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user-inactivated · 3786 days ago · link · · parent · post: ISINGLASS: the Mach-22 Mcdonnell-Douglas followup to the SR-71 that never flew
I have a copy of Skunk Works somewhere in the piles and piles of books over here. I'm still kicking myself all these years later for missing Irwin in '89 for the 20'th anniversary. A few of the astronauts were giving a talk about 100 miles from me, and I said "I'll wait for them to come to town and get a signature then." Moral of the story there is "He who hesitates loses." I think of Kelly Johnson as the Isaac Newton of aerospace. Both were in tune with the universe in ways that I am not able to describe. About the only aircraft designer outside of that circle is Burt Rutan. Did you know that Spaceship One was the first aircraft not funded by a government to break the sound barrier?