A successful platform. Lots of fun to see one fly over.
A part of American history when the country’s hairy-chested power was on display.
Replaced by satellites.
Why no really important statistics such as the gender identity of the pilots?
In 1970 I watched these F4 variants as they were officially termed there take off and land at Kadena AFB. They were so secret we were not allowed to mention them. Whenever one took off there were dozens of locals with cameras at the fence. Nothing is as impressive in takeoff or landing.
It’s even more awesome .. up close and personal.
My nephew was in the AF, the whole family went to visit him on his base, and he took us all on a tour. The highlight of the trip was seeing this aircraft up close - close enough to touch (the SR-71).
I’ll never forget that .. I was awestruck.
PIF - Thank you so much for your service to America; and for these pictures which bring back such great memories.
Why don’t they publish the previously acknowledged performance of 2400 mph and 100,000 ft.?
Designed and built with slide rules.
Said it before on SR threads but my kid was a Jet mechanic on the 117, 22 and 35. A few years back she took me to one of the museums with a 71. She never saw one in person. They had an engine on a display stand.
Blew her mind. The whole plane did.
In his book, Sled Driver, SR-71 Blackbird pilot Brian Shul writes:
“I’ll always remember a certain radio exchange that occurred one day
as Walt (my backseater) and I were screaming across Southern California 13 miles high.
We were monitoring various radio transmissions from other aircraft as
we entered Los Angeles airspace. Though they didn’t really control us, they did monitor our movement across their scope”.
“I heard a Cessna ask for a readout of its groundspeed.”
“90 knots,” Center replied.
“Moments later, a Twin Beech required the same.”
“120 knots,” Center answered.
“We obviously weren’t the only ones proud of our groundspeed that day
as almost instantly an F-18 smugly transmitted, ‘Ah, Center, Dusty 52 requests groundspeed readout.’ There was a slight pause, then the response, ‘525 knots on the ground, Dusty.’ “
“Another silent pause. As I was thinking to myself how ripe a
situation this was, I heard a familiar click of a radio transmission coming from my backseater. It was at that precise moment I realized Walt and I had become a real crew, for we were both thinking in unison.”
“Center, Aspen 20, you got a groundspeed readout for us?”
There was a longer than normal pause . . .
“Aspen, I show 1,742 knots.”
No further inquiries were heard on that frequency.
In another famous SR-71 story, Los Angeles Center reported receiving a
request for clearance to FL 600 (60,000 ft).
The incredulous controller, with some disdain in his voice, asked,
“How do you plan to get up to 60,000 feet?
The pilot (obviously a sled driver), responded,
“We don’t plan to go up to it, we plan to go down to it.”
He was cleared.
Consider that some 50 years later many of the SR-71 records still stand is amazing.
http://sploid.gizmodo.com/5511236/the-thrill-of-flying-the-sr-71-blackbird
Spent 3 1/2 years in the early 80s at Beale AFB in the 349th Air Refueling Squadron chasing the SR-71 around the world to include RAF Mildenall, Kadena AB, and other locations. Awesome aircraft to air refuel. Some of the best years on my life flying in the old KC-135Q model steam jets. Good times!
One quick technicallity note: the SR-71 was the third and last Blackbird variant to fly. The CIA’s single-seat A-12 (which reached operational status) and the USAF’s YF-12 interceptor prototype took to the air before the SR did.
The A-12 being slightly faster than the SR.
The plane was flying a mile every 1.6 seconds, well above our Mach 3.2 limit. It was the fastest we would ever fly.
http://sploid.gizmodo.com/5511236/the-thrill-of-flying-the-sr-71-blackbird
1.6 x 60 x 60 = 5,760mph
If my memory is right, immediately after it first flew, LBJ spilled the beans to the public (and the Russians) as part of his Presidential campaign.
would have loved seeing the V8’s spooling up the J58’s