A Rare Glimpse of the SR-71 Blackbird
Re: A Rare Glimpse of the SR-71 Blackbird
Originally Posted by eruby
that we know if. i'm convinced there is something newer and faster. satellites are known and can be hid from. the sr-71 was not stealth because a) stealth was not invented yet and b) it could out run missiles trying to shoot it down. i think they have a new secret weapon. after all, the sr-71 project started in the late 50s or early 60s i think. the public didn't know anything about it until the 70s.
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Re: A Rare Glimpse of the SR-71 Blackbird
Originally Posted by CALL911
When I lived in South Milwaukee WI. A blackbird had to make an unscheduled landing at Mitchell field to have an engine replaced. Once repaired, they announced on the radio that the plane was departing shortly. I closed my shop and headed to the airport. To take off, the "bird had two f-16 escorts and a Z-28 escort. The F-16s took off first, and disappeared. Then the "bird, escorted by the Z-28, proceeded to take off. Just as the SR71 took flight, the F-16s reappeared and all three disappeared over the horizon. Just when I thought it was over, all three planes buzzed the airport one more time!
By the way, I think part of the reason they killed the program, is that the SR71 used special "Blackbird only" fuel and had to have specially equipped air bases around the world to refuel and repair.
By the way, I think part of the reason they killed the program, is that the SR71 used special "Blackbird only" fuel and had to have specially equipped air bases around the world to refuel and repair.
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Re: A Rare Glimpse of the SR-71 Blackbird
Originally Posted by Stogey
The SR was not the fastest plane of it's day ! The fastest for the given air frame limitations and the use for which it was conceived.
The X-15 operated in the Mach 6-7 realm but at much higher altitudes + 350K/ft where the air is thin and the aerodynamics of the air frame are practically useless. The X-15 used nose and wing tip jets to steer the craft in the upper reaches of the atomosphere.
Just my Dos Centavos !
The X-15 operated in the Mach 6-7 realm but at much higher altitudes + 350K/ft where the air is thin and the aerodynamics of the air frame are practically useless. The X-15 used nose and wing tip jets to steer the craft in the upper reaches of the atomosphere.
Just my Dos Centavos !
Re: A Rare Glimpse of the SR-71 Blackbird
when i was in the AF at Little Rock AFB mechanicing on the B58 ,,we had a SR_71 come in with a eng problem,, i was one of 3 lucky people to get chosen to work with a SR71 mech to change the engine,,we were searched ,tool box too,, before working on the plane and we were searched after we finished and i had top secert clearance,,, every clamp, fitting, and most of the hoses and tubing were gold plated ,( would not crode), I though the B58 was fast but the SR-71 is da plane da plane, jim
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Re: A Rare Glimpse of the SR-71 Blackbird
While stationed at Kirtland AFB, NM with the 58th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, (MAC), we were the primary user of the RB/WB57F Aircraft. Our "Longwings" 122 foot wing span with two TF-33 Turbo Fans and 2 wing pod mounted J-60s were ordered by the AEC for upper air sampling in the event of a resumption of atmospheric testing of Nuclear weopens. The "Fs" were slow by conventional standards, but at 70,000 ft covered a lot of ground. Having said that, our crew members were encapsulated in Full Pressure Suits, as were the U-2 and SR-71 crews. During the mid 60s, 2 SR-71s were lost over New Mexico with the loss of both crews.
Because the 58th was a Pressure Suit Operation, one of only 3 in the Air Force, the users of the SR-71s and the U-2s revised their emergency procedures and required their aircrews to land at Kirtland if that were closer to home base.
I was Life Support Superintendent (NCOIC) and was directed to pick 2 of my best troops and we were trained in removing the crews from the cockpits in the event of a landing. I had the honor of recovering 2 SR-71s and 1 U-2. The funniest thing that I remember recovering the first Blackbird, was being on the stand unbuckling the Pilot when the Base Commander, a Full Bird started up the steps. The Pilot told him, Colonel just wait on the hangar floor and I'll see you when I get down.
The plane was roped off and a half dozen security police posted while the C-135 recovery team from Beale was airborne. They were a class act and I was priviliged to be a small part if only on a few occasions.
excellent slide show:
http://www.greatdanepromilitary.com/SR-71/index.htm
RB/WB-57F Reassigned to NASA
John P, CMSgt USAF ret.
FTroopChief
Because the 58th was a Pressure Suit Operation, one of only 3 in the Air Force, the users of the SR-71s and the U-2s revised their emergency procedures and required their aircrews to land at Kirtland if that were closer to home base.
