the Archangel study that produced the A-12 to the final variant - the SR-71 - under Project Senior Crown. The book includes chapters on the construction and materials challenges faced by Lockheed, performance characteristics and capabilities of the aircraft, use of several Blackbirds as research platforms, as well as technical and programmatic lessons learned.
The book is accompanied by a CD of supplementary materials including flight manuals for the A-12, YF-12A, and SR-71; reports on Archangel design studies, aircraft specifications, and Lockheed Skunk Works operations, an SR-71 User's Handbook, numerous photos, and several videos. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2008.
Paperback, 200 pages (February 28, 2008): $34.15 |
 50 Years of the U-2: The Complete Illustrated History of the "Dragon Lady" by Chris Pocock
When the U-2 first took off in 1955, no one involved in its top-secret project dreamt that this unique reconnaissance aircraft would still be flying today. The long story of the Dragon Lady is amazing, and complex; this book tells it all, in unprecedented detail, from the early days overflying the Soviet Union under CIA sponsorship, to the Cuban Missile Crisis, and on to the Vietnam War. The epic missions over Communist China were flown by nationalist pilots from Taiwan. How the U-2 was improved, enlarged and put back into production - twice. It led the real-time recce revolution with data links and high-tech sensors. Then it played a key role in Desert Storm, over Bosnia and Kosovo, and most recently over Afghanistan and Iraq. According to the CIA's own historian, Chris Pocock is the foremost authority on the U-2. To write this book, he flew in the aircraft, conducted 250 interviews, and analysed more than 1,000 declassified documents.
Hardcover, 440 pages (September 30, 2005): $44.07 |
 America's Stealth Fighters and Bombers by James C. Goodall
Up-to-date information on all of America's stealth fighters and bombers. This book includes the F-117, B-2, YF-22, and the YF-23, with lots of color photos, including some taken at the Groom Lake Base.
Paperback (September 1992): $15.36 |
 Jane's How to Fly and Fight in the F-117a Stealth Fighter by Jon Lake
Take command of the most technically advanced fighter ever created with this lavishly illustrated volume from Jane's, the world's #1 authority on military aircraft. Jane's puts readers into the cockpit of the most advanced military aircraft in history, the F-117 Nighthawk, dubbed the "Stealth Bomber." The book includes a 30-inch foldout section showing the cockpit layout, technical details, and much more. 120 illustrations. 30 color photos.
Hardcover (December 1997): (out of print, used available) |
 Skunk Works : A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed by Ben R. Rich and Leo Janos
The U-2, the stealth fighter, and the Blackbird are all products of Lockheed, or, more specifically, the company's Skunk Works--probably the first example of corporate TQM in the U.S. Rich, the second executive to head this highly classified aerospace division, now recounts tales of his predecessor, Kelly Johnson, including employees' eccentricities and the perils and pleasures of working for the U.S. military establishment. Even for those not fascinated with aerospace, the building of these planes is intriguing as he details the secret missions and machinations of the CIA, Operation Desert Storm, and the like. Written in a down-home style and interspersed with "other voices" ranging from test pilots to Carter's national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski.
Paperback (February 1996): $12.16 |
 Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works by Jay Miller
Updated and revised edition written with the total cooperation of Lockheed's Advanced Development Company, this is the most definitive history of this renowned aircraft design and production facility.
Included are excerpts from "logs" kept by Clarence. L "Kelly" Johnson--founder and former director of the Skunk Works--and others describing the day-to-day activities inside the facility, along with the trials and tribulations of individual aircraft programs.
Readers will learn the official histories of such noteworthy products as the U-2, A-12, D-21, SR-71, and F-117, as well as the P-80, RB-69, Saturn, Constitution, T-33, F-94, XF-90, X-7, and more. Production quantities, serial numbers, Lockheed build numbers, and other related facts and figures are included.
