Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed - читать бесплатно онлайн полную версию книги автора Ben R. Rich (PHOTOS) #19

PHOTOS

^{The Stealth fighter being loaded with laser-guided bombs at its Saudi Arabian air base during Operation Desert Storm. (Lockheed)}

^{The first production Stealth fighter at the Skunk Works assembly plant in 1980. (Lockheed)}

^{Stealth fighter rolling out of its hangar at its secret base on the Nevada desert on the Tonapah Test Range. (Denny Lombard and Eric Schulzinger)}

^{A pair of Stealth fighters preparing for takeoff at their Tonapah base on the Nevada desert. (Eric Schulzinger)}

^{Colonel Al Whitley, Stealth wing commander. Photo was taken at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, on April 1, 1995, after his return from Saudi Arabia. (Eric Schulzinger)}

^{Model of the Stealth fighter undergoing radar testing at White Sands, New Mexico. The test results were so spectacular that the Air Force tamped on the tightest security lid since the atomic bomb. (U.S. Air Force)}

^{Skunk Works crew celebrates the first successful test flight of the Stealth fighter on June 18, 1981. Ben Rich is sixth from the right in the third row (to the left of man in dark T-shirt). (Skunk Works)}

^{U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers, who worked as a Skunk Works test pilot following his release from Soviet prison. (Lockheed)}

^{Four downed Taiwanese U-2s on display in Peking public park in 1966. (Life Magazine)}

^{A U-2R being assembled at Palmdale (Plant 42, Site 7) in the late 1960s. (Lockheed)}

^{U-2 spy plane. (Lockheed)}

^{CIA pilot Marty Knutson’s revealing 1957 photo of snowy Engles Airfield showing squadron of long-range Russian Bison bombers. (Central Imaging Office)}

^{U-2 photo showing Soviet equipment at Cuba airfield during the Cuban missile crisis. (Central Imaging Office)}

^{U-2 Nicaraguan overflight ordered by the Reagan administration, showing Soviet arms buildup in support of the rebel forces. (Central Imaging Office)}

^{SR-71 Blackbird taxiing to take off. The world’s fastest airplane was also a pioneer in stealthiness. Note angled tails that greatly decreased radar profile. (Lockheed)}

^{SR-71 Blackbird streaking across continental U.S. (Lockheed)}

^{Squadron of Blackbirds operating out of Beale Air Force Base, near Sacramento. (Lockheed)}

^{Blackbird production line at the Skunk Works. In mid-1970s, they produced a new Blackbird every month. (Lockheed)}

^{SR-71 Blackbird rolling down a highway en route to permanent display at the air museum at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia. (Jay Miller)}

^{D-21 drone being deployed from B-52 for round-trip spy mission over Chinese mainland. (U.S. Air Force)}

^{B-52 carrying D-21 drone en route to launch off Chinese coast for spy mission over mainland. (U.S. Air Force)}

^{D-21 spy drone tucked under wing of B-52 mothership. Drone would drop and ignite off Chinese coast for spy flight over mainland. (Lockheed)}

^{The Stealth Ship undergoing sea trials off the West Coast in the mid-1980s. (Skunk Works)}

^{The Stealth ship inside its secret hangarlike floating dock, where it was assembled and constructed. (Skunk Works)}

^{Ben Rich and the F-117 Stealth fighter. (Denny Lombard and Eric Schulzinger)}

^{The Stealth Ship, called the Sea Shadow, during sea trials. (Skunk Works)}

^{Lockheed’s chief engineer Kelly Johnson talking to one of his pilots during a test flight in the 1940s. (Lockheed)}

^{Ben Rich receiving the 1989 Collier Trophy, aviation’s highest award, for the Stealth fighter. (Lockheed)}

^{Ben Rich and his old mentor, Kelly Johnson, pose in front of a new production model of the famous U-2 in 1983, following Kelly’s retirement. (Lockheed)}

^{The Skunk Works complex off the main runway of the Burbank Municipal Airport in downtown Burbank, California. (Lockheed)}