Customer Reviews

Aurora: The Pentagon's Secret Hypersonic Spyplane (Mil-Tech Series)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book makes a decent case about the existence of a hypersonic spyplane developed under the black budget. It describes the history of hypersonic flight from the X-15 to present and demonstrates how these programs are froth with budget cuts and lost interest. A large part of the book is also contributed to IF the Aurora were built, how would it operate? This book gives details about ramjets and other hypersonic engines. The only problem I had with it was that I sometimes had to read paragraphs twice before they were absorbed completly. You do not have to be a conspiracy theorist, or a military fanatic to get into this book. You just have to have to be curious about what kind of technology we have out there.

Most people who speak about military secrecy are kooks who believe that the government is in cahoots with "the Visitors." But Bill Sweetman isn't one of them. His "Aurora: The Pentagon's Secret Hypersonic Spyplane" examines the best available evidence and draws a logical conclusion: the military has at least one high-speed aircraft.

Sweetman overviews operations at Groom Lake from the U-2 to the A-12 to the Have Blue and F-117. He also looks back at most major hypersonic research programs that were carried out over the years. From there he talks about air-breathing rockets and arrives at the general shape of the aircraft known as Aurora.

My complaints? The book was such good reading that I was disappointed when it ended. It was too short (but the government has done a good job keeping the program secret, so we're lucky that Sweetman was able to write a book at all.) And I felt that Sweetman was holding some information back. He mentions that someone got a head-on view of Aurora at Groom and said that the intake 'resembled an evil smiley face.' I want to know more about this informant and if they had any more information.

Aviation fans, go out and read this book now. Just watch out for the black helicopters:-)

Hey, this is a "fun" book! Sure, Sweetman doesn't have a lot of hard evidence, but he pieces it together well. You will note that in Ben Rich's book on the Skunk Works, he dismisses an Aurora-type project and changes the subject very quickly. Rich states that the materials and technology to build a Mach 6 air-breathing plane simply don't exist. I find it hard to believe that the quest for speed ended with the SR-71. I also experienced some unusally tooth-rattling sonic booms in the California desert in the early '90s. All of which leads me to believe that Sweetman may be on to something here.

Sweetman's book is a well-researched account of the mystery of the Aurora Project as well as a fascinating look at the world of hypersonic aircraft. Aurora may have already proved itself as the leap in technology between the space shuttle and future spaceplanes. So why does it remain a secret? Hopefully someday soon we will know the truth about this remarkable aircraft.

A wide ranging book with some carefully constructed logical reasoning. Aurora sightings, Scramjets, possible engine cycles and authoritive estimates of it likely performance - this book has it all! It's really enjoyable to read but possibly a bit thin(95 pages).

Although one can speculate on whether or not this aircraft exists,or ever existed, the book itself is very interesting. The technology detailed in the book as well as the history of American hypersonic aircraft is amazing, and the perfomance qualities of such aircraft are equally amazing. At the same time, the book isn't too long and doesn't require too much reading time on a subject some people may find too boring to be made into a long book. I may, however, disagree with the author's view of the idea of the government keeping Top Secret aircraft under a cloak of secrecy. Keeping these types of aircraft and their technology secret , in my opinion, is beneficial to the nation's defense and national security. I recommend this book to anyone interested in hypersonic aircraft and technology, as well as those intrigued by the mysterious "Aurora" spyplane.

Interesting little book, in the very readable style the author is know for. By its nature (dealing with beyond top-secret), not all sources can be named, but it is a VERY good read. Also love the little planform view of the CF-105 Avro Arrow, as an example of a design for a well over Mach 3 hypersonic machine....

Bill Sweetman is to American aviation books what Yefim Gordon is to Russian. His books on the F-22 Raptor and Joint Strike Fighter were excellent, because they combined solid research with a treasure trove of photographs.

His book on the supposed existance of a top secret spy plane named Aurora begins strong, but fades badly. Sweetman fills the first half of the book with great information and photographs of the U2 and SR-71 programs. Then he makes a case for the LOGICAL existance of another spy program. The problem is that Sweetman lacks details or supporting evidence other than rumored sightings and artists conceptions which have made the circuit of websites devoted to black aviation programs. That in itself is not enough to make his case, because it is all circumspect.

Does Aurora exist? Who knows, but Sweetman didn't make the case solidly enough in this book, which is extremely short by the way, for me to believe. When the shroud of declassification on stealth programs lifts next decade or later, maybe we will learn more about it. This is not a book I would buy new, but may be worth a few bucks used.

This book is now (2010) about 17 years old. I got it when it first came out. I probably take this book off the shelf once a year or so, looking up one thing or another. Looking back 17 years, it's amazing how little new information has been made public about hypersonic aviation projects and the happenings at Dreamland aka Area 51 aka Groom Lake.

This inexpensive little book still probably has the best history of hypersonic aircraft projects and the challenges of hypersonic (mach 3+) flight. You would thought that by now we would know for sure whether Aurora ever existed. Sorry, we don't. Since this book was published, scientists have gotten supersonic combustion ram jets to work up to a point, but they haven't really thought of a useful purpose for them. Also, there appears to be a revival of the concept of an atmospheric skipping military plane. This concept was first explored by Dr. Eugene Sanger in Germany before World War II. You can read about it in the Aurora book.

This is a well-written book and has substancial evidence that the Aurora exists.Hey,no one had any hard evidence the F-117 existed and look at it now.I think this is a good book.