Book review.
I got my copy of Goodall's book late last week. I will not nay-say this book. It's quite good/very good in more aspects than any errors that have been found. RQ-170 features all photos, no renderings (including Iranian photos). Senior Prom does have an entry, but no pics or diagrams of it. Senior Peg likewise lacks illustrative materials.
Sferrin is correct about erroneously using a Hyfly photo for early RATTLRs inlet testing. (That was a Boeing animal, not a Lockheed one.) If anyone can track down an actual RATTLRs inlet test photo, please post it.
Interestingly, Skunk Works was involved in many projects that Lockheed overall worked on, but I wasn't aware that they directly had a hand in. One example is the Cheyenne helicopter of the 1960s, and another is the X-33 Venture Star of the 1990s.
Now Goodall writes that YF-12A project code name wasn't KEDLOCK but KINDLE. That I wasn't aware of. (Paul Crickmore's history volume talks about the name as being KEDLOCK.)
I got my copy via ebay for $52.00 (free shipping), which is lower than the suggested $75 retail cost. It arrived intact, even though the packing box was heavily damaged. (Thanks for nothing, FedEx.) If you want a cheaper copy, it may be advantageous to go the ebay route.
However, as we all know, the book (and every volume that is about Skunk Works that has come before it) remains incomplete. To me, the most important page is the dedication one. Goodall explicitly quotes the late Ben Rich and that paragraph is among the most important of the entire book. (It's about what Skunk Works had been working on "out in the desert.")
I would rate the overall book a 4.3 out of 5 stars. I can say that because of the discount I bought it at. Goodall is definitely the bird that should have written this book. If he gets to read this review, I would encourage him (if he has any fuel left in his imagination tank) to continue to try to crank out other like-topical books.