Finding aid for Papers of Ben R. Rich, 1940-1995.

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BEN R. RICH PAPERS
1940-1995
FINDING AID
The Huntington Library
Peter J. Westwick
November 11, 2009
©The Huntington LibraryBen R. Rich Papers – Finding Aid - 2
Administrative Information
Title:
Ben R. Rich Papers, 1940-1995
Creator:
Rich, Ben R.
Extent:
Approximately 1,000 items.
Repository:
Huntington Library
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Acquisition Information:
The collection was a gift from Michael and Karen Rich, July 15, 2008.
Conditions Governing Access/Restrictions:
The entire collection is open for qualified researchers.
Literary Copyright/Publication Rights:
The Huntington Library retains the literary rights to the material. In order to quote from, publish, or reproduce any of the manuscripts or visual materials, researchers must obtain formal permission from the office of the Library Director. In most instances, permission is given by the Huntington as owner of the physical property rights only, and researchers must also obtain permission from the holder of the literary rights. In some instances, the Huntington owns the literary rights, as well as the physical property rights. Researchers may contact the appropriate curator for further information.
Language:
English
Preferred Citation:
[Identification of Item], Ben R. Rich Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Name of Cataloger/Date Completed:
Peter J. Westwick/November 11, 2009.Ben R. Rich Papers – Finding Aid - 3
Biographical Note
Ben Robert Rich (1925-1995) was born as Ben Reich in Manila, in the Philippines, on June 18, 1925. He was the second youngest of six children of Jewish middle-class parents. His British father was born in India, his French mother in Egypt. He came to the U.S. in May 1941 with his family and changed his last name to Rich when he was naturalized as a US citizen, in 1947. His father lost his Manila lumber mill to the Japanese invasion, and the family struggled financially through the war in the U.S.
Rich worked as a machinist during the war and started college at war’s end at UCLA before transferring his senior year to Berkeley. He received a B.S. in mechanical engineering from UC Berkeley in 1949 and an M.S. in mechanical engineering from UCLA in 1950. On June 25, 1950 he married Faye Mayer; they had two children, Michael (b. 1953) and Karen (b. 1956).
Rich joined Lockheed in 1950 as a design specialist in thermodynamics, aerodynamics, and propulsion, working on the F-94, F-90, C-130, and F-104 aircraft. In 1955 he joined Lockheed’s Advanced Development Projects, also known as the Skunk Works, a group formed by Clarence “Kelly” Johnson in the 1940s. As a senior design specialist he worked on the U-2 aircraft and, from 1956 to 1958, helped design the CL-400, a reconnaissance plane for the secret Air Force program known as Project Suntan, to develop liquid hydrogen as aircraft fuel. He then worked on what became known as the SR-71 aircraft, a Mach 3 high-altitude reconnaissance plane; in particular he helped solve difficult aerodynamic and thermodynamic problems on the SR-71 engine inlets.
Rich earned promotion to more senior engineering and managing positions, and upon Johnson’s retirement in 1975 Rich became head of the Skunk Works. His most notable achievement was supervising the development of Stealth technology, for low radar signatures, incorporated on the F-117A aircraft. He was known for his genial management style and his enthusiastic salesmanship, leavening briefings with mischievous jokes and anecdotes. He retired on December 31, 1990. Much of his career at the Skunk Works involved highly classified projects, but as these projects were declassified Rich gained public notice and acclaim. He published his memoirs, Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed, co-authored with Leo Janos, in 1994.
Rich died January 5, 1995 of cancer. His first wife Faye died in 1980; in 1982 he married Hilda Herman. His son Michael received a law degree and became a senior executive at the RAND Corporation; his daughter Karen is a botanist at the San Diego Natural History Museum.
Cataloger’s Note
Some books that came with the collection have been added to the Huntington Library reference collection; searching under Ben Rich in the library catalog will retrieve these items. There is a list of these books at the end of the finding aid (the list is incomplete). Ben R. Rich Papers – Finding Aid - 4
Scope and Content Note
The collection contains approximately 1,000 items and has been organized by subject, although some subjects can be found throughout the collection. Chronological coverage is from the 1950s to 1990s; much material is from the 1980s and early 1990s, save for selected documents and the Technical Notes and Data series from the 1950s. The files contain many clippings and speeches; there is relatively little daily correspondence, except for scattered letters in the Personal and Projects series.
The Technical Notes and Data series contains binders of detailed lecture notes, handwritten calculations, technical articles, data tables, and graphs. This material is from the mid to late 1950s, when Rich was working on the U-2, SR-71, and other reconnaissance aircraft. Much of the collection otherwise involves few technical details, except for a few technical articles under Publications and a few blueprints under Projects.
There is a separate series for Rich’s memoir, Skunk Works. This includes research material, draft chapters, published reviews and private feedback, discussion of potential co-authors, and classification issues. Talks are filed by subject and date in the Speeches series. Photos have been organized in a separate series; these include images of various aircraft, Lockheed events, and portraits of Rich at various phases of his career. Many photos are unlabeled. An Oversize series includes large photos and binders of notes from his retirement events.
