Dark Eagles: A History of Top Secret U.S. Aircraft Programs [Hardcover]

Curtis Peebles (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 22, 1997

Black airplanes developed, tested, and operated in deepest secrecy, the Dark Eagles did not officially exist.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

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.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Peebles admirably assembles, from a multitude of sources, a compact complete history of U.S. programs to develop so-called black or secret aircraft. Those began with work on the first American jet, the Bell P-59, during World War II, and proceeded to include the construction of such eventual headline-makers as the U-2, the SR-71 Blackbird, and the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter, which distinguished itself in the Gulf War. Also covered are such lesser-known vehicles as several families of reconnaissance drones, some fast and high, some low and slow. Besides the hardware, Peebles covers the logistics, administration, and politics of keeping multibillion-dollar programs under wraps until they succeed or fail. Occasionally, such secrecy has led to fantasizing aircraft that do not exist--the demonstrably legendary Mach 5 Aurora, for example, which was a favorite of flying saucer cultists. Overall, one of the year's best additions to aviation collections. Roland Green

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Presidio Press (April 22, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891415351
• ISBN-13: 978-0891415350
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,233,045 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Behind the Scenes in the World of Black Project Aviation, August 20, 2001

By 

D. Smith "former National Security Analyst" (Durham, NC, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dark Eagles (Paperback)

I had picked up "Dark Eagles" primarly because it was one of very few books to present information on "Have Donut" and similar projects in which the United States tested captured MiGs and other Soviet aircraft. I was pleasantly suprised to find that the rest of this book is as superbly researched and detailed as Peebles' glimpse into the testing of foreign equipment.

Peebles discusses, in amazing detail, the developments of such famous aircraft as the U-2, A-12, SR-71, F-117, "Have Blue" and "Tacit Blue." Peebles also delves into the history of the less-glamarous unmanned platforms such as the trisonic D-21 ("Tagboard") and various models of the Model 147 Firebee, used extensively in Vietnam.

This book is a must for anyone interested in black project aviation. It is well written and thoroughly researched, and is engaging to both the causal and technical reader.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The hidden history of aviation, now revealed!!, February 13, 2001

By 

Rottenberg's rotten book review (nyc) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Eagles (Paperback)

A wide ranging historical survey of once classified material. We know we're not getting the whole story, but the author has enough to satisfy. From stolen (actually borrowed) Russian jets and unmanned space probes, to our own unmanned D-21 Mach-3 spyjets, the authors go for it all. Some of the information is pretty suprising (the mysterious Col. Tomb, thought killed in the now legendary Vietnam airwar dogfight with Driscoll and Cunningham, may have been misidentified) while other stories seem tedious (like the use of Hound-Dog cruise missiles as first generation remote spyplanes). I would have preferred the authors concentrate on the really mysterious jets (I get the sense that the authors felt they owed each story equal time), but what comes out is an eye-opener nontheless.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars worth buying, October 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dark Eagles: A History of U.S. Black Aircraft Programs (Paperback)

Excellent book, ties together many details you only get in pieces anywhere else, & well organized. If you are an airplane nut like me, you'll occasionally be mystified by a non-pilot's aeronautical terms (like a temperamental plane that "overdived"), but otherwise it's the best I've read on the topic, and I've read a few. :-)