Area 51 - Black Jets: A History of the Aircraft Developed at Groom Lake, America's Secret Aviation Base

"Area 51 Black Jets" doesn't contain much in the way of new or groundbreaking information about the many classified jet aircraft that have been tested since the mid-1950s at the top-secret U.S. Air Force base in Nevada designated Area 51. Most of the material has been available in other articles and books for some time, and many of the aircraft he covers are now on public display in museums. But Mr. Yenne succeeds admirably in drawing together, in a well written, profusely illustrated and very readable volume, enough information to satisfy the curiosity of the aviation novice and to refresh the knowledge of the enthusiast, not only about the aircraft themselves but also about the facility. This is a singularly impressive accomplishment. Always sober and to the point, as one would expect from an aviation historian and author of Mr. Yenne's stature, "Area 51 Black Jets" gives no credibility to the bizarre, sensationalistic, juvenile and utterly unsupportable conspiracy theories that have dogged operations at Area 51 since its inception. If you're looking for tales of extraterrestrials from crashed spacecraft or genetically altered children who piloted flying saucers from the Soviet Union in the time of Stalin, you'll have to look elsewhere--like in the science fiction section. I enjoyed "Area 51 Black Jets" immensely, and it has earned a permanent place in my aviation library. If you want to know the REAL story of the mysterious lights in the sky over southern Nevada, you can't do better than to start with this volume. Congratulations on a great book, Mr. Yenne.

Area 51 is often feted by UFO gurus as a secret site for the US government's efforts to reverse-engineer UFO spaceships and research into extraterrestrials. In reality, the most top-secret military base built in the United States has been a testing ground for some American spyplanes and X-planes with potential military applications. Renowned writer Bill Yenne chronicles the history of Area 51 and all the planes that have been flown at the base since the 1950s, from the U-2 Dragon Lady to the Bird of Prey and RQ-170. He also devotes one chapter of this book to MiG fighters that were acquired by the US for evaluation testing at Area 51, and Yenne also discusses the mythical Aurora spyplane and Black Manta tactical spyplane, whose existence was postulated based on anecdotal sightings. For anyone interested in secret US military aircraft, Area 51: Black Jets is a valuable guide to understanding aviation development at the most secretive military installation in America.

This book was night and day different from another one that I bought at the same time. That one I gave one star for the simple fact it wouldn’t allow me to give no stars… Anyway, this author knew their subject, and gave it some depth and breadth, not to mention some intrigue and mystery sufficient to pull you in. I’m accustomed to feeling that way about fictional works, especially science fiction, so when a normally dry subject of nonfiction grabs your attention and pulls you in it tends to surprise you. Granted, when the subject revolves around speculative top secret aircraft that may or (possibly) may not exist the facts are naturally scarce. But the author manages to weave it all together to keep your interest. They leave a trail of breadcrumbs that are easy to follow. And breadcrumbs that are flavorful enough that you just want to know what happens next. And since I have the other atrocious book (The Big Book of X Bombers and X Fighters) to compare it to… Put it this way: I skipped over & through whole paragraphs of that monotonous tome, but with this book I found myself often glancing back over sections to gain perspective. Granted, it did hold too rigidly to aircraft that were “developed” at Area 51 (and Tonopah), but in truth the black jets were only tested and refined in the Nevada desert. They were dreamt up, sketched up, mocked up and built up in secretive aircraft factories under the guise of the Lockheed (Martin) Skunk Works and the McDonnell-Douglas (later Boeing) Phantom Works. But it was fascinating to read of how “Kelly” Johnson found his home at Lockheed and helped identify the remote and harsh desert climes of northwest Nevada as the ideal location to conduct comprehensive tests on highly speculative and groundbreaking aircraft. It would have been great to be given more of a rundown on the consolidation within the aerospace industry following World War II, because America went from a dozen or more aircraft manufacturers churning out planes for the “arsenal of democracy” to three major defense contractors today (Boeing, Lockheed-Martin and Northrop-Grumman)… And it did feel like too much of the book’s content revolves around just four aircraft programs. They were the U-2, the A-12 and its close cousin the SR-71 Blackbird, and the F-117 Nighthawk. Yes, they were groundbreaking and in their heyday contributed enormously to our national security. But it felt like the secrecy and number of black projects surrounding Area-51 dried up like Groom Lake. What I mean is that the years following the Have Blue F-117 program fit in about 20 or so pages at the very end. And the two most highly speculative and wondered-about black projects of the last 30-40 years have to be Aurora, the elusive successor to the SR-71, and the Navy’s A-12, not to be confused with the A-12 CIA version of the Blackbird, which was to be a stealth attack bomber. I mean, I read about both Aurora and the A-12 in the pages of both Popular Mechanics and Popular Science. So I’d love to see the author compile a revised edition in a few years that devotes more attention to the 1990s on up to 2030 and 6th generation stealth aircraft. It discusses recent developments in drone technology, but with the rapid growth and technological advances in that arena, Sensor Fusion (or whatever the DOD calls it this week) and cooperative drone wings will transform warfare this century.

This book got me by surprise. It has detailed contents related to black jets at Area 51 and much more. The photographs add a lot to the reading and there are lots of them. Personally, I've found this book very informative and thought provoking. For me a book is good when it makes you search for references contained in it. And this is exactly such a book.

It tells the story of Superman as a pilot of the SR-71 and U2s good book to bring us back to fight for our Country not devil gangs that has infiltrated our neighborhoods and Russia ruling us by white supremacy of our Elect good with using the Constitution and The Declaration of Independence as Americans

Having lived in Las Vegas for over 25 years, I've noted that most of the local and even national and international news stories center around the publicity seeking jerks with their theories of alien beings. These are, as the author pointed out very politely, totally bogus, but are much to the delight of the people in charge of the critical defense programs that do exist. Yenne has taken a ton of now unclassified data and pieced together an interesting story of aerospace history. A great read.

I love this book, plain and simple. The pictures and text are all first class and it's a worthy addition to my archives. There are many high quality images here that I have not seen elsewhere or published before. When you see the picture of the Aurora refueling behind a KC-135 Stratotanker, you know you are holding something special in yoru hands,

In the 1990's I worked for Raytheon at the DOE's nuclear energy test site in the mountain range north of Las Vegas, NV. We had a nuclear device assembly facility at Area 93, adjacent to Area 51. While we did see U-2's and other aircraft coming and going, all other activities at Area 51 were hidden by the desert mountains. Bill Yenne's book filled in many blank spots from that era of time that I could only guess about. I found the book accurate, interesting, and easy reading. WRM

Ce livre retrace les avions secrets américains depuis la fin de la 2ème GM. On y découvre des précisions sur les projets bien connus mais peu de choses nouvelles sur ce qui est encore secret. Une compilation qui rend service.

interesting book covers a number of unique planes not just sr71

Fotos muy buenas, y grandes.

If you are interested in 'Black' aircraft, so-called 'alien' U.F.O sightings and a lot more in relation to the classified 'Top-Secret' Nevada desert location refered to in modern day parlance as 'Area 51', you ought really to own a copy of this excellent book. I found it excellent.....now go try and buy a copy. You will not regret it, in my opinion.

My husband loved this book he found it very interesting hasn't finished reading it yet