SR-71

In the '80s when I was working in Everett on the 747 program the Paine Field airshow people got an SR71 scheduled to attend the show. We were at the field when it arrived. It did a low buzz job and turned out to the Puget Sound and disappeared, As we were waiting it broke over the rim of the drop off to the north and roared down the runway at a very low altitude with a roar that was unbelievable. It then climbed away in a turn to the right and set up for a landing and wowed everyone with a nose high greaser. After it taxied up to the hangar a crew scrambled to get all the pots and pans in the county to place under it to catch the stream of steaming fuel that leaked out of the now open seams in the wing. It poured out of the wing for a long time until everything was empty. I had to explain to one of the younger engineers in our group that the fuel was a jelly like substance when it was cool and had to be heated to flow into the fuel feed system. When the airplane was cruising at high Mach and very hot, the loose seams were closed when the skins expanded and closed up and the fuel remained in the tanks but when it was on the ground and the skins were cooling and retracting, the hot fuel ran out of the open seams. He didn't believe me and said that I made it all up. He was on to me. When the airplane left after the show, it took off and went into an afterburner climb that took it out of sight but we could still hear it as it went to rendezvous with a tanker. A most amazing display.

 

True story? Dunno, but it sounds plausible. hope it's not already here......

- - -

There were a lot of things we couldn't do in an SR-71, but we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe flying this plane. Intense, maybe. Even cerebral. But there was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment.

It occurred when Walt and I were flying our final training sortie. We needed 100 hours in the jet to complete our training and attain Mission Ready status. Somewhere over Colorado we had passed the century mark. We had made the turn in Arizona and the jet was performing flawlessly. My gauges were wired in the front seat and we were starting to feel pretty good about ourselves, not only because we would soon be flying real missions but because we had gained a great deal of confidence in the plane in the past ten months. Ripping across the barren deserts 80,000 feet below us, I could already see the coast of California from the Arizona border. I was, finally, after many humbling months of simulators and study, ahead of the jet.

I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for Walter in the back seat. There he was, with no really good view of the incredible sights before us, tasked with monitoring four different radios. This was good practice for him for when we began flying real missions, when a priority transmission from headquarters could be vital. It had been difficult, too, for me to relinquish control of the radios, as during my entire flying career I had controlled my own transmissions. But it was part of the division of duties in this plane and I had adjusted to it. I still insisted on talking on the radio while we were on the ground, however. Walt was so good at many things, but he couldn't match my expertise at sounding smooth on the radios, a skill that had been honed sharply with years in fighter squadrons where the slightest radio miscue was grounds for beheading. He understood that and allowed me that luxury. Just to get a sense of what Walt had to contend with, I pulled the radio toggle switches and monitored the frequencies along with him. The predominant radio chatter was from Los Angeles Center, far below us, controlling daily traffic in their sector. While they had us on their scope (albeit briefly), we were in uncontrolled airspace and normally would not talk to them unless we needed to descend into their airspace.

We listened as the shaky voice of a lone Cessna pilot asked Center for a readout of his ground speed.

Center replied: "November Charlie 175, I'm showing you at ninety knots on the ground."

Now the thing to understand about Center controllers, was that whether they were talking to a rookie pilot in a Cessna, or to Air Force One, they always spoke in the exact same, calm, deep, professional, tone that made one feel important. I referred to it as the "HoustonCenterVoice." I have always felt that after years of seeing documentaries on this country's space program and listening to the calm and distinct voice of the HoustonCenterControllers, that all other controllers since then wanted to sound like that... and that they basically did. And it didn't matter what sector of the country we would be flying in, it always seemed like the same guy was talking. Over the years that tone of voice had become somewhat of a comforting sound to pilots everywhere. Conversely, over the years, pilots always wanted to ensure that, when transmitting, they sounded like Chuck Yeager, or at least like John Wayne. Better to die than sound bad on the radios.

Just moments after the Cessna's inquiry, a Twin Beech piped up on frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his ground speed.

"Ah, Twin Beach: I have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed."

Boy, I thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is dazzling his Cessna brethren.

Then out of the blue, a Navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock because he sounded very cool on the radios.

"Center, Dusty 52 ground speed check."

Before Center could reply, I'm thinking to myself, hey, Dusty 52 has a ground speed indicator in that million dollar cockpit, so why is he asking Center for a readout? Then I got it -- ol' Dusty here is making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows what true speed is. He's the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet.

And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more distinct alliteration than emotion:

"Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 on the ground."

And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what? As my hand instinctively reached for the mic button, I had to remind myself that Walt was in control of the radios. Still, I thought, it must be done -- in mere seconds we'll be out of the sector and the opportunity will be lost. That Hornet must die, and die now.

I thought about all of our Sim training and how important it was that we developed well as a crew and knew that to jump in on the radios now would destroy the integrity of all that we had worked toward becoming. I was torn. Somewhere, 13 miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside his space helmet.

Then, I heard it. The click of the mic button from the back seat. That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke:

"Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check?"

There was no hesitation, and the reply came as if was an everyday request:

"Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground."

I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation, and you just knew he was smiling. But the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed the mic once again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like voice:

"Ah, Center, much thanks. We're showing closer to nineteen hundred on the money."

For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in the armor of the HoustonCentervoice, when L.A. came back with,

"Roger that Aspen, Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You boys have a good one."

It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been flamed, all mortal airplanes on freq were forced to bow before the King of Speed, and more importantly, Walter and I had crossed the threshold of being a crew. A fine day's work.

We never heard another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast. For just one day, it truly was fun being the fastest guys out there.

 

That is a great story, true or not!!!

