text:
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird

The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a retired long-range, high-altitude, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. The SR-71 has several nicknames, including "Blackbird" and "Habu".

The SR-71 was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft during the 1960s by Lockheed's Skunk Works division. American aerospace engineer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many of the aircraft's innovative concepts. The shape of the SR-71 was based on that of the Lockheed A-12, which was one of the first aircraft to be designed with a reduced radar cross-section in mind. Initially, a bomber variant of the A-12 was requested by Curtis LeMay, before the program was focused solely on reconnaissance. The SR-71 was longer and heavier than the A-12, allowing it to hold more fuel as well as a two-seat cockpit. The SR-71's existence was revealed to the public in July 1964; it entered service in the United States Air Force (USAF) in January 1966. In 1989, the USAF retired the SR-71, largely for political reasons; several were briefly reactivated during the 1990s before their second retirement in 1998. NASA was the final operator of the Blackbird, using it as a research platform; it was retired again in 1999.

Mission equipment for the plane's aerial reconnaissance role included signals intelligence sensors, side looking airborne radar, and a camera. During missions, the SR-71 operated at high speeds and altitudes (Mach 3.2 and 85000 ft), allowing it to outrace or entirely avoid threats. If a surface-to-air missile launch was detected, the standard evasive action was simply to accelerate and outpace the missile. On average, each SR-71 could fly once per week due to the extended turnaround required after mission recovery. A total of 32 aircraft were built; 12 were lost in accidents with none lost to enemy action.

Since its retirement, the SR-71's role has been taken up by a combination of reconnaissance satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); a proposed UAV successor, the SR-72, is under development by Lockheed Martin, and scheduled to fly in 2025. , the SR-71 holds the world record, which it set in 1976, as the fastest airbreathing manned aircraft, previously held by the closely related Lockheed YF-12.

Background
Lockheed's previous reconnaissance aircraft was the relatively slow U-2, designed for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In late 1957, the CIA approached the defense contractor Lockheed to build an undetectable spy plane. The project, named Archangel, was led by Kelly Johnson, head of Lockheed's Skunk Works unit in Burbank, California. The work on project Archangel began in the second quarter of 1958, with aim of flying higher and faster than the U-2. Of 11 successive designs drafted in a span of 10 months, "A-10" was the front-runner. Despite this, however, its shape made it vulnerable to radar detection. After a meeting with the CIA in March 1959, the design was modified to have a 90% reduction in radar cross-section. The CIA approved a US$96 million (~$ in ) contract for Skunk Works to build a dozen spy planes, named "A-12", on 11 February 1960. The 1960 downing of Francis Gary Powers's U-2 underscored that aircraft's vulnerability and the need for faster reconnaissance aircraft such as the A-12.

The A-12 first flew at Groom Lake (Area 51), Nevada, on 25 April 1962. Thirteen were built; two variants were also developed, including three of the YF-12 interceptor prototype, and two of the M-21 drone carrier. The aircraft was meant to be powered by the Pratt & Whitney J58 engine, but development ran over schedule, and it was initially equipped with the less powerful Pratt & Whitney J75. The J58s were retrofitted as they became available, and became the standard engine for all subsequent aircraft in the series (A-12, YF-12, M-21), as well as the SR-71. The A-12 flew missions over Vietnam and North Korea before its retirement in 1968. The program's cancellation was announced on 28 December 1966, due both to budget concerns and because of the forthcoming SR-71, a derivative of the A-12.

Designation as SR-71

The SR-71 designation is a continuation of the pre-1962 bomber series; the last aircraft built using the series was the XB-70 Valkyrie. However, a bomber variant of the Blackbird was briefly given the B-71 designator, which was retained when the type was changed to SR-71.

During the later stages of its testing, the B-70 was proposed for a reconnaissance/strike role, with an "RS-70" designation. When the A-12's performance potential was clearly found to be much greater, the USAF ordered a variant of the A-12 in December 1962, which was originally named R-12 by Lockheed. This USAF version was longer and heavier than the original A-12 because it had a longer fuselage to hold more fuel. The R-12 also had a larger two-seat cockpit, and reshaped fuselage chines. Reconnaissance equipment included signals intelligence sensors, a side-looking airborne radar, and a photo camera. The CIA's A-12 was a better photo-reconnaissance platform than the USAF's R-12: since the A-12 flew somewhat higher and faster, and with only one pilot, it had room to carry a superior camera and more instruments. The A-12 flew covert missions while the SR-71 flew overt missions; the latter had USAF markings and pilots carried Geneva Conventions Identification Cards.

During the 1964 campaign, Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater repeatedly criticized President Lyndon B. Johnson and his administration for falling behind the Soviet Union in developing new weapons. Johnson decided to counter this criticism by revealing the existence of the YF-12A USAF interceptor, which also served as cover for the still-secret A-12 and the USAF reconnaissance model since July 1964. USAF Chief of Staff General Curtis LeMay preferred the SR (Strategic Reconnaissance) designation and wanted the RS-71 to be named SR-71. Before the July speech, LeMay lobbied to modify Johnson's speech to read "SR-71" instead of "RS-71". The media transcript given to the press at the time still had the earlier RS-71 designation in places, creating the story that the president had misread the aircraft's designation. To conceal the A-12's existence, Johnson referred only to the A-11, while revealing the existence of a high speed, high altitude reconnaissance aircraft.

In 1968, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara canceled the F-12 interceptor program. The specialized tooling used to manufacture both the YF-12 and the SR-71 was also ordered destroyed. Production of the SR-71 totaled 32 aircraft with 29 SR-71As, two SR-71Bs, and the single SR-71C.

Overview

The SR-71 was designed for flight at over Mach 3 with a two-men flight crew in tandem cockpits. The pilot in the forward cockpit operates the aircraft, and the reconnaissance systems officer in the rear operates the surveillance systems while navigating the mission flight path. The SR-71 was designed to minimize its radar cross-section, an early attempt at stealth design. Finished aircraft were painted in an almost black-like dark blue, to increase the emission of internal heat and to act as camouflage against the night sky. The dark color led to the aircraft's nickname "Blackbird".

While the SR-71 carried radar countermeasures to evade interception efforts, its greatest protection was its combination of high altitude and very high speed, which made it almost invulnerable at the time. Along with its low radar cross-section, these qualities gave a very short time for an enemy surface-to-air missile (SAM) site to acquire and track the aircraft on radar. By the time the SAM site could track the SR-71, it was often too late to launch a SAM, and the SR-71 would be out of range before the SAM could catch up to it. If the SAM site could track the SR-71 and fire a SAM in time, the SAM would expend nearly all of the delta-v of its boost and sustainer phases just reaching the SR-71's altitude; at this point, out of thrust, it could do little more than follow its ballistic arc. Merely accelerating would typically be enough for an SR-71 to evade a SAM; changes by the pilots in the SR-71's speed, altitude, and heading were also often enough to spoil any radar lock on the plane by SAM sites or enemy fighters. At sustained speeds of more than Mach 3.2, the plane was faster than the Soviet Union's fastest interceptor, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25, which also could not reach the SR-71's altitude. During its service life, no SR-71 was ever shot down.

Airframe, canopy, and landing gear
On most aircraft, the use of titanium was limited by the costs involved; it was generally used only in components exposed to the highest temperatures, such as exhaust fairings and the leading edges of wings. On the SR-71, titanium was used for 85% of the structure, with much of the rest being polymer composite materials. To control costs, Lockheed used a more easily worked titanium alloy which softened at a lower temperature. The challenges posed led Lockheed to develop new fabrication methods, which have since been used in the manufacture of other aircraft. Lockheed found that washing welded titanium requires distilled water, as the chlorine present in tap water is corrosive; cadmium-plated tools could not be used, as they also caused corrosion. Metallurgical contamination was another problem; at one point, 80% of the delivered titanium for manufacture was rejected on these grounds.

The high temperatures generated in flight required special design and operating techniques. Major sections of the skin of the inboard wings were corrugated, not smooth. Aerodynamicists initially opposed the concept, disparagingly referring to the aircraft as a Mach 3 variant of the 1920s-era Ford Trimotor, which was known for its corrugated aluminum skin. But high heat would have caused a smooth skin to split or curl, whereas the corrugated skin could expand vertically and horizontally and had increased longitudinal strength.

Fuselage panels were manufactured to fit only loosely with the aircraft on the ground. Proper alignment was achieved as the airframe heated up, with thermal expansion of several inches. Because of this, and the lack of a fuel-sealing system that could handle the airframe's expansion at extreme temperatures, the aircraft leaked JP-7 fuel on the ground prior to takeoff, annoying ground crews.

The outer windscreen of the cockpit was made of quartz and was fused ultrasonically to the titanium frame. The temperature of the exterior of the windscreen reached 600 °F during a mission. Cooling was carried out by cycling fuel behind the titanium surfaces in the chines. On landing, the canopy temperature was more than 300 °C.

Some SR-71s had red lines painted on the upper surface of the wing to show "no step" areas which included the trailing edge and the thin, fragile skin where the inner wing blended into the fuselage. This portion of the skin was only supported by widely spaced structural ribs.

The Blackbird's tires, manufactured by B.F. Goodrich, contained aluminum and were inflated with nitrogen. They cost $2,300 each and generally required replacing within 20 missions. The Blackbird landed at more than 170 kn and deployed a drag parachute to reduce landing roll and brake and tire wear.

Acquisition of titanium
Titanium was in short supply in the United States, so the Skunk Works team was forced to look elsewhere for the metal. Much of the needed material came from the Soviet Union. Colonel Rich Graham, SR-71 pilot, described the acquisition process: The airplane is 92% titanium inside and out. Back when they were building the airplane the United States didn't have the ore supplies—an ore called rutile ore. It's a very sandy soil and it's only found in very few parts of the world. The major supplier of the ore was the USSR. Working through Third World countries and bogus operations, they were able to get the rutile ore shipped to the United States to build the SR-71.

Shape and threat avoidance

The second operational aircraft designed around a stealth aircraft shape and materials, following the Lockheed A-12, the SR-71 had several features designed to reduce its radar signature. The SR-71 had a radar cross-section (RCS) around 10 sqm. Drawing on early studies in radar stealth technology, which indicated that a shape with flattened, tapering sides would reflect most energy away from a radar beam's place of origin, engineers added chines and canted the vertical control surfaces inward. Special radar-absorbing materials were incorporated into sawtooth-shaped sections of the aircraft's skin. Cesium-based fuel additives were used to somewhat reduce the visibility of exhaust plumes to radar, although exhaust streams remained quite apparent. Johnson later conceded that Soviet radar technology advanced faster than the stealth technology employed against it.

