Skunk Works
A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed

Kelly Johnson was synonymous with Lockeed’s “Skunk Works” since at least World War II. This was Lockheed’s R&D facility but it was more than that. Ben Rich understood this and understood some of his responsibilities to the entity as well as Lockheed and the job of defending the USA against attack. Ot......more

I wanted to read this book because I wanted an example of "nomad science", a kind of guerrilla approach to engineering and problem solving, where a relatively small group of intensely-involved engineers or scientists take on relatively large challenges--actually, nearly impossible looking challenges......more

Skunk Works is a personal memoir written by the chief engineer of Lockheed’s Skunk Works Ben Rick. The book tells of his first experiences at Lockheed during the 1950s; it ranges all the way past the First Gulf War. The author describes the varied events that occurred and projects that were undertak......more

I listened to the first 90% of this book at Mach speed. I couldn’t put it down, much like the Russians attempting to take down the SR-71, or should I say RS-71 (read it to find out what I’m talking about!). Hearing about the insides and outs of the Skunk Works was both fascinating and entertaining.......more

This isn't the book for everyone. Most people would come away from this wondering why they bothered to read it. But, for the right person, it is spectacular. So who's the right person? First of all, you have to like airplanes. Second you have to have a bit of a nerdy tilt for engineering. Is it cool......more