Lil' Turk...It HAS a ring to it !!!!
FastmetalBDF@aol.com wrote:
> Jim, Tom, all : According to the 1997 book " Area 51, The Dreamland
> Chronicles " by David Darlington, and all about the highly secret military
> base
> and complex at Groom Lake, Nevada ...... this " Skunk Works " name for
> Lockheed' s Palmdale, California facility for the development of experimental
> aircraft, such as the incredible A12SR-71 Blackbird, came about because
> of one employee . This individual was a " Li' l Abner " ( comic strip
> character
> similar to our own Keith Turk ) fan, and borrowing that term from the strip,
> would
> answer his phone with, " Skunk Works ! " At least that's the way the author
> tells it ! He also says of the division' s former director, Kelly Johnson,
> a true
> genius at aircraft design, that his work motto was : " Be quick, be quiet,
> and be on time, " and he often used the acronym : KISS ...... which meant :
> " KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID ". This very interesting book mentions
> some WAY OUT vehicles MUCH faster than our land speed racers !
> Darrell and I saw some of the facility's buildings as we left from our
> only
> trip to El Mirage dry lake, and he still talks about seeing an SR-71 plane
> land
> at an airshow at Beale AFB in Northern California ....... he was very
> impressed !
> Bruce, where it rained as much today as Jim probably gets in a year
> ........
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