The SR-71 featured chines, a pair of sharp edges leading aft from either side of the nose along the fuselage. These were not a feature on the early A-3 design; Frank Rodgers, a doctor at the Scientific Engineering Institute, a CIA front organization, discovered that a cross-section of a sphere had a greatly reduced radar reflection, and adapted a cylindrical-shaped fuselage by stretching out the sides of the fuselage. After the advisory panel provisionally selected Convair's FISH design over the A-3 on the basis of RCS, Lockheed adopted chines for its A-4 through A-6 designs.

Aerodynamicists discovered that the chines generated powerful vortices and created additional lift, leading to unexpected aerodynamic performance improvements. The angle of incidence of the delta wings could be reduced for greater stability and less drag at high speeds, allowing more weight to be carried, such as fuel. Landing speeds were also reduced, as the chines' vortices created turbulent flow over the wings at high angles of attack, making it harder to stall. The chines also acted like leading-edge extensions, which increase the agility of fighters such as the F-5, F-16, F/A-18, MiG-29, and Su-27. The addition of chines also allowed the removal of the planned canard foreplanes.

Air inlets

The air inlets allowed the SR-71 to cruise at over Mach 3.2, with the air slowing down to subsonic speed as it entered the engine. Mach 3.2 was the design point for the aircraft, its most efficient speed. However, in practice the SR-71 was sometimes more efficient at even faster speeds—depending on the outside air temperature—as measured by pounds of fuel burned per nautical mile traveled. During one mission, SR-71 pilot Brian Shul flew faster than usual to avoid multiple interception attempts; afterward, it was discovered that this had reduced fuel consumption.

At the front of each inlet, a pointed, movable inlet cone called a "spike" was locked in its full forward position on the ground and during subsonic flight. When the aircraft accelerated past Mach 1.6, an internal jackscrew moved the spike up to 26 in inwards, directed by an analog air inlet computer that took into account pitot-static system, pitch, roll, yaw, and angle of attack. Moving the spike tip drew the shock wave riding on it closer to the inlet cowling until it touched just slightly inside the cowling lip. This position reflected the spike shock wave repeatedly between the spike center body and the inlet inner cowl sides, and minimized airflow spillage which is the cause of spillage drag. The air slowed supersonically with a final plane shock wave at entry to the subsonic diffuser.

Downstream of this normal shock, the air became subsonic. It decelerated further in the divergent duct to give the required speed at entry to the compressor. Capture of the plane's shock wave within the inlet is called "starting the inlet". Bleed tubes and bypass doors were designed into the inlet and engine nacelles to handle some of this pressure and to position the final shock to allow the inlet to remain "started".

In the early years of operation, the analog computers would not always keep up with rapidly changing flight environmental inputs. If internal pressures became too great and the spike was incorrectly positioned, the shock wave would suddenly blow out the front of the inlet, called an "inlet unstart". During unstarts, afterburner extinctions were common. The remaining engine's asymmetrical thrust would cause the aircraft to yaw violently to one side. SAS, autopilot, and manual control inputs would fight the yawing, but often the extreme off-angle would reduce airflow in the opposite engine and stimulate "sympathetic stalls". This generated a rapid counter-yawing, often coupled with loud "banging" noises, and a rough ride during which crews' helmets would sometimes strike their cockpit canopies. One response to a single unstart was unstarting both inlets to prevent yawing, then restarting them both. After wind tunnel testing and computer modeling by NASA Dryden test center, Lockheed installed an electronic control to detect unstart conditions and perform this reset action without pilot intervention. During troubleshooting of the unstart issue, NASA also discovered the vortices from the nose chines were entering the engine and interfering with engine efficiency. NASA developed a computer to control the engine bypass doors which countered this issue and improved efficiency. Beginning in 1980, the analog inlet control system was replaced by a digital system, Digital Automatic Flight and Inlet Control System (DAFICS), which reduced unstart instances.

Engines

The SR-71 was powered by two Pratt & Whitney J58 (company designation JT11D-20) axial-flow turbojet engines. The J58 was a considerable innovation of the era, capable of producing a static thrust of 32500 lbf. The engine was most efficient around Mach 3.2, the Blackbird's typical cruising speed. At take-off, the afterburner provided 26% of the thrust. This proportion increased progressively with speed until the afterburner provided all the thrust at about Mach 3.

Air was initially compressed (and heated) by the inlet spike and subsequent converging duct between the center body and inlet cowl. The shock waves generated slowed the air to subsonic speeds relative to the engine. The air then entered the engine compressor. Some of this compressor flow (20% at cruise) was removed after the fourth compressor stage and went straight to the afterburner through six bypass tubes. Air passing through the turbojet was compressed further by the remaining five compressor stages and then fuel was added in the combustion chamber. After passing through the turbine, the exhaust, together with the compressor bleed air, entered the afterburner.

At around Mach 3, the temperature rise from the intake compression, added to the engine compressor temperature rise, reduced the allowable fuel flow because the turbine temperature limit did not change. The rotating machinery produced less power, but still enough to run at 100% RPM, thus keeping the airflow through the intake constant. The rotating machinery had become a drag item and the engine thrust at high speeds came from the afterburner temperature rise. Maximum flight speed was limited by the temperature of the air entering the engine compressor, which was not certified for temperatures above 800 F.

Originally, the Blackbird's J58 engines were started with the assistance of two Buick Wildcat V8 internal combustion engines, externally mounted on a vehicle referred to as an AG330 "start cart". The start cart was positioned underneath the J58 and the two Buick engines powered a single, vertical drive shaft connecting to the J58 engine and spinning it to above 3,200 RPM, at which point the turbojet could self-sustain. Once the first J58 engine was started, the cart was repositioned to start the aircraft's other J58 engine. Later start carts used Chevrolet big-block V8 engines. Eventually, a quieter, pneumatic start system was developed for use at main operating bases. The V8 start carts remained at diversion landing sites not equipped with the pneumatic system.

Fuel

Several exotic fuels were investigated for the Blackbird. Development began on a coal slurry power plant, but Johnson determined that the coal particles damaged important engine components. Research was conducted on a liquid hydrogen powerplant, but its low density meant that fuel tanks would be too large. In practice, the Blackbird would burn somewhat conventional JP-7, which was difficult to ignite. To start the engines, triethylborane (TEB), which ignites on contact with air, was injected to produce temperatures high enough to ignite the JP-7. The TEB produced a characteristic green flame, which could often be seen during engine ignition.

On a typical mission, the SR-71 took off with only a partial fuel load to reduce stress on the brakes and tires during takeoff and also ensure it could successfully take off should one engine fail. Within 20 seconds the aircraft traveled 4500 ft, reached 240 mph, and lifted off. It reached 20000 ft of altitude in less than two minutes, and the typical 80000 ft cruising altitude in another 17 minutes, having used one third of its fuel. It is a common misconception that the planes refueled shortly after takeoff because the jet fuel leaked. The leaking of fuel was caused by failure of sealant due to the high heat and expansion during flight. However, the amount of fuel that leaked was not enough to make refueling necessary; the planes refueled because the maximum speeds of the aircraft were only possible with aerial refueling.

The SR-71 also required in-flight refueling to replenish fuel during long-duration missions. Supersonic flights generally lasted no more than 90 minutes before the pilot had to find a tanker.

Specialized KC-135Q tankers were required to refuel the SR-71. The KC-135Q had a modified high-speed boom, which would allow refueling of the Blackbird at nearly the tanker's maximum airspeed with minimum flutter. The tanker also had special fuel systems for moving JP-4 (for the KC-135Q itself) and JP-7 (for the SR-71) between different tanks. As an aid to the pilot when refueling, the cockpit was fitted with a peripheral vision horizon display. This unusual instrument projected a barely visible artificial horizon line across the top of the entire instrument panel, which gave the pilot subliminal cues on aircraft attitude.

Astro-inertial navigation system
Nortronics, Northrop Corporation's electronics development division, had developed an astro-inertial guidance system (ANS), which could correct inertial navigation system errors with celestial observations, for the SM-62 Snark missile, and a separate system for the ill-fated AGM-48 Skybolt missile, the latter of which was adapted for the SR-71.

Before takeoff, a primary alignment brought the ANS's inertial components to a high degree of accuracy. In flight, the ANS, which sat behind the reconnaissance systems officer's (RSO's), position, tracked stars through a circular quartz glass window on the upper fuselage. Its "blue light" source star tracker, which could see stars during both day and night, would continuously track a variety of stars as the aircraft's changing position brought them into view. The system's digital computer ephemeris contained data on a list of stars used for celestial navigation: the list first included 56 stars and was later expanded to 61. The ANS could supply altitude and position to flight controls and other systems, including the mission data recorder, automatic navigation to preset destination points, automatic pointing and control of cameras and sensors, and optical or SLR sighting of fixed points loaded into the ANS before takeoff. According to Richard Graham, a former SR-71 pilot, the navigation system was good enough to limit drift to 1000 ft off the direction of travel at Mach 3.

Sensors and payloads

The SR-71 originally included optical/infrared imagery systems; side-looking airborne radar (SLAR); electronic intelligence (ELINT) gathering systems; defensive systems for countering missile and airborne fighters;   and recorders for SLAR, ELINT, and maintenance data. The SR-71 carried a Fairchild tracking camera and an infrared camera, both of which ran during the entire mission.

As the SR-71 had a second cockpit behind the pilot for the RSO, it could not carry the A-12's principal sensor, a single large-focal-length optical camera that sat in the "Q-Bay" behind the A-12's single cockpit. Instead, the SR-71's camera systems could be located either in the fuselage chines or the removable nose/chine section. Wide-area imaging was provided by two of Itek's Operational Objective Cameras, which provided stereo imagery across the width of the flight track, or an Itek Optical Bar Camera, which gave continuous horizon-to-horizon coverage. A closer view of the target area was given by the HYCON Technical Objective Camera (TEOC), which could be directed up to 45° left or right of the centerline. Initially, the TEOCs could not match the resolution of the A-12's larger camera, but rapid improvements in both the camera and film improved this performance.

