[Haymarket]

I read a nice story in an aviation magazine a few months ago.

An SR71 is flying over S Cal and asks ATC:
Requesting re-clearance to 70,000 feet. (IIRC)

Confirm 70,000 feet!

Affirmative.

Roger, you are cleared to climb to 70,000.

Negative, we want to descend to 70,000!

[Young Werther]

I finished my Air Force sojurn at Minot AFB. The Assistant Personel Officer was a Col who was completing his career as a ground pounder. He had been a Blackbird driver and when his bird had a major malfunction he survived the bailout. The scuttlebut was that he had eje radarcted at over 100k feet!

When we watched that SR71 at Perrin the Radar Intercept Operators were ordered to not, repeat not, use the heightfinder. That night at the stag bar the word was that the bird was between 100 - 110k feet over OK City! Heck but that was just "bar talk"!