Download or read book A 12 Declassified The Lockheed A 12 Blackbird written by Joseph Ventolo, Jr and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2021-12 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a REVISED 60th Anniversary edition of the A-12 Classified -The Lockheed A-12 Blackbird. It is updated with new photos and text. The A-12 Blackbird was the first of the high-speed reconnaissance aircraft to enter the Cold War. It was kept a deep, dark secret until the aircraft started to appear in the early 1990s at a few aviation museums, No one knew anything about the birds, except that they looked like the SR-71, but they were far from that. The A-12 Blackbird was the fastest of the Blackbirds and flew clandestine missions over North Korea, and Vietnam. this is the first book ever on the secret aircraft with information gotten from 10 years of FOIAs and research never before covered.
Download or read book Lockheed s SR 71 Blackbird Family written by James Goodall and published by Midland. This book was released on 2002 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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. 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.
Download or read book Lockheed Blackbird written by Paul F. Crickmore and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2023-11-23 with total page 530 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The SR-71 Blackbird is an iconic aircraft that has come to symbolize America's technological superiority during the Cold War. Using recently declassified information, globally renowned expert Paul Crickmore updates his definitive account of the aircraft. The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird ranks as one of the most elegant, sleek and powerful aeroplanes ever designed. But it was not built to be admired – it was built not to be seen at all. The high-altitude aerial reconnaissance sorties it was to perform were top secret and carefully concealed from public knowledge. However, as the aircraft have become museum pieces and details of their work declassified, the whole story of their design and operation can finally be told. This updated edition of Paul Crickmore's classic Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond the Secret Missions is based on 850 pages of documentation and images declassified by the CIA covering the A-12 Oxcart programme. These highly significant documents range from discussions at the highest levels of the US government concerning the rationale for Oxcart's development and eventual deployment, to extremely detailed intelligence data gleaned from each of the 29 operational missions flown by Oxcart during Operation Black Shield. The Blackbird family of aircraft continue to fascinate a wide age group and, since the aircraft will never fly again, its history has become timeless. This new edition will provide the last word on the SR-71 Blackbird and its operational history.
Download or read book Lockheed Blackbird written by Paul F. Crickmore and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-11-17 with total page 894 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using previously unpublished information, globally renowned expert Paul Crickmore builds upon his definitive account of the SR-71 Blackbird, 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.
Download or read book Lockheed A 12 written by Paul F. Crickmore and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-01-20 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the early years of the Cold War, the most effective way to gather strategic intelligence about the Soviet Union and its allies was manned overflight. Lockheed's U-2 was spectacularly successful in this role, however, much to the concern of US President Eisenhower, its shape meant that it could be tracked on Russian radars. Given the highly sensitive nature of such flights, the President insisted that every effort should be made to reduce to zero the U-2's radar cross section (RCS), thereby making the aircraft invisible. When this was proven to be impossible, the stage was set for a U-2 replacement. Following a competition between Lockheed and Convair, the former was declared the winner and the result was the A-12. Designed to incorporate 'stealth' features before the term was even coined, the A-12 has to date proven to be the fastest, highest flying jet aircraft ever built. This book will also cover a two-seat variation of the design built as an advanced interceptor – the YF-12.
Download or read book A 12 Blackbird Declassified written by Jeannette Remak and published by Zenith Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 127 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At Mach 3.2, the A-12 Blackbird was the fastest aircraft in the world when it first flew in 1962. Four decades later, it still is. The A-12 was designed from the beginning to be a pure surveillance plane for the CIA, capable of shooting nothing but high-resolution film. It excelled in that role, although some details of its performance and missions remain classified. Now, using CIA connections and a lot of persistence, the authors used the Freedom of Information Act to unveil and declassify much of the information found in this book. Find out why the SR-71 was chosen as the successor to the A-12, and learn about the previously top-secret capabilities and missions these aircraft accomplished.
