Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire "I pulled the throttles to idle just south of Sicily, but we still overran the refueling tanker awaiting us over Gibraltar."

how freaking cool is that?

a memoir of flying the SR-71:

http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/archives/7821-Major-Brian-Shul-I-loved-that-jet.html

Neat piece, Steve NO.

I played golf at the University of Maryland several years ago with two aging ex-AF pilots who argued about everything (they were were good friends). It seems that one had flown the SR-71 and the other was a former U-2 pilot. Arguments went back and forth until the U-2 guy observed, "Well, at least the U-2 is still in service; let's go to a museum and see your SR".

Great Story

Pretty cool. Unbelievably advanced plane for it's time.

AWESOME!!!! I LOVE it!!!
For two years I worked for the company that made the aerial photographic cameras the went into the SR-71.

Thanks for the link Steve, that was a great read.

Here's the part I like; as I'm tooling along in my Cesena 120, at 65 Kts...

"One day, high above Arizona, we were monitoring the radio traffic of all the mortal airplanes below us. First, a Cessna pilot asked the air traffic controllers to check his ground speed. 'Ninety knots,' ATC replied. A twin Bonanza soon made the same request. 'One-twenty on the ground,' was the reply. To our surprise, a navy F-18 came over the radio with a ground speed check. I knew exactly what he was doing. Of course, he had a ground speed indicator in his cockpit, but he wanted to let all the bug-smashers in the valley know what real speed was 'Dusty 52, we show you at 525 on the ground,' ATC responded. The situation was too ripe. I heard the click of Walter's mike button in the rear seat. In his most innocent voice, Walter startled the controller by asking for a ground speed check from 81,000 feet, clearly above controlled airspace. In a cool, professional voice, the controller replied, 'Aspen 20, I show you at 1,742 knots on the ground.' We did not hear another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast."

Absolutely phenominal aircraft! Thanks for posting the link Steve.

I remember when a SR flew from New York to London in an hour and fifty six minutes. She had to slow down to be refueled...................

I used to work with a retired Navy pilot who told me of a fellow pilot whose tail hook fell off into the ocean as he was making a carrier landing in the Atlantic. That pilot aborted the landing, of course, and buzzed-off to the west �

� and was back that same afternoon, with a new tail hook. He'd gone to the factory in St Louis and had a new tail hook fitted. It was unpainted, but the white hats aboard the carrier took care of that "problem."

We've had fast jets for a long time � some of 'em a lot closer to the water than the super-incredible U-2 and SR-71.

It was my job to read the photos.

thanx for story the sr71 and the p51 mustangs are my two all time favorite plans

There's Rhino fast and then there is Habu fast.

Great article.

And now I'll wonder what 'habu fast' really is.

It's incredible that 45 year old SR-71 aircraft technology is still state of the art today--and in some respects has yet to be surpassed.


Casey

Thanks to Kelly Johnson (designer of the old twin-boom P-38, IIRC), his crew at the "Skunk Works," and their "out of the box" brain-storming � an outstanding lead designer, a staff of creatively and innovatively imaginative designers, and super-intelligent ways of thinking (creating impossible problems and then solving 'em).

I was one of those that would congregate. As an airborne ASW operator in the Navy flying in land based P-3's, we ended up spending a lot of time at AF bases. Spent a couple weeks at Beale for some ground school training. Of course, take-offs and landings were never advertised, but if we were hanging around when the Blackbird hanger doors were opened, we would sneak over by an adjacent hanger and watch until it rolled out and took off.

I got to see 4-5 take offs and a couple landings.


Casey

Great story.

When I just got into elk camp in Idaho about 30 years ago I was getting my stuff organized at base camp to ride out to the spike camp the next morning. Everything was peaceful and quiet when all of a sudden two of the loudest explosions I had ever heard seemed to go off immediately on the other side of the tent canvas. I pealed out of there as startled as I had ever been and about as mad, expecting to confront some joker with a 338 BAR who touched a couple off right outside the tent. No one was around. I was completely befuddled and finally found the gorgeous wife of the head guide getting supper ready in the cook shack. I expected her to be as frantic as I was, but she appeared not even aware of the incredible booms that sounded like a couple of mountains fell down in the camps yard. Finally, after playing me for a while, she told me it was a SR71 Blackbird based just a few miles away. I heard the same double sonic booms several more times during the hunt and while they always were a bit startling in that peaceful nirvana, at least I knew what they were.

There's a SR71 at the Air Museum between Omaha and Lincoln just off Interstate 80. It's suspended on a huge pole just inside the door. I have a hard time pulling myself away from staring at it when I'm there, much as it were the most beautiful woman you can imagine displayed in all her glory. Actually, I think that plane has the stronger attraction.

Mach 3.5 is moving pretty good...2695 MPH.

Those other fast jets couldn't super cruise and the SR 71 (should have been the RS 71 but a typo changed it forever) could do so with great ease. It will be a long time before we ever admit to having anything that fast again.

One of the things that has amazed me with the SR71 is that about a dozen guys sitting in something called "The Skunk Works", using pencil and paper with slide rules dreamed up something like the SR71.

I've seen the SR71 up close and personal and flying an incredible aircraft.