SLAR, built by Goodyear Aerospace, could be carried in the removable nose. In later life, the radar was replaced by Loral's Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar System (ASARS-1). Both the first SLAR and ASARS-1 were ground-mapping imaging systems, collecting data either in fixed swaths left or right of centerline or from a spot location for higher resolution. ELINT-gathering systems, called the Electro Magnetic Reconnaissance System, built by AIL could be carried in the chine bays to analyze electronic signal fields being passed through, and were programmed to identify items of interest.

Over its operational life, the Blackbird carried various electronic countermeasures (ECMs), including warning and active electronic systems built by several ECM companies and called Systems A, A2, A2C, B, C, C2, E, G, H, and M. On a given mission, an aircraft carried several of these frequency/purpose payloads to meet the expected threats. Major Jerry Crew, an RSO, told Air & Space/Smithsonian that he used a jammer to try to confuse surface-to-air missile sites as their crews tracked his airplane, but once his threat-warning receiver told him a missile had been launched, he switched off the jammer to prevent the missile from homing in on its signal. After landing, information from the SLAR, ELINT gathering systems, and the maintenance data recorder were subjected to postflight ground analysis. In the later years of its operational life, a datalink system could send ASARS-1 and ELINT data from about 2000 nmi of track coverage to a suitably equipped ground station.

Life support

Flying at 80000 ft meant that crews could not use standard masks, which could not provide enough oxygen above 43000 ft. Specialized protective pressurized suits were produced for crew members by the David Clark Company for the A-12, YF-12, M-21 and SR-71. Furthermore, an emergency ejection at Mach 3.2 would subject crews to temperatures of about 450 °F; thus, during a high-altitude ejection scenario, an onboard oxygen supply would keep the suit pressurized during the descent.

The cockpit could be pressurized to an altitude of 10000 or during flight. The cabin needed a heavy-duty cooling system, as cruising at Mach 3.2 would heat the aircraft's external surface well beyond 500 °F and the inside of the windshield to 250 °F. An air conditioner used a heat exchanger to dump heat from the cockpit into the fuel prior to combustion. The same air-conditioning system was also used to keep the front (nose) landing gear bay cool, thereby eliminating the need for the special aluminum-impregnated tires similar to those used on the main landing gear.

Blackbird pilots and RSOs were provided with food and drink for the long reconnaissance flights. Water bottles had long straws which crewmembers guided into an opening in the helmet by looking in a mirror. Food was contained in sealed containers similar to toothpaste tubes which delivered food to the crewmember's mouth through the helmet opening.

Main era
The first flight of an SR-71 took place on 22 December 1964, at USAF Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, piloted by Bob Gilliland. The SR-71 reached a top speed of Mach 3.4 during flight testing, with pilot Major Brian Shul reporting a speed in excess of Mach 3.5 on an operational sortie while evading a missile over Libya. The first SR-71 to enter service was delivered to the 4200th (later, 9th) Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base, California, in January 1966.

SR-71s first arrived at the 9th SRW's Operating Location (OL-8) at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan on 8 March 1968. These deployments were code-named "Glowing Heat", while the program as a whole was code-named "Senior Crown". Reconnaissance missions over North Vietnam were code-named "Black Shield" and then renamed "Giant Scale" in late 1968. On 21 March 1968, Major (later General) Jerome F. O'Malley and Major Edward D. Payne flew the first operational SR-71 sortie in SR-71 serial number 61-7976 from Kadena AFB, Okinawa. During its career, this aircraft (976) accumulated 2,981 flying hours and flew 942 total sorties (more than any other SR-71), including 257 operational missions, from Beale AFB; Palmdale, California; Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan; and RAF Mildenhall, UK. The aircraft was flown to the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton, Ohio in March 1990.

The USAF could fly each SR-71, on average, once per week, because of the extended turnaround required after mission recovery. Very often an aircraft would return with rivets missing, delaminated panels or other broken parts such as inlets requiring repair or replacement. There were cases of the aircraft not being ready to fly again for a month due to the repairs needed. Rob Vermeland, Lockheed Martin's manager of Advanced Development Program, said in an interview in 2015 that high-tempo operations were not realistic for the SR-71. "If we had one sitting in the hangar here and the crew chief was told there was a mission planned right now, then 19 hours later it would be safely ready to take off."

From the beginning of the Blackbird's reconnaissance missions over North Vietnam and Laos in 1968, the SR-71s averaged approximately one sortie a week for nearly two years. By 1970, the SR-71s were averaging two sorties per week, and by 1972, they were flying nearly one sortie every day. Two SR-71s were lost during these missions, one in 1970 and the second aircraft in 1972, both due to mechanical malfunctions. Over the course of its reconnaissance missions during the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese fired approximately 800 SAMs at SR-71s, none of which managed to score a hit. Pilots did report that missiles launched without radar guidance and no launch detection, had passed as close as 150 yd from the aircraft.

While deployed at Okinawa, the SR-71s and their aircrew members gained the nickname Habu (as did the A-12s preceding them) after a pit viper indigenous to Japan, which the Okinawans thought the plane resembled.

Operational highlights for the entire Blackbird family (YF-12, A-12, and SR-71) as of about 1990 included:
 * 3,551 mission sorties flown
 * 17,300 total sorties flown
 * 11,008 mission flight hours
 * 53,490 total flight hours
 * 2,752 hours Mach 3 time (missions)
 * 11,675 hours Mach 3 time (total)

Only one crew member, Jim Zwayer, a Lockheed flight-test reconnaissance and navigation systems specialist, was killed in a flight accident. The rest of the crew members ejected safely or evacuated their aircraft on the ground.

An SR-71 was used domestically in 1971 to assist the FBI in their manhunt for the skyjacker D.B. Cooper. The Blackbird was to retrace and photograph the flightpath of the hijacked 727 from Seattle to Reno and attempt to locate any of the items that Cooper was known to have parachuted with from the aircraft. Five flights were attempted but on each occasion no photographs of the flight path were obtained due to low visibility.

European flights
European operations were flown from RAF Mildenhall, England. There were two weekly routes. One was along the Norwegian west coast and up the Kola Peninsula, which contained several large naval bases belonging to the Soviet Navy's Northern Fleet. Over the years, there were several emergency landings in Norway, four in Bodø and two of them in 1981 (flying from Beale) and 1985. Rescue parties were sent in to repair the planes before leaving. On one occasion, one complete wing with engine was replaced as the easiest way to get the plane airborne again.

The other route was known as the Baltic Express. It started from Mildenhall and went through Jutland and the Danish straits before going out over the Baltic Sea. At the time, the USSR controlled the airspace from the DDR and to the Gulf of Finland, with both Finland and Sweden pursuing neutrality in the Cold War. This meant that NATO aircraft entering the Baltic Sea had to fly through a narrow corridor of international airspace between Scania and Western Pomerania, which was monitored by both the Swedish and Soviet Air Forces. Starting a counter-clockwise 30 minute loop, the Blackbirds would then reconnoitre along the Soviet Union's coastal border, before slowing down to Mach 2.54 to make a left turn south of Åland, and then follow the Swedish coast back towards Denmark. If the SR-71s attempted the turn at Mach 3, they could end up violating Swedish airspace, and the Swedes would direct Viggens to intercept the offending aircraft.

The combination of a monitored entry point and a fixed route allowed the Swedes and the Soviets a chance to scramble interceptors. Swedish radar stations would observe the 15th Air Army dispatch Su-15s from Latvia, and MiG-21s and MiG-23s from Estonia, although only the Sukhois would have even a slim chance of successfully intercepting the American aircraft. The greater Soviet threat came from the MiG-25s stationed at Finow-Eberswalde in the DDR. The Swedes noted that the Soviets usually would send a single MiG-25 "Foxbat" from Finow to intercept the SR-71 on their way back out of the Baltic Sea. With the Blackbird flying at 22 km, the Foxbat would regularly close to an altitude of 19 km, precisely 3 km behind the SR-71, before disengaging. The Swedes interpreted this regularity as a sign that the MiG-25 had successfully simulated a shoot-down.

The Swedes themselves would typically assert their neutrality by dispatching Saab 37 Viggens from Ängelholm, Norrköping or Ronneby. Limited by a top speed of Mach 2.1 and a service ceiling of 18 km, the Viggen pilots would line up for a frontal attack, and rely on their state-of-the-art avionics in order to climb at the right time and attain a missile lock on the SR-71. Precise timing and target illumination would be maintained with target location data supplied to the Viggen's fire-control computer from ground-based radars, with the most common site for the lock-on being the thin stretch of international airspace between Öland and Gotland. Out of 322 recorded Baltic Express sorties between 1977 and 1988, the Swedish Air Force claims that they succeeded in attaining missile lock on the SR-71 in 51 of them. However, with a combined closing speed of Mach 5, the Swedes were reliant on the Blackbird not changing course.

On 29 June 1987, an SR-71 was on a mission around the Baltic Sea to spy on Soviet postings when one of the engines exploded. The aircraft, which was at 20 km altitude, quickly lost altitude and turned 180° to the left and turned over Gotland to search for the Swedish coast. Thus, Swedish airspace was violated, whereupon two unarmed Saab JA 37 Viggens on an exercise at the height of Västervik were ordered there. The mission was to do an incident preparedness check and identify an aircraft of high interest. It was found that the plane was in obvious distress and a decision was made that the Swedish Air Force would escort the plane out of the Baltic Sea. A second round of armed JA-37s from Ängelholm replaced the first pair and completed the escort to Danish airspace. The event had been classified for over 30 years, and when the report was unsealed, data from the NSA showed that multiple MiG-25s with the order to shoot down the SR-71 or force it to land, had started right after the engine failure. A MiG-25 had locked a missile on the damaged SR-71, but as the aircraft was under escort, no missiles were fired. On 28 November 2018, the four Swedish pilots involved were awarded medals from the USAF.

Initial retirement
One widely conventional view, and probably the best-known view, of the reasons for the SR-71's retirement in 1989—a view that the Air Force itself offered to the Congress—was that besides being very expensive, the SR-71 had become redundant anyway, among other reconnaissance methods that were ever-evolving. However, another view held by various officers and legislators is that the SR-71 program was terminated owing to Pentagon politics, and not because the aircraft had become obsolete, irrelevant, too hard to maintain, or unsustainably expensive. Graham, a former 1st-SRS and 9th-SRW commander, presented in 1996 what he viewed as a factual summary, not an opinion, of how the SR-71 provided some intelligence capabilities that none of its alternatives (such as satellites, U-2s, and UAVs) were providing in the 1990s (when the SR-71 was retired and then re-retired from Air Force reconnaissance duty). The chief question for opinion, beyond that point, was only how crucial, or disposable, those unique advantages properly were.

