Presents a history of the most famous secret military installation in the world, assembled from interviews with the people who served there and formerly classified information.

Written by gifted storyteller Winston Groom (author of Forrest Gump), The Aviators tells the saga of three extraordinary aviators-Charles Lindbergh, Eddie Rickenbacker, and Jimmy Doolittle-and how they redefine heroism through their genius, daring, and uncommon courage. This is the fascinating story of three extraordinary heroes who defined aviation during the great age of flight. These cleverly interwoven tales of their heart-stopping adventures...

"This is the story of the first women naval aviators and their struggles and triumphs as they earned their Wings of Gold, learned to fly increasingly sophisticated jet fighters and helicopters, mastered aircraft carrier landings, served at sea, and reached heights of command that would have been unthinkable less than a generation before. It is also the story of the legacy they left behind"--

This is the first-ever publication detailing the Navy's role in manned spacecraft recovery from 1961 to 1975, from Alan Shepherd's initial suborbital mission to the Apollo-Soyuz flight, which inaugurated the first space collaboration between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Splashdown: NASA, the Navy, and Space Flight Recovery takes the reader through a detailed explanation of how recovery forces on land, sea, and in the air were deployed across the...

For nearly five decades, some of the United States military's most secretive operations were conducted out of a collection of nondescript buildings at the intersection of State Route 237 and Mathilda Avenue in Sunnyvale, California. The installation was known by a variety of names in its early years: Satellite Test Center, Air Force Satellite Control Facility, the "Blue Cube," and Sunnyvale Air Force Station. In July 1986, the facility was renamed...

This title explores the development and use of the popular F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jet. Readers will follow the history of its origins and development. Chapters detail the aircraft's military and performance specifications as well as its features and advantages in the field, such as the shape of its fuselage, its ejection seat, its single turbofan engine, and its many powerful guns, missiles, and bombs. Readers will also learn about the F-16's...

At the height of the Cold War in 1964, President Johnson announced a new aircraft dedicated to strategic reconnaissance. The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird spy plane flew more than three-and-a-half times the speed of sound, so fast that no other aircraft could catch it. Above 80,000 feet, its pilots had to wear full-pressure flight suits similar to what was used aboard the space shuttle. Developed by the renowned Lockheed Skunk Works, the SR-71 was an awesome...

This title explores the development and use of the versatile AH-64D Apache Longbow attach helicopter. Readers will follow the history of its origins, from the AH-56 Cheyenne to the AH-64. Chapters detail the aircraft's military and performance specifications as well as its features and advantages in the field, such as its Northrop Grumman millimeter-wave Longbow radar, its two turboshaft engines, and its powerful guns and missiles. Readers will also...

This title explores the recent development of the new F35 Lighting II multirole fighter. Readers will follow the history of its origins as a descendant of the X-35 and product of the Joint Striker Fighter Program. Chapters also detail the aircraft's military and performance specifications as well as its features and advantages in the field, such as its three versions, its cockpit design and speech-recognition system, its stealth technology, its target...

This title explores the development and use of the nearly undetectable B-2 Spirit heavy bomber. Readers will follow the history of its origins and the development of its stealth technology. Chapters detail the aircraft's military and performance specifications as well as its features and advantages in the field, such as its wing design, its concealed engines, its radar signature, and its powerful bombs. Readers will also learn about the Spirit's...