I was Life Support Superintendent (NCOIC) and was directed to pick 2 of my best troops and we were trained in removing the crews from the cockpits in the event of a landing. I had the honor of recovering 2 SR-71s and 1 U-2. The funniest thing that I remember recovering the first Blackbird, was being on the stand unbuckling the Pilot when the Base Commander, a Full Bird started up the steps. The Pilot told him, Colonel just wait on the hangar floor and I'll see you when I get down.
The plane was roped off and a half dozen security police posted while the C-135 recovery team from Beale was airborne. They were a class act and I was priviliged to be a small part if only on a few occasions.
excellent slide show:
http://www.greatdanepromilitary.com/SR-71/index.htm
RB/WB-57F Reassigned to NASA
John P, CMSgt USAF ret.
FTroopChief
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Re: A Rare Glimpse of the SR-71 Blackbird
You can see one up close if ever in the dayton Oh. area. Take I-75 to rt. 675 exit 15, Wright Patterson Air Force Base Museum. Display of the Bird is indoors. You can stroll under & around all aspects. Rear view of eng's is quite memorable. Admission is free. Can spend a whole day to view all aircraft. # of planes from past Presidents there too. I=Max theatre always worth seeing. There is adm. price for the I-Max show.
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Rarest of the Rare
[quote=Crossfireone]You can see one up close if ever in the dayton Oh.
For Speed Demons....
To see the rest of them, take your lunch to:
SR-71 aircraft on display
A SR-71 Blackbird on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
Places to see a Blackbird on display include:
List of A-12 OXCARTsSerial numberModelLocation or fate60-6924A-12Air Force Flight Test Center Museum, Blackbird Airpark, at Edwards Air Force Base, Palmdale, California. 606924 was the first A-12 to fly.60-6925A-12Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, parked on the deck of the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier, New York City60-6926A-12Lost, 24 May 196360-6927A-12California Science Center in Los Angeles, CA (Two-canopied trainer model, "Titanium Goose")60-6928A-12Lost, 5 January 196760-6929A-12Lost, 28 December 196760-6930A-12U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama60-6931A-12CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia[7]60-6932A-12Lost, 5 June 196860-6933A-12San Diego Aerospace Museum, Balboa Park, San Diego, California60-6937A-12Southern Museum of Flight, Birmingham, Alabama60-6938A-12Battleship Memorial Park (USS Alabama), Mobile, Alabama
60-6939 A-12 Lost, 9 July 1964
John P
FTroopChief
LEAD, FOLLOW, OR GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!
For Speed Demons....
To see the rest of them, take your lunch to:
SR-71 aircraft on display
A SR-71 Blackbird on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
Places to see a Blackbird on display include:
- Multiple variants:
- National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio (an SR-71A, YF-12A and M-21/D-21 drone)
- March Field Air Museum, Riverside, California (an SR-71A and a D-21 Drone)
- SR-71A variant:
- Air Force Armament Museum, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida
- Air Force Flight Test Center Museum, Edwards Air Force Base, California
- Air Force Plant 42 Production Flight Test Installation, Palmdale, California
- American Air Museum in Britain at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England (the only example displayed outside the US)
- Barksdale Air Force Base, Bossier City, Louisiana
- Beale Air Force Base, Marysville, California
- Castle Air Museum, Atwater, California
- Evergreen Aviation Museum, McMinnville, Oregon
- Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson, Kansas
- Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas
- March Field Air Museum, Riverside, California
- Museum of Aviation, Warner Robins, Georgia
- Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona
- Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, at Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia
- Strategic Air and Space Museum in Ashland, Nebraska
- Virginia Aviation Museum in Richmond, Virginia
- SR-71B variant:
- SR-71C variant:
- Hill Air Force Base Museum, Ogden, Utah
List of A-12 OXCARTsSerial numberModelLocation or fate60-6924A-12Air Force Flight Test Center Museum, Blackbird Airpark, at Edwards Air Force Base, Palmdale, California. 606924 was the first A-12 to fly.60-6925A-12Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, parked on the deck of the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier, New York City60-6926A-12Lost, 24 May 196360-6927A-12California Science Center in Los Angeles, CA (Two-canopied trainer model, "Titanium Goose")60-6928A-12Lost, 5 January 196760-6929A-12Lost, 28 December 196760-6930A-12U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama60-6931A-12CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia[7]60-6932A-12Lost, 5 June 196860-6933A-12San Diego Aerospace Museum, Balboa Park, San Diego, California60-6937A-12Southern Museum of Flight, Birmingham, Alabama60-6938A-12Battleship Memorial Park (USS Alabama), Mobile, Alabama
60-6939 A-12 Lost, 9 July 1964
John P
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LEAD, FOLLOW, OR GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!
