The Impossible Factory: The Remarkable True Story of Kelly Johnson and the Lockheed Skunk Works, America’s Innovation Machine

Dean’s (The Taking of K-129) sweeping account traces the rise of aviation company Lockheed’s secretive Skunk Works division and its legendary engineer, Clarence “Kelly” Johnson. From the Wright brothers through the Cold War, the book unfolds as a brisk, vivid chronicle of American political and military history told through the evolution of flight. Johnson, a University of Michigan graduate, headed west to Burbank. Arriving at Lockheed during the optimistic rollout of the Electra, he quickly exposed design flaws and proposed the now-iconic twin-tail solution. What followed were planes that won wars. The narrative brims with near crashes, financial brinkmanship, and high-speed ambition, often reading like Mad Men at 40,000 feet. Dean also includes Lockheed’s missteps, postwar losses, and Johnson’s own occasional miscalculations. Dean carries the story forward with Johnson’s successors, such as Ben Rich and the stealth program that produced the F-117 Nighthawk. Throughout the book, Dean emphasizes the relentless pace, secrecy, and collaboration with the CIA that made Skunk Works less a contractor than a shadow arm of government.