Ben R. Rich (1925–1995)

I was lent this book by a work colleague and by the time I got it, it had been read by quite a few people. Everyone said it was a good read and it helps that working on aircraft we have an appreciation for some of the more technical things mentioned in the book.

The book is written by Ben Rich, the one time boss of Skunkworks, a secretive aircraft builder which was a part of Lockheed. The book mainly covers the development of the SR-71 Blackbird, U2 Spy Plane and F-117 Nighthawk. All three were huge leaps forward in technology and being able to see what went on behind the scenes is great. Fortunately the technological detail is kept at a level which will appeal to everyone. From an engineering point of view I probably have a bit of a better appreciation of some of the problems they faced that others would not but it still remains very readable and easy to understand.

It is not all about the technical detail either, there is a lot coverage given to the government situation they had to deal with. In the early days they had far less intrusion from the end user than they faced in the later days. Some of this was probably down to the fact that the CIA were the agency involved with the U2 and although they knew what they wanted they didn't have any technical specialist on board. In later times the USAF were involved and they had very knowledgeable engineers and designers themselves.

The most interesting part of the books for me was how the projects tied in with the cold war. The fact that the SR-71 was tracked by the USSR but they could not shoot it down was something I never knew about. The SR-71 simply flew far too high for them to intercept.

The only downside to the book is that Ben Rich can get very preachy at times. The final few chapters he deals with how money can be saved by the defense industry and how aviation companies should be run. Although some of the points are very valid, many of them consist of any government or defense official not being involved in any way. This is something that is just not possible in the modern aviation industry. He also rarely mentions any merit in the design of any of their competitors, both domestically and from the USSR. The Su-27 in particular is never mentioned despite the fact that it remains one of the most agile aircraft ever built.

Anyone having an interest in aviation, the cold war or engineering will find this book to be a good read.… (mehr)