You know, every once in a while, one gets a book that is so interesting that one has trouble putting it down. Recently, I've been reading a lot of these kinds of books. It seems as if authors who do aviation books have finally realized that we no longer want a re-hash of something else, but want a book that has had some research and effort put into it.

James Goodall and Jay Miller have produced a really fine book on the SR-71 family of aircraft. Most who are not well informed think that the SR-71 was the only Blackbird ever produced, when it fact, it was just the most visible! There is a whole family of aircraft based on a similar design and performance. Getting this plane up and operating wasn't the easiest thing to do as it was developed during a time of great change and improvement for aviation. The 1950s saw what was probably the greatest strides in aviation in terms of technological advances in airframe and power plant development, and while I'd not go so far as to say that it culminated in the SR-71, a lot of very advanced aerodynamic science went into its creation.

Developed for the CIA who was less than thrilled about its U-2s being vulnerable to SAMs, what was needed was not only a high flying plane, but one that was incredibly fast as well. The A-12, as it became known was developed from the hydrogen powered Lockheed CL-400 series of aircraft. The full development of the design to what we now know as the SR-71 is covered as well as competing aircraft designs, themselves quite interesting and unusual.

This book goes through the development and operational use of not only the single seat A-12, but the YF-12 interceptor, the M-21 and D-21 drone program and the eventual SR-71. It covers CIA, USAF and NASA use of these aircraft. It also covers the entire D-21 drone program including its use in the Senior Bowl program where it was air launched from B-52H carrier aircraft.

Also included are detail sections on the airframes, engines, and sensor pods; some taken from the aircraft manuals. Several sections are dedicated to individual aircraft histories and their eventual fate.  There is a section on accident photos, one on three-views of the various types, and a large color section at the end of the book. One always picks up interesting snippets of information in these books and one that I found is that during 1978/79 these aircraft operated for a very short time from Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. Well, I just happened to be stationed at Diego Garcia in 1979/1980 and witnessed the final SR-71 flight from there.

I'd have to say that this is probably the best book on the Blackbird family yet published. It has enough detail and information for those who clamor for minutiae and yet is reader-friendly enough for those who want a really good overview of the various projects.

It is one that I can most highly recommend.

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