The SR-71

HAHA! I was just talking to a fellow Fchat member today about the SR-71 and he sent me the same thing but in email form!

Definitely my favourite plane of all time!

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/588016/sr_71_blackbird/ some footage as well.

 

I noticed that one plane appeared to have a third seat.

Could this be the fabled "October Surprise" plane?

 

Hmm Do you mean the one at the appears @ the 2,24min mark? That's the SR-71B which was used for training missions. They made 2 but one crashed.

 

So this is how George HW Bush flew to Iran back in 1980 to negotiate the release of the hostages.

 

It is really amazing...

Though the XB70 was in a way even more crazy...

 

a great plane,but i prefer her older sister...
i saw a U2 take off right over my head at the air force academy a while back and it was breathtaking
perfection in form- follows- function design
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

a great plane,but i prefer her older sister...
i saw a U2 take off right over my head at the air force academy a while back and it was breathtaking
perfection in form- follows- function design

 

you should see the xb up close. much larger than expected.

if you're ever stateside check out the wright patterson air force base museum in dayton, oh.

they have the xb and an sr71. the xb looks untouched, but the sr, b1, b2, f117 have all undergone the treatment to remove classified materials.

still they are cool to see up close, and the best part is admission is free.

 

With these people as an indication...
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Thanks for sharing, it's one of my favorite planes too. About the only thing I regret of my 22 years with the AF (TAC/ACC) was that I never saw a SR-71 taking off, landing or even taxing

 

nice post. as of this summer it still sits in that hanger. if you want to see it you have to show up early and sign up to go on a tour of the presidential and experimental aircraft hanger which is in a secure part of the base. the sign up fills quickly.

and a follow up to the u2 interest, there is also one of those at wpafb.

 

We used to have an SR-71 at the Minnesota Air Guard museum, until it was stolen by the CIA.

 

another beautiful design from "the day",the b-58 hustler [mach 2.1]
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I remember the "sonic booms" when I was a kid. My mother's knick-knacks" would fall off the shelf.

 

As a kid in Edinburgh, I got to see a Concorde take off. It was breathtaking.... so loud. I loved it. The plane took off... did a huge circle and disappeared off in the distance. Then you just hear this ominous booming sound... the plane came back the other way at supersonic speed and the sonic boom just resonated in your chest.

This was before they banned supersonic speeds over land

 

Anybody know who is following this thread how the U2's name was changed to the TR1 and then back to U2?

 

Don't you just love it when that happens!

 

The Valkyrie, right? Discovery used to have a great "Wings" episode about it, including the footage of the test crash.

 

Yes...It is so crazy....The size, the payload, the speed, and all this at that time....It's just amazing.

 

There is one hanging in the SAC Museum just outside of Omaha, NE. It is one of the most impressive machines I have ever seen.

 

All amazing planes, even today. The first XB70 used to loose its paint over mach 1. The second Xb70 prototype was a stainless steel honey comb.
The photography XB70 crash killed the project. The YF12A was the fighter version of the SR71. They also made drones for the SR71 fleet. The drones are still in storage at Davis Monthan. Some of the planes are also still in storage.

Considering the B58 was in service 20 years before the Concorde makes you think it was even more amazing. Although if you factor in the MTX problems and the fact that it was a hangar queen im glad the Russians didnt attack!! It wouldnt have made it to Russia without a tech stop .

TT

 

About 20 years ago the folks that ran the Paine Field airshow had enough pull to get an SR71 at the show. When they arrived they put on a show of their own with two low sizzling loud passes before landing. When it shut down on the ramp it peed steaming fuel out of every seam and joint in the airplane . The ground crew was prepared with pans, tubs, and buckets to contain the shower. That airplane is as long as a Douglas DC-9 and flies like a fighter.
When it left the day after the show it again gave us a tremendous show by some more hot low passes, one of which occurred at the end of a run that started out of sight below the north end of the field which drops off a couple of hundred feet down to the Puget Sound. We didn't know where it disappeared to after its last pass until it burst into sight as it popped up over the edge of the field with AFTER BURNERS alight. It blasted down the runway at 100 ft altitude, pulled up into an almost vertical climb and disappeared. It could be heard but not seen as it went upstairs for a date with a tanker.
A most unforgettable airplane and its performance.

 

Here's a story my brother in law told me. He was an air-traffic controller in the air force and while on duty at the Grand Forks Air Force Base they got some emergency commmunication regarding an incoming aircraft. Apparently all traffic was stopped or rerouted while this mystery plane was inbound. It turns out it was an SR-71 that had developed some problem and needed to land. He told me his senior air traffic controller look over, the plane landed and immediately taxied into a hanger. After the problem was fixed it left the hanger and took off. This was approximately the early 70's.