Area 51 - Black Jets

by Bill Yenne

Area 51’s most important military aviation developments are profiled in an illustrated format.When most of us think of Area 51, we think of aliens, UFOs, and controversial government cover-ups. It’s easy to forget that, since the mid-1950s, the United States’ famed extension of Edwards Air Force Base has served as a top-secret CIA testing ground for many of the most groundbreaking advancements in American military aviation technology. In Area 51 – Black Jets, author and military historian Bill Yenne offers the first fully illustrated chronology of Area 51’s most famous aircraft projects, including Lockheed’s U-2 “Dragon Lady” and SR-71 “Blackbird” reconnaissance planes, drones ranging from the early Lockheed D-21 to the modern-day General Atomics MQ-1 Predator, and the famous F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter produced by the Have Blue program during the 1970s. Each project is given its own fascinating chapter illuminating the aircraft’s development at this famed location. But beyond the aircraft themselves, Area 51 – Black Jets also covers a handful of the many classified experimental programs carried out at Area 51 over the years, such as Have Doughnut, Have Ferry, and Have Drill—secret undertakings that successfully reverse-engineered such enemy aircraft as the Russian MiG during the Cold War. Presented in beautiful hardcover format and illustrated with historic color and black-and-white photographs, diagrams, and maps, this book reveals Area 51 for what it truly a clandestine area for the United States’ most cutting-edge technological innovators in military aviation.

Genres: History, Military Fiction, Aviation, Military History, Technology, Nonfiction

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Bill Yenne is the author of several novels and over three dozen books on historical topics. He has also been a contributor to encyclopedias of both world wars.

The New Yorker wrote of Sitting Bull, his biography of the great Lakota leader, that it "excels as a study in leadership." This book was named to the number 14 spot among Amazon's 100 Best Books of the Year.

Library Journal observed that "enthusiastic World War II readers will be drawn to" his dual biography, Aces High: The Heroic Story of the Two Top Scoring American Aces of World War II.

Recently, his book Convair Deltas was named as Book of the Month by Air Classics, while his book Tommy Gun was named Pick of the Month by Shooting Illustrated.

His book Guinness: The 250 Year Quest for the Perfect Pint was listed among the top business books of the year by Cond Nast Portfolio Magazine, which rated Yenne's tome as its TOP pick for "Cocktail Conversation."

Yenne's Rising Sons: The Japanese American GIs Who Fought for the United States in World War II, was praised by Walter Boyne, former Director of the National Air & Space Museum, who called it "a fast moving... page turner," and the "best book yet written on the saga."

The Wall Street Journal wrote, when reviewing his Indian Wars: The Campaign for the American West, that Yenne writes with "cinematic vividness," and says of his work that it "has the rare quality of being both an excellent reference work and a pleasure to read."

The author lives in San Francisco, California, and on the web at www.BillYenne.com

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Reviews

[Peter Tillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It's a place steeped in mythology, where the most astonishing machines on Earth were tested ..." -- from the io9 review http://io9.com/area-51-black-jets-unc... , which is the one you should read first. An excellent review. I really, really liked the book -- and the photos! -- and commend it to your attention.

The real Area 51 was at Groom Lake, near the Nevada (atom-bomb) Test Site, which became Kelly Johnson's secret test-flight airbase in the 1950s, at the suggestion of the CIA. The U2 spy plane, the SR-71 Blackbird and the F-117 Stealth fighter were all tested here. Along with many other, stranger aircraft. Groom Lake was also the home base for the USAF's secret MiG fighter wing, to train our pilots who would face MiGs in combat.

A must-read for Kelly Johnson "skunk works" fans. And for the photos! Amazon's preview is pretty extensive, and worth looking through to see if this book is your sort of thing (it is for me).

2023 reread notes: just as good as I recalled. Striking that the U-2 was built with 1950s technology! Still flying -- as are the ageless B-52s! The SR-71 Blackbirds were built with 1960s tech, updated in the 7os -- then abruptly cancelled by the clueless USAF, which even went so far as to order Lockheed to destroy the jigs, to make sure no more were built! Details: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockhee... Sad story of ego trips by commanding Generals. What a surprise!.

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are interested in the history of military aviation after WWII, i.e. the birth of the jet age, then you are undoubtedly interested in Area 51, aka Groom Lake and/or Paradise Ranch. Indeed, as Yenne shows in this beautifully illustrated title, the true history of Area 51 is more interesting than the fictionalized version with aliens, conspiracies, and underground tunnels that run from Nevada all the way to New Mexico. It was here that the CIA, Air Force, and U.S. government collectively built a series of badass spy planes meant to keep America safe during the height of the Cold War. The U-2, SR-71 (and its variants), F-117, and countless other secret "black" jets were developed, tested, and flown.

If you are a fan of Ben Rich's "The Skunk Works" and/or Annie Jacobsen's "Area 51," you must own this book!

[Chad Rexin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book going into some of the history of Area 51 and also of the Jets and planes that were tested there. It is fascinating how even now in an information age at how much remained hidden and still remains hidden from the rest of the world. I am still in wonder at the engineering of what went into planes like the SR-71 in an era largely before the supercomputers that we now have

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came across this book as I like reading about black program airplanes. UFO to me is a secret airplane that us civilians don’t know about. They are the really cool toys that push performance envelopes. Plus secret always is more interesting than fully public.

The author takes great pains to point out his book is about black airplanes & not aliens. While Area 51 and Tonopah is part of the hidden alien lore, it acts more as a cover story for what is really being flown out in the middle of nowhere. Here, the author wants to tell about the base & what has been known to fly there.

A good portion of the book covers the U-2, SR-71/A-12 Family, & F-117. These are three of the most famous planes from the Skunk Works. There are a couple more that are covered as experimental planes that didn’t enter production. What isn’t here is any revelation of new airframes.

As someone who has read _Skunk Works_ and other secret airplane books, there are a couple things I learned from this book. The U-2 was initially flown in its naked aluminum skin, which made it highly reflective. UFO sightings be pilots and those on the ground in the 1950’s soared around the flight paths of the U-2 across the US. I hadn’t thought of it before, but it makes sense. No one knew that a plane could fly that high at the time. There are a couple test planes flown in the 1980’s and beyond that the civilian watchers had no clue about. While lots of speculation that never panned out, several test programs were able to do 100+ flights without a leak.

I found the book lacking of deeper stories. Some of it felt like a skim of _Skunk Works_. The source of the Skunk Works name in this book conflicts with that from previous books. _Skunk Works_ had a lot more pilot stories that added depth to what is otherwise a tale of a plane is built.

One strength of the book is the amount of pictures of both the facilities and the surrounding environments. That helps place the site & understand just how far into the desert the place really is.

Overall, a decent view of the place and what has been known to fly there. A good first start, but to truly know the planes, pick up _Skunk Works_.

[Jak Krumholtz · Rating 3 out of 5]

An aunt insisted on giving me gas money, (despite our car having free supercharging), and at a charger on the way back, I stumbled on this signed used book to spend it on. Quite fitting since her husband had been a test pilot for some of the planes mentioned in here including the SR-71. Solid coffee table overview of a location where some fascinating engineering has been tested in secret.

[Wayland Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well researched history of the infamous Area 51. While it mentions the theories about aliens, the focus of the book is on the history of the experimental aircraft that have been tested here. It's a good read with some great pictures.

Recommended to fans of military history, aviation, or just some really cool looking high tech airplanes and drones.

[Jbussen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Utterly Forgettable.