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Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed

Ben R. Rich and Leo Janos

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Founder connections

  • Patrick CollisonRecommended
    His Labs page explicitly recommends its listed materials and names Rich’s Skunk Works. No edition is established.
    Source
  • Paul GrahamBook citation
    Graham cites Ben Rich’s Skunk Works in an opening epigraph to Taste for Makers, his February 2002 essay about good design.
    Source

Summary

Ben Rich recounts the work of Lockheed’s secret aircraft operation, which he led from 1975 to 1991. The memoir follows projects from the U-2 to the stealth fighter, combining engineering challenges with Cold War confrontations and Gulf War missions. Rich includes portraits of scientists and engineers, personal stories and accounts from CIA personnel and Air Force pilots.

  • SourceSkunk Works — Hachette Book Group · Description and About the Author; same memoir in 2013 ebook format

Why read it Our view

Useful for studying the people and technical work behind a secret aircraft program. Consider how teams handle difficult engineering tasks, how information moves between roles and what they learn from demanding missions.