Download or read book From Archangel to Senior Crown written by Peter W. Merlin and published by AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics). This book was released on 2008 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 to the Senior Crown (the Air Force's SR-71.) He describes in detail the construction and materials challenges faced by Lockheed, as well as the Blackbird's performance characteristics and capabilities.A NASA historian, the author describes NASA's role in using the aircraft as a flying laboratory to collect data on materials, structures, loads, heating, aerodynamics, and performance for high-speed aircraft. The reader will benefit from the technical and programmatic lessons learned.This volume was produced in cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Download or read book Lockheed Blackbird Family written by Tony R. Landis and published by . This book was released on 2012-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The photos in this edition are black and white. Still the world's most popular and most exciting aircraft, the Lockheed family of A-12, YF-12, D-21/M-21, and SR-71 Blackbirds are to this day the highest-performance jet-powered airplanes ever flown. They have set numerous world speed and altitude records for manned aircraft powered by air-breathing engines that theoretically may never be broken. Although no longer operational, A-12s and SR-71s flew for nearly three decades at speeds in excess of Mach 3 and altitudes of up to 90,000 feet. Expanding on the successful sales of all Specialty Press Blackbird publications is this natural extension of our product line created by compiling many never-before-published photos coupled with new de-classified information recently released by the CIA, including black-and-white of A-12 cockpits, early camera installations, and never-before-seen special camouflage schemes. The photos in this edition are black and white.
Download or read book Archangel written by David Scott Robarge and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 2007 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Table of Contents: From Drawing Board to Factory Floor; Lockheed's Aviation Genius; Breaking Through Technological Barriers; Full Stress Testing; Hiding OXCART in Plain Sight; Finding a Mission; A Futile Fight for Survival; References; A-12 Schematic; Timeline of OXCART Milestones; Inventory of A-12s; BLACK SHIELD Missions; The OXCART Family; Bibliography.
Download or read book SR 71 written by Richard H. Graham and published by Zenith Press. This book was released on 2013-05-12 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the history of the reconnaissance plane, discussing its development, manufacture, and active service from an insider prespective.
Download or read book CIA Project Oxcart Area 51 written by Td Barnes and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2018-04-30 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Selecting a remote place called Are 51 in Nevada and beneath a shroud of secrecy, the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, first flew the U-2, the Angel, knowing at the time that the Russians would most likely shoot it down within 18 months. To Replace the U-2, the CIA engaged the Lockheed Aircraft Company at its Skunk Works in California to build America's first stealth-designed plane, using the slide rule to produce what today remains the highest flying and fastest manned, air breathing aircraft ever flown, the A-12 Archangel. The Agency named it the Oxcart, the first of a family of four Blackbird, Mach 3 planes. At Area 51, the CIA flew the Oxcart on 2,850 sorties across the United States, some faster than a rifle bullet and up to 90,000 feet that remained unknown to the world for decades to come. Now, after 50 years the story can be told about the CiA'S Project OXCART at Area 51.
Download or read book The Complete Book of the SR 71 Blackbird written by Richard H. Graham and published by Quarto Publishing Group USA. This book was released on 2015-10-26 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ultimate guide to the history, development, manufacture, modification, and active service of all fifty models in the SR-71 program. At the height of the Cold War in 1964, President Johnson announced a new aircraft dedicated to strategic reconnaissance. The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird spy plane flew more than three-and-a-half times the speed of sound—so fast that no other aircraft could catch it. Above 80,000 feet, its pilots had to wear full-pressure flight suits similar to what was used aboard the space shuttle. Developed by the renowned Lockheed Skunk Works, the SR-71 was an awesome aircraft in every respect. It was withdrawn from use in 1998, when it was superseded by satellite technology. Twelve of the thirty-two aircraft were destroyed in accidents, but none were ever lost to enemy action. Throughout its thirty-four-year career, the SR-71 was the world’s fastest and highest-flying operational manned aircraft. It set world records for altitude and speed: an absolute altitude record of 85,069 feet and an absolute speed record of 2,193.2 miles per hour. The Complete Book of the SR-71 Blackbird covers every aspect of the SR-71’s development, manufacture, modification, and active service from the insider’s perspective of one of its pilots and is lavishly illustrated with more than 400 photos. Former pilot and author Richard Graham also examines each of the fifty planes that came out the SR-71 program (fifteen A-12s; three YF-12s; and thirty-two SR-71s) and tells each plane’s history, its unique specifications, and where each currently resides.
