Kelly

Great book about a great leader in aviation history

Gives a wonderful longitudinal view of the evolution of aerospace from the pre ww2 era to the cold war. Wonderfully written. RIP Kelly!

product was very good i Loved it- Clarence Kelly Jhonson/LockHeed Martin

Great book about an incredible aeronautical engineer!!

Excellent book. Any one who is passionate about anything should read this book. Kelly is extraordinary - of course.

Kelly Johnson is such a giant in the field of aircraft design, the man who set up the legendary Skunk Works and led the design of iconic aircraft like the U-2 spy plane (which is still operating well over four decades after it first flew) and the SR-71 Blackbird. Reading his autobiography is an incredible experience.

One of the best aviation books I have ever read.

L'esposizione è ben organizzata e offre sicuramente un pezzo di storia dell'aviazione scritta da uno dei protagonisti

What is “Skunk Works”? The “Skunk Works” is the Advanced Development Projects from Lockheed which has designed more than 40 aircraft. The main objectives of the “Skunk Works” organization are to make breakthrough designs in minimum time and maximum security. If you want to know what the “Skunk Works” is, how it did start and who did start it, what they are doing and above all how they are doing it, then this is the book you should read. This book is an autobiography of Clarence L. Johnson known as "Kelly". He did start it all. He will tell you all the fantastic projects he has been working with and how and why he did create the “Skunk Works”. Kelly has decided at the age of 12 to be an aircraft designer. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering in 1932 at the University of Michigan and he was hired at Lockheed (Burbank, California) in 1933 where he did spend his entire professional life. Kelly first works in tooling and wind-tunnel for the Electra aircraft. Then he did work on the P-38 and the Constellation (the first modern airliner). After many years of working experience in Lockheed Kelly Johnson got the idea to “set up an experimental department where designers and shop artisans could work together closely in development of airplanes without the delays and complications of intermediate departments to handle administration, purchasing, and all the other support functions. I wanted a direct relationship between design engineer and mechanic and manufacturing. I decided to handle this new project just that way.” In June 1943 the “Skunk Works” was born. It did start with 23 engineers only. Their first projects were the F-80 and the F-104 (where are the wings?) and it was followed by the very famous “spy” planes: the U-2 and the SR-71. The main mottoes of Kelly Johnson are: - Be quick, be quite, be on time. - Keep it simple, stupid - Those who design aircraft also should fly them – to keep a proper perspective. But to really appreciate how Kelly Johnson did it you really have to read his book. The book is also full of personal anecdotes (such as about Howard Hughes and others) and many technical anecdotes from which you will learn much. Three of the last chapters of the book: • It’s No Secret, • Defending Ourselves, • Technology and Tomorrow, are still of particular interest today. You will really enjoy the reading of that 210 pages book. If you want to know more about the “Skunk Works” (and you will after reading that first book from Kelly Johnson) you should also read the book of Ben R. Rich & Leo Janos that is simply named “Skunk Works”. Ben Rich has started to work for the “Skunk Works” in 1955. He became later the assistant of Kelly Johnson and he became the boss of the “Skunk Works after Kelly took his retirement. The book from Ben Rich is very abundant in technical information and anecdotes. It is very well complemented by the texts of many witnesses that have work for or with the “Skunk Works” as well as many pilots and more. A very enjoyable and informative book of 400 pages. As nice complement you should buy is the “The Projects of Skunk Works: 75 Years of Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs” by Steve Pace. It is a hardcover book of 256 pages with a 28 cm x 24 cm large format. The book contains a very large quantity of color photos and illustrations as well as a very informative text about all the aircraft that have been designed by the Lockheed “Skunk Works” and you will also find in it a short specification for each of the aircraft. A must have.

So many experiences, anecdotes, and interesting science facts. Well written, it is easy to follow and difficult to stop reading.

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