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Specialty Press |
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Lockheed’s
SR-71 “Blackbird” Family By James Goodall and Jay Miller Reviewed By Clarence Wentzel, #11478 |
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The family of “Blackbird” aircraft from Lockheed’s famous “Skunk Works” has intrigued modelers and aviation enthusiasts for decades. These aircraft, which were designed in the late 50’s, established records that have not yet been officially surpassed. How could a small, dedicated group of engineers, using computers with probably less power than the average wrist watch, design and develop such magnificent aircraft? Over the years, since the release of these aircraft, a number of books have been written trying to cover the Blackbird story. Early books did a reasonable job but much of the information on this program remained secret and the books were limited in format. This latest book on the Blackbird brings together two renowned authors who have a deep respect and affection for the Lockheed Blackbird. Jay Miller is a leading aerospace author and has been seen on the History Channel and similar programs. His first Aerofax Minigraph, published in 1985 covered the Lockheed SR-71. Jim Goodall is also a recognized SR-71 expert. He authored the Squadron Signal “SR-71 Blackbird” book in 1995 and currently lives in Washington state. He has been involved with SR-71 display aircraft in several museums. What makes this new book so special? For one, it’s larger format, comprising 128 pages. This gives the authors much more space to completely cover the predecessors of the SR-71 plus it allows space for lots of additional new photos. It can be considered as the reference on this famous family of aircraft. Details are provided on every individual aircraft that have been produced in this series. The book starts with coverage of all of the studies that were undertaken in the development of a Mach 3 configuration. The “Suntan” program, which would have utilized liquid hydrogen as a fuel is covered in detail. Some of the CL-400 “Suntan” proposals were very impressive – twice the length of a B-52. The coverage includes a number of competing designs such as the General Dynamics “Fish” and “Kingfish”. The eleven Lockheed proposals that proceeded the A-12 are covered so that the reader is able to follow the thought processes and advances in technology that let to the A-12/SR-71 family. Drawings, photos of wind tunnel models and even sketches by “Kelly” Johnson combine to illustrate this part of the book. The majority of the book is devoted to development, implementation and operational career of the Blackbird family taking advantage of a large amount of recently declassified information. Photos and drawings cover different models and the different packages carried as well as engine developments etc. Drawings of the various camera, radar and reconnaissance packages, including the “Big Tail” proposal are included. One chapter covers Aircraft Histories, Chronologies, Dispositions, Personnel, etc. Anyone wanting to find out details of any of the individual aircraft of the A-12, M/D-21 and SR-71 series can find it here. A great reference for the aviation historian. Some modelers may be slightly disappointed in this book. It does not have all of the typical “walk-around” close-up photos of landing gear and wheel wells but the information is there and can be found by looking carefully at the photos. I was impressed with the way that the outer wing panel folds upward with the outboard engine cowling to change engines. That will make an interesting diorama for enterprising modeler. In conclusion, I found this book to be a complete, interesting and easy to read reference on the entire Blackbird family. Well recommended for all modelers and history enthusiasts. A big thank you to Specialty Press for providing this book for review. Note - The only error that I found in the book related to the SR-71B (61-7956/Article 2007) trainer. It is stated that this aircraft is on display at Kennedy AFS, Cape Canaveral, FL. As of March 29, 2003 this aircraft will be on display at the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum in Kalamazoo, MI. Available from Specialty Press, 39966 Grand Ave. North Branch, MN 55056. Cost - $24.95 plus $4.95 shipping. Toll Free number 800-895-4585. |
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