Graham noted that in the 1970s and early 1980s, SR-71 squadron and wing commanders were often promoted into higher positions as general officers within the USAF structure and the Pentagon. (In order to be selected into the SR-71 program in the first place, a pilot or navigator (RSO) had to be a top-quality USAF officer, so continuing career progression for members of this elite group was not surprising.) These generals were adept at communicating the value of the SR-71 to a USAF command staff and a Congress who often lacked a basic understanding of how the SR-71 worked and what it did. However, by the mid-1980s, these SR-71 generals all had retired, and a new generation of USAF generals mostly wanted to cut the program's budget and spend its funding on different priorities, such as the new B-2 Spirit strategic bomber program. Such generals had an interest in believing, and persuading the services and the Congress, that the SR-71 had become either entirely or almost entirely redundant to satellites, U-2s, incipient UAV programs, and an alleged top-secret successor already under development. Graham said that the last-mentioned one was only a sales pitch, not a fact, at the time in the 1990s.

The USAF may have seen the SR-71 as a bargaining chip to ensure the survival of other priorities. Also, the SR-71 program's "product", which was operational and strategic intelligence, was not seen by these generals as being very valuable to the USAF. The primary consumers of this intelligence were the CIA, NSA, and DIA. A general misunderstanding of the nature of aerial reconnaissance and a lack of knowledge about the SR-71 in particular (due to its secretive development and operations) was used by detractors to discredit the aircraft, with the assurance given that a replacement was under development. Dick Cheney told the Senate Appropriations Committee that the SR-71 cost $85,000 per hour to operate. Opponents estimated the aircraft's support cost at $400 to $700 million per year, though the cost was actually closer to $300 million.

The SR-71, while much more capable than the Lockheed U-2 in terms of range, speed, and survivability, suffered the lack of a data link, which the U-2 had been upgraded to carry. This meant that much of the SR-71's imagery and radar data could not be used in real time, but had to wait until the aircraft returned to base. This lack of immediate real-time capability was used as one of the justifications to close down the program. The counterargument was that the longer the SR-71 was not upgraded as aggressively as it ought to have been, the more people could say that it was obsolescent, which was in their interest as champions of other programs (a self-fulfilling bias). Attempts to add a datalink to the SR-71 were stymied early on by the same factions in the Pentagon and Congress who were already set on the program's demise, even in the early 1980s. These same factions also forced expensive sensor upgrades to the SR-71, which did little to increase its mission capabilities, but could be used as justification for complaining about the cost of the program.

In 1988, Congress was convinced to allocate $160,000 to keep six SR-71s and a trainer model in flyable storage that could become flightworthy within 60 days. However, the USAF refused to spend the money. While the SR-71 survived attempts to retire it in 1988, partly due to the unmatched ability to provide high-quality coverage of the Kola Peninsula for the US Navy, the decision to retire the SR-71 from active duty came in 1989, with the last missions flown in October that year. Four months after the plane's retirement, General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., was told that the expedited reconnaissance, which the SR-71 could have provided, was unavailable during Operation Desert Storm.

The SR-71 program's main operational capabilities came to a close at the end of fiscal year 1989 (October 1989). The 1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (1 SRS) kept its pilots and aircraft operational and active, and flew some operational reconnaissance missions through the end of 1989 and into 1990, due to uncertainty over the timing of the final termination of funding for the program. The squadron finally closed in mid-1990, and the aircraft were distributed to static display locations, with a number kept in reserve storage.

Reactivation
"From the operator's perspective, what I need is something that will not give me just a spot in time but will give me a track of what is happening. When we are trying to find out if the Serbs are taking arms, moving tanks or artillery into Bosnia, we can get a picture of them stacked up on the Serbian side of the bridge. We do not know whether they then went on to move across that bridge. We need the [data] that a tactical, an SR-71, a U-2, or an unmanned vehicle of some sort, will give us, in addition to, not in replacement of, the ability of the satellites to go around and check not only that spot but a lot of other spots around the world for us. It is the integration of strategic and tactical."

Due to unease over political situations in the Middle East and North Korea, the U.S. Congress re-examined the SR-71 beginning in 1993. Rear Admiral Thomas F. Hall addressed the question of why the SR-71 was retired, saying it was under "the belief that, given the time delay associated with mounting a mission, conducting a reconnaissance, retrieving the data, processing it, and getting it out to a field commander, that you had a problem in timelines that was not going to meet the tactical requirements on the modern battlefield. And the determination was that if one could take advantage of technology and develop a system that could get that data back real time... that would be able to meet the unique requirements of the tactical commander." Hall also stated they were "looking at alternative means of doing [the job of the SR-71]."

Macke told the committee that they were "flying U-2s, RC-135s, [and] other strategic and tactical assets" to collect information in some areas. Senator Robert Byrd and other senators complained that the "better than" successor to the SR-71 had yet to be developed at the cost of the "good enough" serviceable aircraft. They maintained that, in a time of constrained military budgets, designing, building, and testing an aircraft with the same capabilities as the SR-71 would be impossible.

Congress's disappointment with the lack of a suitable replacement for the Blackbird was cited concerning whether to continue funding imaging sensors on the U-2. Congressional conferees stated the "experience with the SR-71 serves as a reminder of the pitfalls of failing to keep existing systems up-to-date and capable in the hope of acquiring other capabilities." It was agreed to add $100 million to the budget to return three SR-71s to service, but it was emphasized that this "would not prejudice support for long-endurance UAVs" [such as the Global Hawk]. The funding was later cut to $72.5 million. The Skunk Works was able to return the aircraft to service under budget at $72 million.

Retired USAF Colonel Jay Murphy was made the Program Manager for Lockheed's reactivation plans. Retired USAF Colonels Don Emmons and Barry MacKean were put under government contract to remake the plane's logistic and support structure. Still-active USAF pilots and Reconnaissance Systems Officers (RSOs) who had worked with the aircraft were asked to volunteer to fly the reactivated planes. The aircraft was under the command and control of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base and flew out of a renovated hangar at Edwards Air Force Base. Modifications were made to provide a data-link with "near real-time" transmission of the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar's imagery to sites on the ground.

Final retirement
The reactivation met much resistance: the USAF had not budgeted for the aircraft, and UAV developers worried that their programs would suffer if money was shifted to support the SR-71s. Also, with the allocation requiring yearly reaffirmation by Congress, long-term planning for the SR-71 was difficult. In 1996, the USAF claimed that specific funding had not been authorized, and moved to ground the program. Congress reauthorized the funds, but, in October 1997, President Bill Clinton attempted to use the line-item veto to cancel the $39 million (~$ in ) allocated for the SR-71. In June 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the line-item veto was unconstitutional. All this left the SR-71's status uncertain until September 1998, when the USAF called for the funds to be redistributed; the USAF permanently retired it in 1998.

NASA operated the two last airworthy Blackbirds until 1999. All other Blackbirds have been moved to museums except for the two SR-71s and a few D-21 drones retained by the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (later renamed the Armstrong Flight Research Center).

1950s–1960s

 * 24 December 1957: First J58 engine run
 * 1 May 1960: Francis Gary Powers is shot down in a Lockheed U-2 over the Soviet Union
 * 13 June 1962: SR-71 mock-up reviewed by the USAF
 * 30 July 1962: J58 completes pre-flight testing
 * 28 December 1962: Lockheed signs contract to build six SR-71 aircraft
 * 25 July 1964: President Johnson makes public announcement of SR-71
 * 29 October 1964: SR-71 prototype (AF Ser. No. 61-7950) delivered to Air Force Plant 42 at Palmdale, California
 * 7 December 1964: Beale AFB, CA, announced as base for SR-71
 * 22 December 1964: First flight of the SR-71, with Lockheed test pilot Robert J "Bob" Gilliland at Palmdale
 * 21 July 1967: Jim Watkins and Dave Dempster fly first international sortie in SR-71A, AF Ser. No. 61-7972, when the Astro-Inertial Navigation System (ANS) fails on a training mission and they accidentally fly into Mexican airspace
 * 5 February 1968: Lockheed ordered to destroy A-12, YF-12, and SR-71 tooling
 * 8 March 1968: First SR-71A (AF Ser. No. 61-7978) arrives at Kadena AB, Okinawa to replace A-12s
 * 21 March 1968: First SR-71 (AF Ser. No. 61-7976) operational mission flown from Kadena AB over Vietnam
 * 29 May 1968: CMSgt Bill Gornik begins the tie-cutting tradition of Habu crews' neckties
 * 13 December 1969: Two SR-71s deployed to Taiwan.

1970s–1980s

 * 3 December 1975: First flight of SR-71A (AF Ser. No. 61-7959) in "big tail" configuration
 * 20 April 1976: TDY operations started at RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom with SR-71A, AF Ser. No. 61-7972
 * 27–28 July 1976: SR-71A sets speed and altitude records (altitude in horizontal flight: 85068.997 ft and speed over a straight course: 2193.167 mph)
 * August 1980: Honeywell starts conversion of AFICS to DAFICS
 * 15 January 1982: SR-71B, AF Ser. No. 61-7956, flies its 1,000th sortie
 * 21 April 1989: SR-71, AF Ser. No. 61-7974, is lost due to an engine explosion after taking off from Kadena AB, the last Blackbird to be lost
 * 22 November 1989: USAF SR-71 program officially terminated

1990s

 * 6 March 1990: Last SR-71 flight under Senior Crown program, setting four speed records en route to the Smithsonian Institution
 * 25 July 1991: SR-71B, AF Ser. No. 61-7956/NASA No. 831 officially delivered to NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, California
 * October 1991: NASA engineer Marta Bohn-Meyer becomes the first female SR-71 crew member
 * 28 September 1994: Congress votes to allocate $100 million for reactivation of three SR-71s
 * 28 June 1995: First reactivated SR-71 returns to USAF as Detachment 2
 * 9 October 1999: The last flight of the SR-71 (AF Ser. No. 61-7980/NASA 844)

Records

The SR-71 was the world's fastest and highest-flying air-breathing operational manned aircraft throughout its career and it still holds that record. On 28 July 1976, SR-71 serial number 61-7962, piloted by then Captain Robert Helt, broke the world record: an "absolute altitude record" of 85069 ft. Several aircraft have exceeded this altitude in zoom climbs, but not in sustained flight. That same day SR-71 serial number 61-7958 set an absolute speed record of 1905.81 kn, approximately Mach 3.3. SR-71 pilot Brian Shul states in his book The Untouchables that he flew in excess of Mach 3.5 on 15 April 1986 over Libya to evade a missile.

