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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 358.45830973
EAN num: 9780760311424
ISBN number: 0760311420
Label: Zenith Press
Manufacturer: Zenith Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 256
Printing Date: November 16, 2002
Publishing house: Zenith Press
Sale Popularity Level: 222120
Studio: Zenith Press
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Feel the Mach 3 power generated by Lockheed's incredibly fast SR-71 Blackbird! Former SR-71 pilot, instructor and wing commander, Richard Graham, presents the most intriguing SR-71 stories ever told. This once highly classified program is fully revealed through the words of pilots, commanders, mechanics, and instructors involved in the Blackbird's creation and flight-testing. From grueling reconnaissance missions to the Persian Gulf conflict, this insightful book tells stories of bravery and daring determination.
Amazon.com Review:
For a quarter-century, Lockheed's Mach 3 SR-71A Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft dominated the skies as no other. The men that flew the 55-ton 'Habu' (so dubbed by Okinawans near one of its bases because of its resemblance to a local deadly grey snake) at 80,000 feet and 33 miles per minute were the rarest of fraternities, and author and former 9th Recon Wing commander Richard Graham provides a score of them--as well as key ground personnel--a generous forum for their self-penned recollections here. Where Graham's very first book, SR-71 Revealed: The Inside Story, dealt more with the Blackbird's remarkable hardware and history, this volume details the human dimensions of the SR-71 program, from its dangerous days of development and testing through decades of intelligence-gathering operations in the world's hot spots, to its final, bittersweet confrontation with the one foe it couldn't elude: self-serving Pentagon politics. Inspired by flying a plane that often seemed to have a mind of its own--and a sometimes malicious one at that--the anecdotes here are seasoned with a compelling mix of boyish humor, sheer terror, and enviable camaraderie. As Graham's fellow SR-71 pilot and author Brian Shul once noted, more people have stood atop Mt. Everest than have flown what remains the world's fastest, highest-flying jet. (The author is donating all royalties to the J.T. Vida Memorial Fund, set up to preserve Blackbird 972, whose 1990 transcontinental, record-setting retirement flight is recounted herein, currently housed at the Smithsonian Museum) --Jerry McCulley
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Rated by buyers 
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Rich Graham has followed the winning formula he used in SR-71 Revealed: The Inside Story with this book. Who knows as much about something, as those that operate it, and Rich and a select group of aviators flew the amazing Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.
In SR-71 Blackbird: Stories, Tales and Legends Rich has written about squadron life and what it was like to fly and operate this amazing aircraft over some of the most politically hot spots around the world. There is a great mix of historical information, aircraft facts, and funny stories to keep everyone's attention.
There is more in-depth stories about the program, and what it was like to fly the fastest aircraft in the world.
Rich also invited fellow 'Habus' to relive moments from the operational life of the program. These ARE the people that walked the walk, and you get to sit in the ejection seat on exciting missions, and know what it was like to fly the Blackbird.
Rated by buyers -
For aircraft enthusiasts at a non professional level this is a well written book with a wealth of information about this amazing plane. It truly gives a feeling for the heroic men who very first flew this aircraft , the very first of its kind for power and speed. In an easy to understand way it imparts the difficulties and struggles of developing this plane. True pioneers and men with vision put the Blackbird in the air. Pity we only get to see them on the ground now.
Rated by buyers 
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This book [was bad]. How anyone could take such an interesting subject and make it boring is beyond me. I have read a lot of aviation books and this one tops my list of one to skip. There were a couple of good stories about engine failures at high altitude and mach numbers but mostly it was a celebration of the eliteism of the SR-71 crew members. The only thing greater than the performance figures of the airplane were the apparent egos of the crew. This book was obviously written for other SR-71 crew members. It constantly relives the things they had in common with each other but not with the rest of the Air Force
or us mere mortals. The special orange flight suits, the pressure suits, the drinking parties with the acceptible SR-71 jock drink 'The Basic Hook'(vodka tonic to us). Wasn't the simulator tough. Wasn't the physical thorough. Didn't you sweat the crew selection interview. [Wasn't it bad] that the Pentagon cancelled the program. Over and over and over, but from a different guy. And most of the stories were from the back seaters. Who wants to hear from those guys? I wanted to hear what it was like to fly the beast. How bad things could really get. What it felt like to land and take off an SR-71. Disappointed.
Rated by buyers -
A number of books have been written about this remarkble aircraft. Most good, a few not so. This book definitely falls into the good (no, excellent) category. It is not as technical as some of the other books (although some technical concepts are very clearly explained) as much as it is a book relating some of the tales of those who actually operated the aircraft. It gives a wonderful insight into what is probably the best reconaissance system the US ever had. Even today, we have no systems that are capable of doing all the things the SR could. For one thing it was the only atmospheric system that could safely penetrate defended airspace. For another, it remains the only system that can do wide spectrum multi-sensor reconaissance of a given target on the same mission. This book relates some of the missions that demonstrated this as well as what was involved "behind the scenes" in pulling off these successes. Although satellites are wonderful, there are things they simply can't do that the SR-71 could (For one thing, since the orbits of the satellites are known, the bad guys know when to hide the stuff they don't want seen. The SR could surprise its targets).
The last part of the book is valuable in relating the real reasons this remarkable system was retired. It wasn't for cost and it wasn't for lack of capability. The hard numbers provided and the stories of the shenanigans pulled to "justify" a bad decision are almost worth the price of the book itself.
Col. Graham has done it again and this is a worthy companion piece to his excellent "SR-71 Revealed" book
Rated by buyers -
For those who are already familiar with the bird (and for those who aren't as well!!), this is one of the most entertaining books out there. Col. Graham managed to put together several stories told by several different people involved with the program, and each story makes you feel like reading all the book in one single shot! I can't wait for Volume II!
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