Paperback (March 1996): $20.96 |
 Sr-71 Revealed : The Inside Story by Richard H. Graham
From its top-secret roots with the CIA in the 1960s to its 1995 reactivation into the Air Force, the SR-71 Blackbird is undoubtedly on of the most incredible aircraft in the history of aviation. Once shrouded in secrecy, many of the details of this spy plane and the program surrounding it have now been declassified.
Author, Colonel (ret) Richard Graham's insight and understanding of the SR-71 comes from the seven years he spent as an SR-71 pilot; and later years as an SR-71 instructor. He combines his perspectives from the cockpit and the office to tell the SR-71 story with an understanding held only by the program's insiders.
"SR-71 Revealed" is packed with first-hand stories from the author and his fellow crewmembers as they tell not only about their incredible missions flying the SR-71, but how the crews were selected and trained, how the aircraft operates, how the program was run, and the details of their everyday lives. Later, during his years at the Pentagon, the author relates his experiences and knowledge of the political battles surrounding the aircraft's retirement and the decision to reactivate it.
Paperback (May 1996): $13.56 |
 Lockheed's Sr-71 'Blackbird' Family: A-12, F-12, M-21, D-21, Sr-71 by Jim Goodall and Jay Miller
The Lockheed 'Blackbird' aircraft family is arguably the most famous in the world. Developed for the USAF as reconnaissance aircraft nearly 40 years ago, SR-71s remained the world's fastest and highest-flying production aircraft throughout their operational existence. Though only 50 SR-71s were built, everything about them was unique, awe-inspiring, and enigmatic. Today, four decades after the first flight of the first A-12, details of the 'Blackbird' story are still emerging and there is seemingly endless demand from the public for new material.
The authors have teamed up to create what amounts to the most detailed history of these incredible aircraft ever published. For the first time, the stories of the development program, the General Dynamics "Kingfish" competition, the M-21 and D-21 effort, the F-12 saga, and the operational history of the A-12 and SR-71 under the auspices of the CIA and the Air Force are all covered in detail.
Paperback (February 2003): $17.47 |
 Spyplane : The U-2 History by Norman Polmar
The inner workings and heavily censored history of the U-2 spyplane are revealed in this informative design, development, and operational history from 1954.
Originating from a conference held by the CIA in Sep.of 1999, this book discusses U-2 operations by China and Britain, missions from aircraft carriers, today's flights over the Balkans and Iraq, and NASA's U-2 involvement. Appendices list all U-2s and their loss or display status.
Hardcover (March 2001): $15.36 |
 F-22 Raptor by Bill Sweetman
From a rearder's review: Highly recommended for those interested in modern aviation. Well written, with good photography, this book covers background and development, the YF-22 and -23 prototype competition, and the production F-22. I particularly liked the coverage of the advanced tactical fighter prosposals from other manufacturers, and the detailed differences between the prototype and production models.
Paperback (April 1998): $11.96 |
 Jane's How to Fly and Fight in the Mikoyan Mig-29 Fulcrum by Jon Lake
Continuing the successful At the Controls Series, Jane's military hardware experts look at the excellent all-weather MiG-29 fighter, mainstay of the former Soviet air force. Simple, cheap, and reliable, the MiG-29 became its nation's frontline fighter, a job it has performed remarkably well for a decade. Special 30" full-color foldout details the MiG-29's instrumentation, capabilities, and tactics. 150 illustrations.
Paperback (June 1998): $18.00 |
 The CIA's Greatest Covert Operation: Inside the Daring Mission to Recover a Nuclear-Armed Soviet Sub by David H. Sharp
March 1968: three miles below the stormy surface of the North Pacific, a Soviet submarine lay silent as a tomb-its crew dead, its payload of nuclear missiles, once directed toward strategic targets in Hawaii, inoperable. No longer a real threat, the sub still presented an alluring target and it was not long before the CIA answered its siren call--even at the risk of igniting World War III.
Paperback, 344 pages, 59 photographs, 6 x 9: $20.60 |
Black Jets: The Development and Operation of America's Most Secret Warplanes by David Donald
Aurora : The Pentagon's Secret Hypersonic Spyplane by Bill Sweetman
Dark Eagles by Curtis Peebles