Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird: książki - historia

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.

Contents: Introduction - Design and Development - Technical Specifications and Variants - Operational History - Conclusion - Bibliography and Further Reading.

First employed in the Far East over North Vietnam and North Korea, American military intelligence quickly realized the SR-71 'Blackbird's' potential value over European targets. In 1976, SR-71 Detachment 4 commenced operations from the RAF base at Middenhall in the UK. Its mission was to monitor Warsaw Pact troop movements along the Iron Curtain and photograph the various ports that were home to the Soviet Union's nuclear submarine fleet. Despite the best efforts of the USSR, they were never able to intercept a 'Blackbird' in flight.

Contents: Non-deployment - Squaring up to the Soviet threat - Operation El Dorado Canyon - Shutdown - Appendices.

Even before the first operational flight of the U-2 spy plane, aircraft designers began work on the type's replacement. The result was the SR-71. First deployed on March 9, 1968, this tri-sonic 'hotrod' flew its first operational sortie over North Vietnam just 12 days later. Thereafter, the SR-71 roamed freely, capturing photographic, radar and electronic intelligence.

This book examines the impact this aircraft had, not only on North Vietnam but during the Cold War as a whole, gathering information about the Soviet nuclear submarine fleet based in Vladivostok as well as the port's defenses, monitoring the actions of North Korea and flying four 11-hour, non-stop sorties into the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq War in the late 1980s.

Contents: Black Shield & Giant Reach - The War Intensifies - North Korea - Back in the USSR - Flights to the Middle East - Appendices.

Created by Lockheed's brilliant designer Kelly Johnson, the SR-71 was one of the most legendary aircraft to emerge from the "Skunk Works". Capable of Mach 3 flight, the SR-71 could survey 100,000 miles of the earth's surface from an altitude of 80,000 feet.

The Blackbird holds the coast-to-coast speed record of 64 minutes flown at over 2100 m.p.h. It was also one of the first aircraft to be shaped in such a way as to have a very low radar signature.
Originally created for the elite group of men who drove "the sled", this handbook provides a revealing look into the cockpit of one of history's great planes.

Just recently declassified, this book contains all the basic pilot's instructions for the SR-71 and two-seat training model. This affordable facsimile has been reformatted, but care has been taken to preserve the integrity of the text. Please note, some pages are still classified and have been omitted.

Created by Lockheed's brilliant designer Kelly Johnson, the SR-71 was one of the most legendary aircraft to emerge from the "Skunk Works". Capable of Mach 3 flight, the SR-71 could survey 100,000 miles of the earth's surface from an altitude of 80,000 feet.
The Blackbird holds the coast-to-coast speed record of 64 minutes flown at over 2100 m.p.h. It was also one of the first aircraft to be shaped in such a way as to have a very low radar signature. Originally created for the elite group of men who drove "the sled", this handbook provides a revealing look into the cockpit of one of history's great planes.
Just recently declassified, this book contains all the basic pilot's instructions for the SR-71 and two-seat training model. This affordable facsimile has been reformatted, but care has been taken to preserve the integrity of the text. Please note, some pages are still classified and have been omitted.