From Rainbow to Gusto: Stealth and the Design of the Lockheed Blackbird (Library of Flight)

Paul Suhler faced a daunting task while researching the true history of the A-12 and SR-71. The project, one of the CIA's blackest, was cloaked in secrecy and a false history.The CIA had protected the plane's true history by constructing a false back story to mask the real development path that lead from Lincoln Laboratory in Bedford, Massachusetts through Washington, DC to Los Angeles and onto Groom Lake's Area 51.Suhler's desire to tell the true story led many important contributors to step forward and offer previously unpublished, classified information. He was given exclusive access to a private memoir my deceased father had written four years prior to his death. Suhler reveals for the first time that the graceful slope of the chines owed their creation, not to a desire to increase stability as has been popularly reported, but to a requirement to create the world's first stealth aircraft.This book should be on every aviation history scholar's bookshelf. For a deeper understanding of the forces at play that led to the development of the Blackbird, one should also include " Mayday: Eisenhower, Khrushchev, and the U-2 Affair " by Michael Beschloss.

I received this book for Christmas, and could not put it down. The writing is not tops, but the subject matter and the narrative on how the stealth design happened is captivating. Suhler did an excellent job researching for the book; it shows through all the footnotes, references, and diagrams. It is too bad many of the original drawings and diagrams don't come out very well in the printing of the book. Despite that, it was a very enjoyable read.

I bought this book to use as a reference for a paper I was writing, and it also sounded interesting.I really enjoyed the information about the stealth technology from the U-2 program. This book went into a lot of detail about the people working on the programs, and had many quotes that added a lot to the story. It acknowledged that in some cases there were discrepancies between accounts, which is to be expected.Enjoyable to read, intriguing details about what it was like working on such secretive projects back then.

This is just what I wanted, a complete technical history of the the engineering progression from the U2 to the A12 with emphasis on the Blackbird design. The accounting of Stealth was a bit tedious but a plus for grasping the overall effort.

Great item

As advertised, on time

This is a great book that overturns the common understanding of stealth. Most histories argue that stealth research began in the mid-1970s, leading to production of the F-117 and B-2. Suhler shows that stealth research actually began in the late 1950s. The CIA attempted to reduce the radar cross section of the U-2 by attaching various materials to the aircraft, but this did not succeed. They decided to build a new reconnaissance aircraft that had low radar cross section as a basic design requirement - this was the genesis of the A-12. Suhler provides great detail on the design of the A-12 and the much less well-known competitor, a Convair design that would be launched from a B-58 bomber. The author did a lot of research in the Lockheed archive and interviewed many of the designers. There is so much in here that I'd never seen before, it's really a "must have" for anyone interested in the U-2, the A-12, or stealth aircraft.

It's become evident to me how stage-managed the story of "stealth" has been in the aviation media. I remember when the F-117 was reveled, and what a revelation it was. We were led to believe that this was a recent break through. It was nothing of the sort. We've been actively trying to reduce the Radar Cross Section of our military aircraft since the mid-50s, and the book From Rainbow to Gusto is a window into that early development work, the various research programs that were setup around attempts to reduce the Soviet's ability to track the U2, and how those efforts then segued to the U2 Replacement; the SR-71.Fascinating work was being carried out by our country's best and brightest. Just as an example, when Lockheed was having trouble reducing the radar reflections that emanated from the engine inlets, they turned to the possibility of ionizing the air ahead of the inlet as way to mask the return. While the system clearly never made it onto the aircraft (too large, heavy, and a potential health hazard for the pilot [X-rays]), we're left to wonder how relevant a system like that would be today, with 50 more years of development...An extensive development history is given stepping through A-1 through A-12, the projects ahead of the A-series, and Convair's rival project. Fan of the SR-71? Read this.

This is unquestionably one of the most significant books ever written about the A-12/SR-71 programmes. Of the plethora of books in the market covering the many facets of this iconic aircraft, there were none available detailing both the context and the aircraft's design evolution until the arrival of this masterful piece of work! Following meticulous, painstaking research, Paul Suhler has piece together in extraordinary detail, the full story behind what were two of the most highly classified US military aviation projects. This book is an absolute must for any student of the Cold War, the A-12/SR-71, or contemporary military aviation history. Paul Suhler must be congratulated - history has been served well.

C'est un très bon livre. Il manque cependant un historique synthétique des différents projets menés en parallèle.Les plans sont un peu petit, il faudrait des commentaires pour donner les informations illisibles dessus.

写真やスケッチが多数挿入されていて、試行錯誤の一端が分る本です。