I would have liked to have flown one of these babies.
Maybe the best military plane ever built.
First flight 22 December 1964
Wow, I can't believe how old it is.
I wonder how many UFO sightings are attributed to this baby!
:coffee:
SWMBO's father worked on this plane for years. He still won't talk about old missions.
Great plane and we have visited many of them in various sites.
Joe
The existence of something as advanced as the SR-71 in 1964 makes me wonder what we have now that we are not told about. I suspect that the current crop of stealth aircraft (F-22, etc) are just window dressing to keep curious onlookers from trying to find out what's behind the curtain.
I assume spy satellite capabilities have gotten better since 1964 and there is no need to train, feed and care for pilots.
I am sure that there are many stealthy un-manned vehicles. They have long endurance and don't need to have the high speed.
JP.
A truly amazing airplane. My favorite of all time.
I hear it is really a Transformer in disguise!
Impressive picture, too.
I was in training to be a SR-71 pilot...
but I never got beyond this stage:
The good ol' C150, not sexy, but cheap to own and fly. They spin beautifully too :-). I could've bought one in 1989 for $6500; it was privately owned and in good shape :-(. Coulda shoulda woulda.
Couple more photos.
Honey I'm home...
I traded in your car for something more sporty LOL!
Looking closer, I think the airplane in my photo is a C152 (longer nose). It is mis-labeled on the website I found it on.
There's one on display at the March Field Air Museum in Moreno Valley.
The tour guide said that if one was flying from the east coast out towards the west coast and while over Arizona was called back to base, the turn it would have to make would take it over the Pacific Ocean. He said they could only withstand 1.4 Gs.
He also said that during Vietnam, the pilots would go have breakfast at their base in WA, then fly their mission over the war zone and then eat dinner at their base in WA. Pretty amazing machine.
I like this quote in wikipedia
"SR-71 operated at high speeds and altitudes to allow it to outrace threats; if a surface-to-air missile launch was detected, standard evasive action was simply to accelerate."
When my son in law got his Masters the keynote speaker was a SR-71 pilot (don't remember his name). His longest mission was from US to Iran. You only have one chance to get the plane lined up correctly for the photo run then a long wide turn back to the US. He said when it was time to land you were so exhausted it took all your remaining energy and concentration to just get it on the ground and then you had to be hauled out of the cockpit and carried off.
Procedure was up early for a high protein low fiber meal, get in the suit, get strapped in, and take off and then several refueling tasks along the way.
I believe the SR-71 broke the speed record for transatlantic crossing on it's last voyage (just before they retired it).
There is a YF-12A at the Dayton Ohio Aircraft Museum that is essentially the prototype of the SR-71. Take a look if you ever get over there.
I absolutely love that plane!!
I have a picture of one on my wall just a couple feet (or is that foot) away.
I saw one doing a fly-by on its way to retirement back in the early 90s. It was awesome!! Very loud - then they kicked the afterburners!! oooh weee!!! I was about a mile away with my 300mm and come to find out.. no film.
Kelly Johnson and the Skunkworks were the s..t.
SR-71--the R/C turbine version
Air compressor more than likely airing up the retractable landing gear system. They start the turbines on propane then switch over to the kerosene or JET-A.
[flash width=480 height=390] http://www.youtube.com/v/SDbQ5xvsrIU?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0 [/flash]
SR-71--the R/C turbine version
THAT is impressive. A small child could ride on that thing.