 

I have often heard/read that story, and it is still as much fun reading it today as years ago.
Heck, I even read it twice.
Many thanks.

 

Felt jaded as I had read it a few times before, but read it again and I was smiling ear to ear by the time I had finished. Just great!

 

That story might already have been posted in this very thread! I remember reading it a while back. I'm stoked to see this thread revived (thanks, Mark!), and I hope that those who can will contribute with whatever stories they can share. This is my favorite plane ever, so please don't hesitate to contribute!

 

Hi all, been following this thread for awhile and it has brought back so many great
memories of seeing (and hearing) these aircraft fly. They are the Veyron’s of the sky,
there are others planes that are very, very fast but have never come close to doing
what the Blackbirds did everyday for years. They are still the coolest chunk of metal that
ever flew.
Neat Fact
In 1976 t/n17972 flew from New York to Farnborough England for the the air show.
The aircraft cruised at 80,000 feet in route, but at one point decended to 30,000 feet for
refueling over Nova Scotia which requires a brief fuselage cooldown period. Then
resumed its high altitude cruise speed. They arrived at the air show 1hr. 55min. and
42sec. total trip time for a new record. How cool it would be to climb down out of that
plane after less than a 2 hours and say “we would have been here sooner but we
stopped for gas”

Best Regards, Rick

 

Speaking of Veyrons and refueling...

I calculated that a Veyron could theoretically drive from Denver to Colorado Springs in about 13 minutes (straight road, no traffic or enforcement).

But, it would be out of gas when it arrived there with all 4 turbos on boost for that long.

 

Forget the fuel, the tyres wouldn't last longer than several minutes

 

not the real thing, but U tube has a couple of videos of model SR-71 flying, I think the commentary said one was 13' long... still impressive even in model form

 

theres a guy that built one from scratch,i'll try to find it,but its 13-15' long

 

My friend Rick's pilot is or was an SR71 pilot. I'll ask him for permission to tell his story from 1973 over Israel in the first days of he war.

Art

 

I'd love to hear it if it's ok for you to post it!

 

+1

Great thread & stories. Here's my little bit:

I had the great fortune of attending the October 9, 1999 Edwards AFB open-house event to see none other than: Lockheed SR-71A N844NA.

To top it off, Major General Chuck Yeager was also there as an honoree. The entire thing was surreal.

Thankfully someone caught the event on video and posted it on Youtube. (Not my video).

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5URVG8nFBg[/ame]

Another angle of the N844NA overflight (no audio) lighting afterburners. This YT user has other great clips from that event provided by NASA, check em out:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pza2Qa1hRnM[/ame]

Lastly, there are some photos of the "other" planes at the open house. Enjoy.
http://www.air-and-space.com/edw99b.htm

 

Here is the book I have been looking for for years on the subject.

If anybody has it, please tell me it overrated

Course Ae107 Case Studies in Engineering: The SR-71 Blackbird

Its a college text book that, from what I have heard, teaches you everything you ever needed to know about........ heat.


Why they used fuel for cooling. The original lube they were given for hydrological fluid to work at the required temps was a power. How we didn't have good enough tooling to machine the original titanium, so they used a lesser quality titanium, and painted it black to help with the heat. When they scrapped the panes, they found the continued heat cycling actually annealed the Ti, essentially meaning the plane was in better shape when they scrapped it than when they built it. That if you didnt pack things in the storage bins correctly, they melted... Including uniforms, hats, electronics. That the plane has two para-scopes, (one out the top, one out the bottom), that you read about their existence, but nothing about their specs, and what little I have found out they were amazing. That in the mid 60's it would navigate by celestial navigation.

 

Celestial was taught/used up until about a decade ago and is still used in some specialty platforms. The B-2 has a computerized celnav box that does it all automatically, the RC-135 does as well if I remember correctly. The only guys that still learn manual celnav is the C-130 unit that does the polar missions, their navigators learn and use it in house as its no longer taught in the regular schoolhouse pipeline.

 

My father got his start in the Navy, working on J-57s with an F-8 Crusader squadron out of Jacksonville. After four years, he got hired on with Pratt & Whitney and went back home to CT where he grew up. He had his hands on those J-58s...the 58 was his second favorite thing ever about working on aircraft. In the Navy he was flightline qualified, so he was authorized to be in-cockpit for afterburner run-ups on the Crusaders. They would tie the thing down with the tail section off the fuselage, hang that tailpipe over the side, and light it up. I still remember the photos of those a/b runups.....anyways, they would write their names on some of the parts inside the engines that they overhauled, and so my father's name actually flew faster than any other jet.....He actually almost cried when the retired the Blackbird fleet.

 

Here are a few pictures I took of the SR-71 on display in the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space museum at Dulles Airport in Virginia.

It is one beautiful design, for sure.
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The flight manual is online. Interesting to see Mach 3.2 cruise charts. Also max ceiling 85k...

http://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/manual/

 

..and my pics taken when at Duxford last month.

I was particularly interested in the leading edge of the wing.. interesting dips and twists.. Concorde had similar unexpected shape.. Supersonic flight design?
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Great pictures!!! I've never really been much into planes, but the SR71 has always astounded me.

Since I don't know the two engines or whatever they are underneath, is the glass there to protect the internals, and why does the left one look slightly different than the right?

 

I would assume the glass is to keep kids and foreign objects out of the engines while it's on display.

 

the left one has the afterburner nozzle contracted, that is why the glass looks smaller than the one on the right.

Cheers Jim

 

This is out of the A12 manual.
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So the normal operating cruise speed is Mach 3+ at 80,000 ft. Yeah.....

-F