Articles on particular aircraft are filed under the Projects series instead of Publications. For Projects, note that aircraft often had different designations at different times. The D-21 drone was also known as Q-12 and Tagboard. The A-12 was also called Oxcart, A-11, F-12, R-12, and SR-71. The CL-400 started under Project Suntan. Project names mentioned for Stealth aircraft, what became the F-117A, include XST (Experimental Stealth Testbed), Harvey, Have Blue, Tacit Gold, Girlfriend, and Boyfriend. A Stealth cruise missile program was known as Senior High and Senior Prom (the Kelly Johnson folder includes a small card with the note, “I bet Ben on Prom launch, my $5.00 vs this quarter May 17 ‘80—I won”). The Sea Shadow project, for Stealth ships, is referred to elsewhere in the files by the name of Ugo Coty, who was Lockheed manager for Navy programs.
Similarly, initial plans for a Trans Atmospheric Vehicle in the early 1980s referred to a single-stage-to-orbit reconnaissance aircraft designed to make a couple orbits and then land on an airstrip. This concept then shifted to the National Aerospace Plane, or NASP, which was sometimes conflated with, sometimes differentiated from the Orient Express. The SR-71 folder includes material linking SR-71 design concepts to NASP (and its predecessor, the SST); since some NASP designs contemplated liquid-hydrogen fuel they also drew on CL-400 experience. Also, in addition to the “Projects—Cost” file, there is cost information in the files for particular projects. Ben R. Rich Papers – Finding Aid - 5
There are a few items of particular interest. The F-117 file includes an “XST log” by Rich, with brief entries describing the development of Stealth on an almost daily basis from March 1975 through December 1977. Similar logs or handwritten histories are in the folders for the D-21 drone and Senior Prom cruise missile. The Kelly Johnson file includes the document “Sighting of a flying saucer by certain Lockheed Aircraft Corporation personnel on 16 December 1953.” “Lockheed in 1951,” in Speeches, describes the increase of women in the workforce owing to the Korean War buildup; there is also some discussion of women in the military in the Sheila Widnall speeches in the file for Projects-Defense Planning.
The collection included cassette tapes of several interviews and two DVDs: “Blackbird: the Movie,” and “Ben Rich: Father of the Stealth Fighter.” The interviews will be transcribed and listed in the Huntington catalog. The collection also includes ephemera, such as trophies and plaques, which have been omitted. The technical notes also included a well-worn copy of Ralph G. Hudson, The engineers’ manual, 2nd edition (New York, 1945), likewise omitted.
The papers consist of the following series:
Series One: Personal, Box 1
Information on Rich’s career, affiliations, awards, retirement, and correspondence from selected years and individuals.
Series Two: Projects, Boxes 2-3
Information on individual aircraft and issues of cost and planning. The aircraft include the U-2, A-12/SR-71, CL-400 (hydrogen-fueled), and F-117 (Stealth). Other projects include Stealth technology applied to ships (Sea Shadow) and cruise missiles (Senior Prom).
Series Three: Speeches, Box 4
Copies of Ben Rich speeches from 1967 to 1992, on individual aircraft and on the Skunk Works.
Series Four: Lockheed, Box 5
History and management of Lockheed and the Skunk Works.
Series Five: Publications, Box 5
Articles by and about Ben Rich, and miscellaneous articles.
Series Six: Memoirs, Box 6
Drafts, research material, and correspondence relating to Ben Rich and Leo Janos, Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed (1994).
Series Seven: Consulting, Box 6
Information on Ben Rich’s various consulting jobs, mostly from the 1990s after his retirement. Ben R. Rich Papers – Finding Aid - 6
Series Eight: Technical notes and data, Boxes 7-10
Ben Rich’s technical notebooks and binders from the 1950s on thermodynamics and aerodynamics, and an extended series of lectures from a F-104 pilot’s manual.
Series Nine: Photographs, Box 11
Candid and formal photos of Ben Rich, Lockheed airplanes, and events.
Series Ten: Oversize/Ephemera, Boxes 12-13
Includes large photos and certificates, binder of photos from Skunk Works field operations, binder of well-wisher cards from retirement party and various other ephemeral items.
Container List
SERIES ONE: PERSONAL
Box 1
1. Awards
2. Biographical
3. Career
4. Chron file, Jan-June 1993
5. Chron file, July-Dec 1993
6. Lyman Gilmore
7. Clarence “Kelly” Johnson
8. Miscellaneous
9. Organizations—AIAA
10. Organizations—National Academy of Engineering
11. Patents
12. Retirement—parties
13. Retirement—letters
14. Security clearance
15. Travel, 1990
SERIES TWO: PROJECTS
Box 2
1. Engineering—U-2
2. Engineering A-12
3. Engineering—A-12 schematics
4. Engineering—F-12
5. Engineering—R-12 schematics
6. Engineering—SR-71
