Blackbird Rising: Birth of an Aviation Legend

by Donn A. Byrnes

Byrnes, Donn A., Byrnes, Slyvia L., Hurley, Kenneth D., Hurley, Jeanne

300 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covers the acquisition of the A-12/SR-71. It deals a lot with the people and the problems they solved to make this Mach 3 airplane successful. Most of the people in the book predate my experience in SAC and my time in the USAF. However, serving at Wright Patterson AFB, I kinda understand the processes described. It is a very technical read, from the engineering, science and buying process. Honestly, I skimmed over some of the parts that weren't so interesting. The author describes the R&D as well as the engineering of the bird. At the end is a several page list of all the persons involved.

[Harry Keller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up at the gift shop of the Air & Space Museum last year. I loved this book, it is full of technical details (which is interesting to me since I am an engineer), yet explained in a way that people unfamiliar with the topics can understand (such as side looking radar, electronic countermeasures and full pressure suits). The stories in this book are priceless as well.

[Kjsiepmann]

Donn A Byrnes is an author that my dad loves! I read this book and "A boy who loved Airplanes"(personally that one is more interesting than blackbird, but yep!)