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Lockheed’s D-21 Tagboard Supersonic Spy Drone
- izzydata 8y agoThat photo of them assembling those aircraft reminds me of one of the scenes from the original Star Wars where they are in the hanger with X wings.
- stcredzero 8y agoThe J-type 327 Nubian royal starship from the prequels was basically an SR-71 ripoff.
- noir_lord 8y ago> Lockheed Skunk Works' legendary boss Kelly Johnson was so distraught over the accident, he initially refused to work on the program any further and offered to refund the money the U.S. government had already paid. I need to track down some good books on this guy, he sounds interesting.
- sachleen 8y agoSkunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed by Ben Rich is really good
- mannykannot 8y agoUnfortunately, there's not much about Johnson in it, especially not his early career.
- justin66 8y agoI remember getting a good sense of the man from Ben Rich's book.
- iscrewyou 8y agoYeah. The books isn’t about Kelly Johnson but he gets referred back to a lot in cases of “what would he do” or “he told me to go the other way” or “kelly knew better in that instance”. It’s almost like Ben Rich bouncing ideas of Kelly while he isn’t present.
- mannykannot 8y agoDoes it cover his role in the development of the P-38, the F-104, the NF-104A or the U2? I don't think so, but my memory may be faulty.
- justin66 8y agoI believe the earlier stuff is mentioned in passing when talking about Kelly Johnson's history but the more modern stuff Ben Rich worked on understandably gets more attention, with the bulk of it about the Blackbird and the F-117. He spent some space talking about the U-2 and that material is the kind of thing I had in mind when talking about how the book gives an impression of Kelly Johnson. For example, prior to reading the book I didn't know that while the CIA people expected downed pilots to kill themselves, Kelly Johnson thought that was nuts, was sympathetic to Francis Gary Powers, and gave him a job as a test pilot when he returned from captivity. I think the book is well written and accomplishes a lot with small anecdotes like that one. It was a lucky find for me. I pulled it off a bookshelf in an airport convenience store because it was the only book that didn't look insanely boring.
- errantspark 8y agoI'll second this recommendation, it isn't about that damned swede, but it does give you some sense of his magnitude.
- Zolomon 8y agoWhich Swede are you referring to?
- jessaustin 8y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19516935 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19516935
- errantspark 8y agoSorry, it was a bit opaque but there's a famous quote by Hall Hibbard about Johnson I was referencing "That damned Swede can actually see air."
- CapitalistCartr 8y agoHe definitely is. Google his name for a start with some stories. He is a legend in the aviation world.
- akamaka 8y agoThe book you want is probably Kelly: More than My Share of It All. I haven’t read it myself but the reader reviews seem great. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0874744911/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/0874744911/
- myself248 8y agoI've read it and came away wanting. It's a brief personal memoir, with very little technical detail. If it'd been written by anyone other than the man himself, it'd barely warrant a mention. It's good for a peek into his life, his early years, stuff like that. Definitely does give you some sense of what sort of person would make a comment like the above.
- Animats 8y agoBen Rich's "Skunk Works" book has lots about Kelly Johnson. Rich worked with him and eventually succeeded him.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- CodeSheikh 8y agoIt is like SR-71 had a baby
- toufiqbarhamov 8y agoOther way around, this preceded the SR-71.
- CodeSheikh 8y agoWhich came first, the chicken or the egg?
- walrus01 8y agoFor the original reconnaissance platform version, the idea that something so expensive and complicated could be considered one-use disposable is amazing. But then again they were looking at it as an alternative to very low orbiting satellites with finite film canister supplies... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_(satellite) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_(satellite) Makes you wonder what they're testing at Groom Lake these days, which ISN'T public. https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/pictures-boeing-unveils-new-loyal-wingman-drone-at-456123/ https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/pictures-boeing-u...
- stcredzero 8y agoThe idea that something so expensive and complicated could be considered one-use disposable is amazing. Titan II ICBMs?
- djsumdog 8y agoThe weapon that can never really be used without risking mutually assured destruction.
- stcredzero 8y agoHow about an ICBM based on the Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule that's designed to land gently in enemy territory, so the pilot can step outside in a silver suit and say "klaatu barda nikto!"
- walrus01 8y agoRight, but a camera reconnaissance platform is a very different thing than starting WW3 with an ICBM launch. But imagine the US freakout if the Soviet Union had built something comparable in capability to the SR71 and overflown CONUS during the cold war.
- Raphmedia 8y agoTo be honest, once you start a global nuclear war you don't need anything that is re-usable.
- jvolkman 8y agoThere's one of these (along with a Blackbird) at the Museum of Flight just south of Seattle. http://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/lockheed-d-21b-drone http://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/lockheed-d-21b-drone
- zaroth 8y agoThe D-21 perched on the M-21 mothership is just insanely badass. This was almost 50 years ago. I feel so cheated!
- quanticle 8y agoIf you want to see one in real life, the Museum of Flight, in Seattle, has a SR-71/M-21 with the D-21 drone.
- basementcat 8y agoThe Pima Air and Space Museum outside of Tucson, AZ also has one. The Chinese Aviation Museum in Beijing has a D-21 in somewhat less airworthy condition.
- _Codemonkeyism 8y agoThis looks so great, I'd also have like to see a Mistel 5 implemented some years before that.
- sabujp 8y agoyo dawg, I heard you like blackbirds!
- PlasticTank 8y agoup voted to counter the number of folk on this site that have a 2x4 up their asses.
- jessaustin 8y agoWell, this is a "military" thread...
- jessaustin 8y agoYikes, all that work and expense for a program that flew four missions. Two transferred all the tech to both USSR and China, and the other two suffered mysterious film recovery mishaps that prevented any intelligence gathering. It's no wonder they were so eager to get spy satellites figured out.
- foxyv 8y agoI saw one of these over at March Air Museum in southern California. They also have a cool display of the SR-71. Probably the coolest place in southern California to visit if you are interested in military aviation.