SidewinderRon Westrum
Sidewinder
by Ron Westrum · first published 2013
6mentions
3recommended by
5HN commenters
2014–2022first – last mentioned
60% recommend40% neutral
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
There is a great book about the development of the Sidewinder[0]. Even if you're not that interested in military technology it's interesting from an engineering management perspective. [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Sidewinder-Creative-Missile-Developme...
on “Fox Two: The Story of the Aim-9 Sidewinder (2014)” ↗There is a great book that covers the development of the Sidewinder missile at China Lake[0]. Really interesting discussion of the management/organization of the missile program and how it was so successful given it's small size and limited resources. [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Sidewinder-Creative-Missile-Developme...
on “How to Design, Build and Test Small Liquid-Fuel Rocket Engines (1967)” ↗For more of this kind of thing, see "Sidewinder: Creative Missile Design at China Lake" by Ron Westrum. China Lake had an even more radically free-wheeling approach. This is all really close to hacker culture, to the extent that there's a risk of…
on “The inventor of the SR-71's rules for project management” ↗…to deliver maximum value: Reinertsen, Principles of Product Development Flow. Ward, Lean Product and Process Development. Womack, Machine That Changed the World. 8. How to innovate cheaply: Westrum, Sidewinder. 9. How to estimate things properly: Hubbard, How to Measure Anything. Tetlock, Superforecasting. Savage, The Flaw of Averages. 10. How to train people to be experts at things: Hoffman, Accelerated…
on “How I operated as a Staff engineer at Heroku (2020)” ↗Is the book - Sidewinder - Creative Missile Development at China Lake? https://www.amazon.com/Sidewinder-Creative-Missile-Developme...
on “Modern submarine torpedo attacks are not like in the movies” ↗…your lunch hour, which starts at 8:00 in the morning and finishes at 5:00 in the evening. Another thing, when it doesn’t work well and it is illegal, you drop it very quickly and kill the project." - Sidewinder: Creative Missile Development at China Lake, Ron Westrum
on “You Don’t Need Permission” ↗