Posted on 05/01/2026 8:09:43 PM PDT by Red Badger
The SR-71 Blackbird was built to outrun any missile ever fired at it — a jet so fast it could cross entire countries in minutes and vanish before radar even locked on. It was supposed to be untouchable. But in 1972, one mission broke every rule — a flight so extreme that even NASA refused to believe it ever took place. What happened up there was not just dangerous. It was impossible.
27 Minute Video at link..............
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
AVIATION PING.............
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Sort of had my fill of these utube make believe farces.
They string together random video and stills, along with a narrative they make up.
Expect it to get worse with AI and CGI crap.
BFL
As a metal, Ti still seems to be yugely under rated.
Cleaning out the house and came across a large book called something like “The War” - about WWII. Was almost going to toss it, but thought “Maybe it will be the only thing I can go to that is more than half-way correct.”
I worked for 1.5 years at Norton AFB while in the USAF. The org running maintenance for the SR-71 fleet was HQ there. I was in base comm center, and saw many of the messages about testing of the aircraft. One has stuck in my mind the past 34 years.
After depot level maintenance, the test aircraft took off, reached 75,000 feet and mach 3.2, and returned to base. All in about 30 minutes.
It sounds so unbelievable, that I am no longer sure of that time.....but then, it was an unbelievable rocket.....err, aircraft.
It’s used in expensive eyeglasses frames.................
I’ve had same for a couple of decades.
Still do to great advantage,
Materials Science is YUGELY under rated...
Your Chips may vary...
Bookmark
Apparently very difficult to work with.
Lockheed had to invent a lot of stuff to use it.
Nice.
The best thing I have close to me is a B-29, about 25 miles away.
[I never saw one of those since I wuz a kid in the 50s until ~5 yr ago]
“Apparently very difficult to work with.”
[Skillz were involved...]
The SR was never limited in the description of speed, altitude, or their missions. For instance, they admitted to mach 3. It was faster than that. They admitted to 85K feet. It could go higher. They never told the public about the sweating it did leaking fuel on the ground or that it burned special expensive fuel and required refueling from a special KC 135 after reaching lower altitudes. The SR-71 Blackbird used a specialized, low-volatility jet fuel called JP-7 (Jet Propellant 7), developed specifically for high-temperature, Mach 3+ flight. It was designed for the SR with a high flash point to prevent explosion due to extreme aerodynamic heating (up to 400°F) and acted as a heat sink to cool the aircraft’s systems. Everything about the SR was expensive. I don’t think all the truth about it will ever come out. Just the exciting things where cost wasn’t discussed. But it was unbelievable to be a couple of miles up he hill in base housing and you could tell the thing was rolling. You could go outside and watch the thing take off at night and it was quite a spectacle.
I was working the air show there one of my years at Beale and one flew over at close to stalling speed with the gear down and a gas can next to me on the ground was vibrating. Power. Used to play racquetball with one of their pilots and worked a second job with a crew chief. I was officiating the opening round of the base golf competition and one flew over as I was tossing up a tee to determine order. You could actually see the tee in the air. The guys at 9th SRW gave me a copy for the gym.
wy69
This is awful. The downside of AI...just one of them.
Someone posted a thread the other day about a 9-0 decision by the Supreme Court on a key 2nd Amdendment case, which would eliminate the waiting times to purchase firearms, the “May Issue” states where the decision to grant a permit is up to the locality, and the requirements to take various state mandated training courses, all kinds of things like that.
I watched the YouTube linked video, and the guy went into great depth on the changes that would take place, in which states, etc.
I was a bit dumbfounded, because I have my finger on the pulse of these kinds of issues, and thought I must have been asleep to have missed this.
Then I saw it was a 9-0 decision.
And then I saw it wasn’t on the breaking news panel on this forum.
Finally, I went to my Gun Owner’s Action League in my blue state, and there was nothing there.
It was all an elaborate AI generated hoax meant to garner clicks and eyes. It was relatively polished and in great depth.
But it was a hoax, and the thread was eventually pulled. This is now the world we live in.
Cool. I haven't been there in years and will check it out next time I'm in FWB.
Went to Lackland last week for a BMT graduation and noted that they have one on the parade grounds.
When I was at Eglin in the early 80s, one landed with mechanical issues and was parked at the end of the runway close to my building awaiting parts. It was under 24 hour armed guard, so there was no getting close to it.
Now you can park your car and walk up and touch one!..........
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