The SR-71 also holds the "speed over a recognized course" record for flying from New York to London—distance 3461.53 mi, 1806.964 mph, and an elapsed time of 1 hour 54 minutes and 56.4 seconds—set on 1 September 1974, while flown by USAF pilot James V. Sullivan and Noel F. Widdifield, reconnaissance systems officer (RSO). This equates to an average speed of about Mach 2.72, including deceleration for in-flight refueling. Peak speeds during this flight were likely closer to the declassified top speed of over Mach 3.2. For comparison, the best commercial Concorde flight time was 2 hours 52 minutes and the Boeing 747 averages 6 hours 15 minutes.

On 26 April 1971, 61–7968, flown by majors Thomas B. Estes and Dewain C. Vick, flew over 15000 mi in 10 hours and 30 minutes. This flight was awarded the 1971 Mackay Trophy for the "most meritorious flight of the year" and the 1972 Harmon Trophy for "most outstanding international achievement in the art/science of aeronautics".

When the SR-71 was retired in 1990, one Blackbird was flown from its birthplace at USAF Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, to go on exhibit at what is now the Smithsonian Institution's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. On 6 March 1990, Lt. Col. Raymond E. Yeilding and Lt. Col. Joseph T. Vida piloted SR-71 S/N 61–7972 on its final Senior Crown flight and set four new speed records in the process:
 * Los Angeles, California, to Washington, D.C., distance 2299.7 mi, average speed 2144.8 mph, and an elapsed time of 64 minutes 20 seconds.
 * West Coast to East Coast, distance 2404 mi, average speed 2124.5 mph, and an elapsed time of 67 minutes 54 seconds.
 * Kansas City, Missouri, to Washington, D.C., distance 942 mi, average speed 2176 mph, and an elapsed time of 25 minutes 59 seconds.
 * St. Louis, Missouri, to Cincinnati, Ohio, distance 311.4 mi, average speed 2189.9 mph, and an elapsed time of 8 minutes 32 seconds.

These four speed records were accepted by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA), the recognized body for aviation records in the United States. Additionally, Air & Space/Smithsonian reported that the USAF clocked the SR-71 at one point in its flight reaching 2242.48 mph. After the Los Angeles–Washington flight, on 6 March 1990, Senator John Glenn addressed the United States Senate, chastising the Department of Defense for not using the SR-71 to its full potential:

"Mr. President, the termination of the SR-71 was a grave mistake and could place our nation at a serious disadvantage in the event of a future crisis. Yesterday's historic transcontinental flight was a sad memorial to our short-sighted policy in strategic aerial reconnaissance."

Successor
Speculation existed regarding a replacement for the SR-71, including a rumored aircraft codenamed Aurora. The limitations of reconnaissance satellites, which take up to 24 hours to arrive in the proper orbit to photograph a particular target, make them slower to respond to demand than reconnaissance planes. The fly-over orbit of spy satellites may also be predicted and can allow assets to be hidden when the satellite passes, a drawback not shared by aircraft. Thus, there are doubts that the US has abandoned the concept of spy planes to complement reconnaissance satellites. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are also used for aerial reconnaissance in the 21st century, being able to overfly hostile territory without putting human pilots at risk, as well as being smaller and harder to detect than manned aircraft.

On 1 November 2013, media outlets reported that Skunk Works has been working on an unmanned reconnaissance airplane it has named SR-72, which would fly twice as fast as the SR-71, at Mach 6. However, the USAF is officially pursuing the Northrop Grumman RQ-180 UAV to assume the SR-71's strategic ISR role.

Variants

 * SR-71A was the main production variant.
 * SR-71B was a trainer variant.
 * SR-71C was a hybrid trainer aircraft composed of the rear fuselage of the first YF-12A (S/N 60-6934) and the forward fuselage from an SR-71 static test unit. The YF-12 had been wrecked in a 1966 landing accident. It has been reported that this Blackbird was seemingly not quite straight and had a yaw at supersonic speeds. However, this was caused by a mis-aligned pitot tube reporting a 4° yaw that was not actually present. It was soon corrected and then flew normally. It was nicknamed "The Bastard".

Operators
United States Air Force
 * Air Force Systems Command

 * Air Force Flight Test Center – Edwards AFB, California
 * 4786th Test Squadron 1965–1970
 * SR-71 Flight Test Group 1970–1990
 * Strategic Air Command

 * 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing – Beale AFB, California
 * 1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron 1966–1990
 * 99th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron 1966–1971
 * Detachment 1, Kadena Air Base, Japan 1968–1990
 * Detachment 4, RAF Mildenhall. England 1976–1990
 * Air Combat Command

 * Detachment 2, 9th Reconnaissance Wing – Edwards AFB, California 1995–1997
 * (Forward Operating Locations at Eielson AFB, Alaska; Griffis AFB, New York; Seymour-Johnson AFB, North Carolina; Diego Garcia and Bodo, Norway 1973–1990)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
 * Dryden Flight Research Center – Edwards AFB, California 1991–1999

Accidents and aircraft disposition

Twelve SR-71s were lost and one pilot died in accidents during the aircraft's service career. Eleven of these accidents happened between 1966 and 1972.

Some secondary references use incorrect 64- series aircraft serial numbers (e.g. SR-71C 64-17981)

After completion of all USAF and NASA SR-71 operations at Edwards AFB, the SR-71 Flight Simulator was moved in July 2006 to the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field Airport in Dallas, Texas.

title: Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird


text:
Utah Phillips

Bruce Duncan "Utah" Phillips (May 15, 1935 – May 23, 2008) was an American labor organizer, folk singer, storyteller and poet. He described the struggles of labor unions and the power of direct action, self-identifying as an anarchist. He often promoted the Industrial Workers of the World in his music, actions, and words.

Early years
Phillips was born in Cleveland to Edwin Deroger Phillips and Frances Kathleen Coates. His father, Edwin Phillips, was a labor organizer, and his parents' activism influenced much of his life's work. Phillips was a card-carrying member of the Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies), which were headquartered in Chicago. His parents divorced and his mother remarried. Phillips was adopted at the age of five by his stepfather, Syd Cohen, who managed the Hippodrome Theater in Cleveland, one of the last vaudeville houses in the city. Cohen moved the family to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he managed the Lyric Theater, another vaudeville house. Phillips attributes his early exposure to vaudeville through his stepfather as being an important influence on his later career.

Phillips attended East High School in Salt Lake City, where he was involved in the arts and plays. He served in the United States Army for three years in the 1950s. Witnessing the devastation of post-war Korea greatly influenced his social and political thinking. After discharge from the army, Phillips rode the railroads, and wrote songs.

Career
While riding the rails and tramping around the west, Phillips returned to Salt Lake City, where he met Ammon Hennacy from the Catholic Worker Movement. He gave credit to Hennacy for saving him from a life of drifting to one dedicated to using his gifts and talents toward activism and public service. Phillips assisted him in establishing a mission house of hospitality named after the activist Joe Hill. Phillips worked at the Joe Hill House for the next eight years, then ran for the U.S. Senate as a candidate of Utah's Peace and Freedom Party in 1968. He received 2,019 votes (0.5%) in an election won by Republican Wallace F. Bennett. He also ran for president of the United States in 1976 for the Do-Nothing Party.

He adopted the name U. Utah Phillips in keeping with the hobo tradition of adopting a moniker that included an initial and the state of origin, and in emulation of country vocalist T. Texas Tyler.

Phillips met folk singer Rosalie Sorrels in the early 1950s, and remained a close friend of hers. Sorrels started playing the songs that Phillips wrote, and through her his music began to spread. After leaving Utah in the late 1960s, he went to Saratoga Springs, New York, where he was befriended by the folk community at the Caffè Lena coffee house. He became a staple performer there for a decade, and would return throughout his career. Phillips was a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies). His views of unions and politics were shaped by his parents, especially his mother who was a labor organizer for the CIO. But Phillips was more of a Christian anarchist and a pacifist, so found the modern-day Wobblies to be the perfect fit for him, an iconoclast and artist. In recent years, perhaps no single person did more to spread the Wobbly gospel than Phillips, whose countless concerts were, in effect, organizing meetings for the cause of labor, unions, anarchism, pacifism, and the Wobblies. He was a tremendous interpreter of classic Wobbly tunes including "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum," "The Preacher and the Slave," and "Bread and Roses."

An avid trainhopper, Phillips recorded several albums of music related to the railroads, especially the era of steam locomotives. His 1973 album, Good Though!, is an example, and contains such songs as "Daddy, What's a Train?" and "Queen of the Rails" as well as what may be his most famous composition, "Moose Turd Pie" wherein he tells a tall tale of his work as a gandy dancer repairing track in the Southwestern United States desert.

In 1991 Phillips recorded, in one take, an album of song, poetry and short stories entitled I've Got To Know, inspired by his anger at the first Gulf War. The album includes "Enola Gay," his first composition written about the United States' atomic attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Phillips was a mentor to folk singer Kate Wolf. In 1998, he was the first recipient of the Kate Wolf Memorial Award from the World Folk Music Association. He recorded songs and stories with Rosalie Sorrels on a CD called The Long Memory (1996), originally a college project "Worker's Doxology" for 1992 'cold-drill Magazine' Boise State University. His admirer, Ani DiFranco, recorded two CDs, The Past Didn't Go Anywhere (1996) and Fellow Workers (1999), with him. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for his work with DiFranco. His "Green Rolling Hills" was made into a country hit by Emmylou Harris, and "The Goodnight-Loving Trail" became a classic as well, being recorded by Ian Tyson, Tom Waits, and others.

Later years and death
Though known primarily for his work as a concert performer and labor organizer, Phillips also worked as an archivist, dishwasher, and warehouse-man.