7. Engineering—SR-71 pilot experience
8. Engineering—D-21
9. Engineering—CL-1981 (low-cost fighter, 1974)
10. Engineering—F-117ABen R. Rich Papers – Finding Aid - 7
11. Engineering—F-22
12. Engineering—X-29
Box 3
1. Engineering—CL-400
2. Engineering—CL-400 reports (1973)
3. Engineering—CL-400, Langley meeting (1973)
4. Engineering—Sea Shadow (stealth ship)
5. Engineering—Senior Prom
6. Engineering—Aeroballistic rocket (low cost access to space, 1993)
7. Cost issues
8. Defense planning
9. Miscellaneous performance charts
SERIES THREE: SPEECHES
Box 4
1. Miscellaneous
2. SR-71/SST, 1967
3. CL-400, 1973
4. CL-400, 1974
5. SR-71, 1977
6. “Lockheed in 1951,” 1976
7. “The Big Step” (Kelly Johnson philosophy), 1978
8. Future of supersonics, 1978
9. SR-71 and SST, Feb 1980
10. “Mach 3 flight in retrospect,” Mar 1980
11. U-2, SR-71, and CL-400, Apr 1983
12. “Survivable reconnaissance in the 1990s,” July 1983
13. U-2, SR-71, and CL-400, Sep 1983
14. Aircraft development in the Skunk Works, 1984
15. U-2, SR-71, and CL-400, 1985
16. Transatmospheric Vehicle (Orient Express), Jan 1986
17. Supersonic/hypersonic transport aircraft, Oct 1986
18. Pratt & Whitney and the Skunk Works, 1987
19. Skunk Works history and overview, March 1988
20. Skunk Works history and overview, June 1988
21. SR-71 retirement ceremony, 1990
22. U-2, SR-71, and F-117, April 1990
23. U-2, SR-71, and F-117, May 1990
24. Retirement, 1991
25. “Lockheed Skunk Works from 1954 to 1991,” 1992
SERIES FOUR: LOCKHEED
Box 5
1. HistoryBen R. Rich Papers – Finding Aid - 8
2. Legal
3. Skunk Works—history and operations
4. Skunk Works—name and trademark
5. Skunk Works—management briefings, 1990-1992
SERIES FIVE: PUBLICATIONS
Box 5
6. Articles by Ben Rich
7. Articles about Ben Rich
8. Glenn Campbell, “Area 51 Viewer’s Guide”
9. Lockheed newsletters
10. Miscellaneous technical articles
SERIES SIX: MEMOIRS
Box 6
1. Book reviews
2. Chapter drafts
3. Corrections and revisions
4. Draft materials
5. Leo Janos
6. Potential co-authors
7. Research correspondence
8. Security clearance
SERIES SEVEN: CONSULTING
Box 6
9. Ames Research Center
10. California-Israel Committee for Trade and Technology
11. Defense Science Board
12. GEC-Marconi
13. Litton
14. Lockheed (post-retirement)
15. Miscellaneous
16. Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
SERIES EIGHT: TECHNICAL NOTES AND DATA
Box 7
1. Aerodynamics
2. Propulsion (turbojet)
Box 8
1. Thermodynamics, vol I
2. Thermodynamics, vol. III
3. Thermal properties of materials
Box 9
1. Aerodynamics and thermodynamicsBen R. Rich Papers – Finding Aid - 9
Box 10
1. Hypersonic aerodynamics
2. SURE lectures (F-104 pilot’s guide, by G.L. Reaves) [1 of 3 folders]
3. SURE lectures (F-104 pilot’s guide, by G.L. Reaves) [2 of 3 folders]
4. SURE lectures (F-104 pilot’s guide, by G.L. Reaves) [3 of 3 folders]
SERIES NINE: PHOTOGRAPHS
Box 11
1. Ben Rich portraits and head shots
2. Events and candids (large prints)
3. Events and candids (small prints)
4. Ben Rich and President Reagan
5. Kelly Johnson and President Reagan
6. Collier Trophy ceremony
7. Ben Rich retirement party, Jan 1991
8. U-2
9. SR-71
10. SR-71 retirement
11. F-117
12. F-22
13. Miscellaneous Lockheed projects
14. Hughes H-4 (Spruce Goose)
SERIES TEN: OVERSIZE/EPHEMERA
Box 12
1. Binder of photos from Skunk Works field operations
2. Binder of cards from retirement party
3. Four cassette tapes
4. Two DVDs: Blackbird: The Movie and Ben Rich: Father of the Stealth-Fighter.
5. Ben Rich work badge
Box 13
1. Miscellaneous large photos and certificates (including 3 rolled items)
Bibliography
The following books from the Ben Rich accession were added to the Huntington Library catalog:
Roy Blay, ed., Lockheed Horizons, no. 12 (Burbank, CA, 1983).
Roy Blay, ed., Lockheed Horizons, no. 27 (Calabasas, CA, 1988).
Walter J. Boyne, The Smithsonian Book of Flight (Washington, DC, 1987).
Clyde W. Burleson, The Jennifer Project (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1977).
Paul F. Crickmore, Lockheed R-71 Blackbird (London, 1987).Ben R. Rich Papers – Finding Aid - 10
Paul F. Crickmore, Lockheed SR-71: The Secret Missions Exposed (London, 1993).
Thomas J. Doubek, ed., Strategic Reconnaissance 1956-1976: A History of the 4080th/100th SRW (Dallas, TX, 1976.).
Lou Drendel, SR-71 Blackbird in Action (Carrollton, TX, 1982).
Jim Goodall, F-117 Stealth in Action (Carrollton, TX, 1991).
James C. Goodall, America’s Stealth Fighters and Bombers (Osceola, WI, 1992).
Richard P. Hallion, Designers and Test Pilots (Alexandria, VA, 1983).
Lockheed Aircraft, Days of Trial and Triumph:A Pictorial History of Lockheed (Burbank, CA, 1969).
Lockheed Aircraft, Dateline Lockheed (Burbank, CA, 1982).
Robert and Melinda Macy, Destination Baghdad (Las Vegas, NV, 1991).
Mark Meyer and Chuck Yeager, Wings (Charlottesville, VA, 1984).
Jay Miller, Lockheed U-2 (Austin, TX, 1983).
Jay Miller, Lockheed’s Skunk Works: The First Fifty Years (Arlington, TX, 1993).
