Rating: 
Summary: A review written by a novice!!
Review: Ben Rich's book, "Skunk Works" was an extremely good book for those interested in the aerospace industry. Ben Rich was the head of Lockheed Martin's secretive project's division called "Skunk Works" during the seventies and eighties. He has won the 1989"Collier" trophy, an award given to exceptional achivement in the aerospace field. In the novel, Ben covers a selection of the Aircraft that were secretly made during his time at Lockheed. These include the F-117a, the U-2. the SR-71, the little-known "Stealth" boat, and a small section covering the B-1, and B-2. I loved this book from start to finish and found it hard to put down, and, if you buy it, you will know what I mean.
Rating: 
Summary: Enthralling tale of achievement
Review: Ben Rich's insights into the most successful cutting-edge aircraft development projects of the last half-century is must reading for aviation buffs and for those in charge of developing new technology. A lot of valuable dos and don'ts can be found in these pages. I would have liked more technical details on some points, but that's a nitpick. As a defense consultant and an aerospace history writer, I found this a compelling read I couldn't put down.
Rating:
Summary: A fun one for the boys
Review: Boys enjoy their toys, and Ben Rich had some of the coolest toys around. How about F-117 stealth fighters and the SR-71 Blackbird for starters?
Skunkworks tells the story of Ben Rich's time at Lockheed Martin's top-secret design works in California, focusing mainly on their work on the two planes mentioned above. The storytelling is great, conveying the engineering difficulty and seriousness of what needed to be accomplished without ever losing the impish, boyish delight in getting to "play" with the equipment with which they worked.
The book moves along great, gives you that behind the scenes feel that can be so fun, and gives you the history of a team that helped cement American superiority in the Cold War.
Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Addictive reading indeed
Review: Even if the authors did get a fact or two wrong (the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was NOT America's first supersonic jet, as the book erroneously states about 3 times. The F-86 and F-100 were both supersonic and preceded the F-104), and even though Leo Janos' touch was perhaps a bit too evident here and there (darned near everybody in the book talks in the vernacular of Chuck Yeager -- or was that Janos all along? -- with perhaps a few too many "goddams" thrown in for effect) the book is a great read. It abruptly yanks the alluring veil of secrecy off of the Skunk Works and shows you the basic, raw underbelly of what it took to design, build, fly and sell the most advanced aircraft the world has yet seen. Unfortunately, as a definitive document on the Skunk Works' achievements and historical implications of their aircraft, the book is but a tease. The story of the amazing SR-71 alone is worthy of a book-length treatment. But as a preface, "Skunk Works" is a great lead-in to other relevant books such as: "Operation Overflight", by Francis Gary Powers with Curt Gentry; "Mayday: Eisenhower, Khrushchev, and the U-2 Affair", by Michael R. Beschloss; "Sled Driver: Flying the World's Fastest Jet", by Brian Shul (SR-71 pilot)
Rating:
Summary: Best of the Best
Review: Excellent, detailed historical and personal account of the Skunk Works! Great book for military aircraft buffs!
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Material and Good (If Not Great) Writing
Review: For 16 years Ben Rich was the head of Skunk Works, Lockheed Corporation's secretive special projects division. In this engrossing work, he examines 40 years of aerospace innovations, including the U-2, F-117, and (my favorite) the SR-71 Blackbird. Although the book is all about incredible innovations, do not fear that this book will be overly technical; I never bogged down while reading it and found a lot of it humorous, in fact. (On the same point, it's only fair to note that if you ARE looking for a highly technical work, this is probably not the book you want.) I must admit that I grew up playing endlessly with toy jet-fighters, and thus for subject matter alone I would have to give three stars. Rather than telling the history of Skunk Works strictly chronologically, Rich breaks the book down into chapters that focus on specific projects. This approach avoids confusion that might arise from the overlapping development of multiple aircraft. It also allows the reader to go back and read about one particular plane without wading through unrelated information. Each chapter also contains "Other Voices," short sections written by others involved in the aerospace or defense industries. Many of these sections were written by pilots and provided some of the book's most exciting passages. I thought the "Other Voices" were a great addition that expanded the scope of Rich's work. I also appreciated that this book was not propaganda for the military-industrial complex (a rut I believe Tom Clancy has fallen in). Rich is justifiably proud of Skunk Works' successes, but he also admits their failures, notably: an attempt in the late `50s to create a plane fueled by liquid hydrogen, and also a stealth catamaran ship. He is also quick to point out the serious flaws with the military's business procedures and candidly asks, "Do the virtuous get their just rewards? The short answer is not if they're dealing with the Pentagon on a regular basis" (p. 302). The final chapter is devoted to discussing the future of aerospace research and ways the military-industrial complex can become more efficient. For example, he shows that the government could save huge amounts of money if Lockheed aircraft were serviced by trained, experienced Lockheed workers, instead of military personnel who are constantly shifted. Yes, it's a somewhat self-serving suggestion, but it also seems fiscally responsible! I thought I would find the final chapter dull, but as a tax-payer it was actually an eye-opener! My complaints are limited. The non-linear organization works fine when discussing airplanes, but it hampers the book's main "sub-plot": the ongoing relationship between Rich and Kelly Johnson, his predecessor as the head of Skunk Works. Rich paints a vivid picture of the curmudgeonly Johnson, but the development of their relationship is chopped up by the organization of the book. And although the book doesn't warrant an extensive bibliography, some references to other works would give the reader a chance to explore the topic more thoroughly. But neither of these points significantly detracted from my experience. This is an easy and enjoyable read for any arm-chair fighter jock.