Phillips was a member of various socio-political organizations and groups throughout his life. A strong supporter of labor struggles, he was a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers (Mine Mill), and the Travelling Musician's Union AFM Local 1000. In solidarity with the poor, he was also an honorary member of Dignity Village, a homeless community. A pacifist, he was a member of Veterans for Peace and the Peace Center of Nevada County.

In his personal life, Phillips enjoyed varied hobbies and interests. These included Egyptology; amateur chemistry; linguistics; history (Asian, African, Mormon and world); futhark; debate; and poetry. He also enjoyed culinary hobbies, such as pickling, cooking and gardening.

He married Joanna Robinson on July 31, 1989, in Nevada City. Phillips became an elder statesman for the folk music community, and a keeper of stories and songs that might otherwise have passed into obscurity. He was also a member of the great Traveling Nation, the community of hobos and railroad bums that populates the Midwest United States along the rail lines, and was an important keeper of their history and culture. He also became an honorary member of numerous folk societies in the US and Canada.

When Kate Wolf grew ill and was forced to cancel concerts, she asked Phillips to fill in. Suffering from an ailment which makes it more difficult to play guitar, Phillips hesitated, citing his declining guitar ability. "Nobody ever came just to hear you play," she said. Phillips told this story as a way of explaining how his style over the years became increasingly based on storytelling instead of just songs. He was a gifted storyteller and monologist, and his concerts generally had an even mix of spoken word and sung content. He attributed much of his success to his personality. "It is better to be likeable than talented," he often said, self-deprecatingly.

From 1997 to 2001, Phillips hosted his own weekly radio show, Loafer's Glory: The Hobo Jungle of the Mind, originating on KVMR and nationally syndicated. The show was suspended after 100 episodes due to lack of funding.

Phillips lived in Nevada City, California, for 21 years where he worked on the start-up of the Hospitality House, a homeless shelter, and the Peace and Justice Center. "It's my town. Nevada City is a primary seed-bed for community organizing."

In August 2007, Phillips announced that he would undergo catheter ablation to address his heart problems. Later that autumn, Phillips announced that due to health problems he could no longer tour. By January 2008, he decided against a heart transplant.

Phillips died May 23, 2008, in Nevada City, California, from complications of heart disease, eight days after his 73rd birthday, and is buried in Forest View Cemetery in Nevada City.

Personal papers
Archival materials related to Phillips' personal and professional life are open for research at the Walter P. Reuther Library in Detroit, Michigan. The papers include correspondence, interviews, writings, notes, contracts, flyers, publications, articles, clippings, photographs, audiovisual recordings, and other materials.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Utah Phillips


text:
Kalamazoo College

Kalamazoo College is a private liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Founded in 1833 by Baptist ministers as the Michigan and Huron Institute, Kalamazoo is the oldest private college in Michigan. From 1840 to 1850, the institute operated as the Kalamazoo Branch of the University of Michigan. After receiving its charter from the state in 1855, the institute changed its name to Kalamazoo College.

Kalamazoo is a member of the Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges (CLAC) and the Great Lakes Colleges Association. The college's sports teams are nicknamed the Hornets and compete in the NCAA Division III Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

History

Kalamazoo College was founded in 1833 by a group of Baptist ministers as the Michigan and Huron Institute. Its charter was granted on April 22, 1833, the first school chartered by the Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan. Instruction at the Institute began in fall 1836. In 1837, the name of the fledgling college was changed to the Kalamazoo Literary Institute and school officials made their first attempt to secure recognition as a college from the state of Michigan. In 1838, however, the University of Michigan opened the Kalamazoo Branch of the University of Michigan, providing a local competitor to the Literary Institute. In 1840, the two schools merged, and from 1840 to 1850, the college operated as the Kalamazoo Branch of the University of Michigan. In 1850, the Kalamazoo Literary Institute name was restored and in 1855 the school finally received an educational charter from the State of Michigan; it was now officially a college. The school changed its name to Kalamazoo College.

James Stone, the first president of Kalamazoo College, led the school from 1842 through 1863 and was responsible for instituting the high academic standards that allowed the college to receive its charter. Shortly after becoming president, Stone proposed the addition of a theological seminary to increase the supply of ministers in the region. With the support of the Baptist church, classes at the Kalamazoo Theological Seminary began in 1848 with 11 students. At the same time, the Female Department continued to expand under the watchful eye of Lucinda Hinsdale Stone. In 1845–46, almost half of the 90 students enrolled in Kalamazoo were women.

The first known student of African descent to attend Kalamazoo College was ex-slave Rufus Lewis Perry. Perry attended Kalamazoo Theological Seminary from 1860 to 1861, but left before he received a diploma. He was ordained a Baptist minister in Ann Arbor in 1861, and later earned a Ph.D. from State University in Louisville, Kentucky. Jamaican-born brothers Solomon and John Williamson were the first black graduates from "K," receiving their diplomas in 1911. Kalamazoo College also served as a pioneer in coed education, granting its first degree to a woman, Catherine V. Eldred, in 1870.

In 1877, Kalamazoo College students published the first edition of The Index, a student-run newspaper that continues to publish today. The college also publishes The Cauldron, an annual literary-arts journal, and The Passage, an annual compilation of students' work from study abroad.

Kalamazoo College's reputation was built during the presidency of Weimer Hicks, who served from 1954 to 1971. Hicks conceived of the "K Plan" program under which most Kalamazoo students spend at least one term abroad and spend at least one term working in an academic internship.

On January 3, 2006, Kalamazoo College opened the new Upjohn Library Commons which includes the completely renovated skeleton of the older library, and an extension which adds to its volume capacity.

A marker designating the college as a Michigan Historic Site was erected in 1983 by the Michigan History Division, Department of State. The inscription reads:

The first classroom building for the Michigan and Huron Institute, now Kalamazoo College, was erected on this site between June and September of 1836. The charter bill for the school had been introduced in the Michigan Territorial Legislative Council on January 18, 1833, and signed into law by Governor George B. Porter on April 22, 1833. Village pledges supplied funds for the two-story frame classroom structure, which was the start of Michigan’s first church-related college.

Admissions
Kalamazoo is considered "more selective" by U.S. News & World Report. For the Class of 2024 (enrolled fall 2020), Kalamazoo received 3,456 applications and accepted 2,569 (74.3%). Of those accepted, 384 enrolled, a yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who choose to attend the university) of 14.9%. Kalamazoo's freshman retention rate is 83%, with 79% going on to graduate within six years.

Of the 44% of enrolled freshmen in 2020 who submitted SAT scores; the middle 50 percent Composite scores were 1150–1360. Of the 20% of the incoming freshman class who submitted ACT scores; the middle 50 percent Composite score was between 25 and 30.

Together with Michigan State University, Michigan Technological University, Wayne State University, Hillsdale College, Calvin University, and Hope College, Kalamazoo College is one of the seven college-sponsors of the National Merit Scholarship Program in the state. The college sponsored 2 Merit Scholarship awards in 2020. In the 2020–2021 academic year, 2 first-year students were National Merit Scholars.

Academic distinctions

Kalamazoo offers 30 majors spread across the fields of Fine Arts, Humanities, Modern and Classical Languages and Literature, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and Social Sciences. Additionally, the college offers 22 minors, 5 special programs, and 13 concentrations. It is listed in Loren Pope's Colleges That Change Lives. Its most popular majors, in terms of 2021 graduates, were:
 * Biology/Biological Sciences (70)
 * Business/Commerce (55)
 * Chemistry (44)
 * Psychology (36)
 * Social Sciences (27)
 * English Language & Literature (24)

A 2017 study by Higher Education Data Sharing lists Kalamazoo College in the top 2 percent of four-year liberal arts colleges in the United States whose graduates go on to earn a Ph.D. According to this study, Kalamazoo College is ranked number seventeen among all private liberal arts colleges and — when compared with all academic institutions — it ranks number thirty-three in Ph.D.s per capita. Among all undergraduate institutions, Kalamazoo College was first per capita in 2005 for recruitment of Peace Corps volunteers.

96 percent of full-time faculty hold a Ph.D. or the terminal degree in their field.

The K Plan
Kalamazoo College emphasizes the importance of experiential education. The academic plan — known as the "K plan" — consists of a rigorous liberal arts education supplemented by experience abroad and in the Kalamazoo community.

Students at Kalamazoo College must fulfill specific degree requirements in order to graduate, as well as completion of three Shared Passages Seminars during the first, sophomore, and senior years at Kalamazoo. First-year seminars focus on developing writing and communication skills, sophomore seminars emphasize international culture and experience in preparation for study abroad, and senior seminars focus on major specific or interdisciplinary topics to cap a student's education experience. Upon graduation, students must demonstrate a proficiency in a second language at an intermediate level, satisfy a quantitative reasoning requirement, and complete a senior individualized project which may take the form of a thesis, an artistic performance, or any other work-intensive project of a student's choosing. These experiences are supplemented by one or more terms abroad, service-learning projects during school terms, and internship opportunities during the summer.

Service-learning
Kalamazoo College initiated the service-learning program in 1997. In 2001, Trustee Ronda Stryker dedicated to her grandmother the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Institute for Service learning. This Institute was created to house several service-Learning programs in the school. The current director of the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Institute is Alison Geist. In 2008, Kalamazoo College had twenty-three on-going service-learning programs. Several courses in the college incorporate service-learning into their curricula. Programs in service-learning include Community Advocates for Parents and Students, Helping Youth through Personal Empowerment, Academic Mentorship In Giants On-going Success, the Woodward School, Keeping the Doors Open, and Farms to K.

Study abroad
About 70% of Kalamazoo College students spend at least one term abroad and the college maintains partnerships with over 45 programs and 22 countries on six continents. Students at Kalamazoo College typically study abroad during their third (junior) Year, and each academic department designs its requirements in a way that assumes majors will study abroad for all or part of junior year though some students may choose to do a short-term study abroad during their second (sophomore) or fourth (senior) year.

