Ben Rich of Lockheed Skunk Works presented a paper in 1976 that provided a brief overview of the “Bx,” a straightforward modification of the SR-71 Blackbird into a supercruising strike…
The USAF F-4 Phantom II version was authorized to be designated the F-110 Spectre in 1962 McDonnell Aircraft Company delivered the F4H (later dubbed F-4) Phantom II in answer to…
The Apollo astronauts had to change many of their daily routines, including what they ate, drank, dressed, and even how they used the restroom On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11…
A few people nicknamed the SR-71 the “Lead Sled” after pilot Jerry O’Malley and RSO Ed Payne, on their second Blackbird combat sortie over Vietnam in 1968, dropped 60,000 feet…
If KC-135Qs were unavailable, ordinary Stratotankers could be used to refuel the SR-71 Blackbird Mach 3+ spy plane. If it weren’t for air refueling, the SR-71’s range would be relatively…
‘The VC10 captain announced that as it was Bastille Day he had been told that we would have to look after the ‘trade’ alone and that, consequently, we could not…
‘We had the specks lab tested, and they turned out to be organic material—insects that had been injected into the stratosphere,’ Norman Nelson CIA’s engineer inside the Skunk Works In…
‘In retrospect, my ordering WSO to eject was a mistake which I have always regretted. I felt at the time I was saving his life and I intended to eject…
‘At Takhli we liked the pop-up tactic as we felt we got better target coverage with less exposure and fewer losses. Lots of folks agreed until new PACAF C-in-C Gen…
Mossad deployed a team of female agents to recruit several Iraqi pilots who had been sent to Randolph Air Force Base in the United States for a staff course, but…