Dark Eagles: A History of U.S. Black Aircraft Programs

This well-researched history of the development, testing and operational deployment of ultrasecret U.S. aircraft--planes that fly ever higher and faster, are almost invisible and can remain aloft for months--will be of interest to general readers as well as to flight buffs. Peebles describes how the Bell XP-59A introduced jet-engine technology in the 1940s and created the concept of the ``Black'' (secret) airplane. During the 1950s, the emphasis shifted from tactical fighters to reconnaissance planes, one of which, the U-2, revolutionized intelligence-gathering. Peebles (Watch the Skies!) recounts the successful development of the Have Blue 1001, a plane virtually invisible to ground radar. He notes that the longest continuing Black Eagles aircraft program remains the test-flying of MiGs and other Soviet planes--tests that have brought fundamental changes in air-combat tactics and led to the establishment of the Navy's Top Gun program. The author's informative chronicle also reveals that the public's curiosity about these specialized aircraft has led to increasingly serious security problems at the two principal test sites in Nevada. Photos. (Nov.)