Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird - Origins & Evolution

FYI... a certain number of these just showed up at my doorstep. In lieu of a detailed and glowing review of this masterwork, I will simply say: if I lived in a world where I hadn't written and illustrated this and I had come across it in a book store, I would have bought it immediately. And then I would have been annoyed that I hadn't written and illustrated it myself because, gosh, it really does kinda look like something I would have done.
 
Orionblamblam said:
fightingirish said:
... so it was squashed into my letterbox. That means I will order OBB's next book about the Boeing B-47 Stratojet at Amazon or via my local book store.
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*THAT* book will be hardbound, so your postal people will have to work extra hard to fold it into your mailbox.

I am still quite surprised, that this bookazine is not only about the Lockheed A-12/SR-71 Blackbird but also about its competitors.
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I tried to be complete. Even so, two chapters were left on the cutting room floor due to space limitations. But you can't tell the story of the Blackbird without going into some of the designs that went up against it.

PS: B-47/52 book current has about 240 distinct diagrams.
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Any chance of getting our grubby hands on those two chapters? ;)
 
sferrin said:
Any chance of getting our grubby hands on those two chapters? ;)
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Sure. As mentioned previously, one good approach would be to make sure this sells well enough to merit an updated second edition. So when you go to Amazon and order, in the "number" box enter something with three or four digits.

Is it *really* too much to ask that this sells more copies than anything by Robin DiAngelo?
 
Well, as of today my copy has not yet made it across the pond to Fort Worth. I am quite looking forward to it, though.
 
Just got my copy from my local WHSmith's on Tuesday and after having been reading it now for a couple of days there is a lot of information that I never seen before in my other SR-71 books, mostly concerning the designs for the Convair FISH and Kingfish designs as well as Lockheed's Project Suntan.
 
Just stumbled on a copy in my local WH Smiths. Wow! Chock full of three-view drawings aimed at the model-maker, in 2021! Hey, here's one at 1:72 scale, even! What a star, I thought they had gone out of fashion with flares and chicken-in-the-basket. Excuse me while I play my Mott the Hoople original vinyl and dance round the room.

Fascinating account of the whole post-U2-scandal "what do we do next?" story. I had no idea. Brought into my price range by the Mortons bookazine thing. This one seems a fraction more solid than the average bookazine, or maybe more pages than usual, and has been published under the Tempest imprint.

Still just getting into it. There are no other photos or artworks, which is a bit disappointing when a drawing of a rare and secret beastie is prepared from a couple of crummy surviving photos and you can't check the 3D curves in the photos, but hey, I'd rather this than something I couldn't afford. And there's stuff about the SR-71 I never saw anywhere else. I am one very happy bunny.

"Drivin' sister, rock an' roll, she don't make with no brakes!"
Not at Mach 3 neither. Oh, yeah!

P.S.
Orionblamblam said:
AL said:
What were the two chapters cut?
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First and last... evolution of the U-2, and post-SR-71 terribly fast/high recon platforms. If the bookazine sells well, there's always the possibility of an expanded edition.
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With some of those photos you mention, too?
 
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Mines j just arrived- well done- really worth buying and superbly written. I'd no idea of all the considered options.
 
Just received mine. Really Nice book! BTW, is the 15 sept. 2021 release date accurate for the B-47 / B-52 one? Thanks.
 
Well, I ordered a copy today via hamazon, simply due to the PP being free so I will have to see when it arrives. The list of "Like to have books" has had a lot of altering these days. Prevents boredom though.
 
Stumbled on this amazing magazine/book in the Oxford branch of WH Smiths today. Hadnt seen it before.
It is a must have for anyone who loves the SR71 YF12 but there is so much more.
No pointless photos or dubious artwork just clear detailed drawings of amazing (sorry to repeat this but no other word will do) aircraft.
If the author's works were all available in this format I would be forking over the readies
 
My copy arrived yesterday, in Fort Worth, TX, and I find it a fascinating read. On minor bit, according to various yearly editions of Aircraft Engines of the World, the original JT11/J58 was a fairly simple tuboject very equivalent in size, layout, and performance to the Gyron.

Any chance of seeing a book on the LRI-X competition that produced the F-108? I know this book touches on it a little, but I'd love to see a more thorough treatment.
 
elmayerle said:
My copy arrived yesterday, in Fort Worth, TX...
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Ordered through the publisher, or Amazon?

Any chance of seeing a book on the LRI-X competition that produced the F-108? I know this book touches on it a little, but I'd love to see a more thorough treatment.
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*Possibly.*
 
Ordered through the publisher. I've been doing that with all the bookazines and books I've bought from them.
 
Just so folk are aware, I purchased my book via amazon for the free p&p. There is a nasty scam right now mimicking royal slug and asking for £2:99 duty/import tax. It is a scam so anyone expecting a book via regal slug should be extra cautious.
 
Sorry, due to their (Sarcasm mode on) lightning fast deliveries (Sarcasm mod off) the Royal Mail have long been awarded the title of royal/regal slug. No capitals. Apologies.
 
Foo Fighter said:
Sorry, due to their (Sarcasm mode on) lightning fast deliveries (Sarcasm mod off) have long been awarded the title of royal/regal slug. No capitals. Apologies.
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I gotta admit to ongoing bafflement. Are you saying that Amazon (presumably in Britain, due to the "£") is slow? Kinda befuddled as to how Amazon gets dubbed "royal slug."
 
The Royal Mail (UK Postal Service) = 'regal slug' due to slow speed. Currently there's a scam aimed at Royal Mail customers in the UK asking for import duty.

That was what I understood.
 