Center for Career and Professional Development
In 2009, the Center Career Development merged with the Guilds of Kalamazoo College to create the Center for Career and Professional Development. Opportunities through the CCPD include the Discovery Externship Program and the Field Experience Program

Athletics
The college's sports teams are known as the Hornets. They compete in the NCAA's Division III and the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA). As of 2016, the Hornet Men's tennis squad has won its conference's championship 78 consecutive years. The Kalamazoo Hornets compete in the following sports:

Fall sports:
 * American football (M)
 * Cross Country (M & W)
 * Golf (M & W)
 * Soccer (M & W)
 * Volleyball (W)

Winter sports:
 * Basketball (M & W)
 * Swimming/Diving (M & W)

Spring sports :
 * Baseball (M)
 * Golf (M & W)
 * Softball (W)
 * Tennis (M & W)
 * Lacrosse (M & W)

Football

College football has been played at Kalamazoo since 1892, when the school completed a record of 0 wins and 2 losses, both to the Olivet Comets. The school's first win came two years later in 1894 with a 16–4 victory over the Kalamazoo YMCA. It was 1895 before the school defeated another college football team, with a 12–8 victory over the Alma Scots.

In 1897, the first coach came to the program with Charles Hall, who led the team to a record of 7 wins and 1 loss, earning the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship. The current coach is Jamie Zorbo.

Men's tennis
The Kalamazoo College men's tennis team has won 78 consecutive Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championships (1936–2013) with a record of 426–3 in the MIAA from 1935 - 2007. Kalamazoo has won seven NCAA Division III national championships and has made 25 consecutive NCAA III tournament appearances.

National Runners-up - NCAA Division II:
 * 1972 - Men's Tennis

National Championships - NCAA Division III:
 * 1976 - Men's Tennis
 * 1978 - Men's Tennis
 * 1986 - Men's Tennis
 * 1987 - Men's Tennis
 * 1991 - Men's Tennis
 * 1992 - Men's Tennis
 * 1993 - Men's Tennis

National Runners-up - NCAA Division III:
 * 1982 - Men's Tennis
 * 1985 - Men's Tennis
 * 1997 - Men's Tennis
 * 1999 - Men's Tennis

Men's swimming and diving
Men's swimming and diving at Kalamazoo has an impressive history. The team is known for producing individual national champions in the pool and on the boards, and also for maintaining a national presence with regular appearances as a top-10 team at the NCAA Division III national championships. Their highest finish was 4th in 2010. The swimming and diving team is the second most successful athletic program at Kalamazoo, after the men's tennis team, and it is also one of the top 10 most successful teams in the MIAA, with 27 championships.

Women's cross country
Allison Iott finished 10th in the 2008 NCAA D-3 Championship, earning USTFCCCA All-American honors in cross country. She was Kalamazoo's first-ever women's cross country MIAA conference meet champion and MIAA Conference MVP.

Basketball dispute
In 2001, the men's basketball team was at the center of a lengthy dispute regarding the outcome of a January 20 game with league rival the Olivet Comets. With Olivet leading 70–69, Kalamazoo center, Kevin Baird, made a shot at the buzzer that was initially waved off by referees. The referees reviewed videotape of the game and determined that the player had, in fact, released his shot before the buzzer; they then awarded Kalamazoo a 71–70 victory. After the game, Olivet filed a protest with the conference commissioner, claiming that officials had misapplied the way in which videotape may be used. On January 23, the conference upheld the protest and awarded Olivet the victory. Kalamazoo then filed a protest with the NCAA, claiming that Olivet's protest was in violation of NCAA bylaws. On February 1, the NCAA upheld Kalamazoo's counter-protest and again awarded the game to the Hornets. The dispute between Olivet and Kalamazoo received national attention and the shot was shown repeatedly on ESPN.

Women's lacrosse
In the 2013–14 academic year, women's lacrosse became a varsity sport at Kalamazoo. It is the college's first new varsity athletic program since 1991. Women's lacrosse previously existed as one of Kalamazoo's student-run club sports. In Spring 2012, the school announced the new program, as well as the hiring of Emilia Ward for the position of head coach. Ward previously coached at Winthrop University, and Adrian College, after lettering four years in women's lacrosse at Manhattan College.

Fight song
The words to the college fight-song, "All Hail to Kazoo," were written by A. G. Walton (1911) with music by D. R. Belcher (1909), arranged by Burton Edward Fischer.

Student life and traditions
Student organizations are one of the main sources of entertainment for the student body. They routinely bring in speakers as well as stage performances, dances, and movie showings.

During the fall quarter, there are two main events: K Fest and the Homecoming dance. At K Fest, student organizations provide activities for the students, such as pumpkin carving and bobbing for apples.

During the winter quarter, the college holds the annual Monte Carlo night, on which the student body raises money by gambling in a makeshift casino where the professors are the dealers. They play for scrip redeemable for prizes.

Pride Ball (formerly Crystal Ball)
Kaleidoscope (formerly known as the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Ally Student Organization, GLBTSO) hosted the Crystal Ball each spring. Crystal Ball was a college-sponsored dance in which attendees would dress in drag or unusual costumes. A long-standing tradition at Kalamazoo, this event was created to educate the campus about GLBT issues and celebrate the persons who make up the GLBT community. In Spring of 2016 the Crystal Ball was renamed Pride Ball. The tradition continues in most other aspects; it is still hosted by the same club and attendees are still encouraged to don attire that thoughtfully represents or challenges their gender identity. This popular event features live music, dancing, and contests.

The Quad
The campus is built around a grassy hill known as "The Quad." The Quad is also the site of numerous large-scale events throughout the year, including Homecoming, Spring Fling, Convocation, and Commencement. At the top of the hill sits Stetson Chapel, a favorite location for alumni wedding services. The bell tower holds the only peal of change ringing bells in Michigan. They were all cast in 1983 at Whitechapel.

The Quad is home to another popular Kalamazoo College student tradition, "streaking the Quad," a noisy, late-night descent in the nude from the chapel, down the hill, and back to the top again. Tradition dictates that students must touch the school sign before returning to the top. There is a mass streak after the spring performance by Frelon, the Kalamazoo College dance group, and also during the day by the senior class. This often coincides with a wedding.

Day of Gracious Living
Since 1974, the college has upheld a springtime tradition of canceling all classes for a "Day of Gracious Living" (DOGL). While it was originally instituted (despite the Student Commission's rejection) as a day for students to relax and have fun, the 1980 Kalamazoo tornado prompted students to spend that year's DOGL helping clean up after the storm and giving back to their community. Many students enjoy the day at the North Beach in South Haven, Michigan. The date is determined by the president of the Student Commission and kept secret from the student body, though it is usually on a Wednesday during weeks 7–9. On the morning of the Day of Gracious Living, the bells of Stetson Chapel ring, announcing the day to the student body.

Recycling program
Kalamazoo College has become a leading institution in the area of recycling and environmental awareness. A crew of student workers operates one of the nation's most successful recycling programs and organizes the school's participation in the annual RecycleMania event, a competition among over 400 colleges and universities across the United States. In 2005, Kalamazoo College came to national prominence with a 3rd-place finish in the Grand Champion category. While annually placing in the top five in a variety of categories, in 2008 Kalamazoo College placed first in both the Grand Champion and Stephen K. Gaski Per Capita Classic competitions.

Sustainability
Kalamazoo College signed the President's Climate Commitment in 2007 and has completed a greenhouse gas emission inventory. The college's Hicks Student Center is partially powered by wind and solar energy, and the student group D.I.R.T. (Digging in Renewable Turf) maintains an organic garden on campus. The spring 2009 Energy Sting competition encouraged students to reduce their energy consumption. Kalamazoo received a B on the 2010 College Sustainability Report Card.

Beginning Band Methods
One of Kalamazoo's most popular courses is "Beginning Band Methods", with over 100 students enrolling annually. Open to all students, including those with no musical experience, the courses train them to play brass and woodwind instruments. At the end of the term, the students perform a public concert.

Presidents of Kalamazoo College
In January 2016, Jorge Gonzalez was announced as Kalamazoo College's 18th president. He was scheduled to take office on July 1, 2016, and has declared that he will host multiple new interdisciplinary programmes, such as Latin American studies and public health.

In 2005, Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran became Kalamazoo College's 17th president and first female president, as well as the first African-American president of the school. She is the 22nd president overall, including interim and acting presidents. Her immediate predecessors are Bernard Palchick, who served as interim president and returned to the administration; and James F. Jones, who departed to become president of Trinity College in Connecticut.

 * Nathaniel Marsh (1835)
 * Walter Clark (1835–1836)
 * Nathaniel Aldrich Balch (1836–1838)
 * David Alden (1838–1840)
 * William Dutton (1840–1843), after whom Dutton Street was named; fifth and last principal teacher
 * James Stone (1843–1863)
 * John Milton Gregory (1864–1867)
 * Kendall Brooks (1868–1887)
 * Monson A. Wilcox (1887–1891)
 * Theodore Nelson (1891–1892)
 * Arthur Gaylord Slocum (1892–1912)
 * Herbert Lee Stetson (1912–1922)
 * Allan Hoben (1922–1935)
 * Charles True Goodsell (1935–1936) (interim)
 * Stewart Grant Cole (1936–1938)
 * Paul Lamont Thompson (1938–1948)
 * Allen B. Stowe (1948–1949) (interim)
 * John Scott Everton (1949–1953)
 * Harold T. Smith (1953) (interim)
 * Weimer K. Hicks (1953–1971)
 * George M. Rainsford (1972–1983)
 * David W. Breneman (1983–1989)
 * Timothy Light (1989–1990) (acting)
 * Lawrence D. Bryan (1990–1996)
 * James F. Jones (1996–2004)
 * Bernard Palchick (2004–2005) (interim)
 * Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran (2005-2016)
 * Jorge Gonzalez (2016–Present)

title: Kalamazoo College


text:
Skunk Works

Skunk Works is an official pseudonym for Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs (ADP), formerly called Lockheed Advanced Development Projects. It is responsible for a number of aircraft designs, highly classified research and development programs, and exotic aircraft platforms. Known locations include United States Air Force Plant 42 (Palmdale, California) and United States Air Force Plant 4 (Fort Worth, Texas), and Marietta, Georgia.

Skunk Works' history started with the P-38 Lightning in 1939 and the P-80 Shooting Star in 1943. Skunk Works engineers subsequently developed the U-2, SR-71 Blackbird, F-117 Nighthawk, F-22 Raptor, and F-35 Lightning II, the latter being used in the air forces of several countries.

The Skunk Works name was taken from the "Skonk Oil" factory in the comic strip Li'l Abner. Derived from the Lockheed use of the term, the designation "skunk works" or "skunkworks" is now widely used in business, engineering, and technical fields to describe a group within an organization given a high degree of autonomy and unhampered by bureaucracy, with the task of working on advanced or secret projects.

History

There are conflicting observations about the birth of Skunk Works.