Michael O’Leary, Fighting Lightnings: The Complete Story of Lockheed’s Fabulous P-38 Lightning During World War Two (Canoga Park, CA, 1988).
Steve Pace, Lockheed Skunk Works (Osceola, WI, 1992).
Chris Pocock, Dragon Lady: The History of the U-2 Spyplane (Shrewsbury, UK, 1989).
John Riley, ed., Alcoa and Aerospace, 1888-1988, vol. 8, Alcoa Technology Report, Feb 1989 (Pittsburgh, PA).
Brian Shul, Sled Driver: Flying the World’s Fastest Jet (Chico, CA, 1991).
Bill Sweetman, Stealth Aircraft (Osceola, WI, 1986).
Bill Sweetman and James Goodall, Lockheed F-117A: Operation and Development of the Stealth Fighter (Osceola, WI, 1990).
Bill Sweetman, Aurora: The Pentagon’s Secret Hypersonic Spyplane (Osceola, WI, 1993).
William Wagner, Lightning Bugs and Other Reconnaissance Drones (Fallbrook, CA, 1982).
Bill Yenne, Lockheed (Greenwich, CT 1987).
Library of Congress subject headings
A-12 Blackbird (Jet reconnaissance plane)
Aerodynamics
Aeronautical engineers—United States
Aeronautics—United States
Aerospace engineering—United States
Aerospace engineers—United States
Aerospace industries—United States
Aerothermodynamics
Aircraft industry—United States
Airplanes—Design and construction
Airplanes, Military
California—HistoryBen R. Rich Papers – Finding Aid - 11
Engineering—United States
Engineers—United States
F-117 (Jet attack plane)
Fighter planes
High speed aeronautics
Jet planes, Military
Lockheed aircraft
Lockheed Aircraft Corporation
Reconnaissance aircraft
SR-71 Blackbird (Jet reconnaissance plane)
Stealth aircraft
Supersonic planes
Transonic planes
U-2 (Reconnaissance aircraft)
Genres
Articles
Clippings
Documents
Ephemera
Letters (correspondence)
Manuscripts
Photocopies
Photographs
Slides (photographs)
Speeches
Technical drawings
Videodiscs (video recording disks)

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Title	Finding aid for Papers of Ben R. Rich, 1940-1995.
Creator	Rich, Ben R.
Extent	Approximately 1,000 items. 13 boxes.
Biographical Note	Ben Robert Rich (1925-1995) was born as Ben Reich in Manila, in the Philippines, on June 18, 1925. He was the second youngest of six children of Jewish middle-class parents. His British father was born in India, his French mother in Egypt. He came to the U.S. in May 1941 with his family and changed his last name to Rich when he was naturalized as a US citizen, in 1947. His father lost his Manila lumber mill to the Japanese invasion, and the family struggled financially through the war in the U.S. Rich worked as a machinist during the war and started college at war's end at UCLA before transferring his senior year to Berkeley. He received a B.S. in mechanical engineering from UC Berkeley in 1949 and an M.S. in mechanical engineering from UCLA in 1950. On June 25, 1950 he married Faye Mayer; they had two children, Michael (b. 1953) and Karen (b. 1956). Rich joined Lockheed in 1950 as a design specialist in thermodynamics, aerodynamics, and propulsion, working on the F-94, F-90, C-130, and F-104 aircraft. In 1955 he joined Lockheed's Advanced Development Projects, also known as the Skunk Works, a group formed by Clarence "Kelly" Johnson in the 1940s. As a senior design specialist he worked on the U-2 aircraft and, from 1956 to 1958, helped design the CL-400, a reconnaissance plane for the secret Air Force program known as Project Suntan, to develop liquid hydrogen as aircraft fuel. He then worked on what became known as the SR-71 aircraft, a Mach 3 high-altitude reconnaissance plane; in particular he helped solve difficult aerodynamic and thermodynamic problems on the SR-71 engine inlets. Rich earned promotion to more senior engineering and managing positions, and upon Johnson's retirement in 1975 Rich became head of the Skunk Works. His most notable achievement was supervising the development of Stealth technology, for low radar signatures, incorporated on the F-117A aircraft. He was known for his genial management style and his enthusiastic salesmanship, leavening briefings with mischievous jokes and anecdotes. He retired on December 31, 1990. Much of his career at the Skunk Works involved highly classified projects, but as these projects were declassified Rich gained public notice and acclaim. He published his memoirs, Skunk works: a personal memoir of my years at Lockheed, co-authored with Leo Janos, in 1994. His first wife Faye died in 1980; in 1982 he married Hilda Herman. Rich died January 5, 1995 of cancer.
Scope and Content	The collection has been organized by subject, although some subjects can be found throughout the collection. Inclusive dates are 1940 to 1955; much material is from the 1980s and early 1990s, save for selected documents and the Technical Notes and Data series from the 1950s. The files contain many clippings and speeches; there is relatively little daily correspondence, except for scattered letters in the Personal and Projects series. The Technical Notes and Data series contains binders of detailed lecture notes, handwritten calculations, technical articles, data tables, and graphs. This material is from the mid to late 1950s, when Rich was working on the U-2, SR-71, and other reconnaissance aircraft. Much of the collection otherwise involves few technical details, except for a few technical articles under Publications and a few blueprints under Projects. There is a separate series for Rich's memoir, Skunk works. This includes research material, draft chapters, published reviews and private feedback, discussion of potential co-authors, and classification issues. Talks are filed by subject and date in the Speeches series. Photos have been organized in a separate series; these include images of various aircraft, Lockheed events, and portraits of Rich at various phases of his career. An Oversize series includes large photos and binders of notes from his retirement events. Articles on particular aircraft are filed under the Projects series instead of Publications. For Projects, note that aircraft often had different designations at different times. There are a few items of particular interest. The F-117 file includes an "XST log" by Rich, with brief entries describing the development of Stealth on an almost daily basis from March 1975 through December 1977. Similar logs or handwritten histories are in the folders for the D-21 drone and Senior Prom cruise missile. The Kelly Johnson file includes the document "Sighting of a flying saucer by certain Lockheed Aircraft Corporation personnel on 16 December 1953." "Lockheed in 1951" in Speeches, describes the increase of women in the workforce owing to the Korean War buildup; there is also some discussion of women in the military in the Sheila Widnall speeches in the file for Projects-Defense Planning. The collection also contains ephemera and videodiscs.