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Infamously privatised during the Coalition era, with predictable results.
 
overscan (PaulMM) said:
The Royal Mail (UK Postal Service) = 'regal slug' due to slow speed. Currently there's a scam aimed at Royal Mail customers in the UK asking for import duty.
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Ah. Thanks for clarification. So how does this scam present itself, so people can recognize and avoid it? And since this is being published by a British publishing company, demanding British customers pay an import duty would seem immediately ridiculous...
 
The presentation is "Your parcel could not be delivered", etc.

Yes it does but hot, tired and dealing with 'other stuff' it is all to easy to miss the occasional issue when you are expecting something.
 

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Foo Fighter said:
The presentation is "Your parcel could not be delivered", etc.

Yes it does but hot, tired and dealing with 'other stuff' it is all to easy to miss the occasional issue when you are expecting something.
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Ah, get much the same over here. "UPS/DHL/FedEX could not deliver your package, blah, blah, blah." Seem unrelated to any actual orders one might have made, it's just randomly spammed out to anyone with an email address. Is *your* scam targeted at actual orders, or just a random shotgun blast of phishing?
 
I just wanted to give a heads up that another round of this was in the wind is all. One carelss moment and it will cost a damn sight more than £2:99.
 
The UK does not charge VAT or Import Duty on books full stop.
Were the contents from the US and not clearly labeled as a book?
If so, RM not guilty they are simply doing what HM Customs tell them.
You need to ask Amazon/Supplier why package not treated as a book.
I may get the same problem with books from France now that we are not in the EU.
 
uk 75 said:
The UK does not charge VAT or Import Duty on books full stop.
Were the contents from the US and not clearly labeled as a book?
If so, RM not guilty they are simply doing what HM Customs tell them.
You need to ask Amazon/Supplier why package not treated as a book.
I may get the same problem with books from France now that we are not in the EU.
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Mate, it was a scam.

I got the book today and had a quick flip through. Scott, bloody marvelous amount of information and diagrams, cracking book and many hours will have gone into it. Thank you, Sir.
 
Luckily, I escaped the postage hell with WHSmith's, my local branch had one in stock.
The book/magazine (I'm not keen on "bookazine") is incredible, filled with a huge amount of information I have never seen and the trademark Scott Lowther high quality drawings. The text itself is easy to read, well written and no-nonsense.
Thanks for the great read and I can't wait for the B-47/52 book!

Bing
 
Okay, having read, ruminated, and digested, here's my review of this work.

TL: DR :- Buy this bookazine!!

Those of us who have bought the author's previous self-published works will be familiar with his narrative style, and especially his superb CAD drawings. This volume takes both of these to the next level.
With 130 pages and 118 different titled drawings, this volume offers a concise, yet comprehensive, history of the Lockheed A-12, YF-12, and SR-71 series of aircraft, along with their predecessor projects 'Suntan' and 'Archangel', as well as the competing 'FISH / Kingfish' projects from Convair, as well as the bonkers-looking 'Hazel', and B-58 Hustler derivatives from the same company.
The CIA operated single seat A-12 is described, as well as the 'Titanium Goose' trainer version along with proposed armed and carrier based variants.
Early proposals for A-12 derived interceptors are described, as are the built YF-12 airframes, in addition to the proposed production - standard 'F-12B' referred to as the AF-112D. Also mentioned is the FB-12 armed variant, along with the various armament schemes proposed. Also described here are the Republic XF-103, North American F-108, and the various Convair B-58 derived interceptors.
The D-21 drone is also discussed, along with it's M-21 carrier, along with the B-52 launched, rocket boosted version.
Next to be described is the production SR-71A and it's trainer version, together with it's proposed B-71, SR-71(Bx) and SR-71I armed variants,
in addition to the YF-12C experimental aircraft used by NASA and the proposed modifications to enable it to carry externally mounted payloads.
A final set of entries describe the use of the SR-71 to carry and launch various hypersonic test articles, and also the LASRE aerospike engine testbed.
There are no photographs in this work, although with the highly detailed drawing, none are really necessary.
Gripes? Only a few. To the reviewer's mind, the stock on which this work is printed is a little flimsy, although, as a bookazine rather than a true book, this can be tolerated. In order to fit the drawings to the space available on the page, some of them have odd scales, which can make it difficult sometimes to compare drawings, although wherever possible, comparable drawing ARE to the same scale. On this subject, the reviewer noticed a couple of drawings marked with the wrong scale, in particular on page 16 and page 108. Further, on page 100, the AF-112D drawing, there appears to be an error with the port chine, at the aircraft's nose.
Overall, this is an excellent reference work on the A-12, YF-12, and SR-71 series of aircraft, and while those requiring a highly detailed narrative account of the history of these aircraft may need to go elsewhere, as a' go-to' reference, 'Origins and Evolution: SR-71 Blackbird' is an excellent addition to the enthusiast's and modeller's library. Recommended.


cheers,
Robin.
 
robunos said:
On this subject, the reviewer noticed a couple of drawings marked with the wrong scale, in particular on page 16 and page 108.
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Ayup. The lower illustration on page 16 (B-36G/GEBO) is 1/350 scale, not 1/144. Curiously, the original diagram shows 1/350, not 1/144. So I don't know if that's an earlier incorrect version of the diagram, or if something got shuffled somewhere. Also: the top view has a dashed outline of the GEBO, but it barely shows up. Page 108: ayup, again. All are 1/100; that one *isn't* 1/65. That one is definitely on me.


Further, on page 100, the AF-112D drawing, there appears to be an error with the port chine, at the aircraft's nose.
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It's not an error... or maybe it is. The original diagram indicates that the IR sensor was covered by a fairing that is either retractable or jettisonable. The intent behind the way the CAD diagram was drawn was to depict that, so it's not an error that it looks like that. But it might be an erroneous *approach* to how to depict that, since it is unclear.

Any other errors, let me know.
 

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