For the real truth, read Richard M. Bissell's posthumously-published
Autobiography, 'Reflections of a Cold Warrior.' Yale, [1996]
If you can truly say it isn't an _enthralling_ read, write to me and I'll
refund the price. In gold.
There has been _tremendous_ treachery.
I wrote to Richard Bissell a year or so before he died, after finding his
home address in "Who's Who in America"!!!
Only in America...
I asked him for references to his published writings, said I would rathr
have liked to have worked with him, and enclosing an 8 x 10" colour photo
of an SR-71 Blackbird in serene high flight.
The picture is from Athena.
Richard M. Bissell, jr. dreamed the Blackbirds up with Kelly Johnson.
------------------- * * * * * ---------------
TITLE: '...quick beyond all dreams of speed...'
TEXT: "Miles above, in the blue-black curve of space, the superstar of winged
espionage makes its home. Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than
a fleet of locomotives, and able to leap wide continents in a single bound
is the SR-71 Blackbird. Named for its sooty [*midnight-blue*, actually -TH],
heat-resistant titanium skin, which glows cherry-red as it flashes through
the heavens at Mach 3.32, the successor to the ill-fated U-2 can photograph
100,000 square miles of the earth's surface in less than an hour from a
height of more than 85,000 ft. At the same time, its package of superadvanced
SIGINT sensors can chart electronic battlefields and peer deep over a border
with side-looking radar..."
>From "The Puzzle Palace" by V. James Bamford; Sidgwick and Jackson, [1983].
The 'Blackbirds' are powered by two giant Pratt & Whitney J58 turbo-ramjets.
This series of planes was dreamed by Richard M. Bissell, jr. and built by
Kelly Johnson and his team at Lockheed's Burbank Works, California, USA.
Fine photos with technical and mission details may be found in "TakeOff."
One of my most treasured possessions is a photograph of a USAF SR-71 in
flight, signed by Richard M. Bissell jr, anarchic administrator, polymath,
a genius profoundly dedicated to the survival and success of Western
civilization..
CONTACT: Copies of the photograph are available from Athena card shops.
/ /\ \
--*--<Tony>--*--
PS. SR-71s are nicknamed "World's Fastest Personal Computer" in some quarters
------------------- * * * * * ---------------
Here's Richard Bissell's CV:
Professor of Mathematical Economics at Yale.
America First! Committee.
Director, the War Shipping Agency in WWII.
Studied under Friedrich A. von Hayek at LSE.
Deputy Director, Plans at CIA.
Founder of American Scientific Intelligence.
Creator of the Blackbirds with Kelly Jonhson of Lockheed's Burbank works.
Creator of the Satellite Reconnaisance Program.
and, alas, blamed quite unjustly for the failure of the attempted
overthrow of Castro's State, which Kennedy fired him for, saying --
(verbatim) --
"If this were a parliamentary government I would have to resign, and you,
as a civil servant, would stay on. But being the system of government it
is, a presidential government, you will have to resign."
Bissell [1996] p. 191
Continued...
President, the Institute for Defense Analyses at Princeton (NSA's
think-tank).
Private Consultacy located at Wilmington, Delaware.
I _know_ who _my_ heroes are.
And how they sometimes felt about what was done to prevent us from
achieving Western victory.
/ /\ \
--*--<Tony>--*--
http://www.agora.demon.co.uk
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| Anduril@cix.compulink.co.uk * Anthony Hugh (Tony) Hollick |
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