Last edited by FTroopChief; 11-30-2008 at 09:41 PM. Reason: Change title
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The Rarest of the Rare, A-12 Oxcart and MD-21 Blackbird
The rarest of the rare::
[edit] M-21/D-21
Main article: Lockheed D-21/M-21
D-21B Drone mounted on M/D-21 Blackbird
One notable variant of the basic A-12 design was the M-21, used to carry and launch the D-21 drone, an unmanned, faster and higher-flying reconnaissance craft. The M-21 was an A-12 platform modified by replacing the single-seat aircraft's Q bay (which carried its main camera) with a second cockpit for a Launch Control Operator/Officer (LCO). When mated to the drone for operations, this A-12 variant was known as the M/D-21. The D-21 drone was completely autonomous; having been launched it would overfly the target, travel to a predetermined rendezvous point and eject its data package. The package would be recovered in midair by a C-130 Hercules and the drone would self-destruct.
The program to develop this system was canceled in 1966 after a drone collided with the mother ship at launch, destroying the M-21 and killing the LCO. Three successful test flights had been conducted under a different flight regime; the fourth test was in level flight, considered an operational likelihood. The shock wave of the M-21 retarded the flight of the drone, which crashed into the tailplane. The crew survived the midair collision but the LCO drowned when he landed in the ocean and his flight suit filled with water.[6]
The M/D-21 performed operational missions over China in 1970 and 1971.
The surviving M-21 is on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington with a drone. The D-21 was adapted to be carried on wings of the B-52 bomber.
What went up at Groom Lake, didn't necessarily come down at Grrom Lake (Area 51)
John P.
FTroopChief
LEAD, FOLLOW, OR GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!!
[edit] M-21/D-21
Main article: Lockheed D-21/M-21
D-21B Drone mounted on M/D-21 Blackbird
One notable variant of the basic A-12 design was the M-21, used to carry and launch the D-21 drone, an unmanned, faster and higher-flying reconnaissance craft. The M-21 was an A-12 platform modified by replacing the single-seat aircraft's Q bay (which carried its main camera) with a second cockpit for a Launch Control Operator/Officer (LCO). When mated to the drone for operations, this A-12 variant was known as the M/D-21. The D-21 drone was completely autonomous; having been launched it would overfly the target, travel to a predetermined rendezvous point and eject its data package. The package would be recovered in midair by a C-130 Hercules and the drone would self-destruct.
The program to develop this system was canceled in 1966 after a drone collided with the mother ship at launch, destroying the M-21 and killing the LCO. Three successful test flights had been conducted under a different flight regime; the fourth test was in level flight, considered an operational likelihood. The shock wave of the M-21 retarded the flight of the drone, which crashed into the tailplane. The crew survived the midair collision but the LCO drowned when he landed in the ocean and his flight suit filled with water.[6]
The M/D-21 performed operational missions over China in 1970 and 1971.
The surviving M-21 is on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington with a drone. The D-21 was adapted to be carried on wings of the B-52 bomber.
What went up at Groom Lake, didn't necessarily come down at Grrom Lake (Area 51)
John P.
FTroopChief
LEAD, FOLLOW, OR GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!!
Last edited by FTroopChief; 11-30-2008 at 09:38 PM. Reason: Change title
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Re: A Rare Glimpse of the SR-71 Blackbird
I thought I would include a few military quotes for you fly boys.
"If the enemy is in range, so are you." - Infantry Journal
"It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed." - U.S. Air Force Manual
"Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons." - General MacArthur
"You, you, and you ... Panic. The rest of you, come with me." - U.S. Marine Corp Gunnery Sgt.
"Tracers work both ways." - U.S. Army Ordnan ce
"Five second fuses only last three seconds." - Infantry Journal
"Any ship can be a minesweeper. Once."
"Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do." - Unknown Marine Recruit
"If you see a bomb technician running, follow him." - USAF Ammo Troop
"Though I Fly Through the Valley of Death , I Shall Fear No Evil For I am at 80,000 Feet and Climbing."
"You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3." - Paul F. Crickmore (test pilot)
"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire"
"If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage, it's probably a helicopter -- and therefore, unsafe."
"When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash."
"Even with ammunition, the USAF is just another expensive =0 Aflying club."
"What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots? If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; If ATC screws up, .... The pilot dies."
"Never trade luck for skill."
"Airspeed, altitude and brains. Two are always needed to successfully complete the flight."