Engineer Ben Rich sets the origin as June 1943 in Burbank, California. Kelly Johnson has made contradictory statements, some agreeing with Rich, and others putting the origin earlier, in 1939. Here is the official Lockheed Skunk Works story:

"The Air Tactical Service Command (ATSC) of the Army Air Force met with Lockheed Aircraft Corporation to express its need for a jet fighter. A rapidly growing German jet threat gave Lockheed an opportunity to develop an airframe around the most powerful jet engine that the allied forces had access to, the British Goblin. Lockheed was chosen to develop the jet because of its past interest in jet development and its previous contracts with the Air Force. One month after the ATSC and Lockheed meeting, the young engineer Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson and other associate engineers hand delivered the initial XP-80 proposal to the ATSC. Two days later the go-ahead was given to Lockheed to start development and the Skunk Works was born, with Kelly Johnson at the helm.

The formal contract for the XP-80 did not arrive at Lockheed until October 16, 1943; some four months after work had already begun. This would prove to be a common practice within the Skunk Works. Many times a customer would come to the Skunk Works with a request and on a handshake the project would begin, with no contracts in place, no official submittal process. Kelly Johnson and his Skunk Works team designed and built the XP-80 in only 143 days, seven fewer than was required."

Warren M. Bodie, journalist, historian, and Skunk Works engineer from 1977 to 1984, wrote that engineering independence, elitism and secrecy of the Skunk Works variety were demonstrated earlier when Lockheed was asked by Lieutenant Benjamin S. Kelsey (later air force brigadier general) to build for the United States Army Air Corps a high speed, high altitude fighter to compete with German aircraft. In July 1938, while the rest of Lockheed was busy tooling up to build Hudson reconnaissance bombers to fill a British contract, a small group of engineers was assigned to fabricate the first prototype of what would become the P-38 Lightning. Kelly Johnson set them apart from the rest of the factory in a walled-off section of one building, off limits to all but those involved directly. Secretly, a number of advanced features were being incorporated into the new fighter including a significant structural revolution in which the aluminum skin of the aircraft was joggled, fitted and flush-riveted, a design innovation not called for in the army's specification but one that would yield less aerodynamic drag and give greater strength with lower mass.

As a result, the XP-38 was the first 400-mph fighter in the world. The Lightning team was temporarily moved to the 3G Distillery, a smelly former bourbon works where the first YP-38 (constructor's number 2202) was built. Moving from the distillery to a larger building, the stench from a nearby plastic factory was so vile that Irv Culver, one of the engineers, began answering the intra-Lockheed "house" phone "Skonk Works, inside man Culver speaking!"

In Al Capp's comic strip Li'l Abner, Big Barnsmell's Skonk Works — spelled with an "o" — was where Kickapoo Joy Juice was brewed from skunks, old shoes, kerosene, anvils, and other strange ingredients. When the name leaked out, Lockheed ordered it changed to "Skunk Works" to avoid potential legal trouble over use of a copyrighted term. The term rapidly circulated throughout the aerospace community, and became a common nickname for research and development offices. The once informal nickname is now a registered trademark of Lockheed Martin.

In November 1941, Kelsey gave the unofficial nod to Johnson and the P-38 team to engineer a drop tank system to extend range for the fighter, and they completed the initial research and development without a contract. When the Army Air Forces officially asked for a range extension solution it was ready. The range modifications were performed in Lockheed's Building 304, starting with 100 P-38F models on April 15, 1942. Some of the group of independent-minded engineers were later involved with the XP-80 project, the prototype of the P-80 Shooting Star.

Mary G. Ross, the first Native American female engineer, began working at Lockheed in 1942 on the mathematics of compressibility in high-speed flight —a problem first seriously encountered in the P-38. In 1952, she was invited to join the Skunk Works team.

1950s to 1990s

In 1955, the Skunk Works received a contract from the CIA to build a spyplane known as the U-2 with the intention of flying over the Soviet Union and photographing sites of strategic interest. The U-2 was tested at Groom Lake in the Nevada desert, and the Flight Test Engineer in charge was Joseph F. Ware, Jr. The first overflight took place on July 4 1956. The U-2 ceased overflights when Francis Gary Powers was shot down during a mission on May 1, 1960, while over Russia.

The Skunk Works had predicted that the U-2 would have a limited operational life over the Soviet Union. The CIA agreed. In late 1959, Skunk Works received a contract to build five A-12 aircraft at a cost of $96 million. Building a Mach 3.0+ aircraft out of titanium posed enormous difficulties, and the first flight did not occur until 1962. (Titanium supply was largely dominated by the Soviet Union, so the CIA used several shell corporations to acquire source material.) Several years later, the U.S. Air Force became interested in the design, and it ordered the SR-71 Blackbird, a two-seater version of the A-12. This aircraft first flew in 1966 and remained in service until 1998.

The D-21 drone, similar in design to the Blackbird, was built to overfly the Lop Nur nuclear test facility in China. This drone was launched from the back of a specially modified A-12, known as M-21, of which there were two built. After a fatal mid-air collision on the fourth launch, the drones were re-built as D-21Bs, and launched with a rocket booster from B-52s. Four operational missions were conducted over China, but the camera packages were never successfully recovered. Kelly Johnson headed the Skunk Works until 1975. He was succeeded by Ben Rich.

In 1976, the Skunk Works began production on a pair of stealth technology demonstrators for the U.S. Air Force named Have Blue in Building 82 at Burbank. These scaled-down demonstrators, built in only 18 months, were a revolutionary step forward in aviation technology because of their extremely small radar cross-section. After a series of successful test flights beginning in 1977, the Air force awarded Skunk Works the contract to build the F-117 stealth fighter on November 1, 1978.

During the entirety of the Cold War, the Skunk Works was located in Burbank, California, on the eastern side of Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport (34.20077°N, -118.35183°W). After 1989, Lockheed reorganized its operations and relocated the Skunk Works to Site 10 at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, where it remains in operation today. Most of the old Skunk Works buildings in Burbank were demolished in the late 1990s to make room for parking lots. One main building still remains at 2777 Ontario Street in Burbank (near San Fernando Road), now used as an office building for digital film post-production and sound mixing. During the late 1990s when designing Pixar's building, Edwin Catmull and Steve Jobs visited a Skunkworks Building which influenced Jobs' design. In 2009, the Skunk Works was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.

2015 projects
Next generation optionally-manned U-2 aircraft. During September 2015 the proposed aircraft was deemed to have developed into more of a tactical reconnaissance aircraft, instead of strategic reconnaissance.

Aircraft

 * Lockheed P-38 Lightning (unofficial)
 * Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star
 * Lockheed XF-90
 * Lockheed F-104 Starfighter
 * Lockheed U-2
 * Lockheed X-26 Frigate
 * Lockheed YO-3
 * Lockheed A-12
 * Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
 * Lockheed D-21
 * Lockheed XST (Have Blue) and Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk
 * Lockheed YF-22 and Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor
 * Lockheed Martin X-33
 * Lockheed Martin X-35 and Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II
 * Lockheed X-27
 * Lockheed Martin Polecat
 * Quiet Supersonic Transport
 * Lockheed Martin Cormorant
 * Lockheed Martin Desert Hawk
 * Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel
 * Lockheed Martin X-55
 * Lockheed Martin SR-72
 * Lockheed Martin X-59 QueSST

Other

 * High beta fusion reactor
 * Sea Shadow

Term origin

The term "Skunk Works" came from Al Capp's satirical, hillbilly comic strip Li’l Abner, which was immensely popular from 1935 through the 1950s. In the comic, the “Skonk Works" was a dilapidated factory located on the remote outskirts of Dogpatch, in the backwoods of Kentucky. According to the strip, scores of locals were done in yearly by the toxic fumes of the concentrated "skonk oil", which was brewed and barreled daily by "Big Barnsmell" (known as the lonely "inside man" at the Skonk Works), by grinding dead skunks and worn shoes into a smoldering still, for some mysterious, unspecified purpose.

In mid-1939 when Lockheed was expanding rapidly, the YP-38 project was moved a few blocks away to the newly purchased 3G Distillery, also known as Three G or GGG Distillery. Lockheed took over the building but the sour smell of bourbon mash lingered, partly because the group of buildings continued to store barrels of aging whiskey. The first YP-38 was built there before the team moved back to Lockheed's main factory a year later. In 1964, Johnson told Look magazine that the bourbon distillery was the first of five Lockheed skunk works locations.

During the development of the P-80 Shooting Star, Johnson's engineering team was located adjacent to a malodorous plastics factory. According to Ben Rich’s memoir, an engineer jokingly showed up to work one day wearing a Civil Defense gas mask. To comment on the smell and the secrecy the project entailed, another engineer, Irv Culver, referred to the facility as "Skonk Works". As the development was very secret, the employees were told to be careful even with how they answered phone calls. One day, when the Department of the Navy was trying to reach the Lockheed management for the P-80 project, the call was accidentally transferred to Culver’s desk. Culver answered the phone in his trademark fashion of the time, by picking up the phone and stating "Skonk Works, inside man Culver". "What?" replied the voice at the other end. "Skonk Works", Culver repeated. The name stuck. Culver later said at an interview conducted in 1993 that "when Kelly Johnson heard about the incident, he promptly fired me. It didn’t really matter, since he was firing me about twice a day anyways."

At the request of the comic strip copyright holders, Lockheed changed the name of the advanced development company to "Skunk Works" in the 1960s. The name "Skunk Works" and the skunk design are now registered trademarks of the Lockheed Martin Corporation. The company also holds several registrations of it with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. They have filed several challenges against registrants of domain names containing variations on the term under anti-cybersquatting policies, and have lost a case under the .uk domain name dispute resolution service against a company selling cannabis seeds and paraphernalia, which used the word "skunkworks" in its domain name (referring to "Skunk", the pungent smell of the cannabis flower). Lockheed Martin claimed the company registered the domain in order to disrupt its business and that consumer confusion might result. The respondent company argued that Lockheed "used its size, resources and financial position to employ 'bullyboy' tactics against... a very small company."

In Australia, the trademark for use of the name "Skunkworks" is held by Perth-based television accessory manufacturer The Novita Group Pty Ltd. Lockheed Martin formally registered opposition to the application in 2006, however the Australian government's intellectual property authority, IP Australia, rejected the opposition, awarding Novita the trademark in 2008.

title: Skunk Works