In July 1945, Clarence ‘Kelly’ Johnson, then chief research engineer for Lockheed Aircraft Corp., took to the pages of Aviation, the forerunner of Aviation Week & Space Technology, to tell the story of ‘How We Engineered The Lockheed Shooting Star.’

Johnson’s team designed and delivered the XP-80 jet fighter in just 143 days, in 1943, and Lockheed’s famed Skunk Works was born.

On its 75th anniversary, we look at the legendary organization’s storied history through the past pages of AW&ST.

Drawn from our extensive online archive, this new e-book is available for readers at aviationweek.com/Skunk75