Notes	All inquiries about this collection should be directed to the Dibner Senior Curator, History of Science and Technology.
Date	1940-1995.
Provenance	Gift of Michael and Karen Rich, July 15, 2008.
Subject	Rich, Ben R. -- Archives. Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. A-12 Blackbird (Jet reconnaissance plane) Aerodynamics. Aeronautical engineers -- United States -- Archives. Aeronautics -- United States -- History -- 20th century -- Sources. Aerospace engineering -- United States. Aerospace engineers -- United States. Aerospace industries -- United States -- History -- 20th century -- Sources. Aerothermodynamics. Aircraft industry -- United States -- History -- 20th century -- Sources. Airplanes -- Design and construction. Airplanes, Military. Engineering -- United States -- History -- 20th century -- Sources. Engineers -- United States. F-117 (Jet attack plane) Fighter planes. High-speed aeronautics. Jet planes, Military. Lockheed aircraft. Reconnaissance aircraft. SR-71 Blackbird (Jet reconnaissance plane) Stealth aircraft. Supersonic planes. Transonic planes. U-2 (Reconnaissance aircraft) California -- History -- 20th century -- Sources.
Form/Genre	Articles United States 20th century. (aat) Clippings United States 20th century. (aat) Documents United States 20th century. (aat) Ephemera United States 20th century. (aat) Photocopies United States 20th century. (aat) Photographs United States 20th century. (aat) Slides (photographs) United States 20th century. (aat) Videodiscs (video recording disks) United States 20th century. (aat)
Department	Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery. Manuscripts Department.
Call Number	mssRich papers
Physical Collection	Ben R. Rich Papers.
Digital Collection	Finding Aids, Huntington Digital Library
Physical Description	11 p.
Digitization Specifications	Original finding aid converted into PDF document by B. Black, 2011-12-10.
Date Digital	2011-12-10.
DCMI Type	text
Digital Format	pdf
Original Finding Aid	Finding aid prepared by Peter J. Westwick, November 11, 2009.
Citation Information	Finding aid for Ben R. Rich Papers, Huntington Digital Library, San Marino, California.
Restrictions	Images in this collection are for scholarly research; please review the Huntington Library's copyright information: http://cdm16003.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/about. For purchasing images for publication please review our permission to publish policy: http://www.huntington.org/huntingtonlibrary.aspx?id=590.
Cataloging Notes	The collection is arranged in several series including: Personal (Box 1); Projects (Boxes 2-3); Speeches (Box 4); Lockheed (Box 5); Publications (Box 5); Memoirs (Box 6); Technical notes and data (Boxes 7-10); Photographs (Box 11); and Oversize/Ephemera (Boxes 12-13).
Full Text	BEN R. RICH PAPERS 1940-1995 FINDING AID The Huntington Library Peter J. Westwick November 11, 2009 ©The Huntington LibraryBen R. Rich Papers – Finding Aid - 2 Administrative Information Title: Ben R. Rich Papers, 1940-1995 Creator: Rich, Ben R. Extent: Approximately 1,000 items. Repository: Huntington Library 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, CA 91108 Acquisition Information: The collection was a gift from Michael and Karen Rich, July 15, 2008. Conditions Governing Access/Restrictions: The entire collection is open for qualified researchers. Literary Copyright/Publication Rights: The Huntington Library retains the literary rights to the material. In order to quote from, publish, or reproduce any of the manuscripts or visual materials, researchers must obtain formal permission from the office of the Library Director. In most instances, permission is given by the Huntington as owner of the physical property rights only, and researchers must also obtain permission from the holder of the literary rights. In some instances, the Huntington owns the literary rights, as well as the physical property rights. Researchers may contact the appropriate curator for further information. Language: English Preferred Citation: [Identification of Item], Ben R. Rich Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California. Name of Cataloger/Date Completed: Peter J. Westwick/November 11, 2009.Ben R. Rich Papers – Finding Aid - 3 Biographical Note Ben Robert Rich (1925-1995) was born as Ben Reich in Manila, in the Philippines, on June 18, 1925. He was the second youngest of six children of Jewish middle-class parents. His British father was born in India, his French mother in Egypt. He came to the U.S. in May 1941 with his family and changed his last name to Rich when he was naturalized as a US citizen, in 1947. His father lost his Manila lumber mill to the Japanese invasion, and the family struggled financially through the war in the U.S. Rich worked as a machinist during the war and started college at war’s end at UCLA before transferring his senior year to Berkeley. He received a B.S. in mechanical engineering from UC Berkeley in 1949 and an M.S. in mechanical engineering from UCLA in 1950. On June 25, 1950 he married Faye Mayer; they had two children, Michael (b. 1953) and Karen (b. 