J
JAMESBJOHNSON
Guest
Back in the late 60s, after Russia blew one of our U2 spy planes out of the sky (actually the ass of the airplane fell off in flight), President Eisenhower wanted something a wee bit better to use against the Russians. So he sent General Curtis LeMay to Lockheed to talk to Kelly Johnson.
Kelly listened to LeMays spiel and said...money talks, bullshit walks, what you got in your wallet?
LeMay took a draw on his stogie and offered Johnson some Mig 21 fighters and a junkyard full of old B58 bombers. "In one week I want a plane that will fly 3000 miles an hour and go 16 miles up in the sky." Johnson said, "Not a problem." LeMay added, "Gimme something that works and you can sell whats you dont use, and make a quick buck."
So the Lockheed guys stripped the wings off the Migs and mated two of the planes to the body (fuselage) of the old B58. Before the sun set Eisenhower sent 5000 bureaucrats to Lockheed to make the job impossible, so he could fire Lockheed and give the work to Haliburton.
But Kelly Johnson built the airplane on time.
The fly in the ointment was pilots. Eisenhower wanted to get a war started in Vietnam and needed all the good pilots he could find, for the war. So he asked around, and the navy told him they were training a herd of morons to fly decoys and target drones, and maybe LeMay could use them since the Blackbird was fully automated and didnt need any Einsteins to turn the key on and off.
Johnson had Ben Rich check out the pilots. Rich was impressed because all the navy flyers had small brains, which saved weight.
The Blackbird airplane was eventually used for many tasks, by a variety of government agencies. But its most important role was taking Pentagon brass on Vietnam flyovers, so they get the combat pay and flight pay. Pilots like SR71PLT took off from Washington after breakfast and had the boys home in time for lunch.
Kelly listened to LeMays spiel and said...money talks, bullshit walks, what you got in your wallet?
LeMay took a draw on his stogie and offered Johnson some Mig 21 fighters and a junkyard full of old B58 bombers. "In one week I want a plane that will fly 3000 miles an hour and go 16 miles up in the sky." Johnson said, "Not a problem." LeMay added, "Gimme something that works and you can sell whats you dont use, and make a quick buck."
So the Lockheed guys stripped the wings off the Migs and mated two of the planes to the body (fuselage) of the old B58. Before the sun set Eisenhower sent 5000 bureaucrats to Lockheed to make the job impossible, so he could fire Lockheed and give the work to Haliburton.
But Kelly Johnson built the airplane on time.
The fly in the ointment was pilots. Eisenhower wanted to get a war started in Vietnam and needed all the good pilots he could find, for the war. So he asked around, and the navy told him they were training a herd of morons to fly decoys and target drones, and maybe LeMay could use them since the Blackbird was fully automated and didnt need any Einsteins to turn the key on and off.
Johnson had Ben Rich check out the pilots. Rich was impressed because all the navy flyers had small brains, which saved weight.
The Blackbird airplane was eventually used for many tasks, by a variety of government agencies. But its most important role was taking Pentagon brass on Vietnam flyovers, so they get the combat pay and flight pay. Pilots like SR71PLT took off from Washington after breakfast and had the boys home in time for lunch.
