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    Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed
    Unavailable
    Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed
    Unavailable
    Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed
    Audiobook12 hours

    Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed

    Written by Ben R. Rich and Leo Janos

    Narrated by Pete Larkin

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    From the development of the U-2 to the Stealth fighter, the never-before-told story behind America's high-stakes quest to dominate the skies Skunk Works is the true story of America's most secret and successful aerospace operation. As recounted by Ben Rich, the operation's brilliant boss for nearly two decades, the chronicle of Lockheed's legendary Skunk Works is a drama of cold war confrontations and Gulf War air combat, of extraordinary feats of engineering and human achievement against fantastic odds. Here are up-close portraits of the maverick band of scientists and engineers who made the Skunk Works so renowned. Filled with telling personal anecdotes and high adventure, with narratives from the CIA and from Air Force pilots who flew the many classified, risky missions, this book is a riveting portrait of the most spectacular aviation triumphs of the twentieth century.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateJul 14, 2015
    ISBN9781478907183
    Unavailable
    Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed

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    Reviews for Skunk Works

    4/5

    139 ratings11 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Five stars. Admittedly I am an aviation fan and a scientist so this book kept me captivated throughout. But it covers a lot of ground - an autobiography of Ben Rich and biography of Kelly Johnson of the famed Skunk Works secret development arm of Lockheed; details of the incredibly complex problems overcome in building the SR-71 Blackbird and F-117A stealth fighter; insights into the political and military issues of the time; and a portrait of how incredibly efficiently Skunk Works operated and how terribly dysfunctional our military development system has become. Laced with comments from top level officials, pilots and military officers, the book offers readers at least a glimpse into the world of the cold war era and the solutions the U.S. was able to use to solve problems of espionage.
    • 5/5
      Great read on the development of the U-2, SR-71, and other projects. A truly remarkable group.
    • 4/5
      I picked up this book because I thought it might contain some background for part of my Air Force career--it did. Several of the other voices used by the author were people with whom I have worked. That technique worked well--until the end. In the 8+ hour book, nearly 1.5 hours was spent back patting and proselytizing for manned versus satellite reconnaissance. That's where I got bored and departed. The book was fascinating and documented the personal and professional lives of Kelly Johnson and Ben Rich. The book is at once, biography, military history and engineering...done pretty well.
    • 5/5
      Amazing book. A must read book to all aeronautical folks. A lot of interesting details about Skunkworks and its founders.
    • 5/5
      As its name implies this book is about the skunk works, a small R&D shop with small capacity manufacturing which developed, described in this book, the u2, the blackbird and the stealth fighter. It's split about ten thirty and thirty about those three planes, the remainder being general info about the plant and people and gov' as well as some testimonials from some very relevant and high placed individuals.
    • 5/5
      This is the book that every engineer should read, the sooner the better. And by engineers I also mean engineers who manage engineering departments that are focused on advanced Research & Development (R&D) projects. This book may mainly be related to aerospace / military history but the lessons to be learned, both in engineering and management, apply to many other fields. Those lessons are invaluable, timeless and straight to the point. It is a pity that many organizations are well beyond the point to turn back and consider those lessons seriously to make a difference and real impact.
    • 5/5
      A great book, one of the best that I have read in a long, long time! This book covers so much material. It is a history of the famous Lockheed Skunk Works and its military and spy aircraft. It is also the history of the technology and business practice behind those projects. The book is an autobiography of author Ben Rich and a biography of the Skunk Works creator Kelly Johnson. While covering much material the book is easy to read and follow. I found the book spoke to me in many different ways. I loved the behind the scenes look at top secret aircraft and a look at the technology that made it work. The business man in me enjoyed that way they included the business side of making it all work out. But the think I enjoyed most was the personal interactions between the author Ben and his mentor Kelly Johnson. By the end of the book I can truly say that I had feelings for both of these men and their determination! The book ends on a sad note with me realizing that I will never be able to meet either man. However, the Skunk Works lives on, and through it, Ben and Kelly are still flying high!
    • 4/5
      It's been some time since I read a business memoir. I'm not even sure where I first heard of this book since it was written in 1994. The Skunk Works at Lockheed is legendary in airplane circles. They designed and produced the P-80, F-104 Starfighter, U-2, SR-71 Blackbird, and the F-117A stealth fighter, which some consider the butt-ugliest plane ever built. . The SR-71 was about the baddest bad-ass plane ever produced. It was retired in 1990 and still holds many flight records. Skunk Works is written in an anecdotal fashion and is entertaining reading. It is not an in depth look at the whys and hows of military procurement but it does touch on this area. It also portrays Kelly Johnson who started and ran Skunk Works as a personal fiefdom. Rich took over when Johnson reached mandatory retirement age and had pissed off way too many generals by referring to them as idiots. It also includes little pieces written by test pilots, military pilots, Pentagon officials, political figures, and engineers. It includes a bit of everything related to these planes.
    • 4/5
      This book had me excited to find out more from front to back. The story of all the happenings of skunk works was fascinating, however the format was frustrating. I enjoyed his writing, but the constantly wavering timeline became frustrating half way through. As annoying as the structure was, it did not kill the book. Finding out the story of all these legendary planes was well worth the read.
    • 5/5
      Exceptionally entertaining and enlightening.
    • 4/5
      This book was an easy read that was quite captivating. Rich's pride in Skunk Works' products is evident, but so isn't his bias as he discusses projects that they didn't win. You really feel like an insider when reading this book as you learn many details that have probably been classified for many years.