75 years of the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works
Ebook
Ebooks are designed for reading and have few connections to your library.
Overview
This pictorial journey takes the reader from the very beginning of the Skunk Works’ very first project (XP-80 Shooting Star) and follows the programme through prototype build-up, first flight and, if they reached the frontline, operational service.
The Lockheed Martin Skunk Works was founded in the summer of 1943 to develop a jet-powered high-altitude interceptor for the USAAF, and ever since it has been at the forefront of technological development in the world of aviation. From the XP-80 to the U-2, SR-71, F-117, F-22 and now the F-35, the Skunk Works team has designed aircraft that are the pinnacle of innovation and performance.
75 years of the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works takes us through the history of this legendary facility from its foundation at the height of World War II under the talented engineer, Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, through to the present day. Illustrated with over a thousand photographs and drawings, it details the 46 unclassified programmes developed by the Skunk Works, following them through prototype build-up, first flight and, if they reached the frontline, operational service.
This pictorial journey takes the reader from the very beginning of the Skunk Works’ very first project (XP-80 Shooting Star) and follows the programme through prototype build-up, first flight and, if they reached the frontline, operational service.
This is the definitive illustrated history of Lockheed Martin’s famous Skunk Works facility that has produced so many of the most distinctive aircraft of the 20th and 21st centuries, from the XP-80 Shooting Star to the F-35 Lightning.
This book is being produced with Lockheed Martin and contains over a thousand images from their archives and other sources, a large proportion of which have never been published in print before.
James Goodall has spent 35 years writing on this subject and 75 years of the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works is the culmination of that work, presenting such innovative aircraft as the U-2 and Sr-71 Blackbird in a whole new light.
Dedication
Foreword
Introduction
XP-80 - Shooting Star - 1944
XF-90 - Penetration Fighter - 1949
X-7, X-17 - 1951, 1955
YC-130 - Hercules - 1954
XVF - Salmon - 1954
XF-104 Starfighter - 1954
U-2A-G - Dragon Lady - 1955
Jet Star L-329 - 1957
SST L-2000 - 1958
XV-4 - Hummingbird - 1962
CL-400 Suntan - 1962
A-12 - Oxcart - 1962
YF-12A - Kindle - 1963
D-21 - Tagboard/Senior Bowl - 1964
M-21 Tagboard - 1964
SR-71A - Senior Crown - 1964
X-26 - Frigate - 1967
AH-56A Cheyenne - 1967
U-2R Dragon Lady - 1967
X-27 - Lancer - 1970
YO-3A - Quiet Star - 1971
X-24C - L-301 - 1977
XST - Have Blue - 1977
Senior Peg - 1978
Senior Prom ATCM -1980
YF-117A - Senior Trend - 1981
YF-22 - ATF - 1990
Sea Shadow - IX-529 - 1985
X-35 JST - 1989
X-33 - Venturestar - 1990
RQ-3 - Dark Star - 1996
X-44A - MANTA - 2001
Desert Hawk - 2003
P-175 Pole Cat - 2005
Cormorant - 2006
P-791 - 2006
RQ-170 - Sentinel - 2007
X-55A - ACCA - 2009
HTV-2 - 2010
RATTLRS - 2010
X-56A - 2013
Sea Ghost - 2013
X-59 QUESST - 2016
Compact Fusion - 2019
SR-72 - 2030
Future Thoughts and Paper Airplanes
Skunk Works Leadership Biographies
Acknowledgments
Index
With superb production design, endless behind the scenes photography, this is a real coffee table book for aviation lovers.
This is an indispensable reference for any aviation enthusiast.
- Title: 75 years of the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works
- Author: James C. Goodall
- Publisher: Osprey Publishing
- Print Publication Date: 2021
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Pages: 384
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781472846488, 1472846486
- Resource ID: LLS:9781472846488
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-22T14:06:02Z
James C. Goodall is a published author with 24 books in print, and with book No 25 (a pictorial history of the Seawolf/Virginia class nuclear submarines) in the final stages of going to press. He is a recognised expert on low-observable aircraft such as the F-117, B-2A, the Lockheed 'twins' (F-22 and F-35) and the Lockheed Skunk Works family of Blackbirds. Photographing and writing about 'spooky aircraft' for the last 35 years, he is also an acknowledged expert on Area 51 as it pertains to flight-testing classified aircraft in a remote location. His very first book, co-authored with Bill Sweetman, was the first volume in print on the F-117, and it sold more than 60,000 copies. James's seven previous books with SquadronSignal have sold a minimum of 3500 copies to a maximum of 17,000 copies. Even the $100US Blackbird Flight Manual that was published by Motorbooks in 1990 sold 1500 copies in 15 months. His Blackbird pictorial from Schiffer (published in May 2018) is considered by many in the 'Spooky aircraft' world to be the most complete pictorial ever assembled on the subject. The new Vice President and General Manager of the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, Jeff Babione, described it as 'Spectacular'.