the aircraft's black skin coatings which optimized dissipation of their tremendous aerodynamic heating as well as incorporating materials to reduce radar signature. The aircraft incorporated features that were later referred to as low observables or stealth technology. When SR-71 crews became upset that engineers were not putting enough effort into solving a constant problem with violent engine unstarts in flight, Rich considered taking a flight in the SR-71 to experience the phenomenon himself, which included having to go through the same flight physical as pilots. He did not go through with the flight. He did eventually manage the problem by installing automatic controllers to maintain aircraft control during unstarts. He briefly worked on a program that used ionizing radiation to help absorb radar coming from ahead of the aircraft. The radiation proved to be excessive and the test pilot disliked the heavy radiation shielding he had to wear. The project was cancelled when the military decided the radar signature was sufficiently low enough without the ionizing equipment. The concept was proven to work, but unfeasible. Later, as Johnson's successor as leader of the Skunk Works, Rich championed and directed the early experimental prototypes of stealth technology and led the development of the F-117 stealth fighter. He is the author of Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed. Awards A member of the National Academy of Engineering, he won numerous awards during his career, including the Collier Trophy. In 2005 he was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame. In January 1981, he received the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service for his work on the then-still-classified stealth airplane, in a secret ceremony in the office of then-Secretary of Defense Harold Brown. He was allowed to show the medal to his two children, Karen and Michael, but was not allowed to tell them why he had received it. Personal life In 1950, Rich married Faye Mayer, a fashion model, who died in 1980. In 1982, Rich married Hilda Elliot. His son, Michael, was the president and CEO of RAND Corporation and his daughter, Karen, is a botanist. Death Rich died of esophageal cancer in Ventura, California, on January 5, 1995. Selected aircraft F-104 Starfighter. Single-engine, high-performance, supersonic interceptor aircraft. XF-90. Experimental fighter / bomber escort aircraft. U-2 "Dragon Lady". Reconnaissance aircraft. A high altitude jet aircraft used by the CIA and the US Air Force