1956). Rich joined Lockheed in 1950 as a design specialist in thermodynamics, aerodynamics, and propulsion, working on the F-94, F-90, C-130, and F-104 aircraft. In 1955 he joined Lockheed’s Advanced Development Projects, also known as the Skunk Works, a group formed by Clarence “Kelly” Johnson in the 1940s. As a senior design specialist he worked on the U-2 aircraft and, from 1956 to 1958, helped design the CL-400, a reconnaissance plane for the secret Air Force program known as Project Suntan, to develop liquid hydrogen as aircraft fuel. He then worked on what became known as the SR-71 aircraft, a Mach 3 high-altitude reconnaissance plane; in particular he helped solve difficult aerodynamic and thermodynamic problems on the SR-71 engine inlets. Rich earned promotion to more senior engineering and managing positions, and upon Johnson’s retirement in 1975 Rich became head of the Skunk Works. His most notable achievement was supervising the development of Stealth technology, for low radar signatures, incorporated on the F-117A aircraft. He was known for his genial management style and his enthusiastic salesmanship, leavening briefings with mischievous jokes and anecdotes. He retired on December 31, 1990. Much of his career at the Skunk Works involved highly classified projects, but as these projects were declassified Rich gained public notice and acclaim. He published his memoirs, Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed, co-authored with Leo Janos, in 1994. Rich died January 5, 1995 of cancer. His first wife Faye died in 1980; in 1982 he married Hilda Herman. His son Michael received a law degree and became a senior executive at the RAND Corporation; his daughter Karen is a botanist at the San Diego Natural History Museum. Cataloger’s Note Some books that came with the collection have been added to the Huntington Library reference collection; searching under Ben Rich in the library catalog will retrieve these items. There is a list of these books at the end of the finding aid (the list is incomplete). Ben R. Rich Papers – Finding Aid - 4 Scope and Content Note The collection contains approximately 1,000 items and has been organized by subject, although some subjects can be found throughout the collection. Chronological coverage is from the 1950s to 1990s; much material is from the 1980s and early 1990s, save for selected documents and the Technical Notes and Data series from the 1950s. The files contain many clippings and speeches; there is relatively little daily correspondence, except for scattered letters in the Personal and Projects series. The Technical Notes and Data series contains binders of detailed lecture notes, handwritten calculations, technical articles, data tables, and graphs. This material is from the mid to late 1950s, when Rich was working on the U-2, SR-71, and other reconnaissance aircraft. Much of the collection otherwise involves few technical details, except for a few technical articles under Publications and a few blueprints under Projects. There is a separate series for Rich’s memoir, Skunk Works. This includes research material, draft chapters, published reviews and private feedback, discussion of potential co-authors, and classification issues. Talks are filed by subject and date in the Speeches series. Photos have been organized in a separate series; these include images of various aircraft, Lockheed events, and portraits of Rich at various phases of his career. Many photos are unlabeled. An Oversize series includes large photos and binders of notes from his retirement events. Articles on particular aircraft are filed under the Projects series instead of Publications. For Projects, note that aircraft often had different designations at different times. The D-21 drone was also known as Q-12 and Tagboard. The A-12 was also called Oxcart, A-11, F-12, R-12, and SR-71. The CL-400 started under Project Suntan. Project names mentioned for Stealth aircraft, what became the F-117A, include XST (Experimental Stealth Testbed), Harvey, Have Blue, Tacit Gold, Girlfriend, and Boyfriend. A Stealth cruise missile program was known as Senior High and Senior Prom (the Kelly Johnson folder includes a small card with the note, “I bet Ben on Prom launch, my $5.00 vs this quarter May 17 ‘80—I won”). The Sea Shadow project, for Stealth ships, is referred to elsewhere in the files by the name of Ugo Coty, who was Lockheed manager for Navy programs. Similarly, initial plans for a Trans Atmospheric Vehicle in the early 1980s referred to a single-stage-to-orbit reconnaissance aircraft designed to make a couple orbits and then land on an airstrip. This concept then shifted to the National Aerospace Plane, or NASP, which was sometimes conflated with, sometimes differentiated from the Orient Express. The SR-71 folder includes material linking SR-71 design concepts to NASP (and its predecessor, the SST); since some NASP designs contemplated liquid-hydrogen fuel they also drew on CL-400 experience. Also, in addition to the “Projects—Cost” file, there is cost information in the files for particular projects. Ben R. Rich Papers – Finding Aid - 5 There are a few