Lockheed Martin Skunk Works Aircraft
... Ben Rich, head of the Skunk Works, commented, “head on, with its black paint and highly swept wings, it looks like a giant Darth Vader,” while Bill Park, the test pilot, complained that it was the ugliest plane he had ever flown (Rich 72). ... The world is introduced to the first fully stealth aircraft. This stealth fighter, known as the F-117 Nighthawk, is just another plane to roll out of the doors that birthed such exalted aircraft as the U-2 “Dragon Lady”, the SR-71 “Blackbird”, and the C-130 cargo aircraft. ... Historical: During the Cold War, the only way the United States could monitor Russia’s activities was by reconnaissance aircraft. ... “Bald Eagle” was the program in which the United States asked big name aircraft producers to create a plane that could soar well over the ceiling of the converted bombers. Lockheed Martin took the fuselage of a previous mach two fighter, the F-104, and merged it with high aspect ratio wings. ... Lockheed Martin produced and tested the U-2 at Paradise Ranch, which is now known as Area 51, in Nevada. ... The U-2 was not an espionage aircraft that relied on stealth, but rather one that went too high for Russia to catch. ... These aircraft were fitted with the world’s highest resolution cameras (made by Edwin Land, the maker of Polaroid cameras)(O’Leary 35). ... The head of Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, Kelly Johnson, stated, “It makes no sense to just take this one or two steps ahead, because we’d be buying only a couple of years before the Russians would be able to nail us again. ... This aircraft did not use stealth to acquire its information, but used its speed instead. ... Current Situation: One would think that after thirty years, these aircraft would be dead and rusting in a junkyard somewhere. That is not how Lockheed made these aircraft. They made them to outlast not only any aircraft of its time, but subsequent aircraft as well. ... While still mainly an Air Force aircraft, the U-2 is occasionally called in for other jobs. ... The government wanted more money for combat aircraft. Since the SR-71 did not carry any weapons, and it took money away from combat aircraft, the government determined it unnecessary.