"Mankind has a perfect record in aviation; we never left one up there!"
"Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the groun d incapable of understanding or doing anything about it."
"The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely kill you." - Attributed to Max Stanley (Northrop test pilot)
"There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime." - Sign over squadron ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, 1970
"If something hasn't broken on your helicopter, it's about to."
"You know that your landing gear is up and locked when it takes full power to taxi to the terminal."
As the test pilot climbs out of the experimental aircraft, having torn off the wings and tail in the crash landing, the crash truck arrives, the rescuer sees a bloodied pilot and asks "What happened?". The pilot's reply: "I don't know, I just got here myself!" - Attributed to Ray Crandell (Lockheed test pilot)
"If the enemy is in range, so are you." - Infantry Journal
"It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed." - U.S. Air Force Manual
"Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons." - General MacArthur
"You, you, and you ... Panic. The rest of you, come with me." - U.S. Marine Corp Gunnery Sgt.
"Tracers work both ways." - U.S. Army Ordnan ce
"Five second fuses only last three seconds." - Infantry Journal
"Any ship can be a minesweeper. Once."
"Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do." - Unknown Marine Recruit
"If you see a bomb technician running, follow him." - USAF Ammo Troop
"Though I Fly Through the Valley of Death , I Shall Fear No Evil For I am at 80,000 Feet and Climbing."
"You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3." - Paul F. Crickmore (test pilot)
"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire"
"If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage, it's probably a helicopter -- and therefore, unsafe."
"When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash."
"Even with ammunition, the USAF is just another expensive =0 Aflying club."
"What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots? If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; If ATC screws up, .... The pilot dies."
"Never trade luck for skill."
"Airspeed, altitude and brains. Two are always needed to successfully complete the flight."
"Mankind has a perfect record in aviation; we never left one up there!"
"Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the groun d incapable of understanding or doing anything about it."
"The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely kill you." - Attributed to Max Stanley (Northrop test pilot)
"There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime." - Sign over squadron ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, 1970
"If something hasn't broken on your helicopter, it's about to."
"You know that your landing gear is up and locked when it takes full power to taxi to the terminal."
As the test pilot climbs out of the experimental aircraft, having torn off the wings and tail in the crash landing, the crash truck arrives, the rescuer sees a bloodied pilot and asks "What happened?". The pilot's reply: "I don't know, I just got here myself!" - Attributed to Ray Crandell (Lockheed test pilot)
Re: A Rare Glimpse of the SR-71 Blackbird
Stogey - they have one of those parked inside the new Air & Space Museum out by Dulles airport. Amazing airplane! I was kinda surprised it was so big. I've never seen one fly that had to be an awesome sight. If you are ever in the Northern Virginia/DC area you have to check out Air & Space, the best museums that our area has to offer.
Pat
Pat
Re: A Rare Glimpse of the SR-71 Blackbird
Originally Posted by patpur
Stogey - they have one of those parked inside the new Air & Space Museum out by Dulles airport. Amazing airplane! I was kinda surprised it was so big. I've never seen one fly that had to be an awesome sight. If you are ever in the Northern Virginia/DC area you have to check out Air & Space, the best museums that our area has to offer.
Pat
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Re: A Rare Glimpse of the SR-71 Blackbird
Originally Posted by Stogey
Yeah, that's a trip I've always wanted to make ! Smithsonian, Air and Space Museum are high up on the list of things to do before I meet my maker ! Thanks Pat !
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Re: A Rare Glimpse of the SR-71 Blackbird
Originally Posted by Vicar of Sterling
The bride an I are planning a spring trip to Texas. Thanks for the tip on Lackland. I understand the parade ground has had some very nice renovations. Marched across that ground in June of 65. Love to see it again.
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Re: A Rare Glimpse of the SR-71 Blackbird
I did my basic at Lackland in 1965. Retired in 1985. Loved the big noisy airplanes. Spent many years around F-4 and RF-4. I was in refueling most of the time. I will drop you a note as our plans firm up. Lot depends on wife's health.
Blessings AF brother.
Blessings AF brother.
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Re: A Rare Glimpse of the SR-71 Blackbird
Originally Posted by Vicar of Sterling
I did my basic at Lackland in 1965. Retired in 1985. Loved the big noisy airplanes. Spent many years around F-4 and RF-4. I was in refueling most of the time. I will drop you a note as our plans firm up. Lot depends on wife's health.
Blessings AF brother.
Blessings AF brother.
http://www.bmtflightphotos.af.mil/ I retired in 1973. Nice Church you have.