items of particular interest. The F-117 file includes an “XST log” by Rich, with brief entries describing the development of Stealth on an almost daily basis from March 1975 through December 1977. Similar logs or handwritten histories are in the folders for the D-21 drone and Senior Prom cruise missile. The Kelly Johnson file includes the document “Sighting of a flying saucer by certain Lockheed Aircraft Corporation personnel on 16 December 1953.” “Lockheed in 1951,” in Speeches, describes the increase of women in the workforce owing to the Korean War buildup; there is also some discussion of women in the military in the Sheila Widnall speeches in the file for Projects-Defense Planning. The collection included cassette tapes of several interviews and two DVDs: “Blackbird: the Movie,” and “Ben Rich: Father of the Stealth Fighter.” The interviews will be transcribed and listed in the Huntington catalog. The collection also includes ephemera, such as trophies and plaques, which have been omitted. The technical notes also included a well-worn copy of Ralph G. Hudson, The engineers’ manual, 2nd edition (New York, 1945), likewise omitted. The papers consist of the following series: Series One: Personal, Box 1 Information on Rich’s career, affiliations, awards, retirement, and correspondence from selected years and individuals. Series Two: Projects, Boxes 2-3 Information on individual aircraft and issues of cost and planning. The aircraft include the U-2, A-12/SR-71, CL-400 (hydrogen-fueled), and F-117 (Stealth). Other projects include Stealth technology applied to ships (Sea Shadow) and cruise missiles (Senior Prom). Series Three: Speeches, Box 4 Copies of Ben Rich speeches from 1967 to 1992, on individual aircraft and on the Skunk Works. Series Four: Lockheed, Box 5 History and management of Lockheed and the Skunk Works. Series Five: Publications, Box 5 Articles by and about Ben Rich, and miscellaneous articles. Series Six: Memoirs, Box 6 Drafts, research material, and correspondence relating to Ben Rich and Leo Janos, Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed (1994). Series Seven: Consulting, Box 6 Information on Ben Rich’s various consulting jobs, mostly from the 1990s after his retirement. Ben R. Rich Papers – Finding Aid - 6 Series Eight: Technical notes and data, Boxes 7-10 Ben Rich’s technical notebooks and binders from the 1950s on thermodynamics and aerodynamics, and an extended series of lectures from a F-104 pilot’s manual. Series Nine: Photographs, Box 11 Candid and formal photos of Ben Rich, Lockheed airplanes, and events. Series Ten: Oversize/Ephemera, Boxes 12-13 Includes large photos and certificates, binder of photos from Skunk Works field operations, binder of well-wisher cards from retirement party and various other ephemeral items. Container List SERIES ONE: PERSONAL Box 1 1. Awards 2. Biographical 3. Career 4. Chron file, Jan-June 1993 5. Chron file, July-Dec 1993 6. Lyman Gilmore 7. Clarence “Kelly” Johnson 8. Miscellaneous 9. Organizations—AIAA 10. Organizations—National Academy of Engineering 11. Patents 12. Retirement—parties 13. Retirement—letters 14. Security clearance 15. Travel, 1990 SERIES TWO: PROJECTS Box 2 1. Engineering—U-2 2. Engineering A-12 3. Engineering—A-12 schematics 4. Engineering—F-12 5. Engineering—R-12 schematics 6. Engineering—SR-71 7. Engineering—SR-71 pilot experience 8. Engineering—D-21 9. Engineering—CL-1981 (low-cost fighter, 1974) 10. Engineering—F-117ABen R. Rich Papers – Finding Aid - 7 11. Engineering—F-22 12. Engineering—X-29 Box 3 1. Engineering—CL-400 2. Engineering—CL-400 reports (1973) 3. Engineering—CL-400, Langley meeting (1973) 4. Engineering—Sea Shadow (stealth ship) 5. Engineering—Senior Prom 6. Engineering—Aeroballistic rocket (low cost access to space, 1993) 7. Cost issues 8. Defense planning 9. Miscellaneous performance charts SERIES THREE: SPEECHES Box 4 1. Miscellaneous 2. SR-71/SST, 1967 3. CL-400, 1973 4. CL-400, 1974 5. SR-71, 1977 6. “Lockheed in 1951,” 1976 7. “The Big Step” (Kelly Johnson philosophy), 1978 8. Future of supersonics, 1978 9. SR-71 and SST, Feb 1980 10. “Mach 3 flight in retrospect,” Mar 1980 11. U-2, SR-71, and CL-400, Apr 1983 12. “Survivable reconnaissance in the 1990s,” July 1983 13. U-2, SR-71, and CL-400, Sep 1983 14. Aircraft development in the Skunk Works, 1984 15. U-2, SR-71, and CL-400, 1985 16. Transatmospheric Vehicle (Orient Express), Jan 1986 17. Supersonic/hypersonic transport aircraft, Oct 1986 18. Pratt & Whitney and the Skunk Works, 1987 19. Skunk Works history and overview, March 1988 20. Skunk Works history and overview, June 1988 21. SR-71 retirement ceremony, 1990 22. U-2, SR-71, and F-117, April 1990 23. U-2, SR-71, and F-117, May 1990 24. Retirement, 1991 25. “Lockheed Skunk Works from 1954 to 1991,” 1992 SERIES FOUR: LOCKHEED Box 5 1. HistoryBen R. Rich Papers – Finding Aid - 8 2. Legal 3. Skunk Works—history and operations 4. Skunk Works—name and trademark 5. Skunk Works—management briefings, 1990-1992 SERIES FIVE: PUBLICATIONS Box 5 6. Articles by Ben Rich 7. Articles about Ben Rich 8. Glenn Campbell, “Area 51 Viewer’s Guide” 9. Lockheed newsletters 10. Miscellaneous technical articles SERIES SIX: MEMOIRS Box 6 1. Book reviews 2. Chapter drafts 3. Corrections and revisions 4. Draft materials 5. Leo Janos 6. Potential co-authors 7. Research correspondence 8. Security clearance SERIES SEVEN: CONSULTING Box 6 9. Ames Research Center 10. California-Israel Committee for Trade and Technology 11. Defense Science Board 12. GEC-Marconi 13. Litton 14. Lockheed (post-retirement) 15. Miscellaneous 16. Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology SERIES EIGHT: TECHNICAL NOTES AND DATA Box 7 1. Aerodynamics 2. Propulsion (turbojet) Box 8 1. Thermodynamics, vol I 2. Thermodynamics, vol. III 3. Thermal properties of materials Box 9 1. Aerodynamics and thermodynamicsBen R. Rich Papers – Finding Aid - 9 Box 10 1. Hypersonic aerodynamics 2. SURE lectures (F-104 pilot’s guide, by G.L. Reaves) [1 of 3 folders] 3. SURE lectures (F-104 pilot’s guide, by G.L. Reaves) [2 of 3 folders] 4. SURE lectures (F-104 pilot’s guide, by G.L. Reaves) [3 of 3 folders] SERIES NINE: PHOTOGRAPHS Box 11 1. Ben Rich portraits and head shots 2. Events and candids (large prints) 3. Events and candids (small prints) 4. Ben Rich and President Reagan 5. Kelly Johnson and President Reagan 6. Collier Trophy ceremony 7. Ben Rich retirement party, Jan 1991 8. U-2 9. SR-71 10. SR-71 retirement 11. F-117 12. F-22 13. Miscellaneous Lockheed projects 14. Hughes H-4 (Spruce Goose) SERIES TEN: OVERSIZE/EPHEMERA Box 12 1. Binder of photos from Skunk Works field operations 2. Binder of cards from retirement party 3. Four cassette tapes 4. Two DVDs: Blackbird: The Movie and Ben Rich: Father of the Stealth-Fighter. 5. Ben Rich work badge Box 13 1. Miscellaneous large photos and certificates (including 3 rolled items) Bibliography The following books from the Ben Rich accession were added to the Huntington Library catalog: Roy Blay, ed., Lockheed Horizons, no. 12 (Burbank, CA, 1983). Roy Blay, ed., Lockheed Horizons, no. 27 (Calabasas, CA, 1988). Walter J. Boyne, The Smithsonian Book of Flight (Washington, DC, 1987). Clyde W. Burleson, The Jennifer Project (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1977). Paul F. Crickmore, Lockheed R-71 Blackbird (London, 1987).Ben R. Rich Papers – Finding Aid - 10 Paul F. Crickmore, Lockheed SR-71: The Secret Missions Exposed (London, 1993). Thomas J. Doubek, ed., Strategic Reconnaissance 1956-1976: A History of the 4080th/100th SRW (Dallas, TX, 1976.). Lou Drendel, SR-71 Blackbird in Action (Carrollton, TX, 1982). Jim Goodall, F-117 Stealth in Action (Carrollton, TX, 1991). James C. Goodall, America’s Stealth Fighters and Bombers (Osceola, WI, 1992). Richard P. Hallion, Designers and Test Pilots (Alexandria, VA, 1983). Lockheed Aircraft, Days of Trial and Triumph:A Pictorial History of Lockheed (Burbank, CA, 1969). Lockheed Aircraft, Dateline Lockheed (Burbank, CA, 1982). Robert and Melinda Macy, Destination Baghdad (Las Vegas, NV, 1991). Mark Meyer and Chuck Yeager, Wings (Charlottesville, VA, 1984). Jay Miller, Lockheed U-2 (Austin, TX, 1983). Jay Miller, Lockheed’s Skunk Works: The First Fifty Years (Arlington, TX, 1993). Michael O’Leary, Fighting Lightnings: The Complete Story of Lockheed’s Fabulous P-38 Lightning During World War Two (Canoga Park, CA, 1988). Steve Pace, Lockheed Skunk Works (Osceola, WI, 1992). Chris Pocock, Dragon Lady: The History of the U-2 Spyplane (Shrewsbury, UK, 1989). John Riley, ed., Alcoa and Aerospace, 1888-1988, vol. 8, Alcoa Technology Report, Feb 1989 (Pittsburgh, PA). Brian Shul, Sled Driver: Flying the World’s Fastest Jet (Chico, CA, 1991). Bill Sweetman, Stealth Aircraft (Osceola, WI, 1986). Bill Sweetman and James Goodall, Lockheed F-117A: Operation and Development of the Stealth Fighter (Osceola, WI, 1990). Bill Sweetman, Aurora: The Pentagon’s Secret Hypersonic Spyplane (Osceola, WI, 1993). William Wagner, Lightning Bugs and Other Reconnaissance Drones (Fallbrook, CA, 1982). Bill Yenne, Lockheed (Greenwich, CT 1987). Library of Congress subject headings A-12 Blackbird (Jet reconnaissance plane) Aerodynamics Aeronautical engineers—United States Aeronautics—United States Aerospace engineering—United States Aerospace engineers—United States Aerospace industries—United States Aerothermodynamics Aircraft industry—United States Airplanes—Design and construction Airplanes, Military California—HistoryBen R. Rich Papers – Finding Aid - 11 Engineering—United States Engineers—United States F-117 (Jet attack plane) Fighter planes High speed aeronautics Jet planes, Military Lockheed aircraft Lockheed Aircraft Corporation Reconnaissance aircraft SR-71 Blackbird (Jet reconnaissance plane) Stealth aircraft Supersonic planes Transonic planes U-2 (Reconnaissance aircraft) Genres Articles Clippings Documents Ephemera Letters (correspondence) Manuscripts Photocopies Photographs Slides (photographs) Speeches Technical drawings Videodiscs (video recording disks)

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Home Finding Aids Finding aid for Papers of Ben R. Rich, 1940-1995.

Finding aid for Papers of Ben R. Rich, 1940-1995.

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