Chapter 11, Remembering Habu Summary and Analysis

The Blackbird's records were not surpassed thirty years after it was built. For building the Blackbird, Kelly received the Medal of Freedom from President Johnson. Ben also won the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Award in 1972 for designing the propulsion system.

In 1968, LBJ ordered the CIA out of the spy plane business, but the planes were still used for reconnaissance operations. The American public is still largely unaware of how many dangerous missions Blackbirds were used to complete. From North Vietnam to Cuba and northern Russia, the Blackbird could do reconnaissance and outrun any missile that followed them, by several miles at least. The chapter then transitions to tell some of the stories of those pilots who used the Blackbird during military conflicts ranging from Cold War reconnaissance, to the Korean War and the Vietnam War...