Download or read book The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance written by Gregory Pedlow and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-03-15 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The CIA’s 2013 release of its book The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance 1954–1974 is a fascinating and important historical document. It contains a significant amount of newly declassified material with respect to the U-2 and Oxcart programs, including names of pilots; codenames and cryptonyms; locations, funding, and cover arrangements; electronic countermeasures equipment; cooperation with foreign governments; and overflights of the Soviet Union, Cuba, China, and other countries. Originally published with a Secret/No Foreign Dissemination classification, this detailed study describes not only the program’s technological and bureaucratic aspects, but also its political and international context, including the difficult choices faced by President Eisenhower in authorizing overflights of the Soviet Union and the controversy surrounding the shoot down there of U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers in 1960. The authors discuss the origins of the U-2, its top-secret testing, its specially designed high-altitude cameras and complex life-support systems, and even the possible use of poison capsules by its pilots, if captured. They call attention to the crucial importance of the U-2 in the gathering of strategic and tactical intelligence, as well as the controversies that the program unleashed. Finally, they discuss the CIA’s development of a successor to the U-2, the Oxcart, which became the world’s most technologically advanced aircraft. For the first time, the more complete 2013 release of this historical text is available in a professionally typeset format, supplemented with higher quality photographs that will bring alive these incredible aircraft and the story of their development and use by the CIA. This edition also includes a new preface by author Gregory W. Pedlow and a foreword by Chris Pocock. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Download or read book Archangel written by David Scott Robarge and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book SR 71 Blackbird written by Paul F. Crickmore and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-05-19 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lockheed's SR-71 Blackbird is one of the most iconic and famous jets ever built. Assembled in secret at Lockheed's Skunkworks, the Blackbird's vital statistics remain phenomenal decades later. It holds the airspeed record for a manned jet aircraft, operated at an altitude other aircraft could barely touch and was a marvel of technical engineering. Drawing on declassified material, leading SR-71 expert Paul Crickmore reveals the history of the most fascinating of aircraft, accompanied by a range of fantastic illustrations, photographs and facts about the world's most secret spy plane.
Download or read book Lockheed A 12 written by Paul F. Crickmore and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 2014-01-21 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the early years of the Cold War, the most effective way to gather strategic intelligence about the Soviet Union and its allies was manned overflight. Lockheed's U-2 was spectacularly successful in this role. Much to the concern of President Eisenhower, its shape meant that it could be tracked on Russian radars. Given the highly sensitive nature of such flights, the President insisted that every effort should be made to reduce to zero the U-2's radar cross section (RCS), thereby making the aircraft "invisible." When this was proven to be impossible, the stage was set for a U-2 replacement. Following a competition between Lockheed and Convair, the former was declared the winner and the result was the A-12. Designed to incorporate 'stealth' features before the term was even coined, the A-12 has to date proven to be the fastest, highest flying jet aircraft ever built, and is operated exclusively by the Central Intelligence Agency. This book will also cover a two-seat variation of the design built as an advanced interceptor - the YF-12. In addition, the D-21 drone programme, known as Tagboard will also be covered.
Download or read book Lockheed SR 71 Blackbird written by Paul F. Crickmore and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-06-20 with total page 65 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The SR-71 represents the very pinnacle of Cold War aircraft design and it has become an aviation icon. Together with its predecessor, the A-12, the Blackbird was a giant leap into the technical unknown and the design employed many forms of new technology made necessary by the excesses of speed, altitude and temperature to which the aircraft was subjected. Throughout its 34-year Air Force career, the SR-71 proved itself to be the world's fastest and highest flying operational manned aircraft. It set a number of world records for altitude and speed, including an absolute altitude record of 85,069ft on 28 July 1974, and an absolute speed record of 2,193.2mph the same day. This truly was a unique and ground-breaking aircraft, whose fascinating design history is explored here in full and illuminated with photographs and detailed technical illustrations.