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Material and Good (If Not Great) Writing
Review: For 16 years Ben Rich was the head of Skunk Works, Lockheed Corporation's secretive special projects division. In this engrossing work, he examines 40 years of aerospace innovations, including the U-2, F-117, and (my favorite) the SR-71 Blackbird. Although the book is all about incredible innovations, do not fear that this book will be overly technical; I never bogged down while reading it and found a lot of it humorous, in fact. (On the same point, it's only fair to note that if you ARE looking for a highly technical work, this is probably not the book you want.) I must admit that I grew up playing endlessly with toy jet-fighters, and thus for subject matter alone I would have to give three stars. Rather than telling the history of Skunk Works strictly chronologically, Rich breaks the book down into chapters that focus on specific projects. This approach avoids confusion that might arise from the overlapping development of multiple aircraft. It also allows the reader to go back and read about one particular plane without wading through unrelated information. Each chapter also contains "Other Voices," short sections written by others involved in the aerospace or defense industries. Many of these sections were written by pilots and provided some of the book's most exciting passages. I thought the "Other Voices" were a great addition that expanded the scope of Rich's work. I also appreciated that this book was not propaganda for the military-industrial complex (a rut I believe Tom Clancy has fallen in). Rich is justifiably proud of Skunk Works' successes, but he also admits their failures, notably: an attempt in the late '50s to create a plane fueled by liquid hydrogen, and also a stealth catamaran ship. He is also quick to point out the serious flaws with the military's business procedures and candidly asks, "Do the virtuous get their just rewards? The short answer is not if they're dealing with the Pentagon on a regular basis" (p. 302). The final chapter is devoted to discussing the future of aerospace research and ways the military-industrial complex can become more efficient. For example, he shows that the government could save huge amounts of money if Lockheed aircraft were serviced by trained, experienced Lockheed workers, instead of military personnel who are constantly shifted. Yes, it's a somewhat self-serving suggestion, but it also seems fiscally responsible! I thought I would find the final chapter dull, but as a tax-payer it was actually an eye-opener! My complaints are limited. The non-linear organization works fine when discussing airplanes, but it hampers the book's main "sub-plot": the ongoing relationship between Rich and Kelly Johnson, his predecessor as the head of Skunk Works. Rich paints a vivid picture of the curmudgeonly Johnson, but the development of their relationship is chopped up by the organization of the book. And although the book doesn't warrant an extensive bibliography, some references to other works would give the reader a chance to explore the topic more thoroughly. But neither of these points significantly detracted from my experience. This is an easy and enjoyable read for any arm-chair fighter jock.
Rating:
Summary: Legend in American Industry
Review: Founded in 1943 by Clarence "Kelly" Johnson Lockheed's Advanced Projects Division known as The Skunk Works accomplished revolutionary feats of aviation and created some of the world's most successful military aircraft. Home of the U-2 spy plane, the SR-71 Blackbird and the F-117 Stealth Fighter the Skunk Works (SW) promoted a unique environment within the aerospace industry. This book gives detailed accounts about the projects, people and methodologies that developed some of America's premier military platforms. Every aspect of the innovation process is covered from idea conception through the internal and external politics of promoting revolutionary concepts. Kelly Johnson and latter Ben Rich lead the SW during its most exciting and revolutionary discoveries. This work recounts their successes and failures of management style, discovery and relationships as the details of these projects are explained. Of particular interest is the type of environment and management style that each successive leader of the SW employed to help produce the breakthroughs required to propel these projects to legendary success.
Rating:
Summary: Skunk Works-Proven Work Ethics
Review: From a small staff of 75+- Engineers we now enjoy the fruits of their collective labor. Wicked good read that should be on the list (NOT required but historically important) of ALL Junior & Senior High Schools in our very safe country. The portrayed CAN DO attitude in the book is very much alive in the workplace.....JOIN IN !
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Stories; Mixed Conclusions
Review: Good read, but it's just morsels rather than a good fill. Ultimately I wanted better insight.
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