SR-71 Blackbird

[jshape]

One of my Dad's squadron mates from his days in the Pacific sent him this piece that was apparently written by a pilot of one of the SR-71 Blackbird's. Thought you might enjoy reading it.

SR-71 Blackbird
In April 1986, following an attack on American soldiers in a Berlin disco, President Reagan ordered the bombing of Muammar Qaddafi's terrorist camps in Libya .My duty was to fly over Libya and take photos recording the damage our F-111's had inflicted.. Qaddafi had established a 'line of death,' a territorial marking across the Gulf of Sidra, swearing to shoot down any intruder that crossed the boundary. On the morning of April 15, I rocketed past the line at 2,125 mph. I was piloting the SR-71 spy plane, the world's fastest jet, accompanied by a Marine Major (Walt), the aircraft's reconnaissance systems officer (RSO). We had crossed into Libya and were approaching our final turn over the bleak desert landscape when Walt informed me that he was receiving missile launch signals. I quickly increased our speed, calculating the time it would take for the weapons-most likely SA-2 and SA-4 surface-to-air missiles capable of Mach 5 - to reach our altitude. I estimated that we could beat the rocket-powered missiles to the turn and stayed our course, betting our lives on the plane's performance.

After several agonizingly long seconds, we made the turn and blasted toward the Mediterranean, 'You might want to pull it back,' Walt suggested. It was then that I noticed I still had the throttles full forward. 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. I pulled the throttles to idle just south of Sicily , but we still overran the refueling tanker awaiting us over Gibraltar .

Scores of significant aircraft have been produced in the 100 years of flight, following the achievements of the Wright brothers, which we celebrate in December. Aircraft such as the Boeing 707, the F-86 Sabre Jet, and the P-51 Mustang are among the important machines that have flown our skies. But the SR-71, also known as the Blackbird, stands alone as a significant contributor to Cold War victory and as the fastest plane ever-and only 93 Air Force pilots ever steered the 'sled,' as we called our aircraft.

The SR-71 was the brainchild of Kelly Johnson, the famed Lockheed designer who created the P-38, the F-104 Starfighter, and the U-2. After the Soviets shot down Gary Powers' U-2 in 1960, Johnson began to develop an aircraft that would fly three miles higher and five times faster than the spy plane-and still be capable of photographing your license plate. However, flying at 2,000 mph would create intense heat on the aircraft's skin. Lockheed engineers used a titanium alloy to construct more than 90 percent of the SR-71, creating special tools and manufacturing procedures to hand-build each of the 40 planes. Special heat-resistant fuel, oil, and hydraulic fluids that would function at 85,000 feet and higher also had to be developed.

In 1962, the first Blackbird successfully flew, and in 1966, the same year I graduated from high school, the Air Force began flying operational SR-71 missions. I came to the program in 1983 with a sterling record and a recommendation from my commander, completing the weeklong interview and meeting Walt, my partner for the next four years He would ride four feet behind me, working all the cameras, radios, and electronic jamming equipment. I joked that if we were ever captured, he was the spy and I was just the driver. He told me to keep the pointy end forward.

We trained for a year, flying out of Beale AFB in California, Kadena Airbase in Okinawa , and RAF Mildenhall in England . On a typical training mission, we would take off near Sacramento , refuel over Nevada, accelerate into Montana , obtain high Mach over Colorado , turn right over New Mexico , speed across the Los Angeles Basin , run up the West Coast, turn right at Seattle , then return to Beale. Total flight time: two hours and 40 minutes.

One day, high above Arizona , we were monitoring the radio traffic of all the mortal airplanes below us. First, a Cessna pilot asked the air traffic controllers to check his ground speed. 'Ninety knots,' ATC replied. A Bonanza soon made the same request. 'One-twenty on the ground,' was the reply. To our surprise, a navy F-18 came over the radio with a ground speed check. I knew exactly what he was doing. Of course, he had a ground speed indicator in his cockpit, but he wanted to let all the bug-smashers in the valley know what real speed was 'Dusty 52, we show you at 620 on the ground,' ATC responded.

The situation was too ripe. I heard the click of Walt's mike button in the rear seat. In his most innocent voice, Walt startled the controller by asking for a ground speed check from 81,000 feet, clearly above controlled airspace. In a cool, professional voice, the controller replied, ' Aspen 20, I show you at 1,982 knots on the ground.' We did not hear an other transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast.

The Blackbird always showed us something new, each aircraft possessing its own unique personality. In time, we realized we were flying a national treasure. When we taxied out of our revetments for takeoff, people took notice. Traffic congregated near the airfield fences, because everyone wanted to see and hear the mighty SR-71 You could not be a part of this program and not come to love the airplane. Slowly, she revealed her secrets to us as we earned her trust.

One moonless night, while flying a routine training mission over the Pacific, I wondered what the sky would look like from 84,000 feet if the cockpit lighting were dark. While heading home on a straight course, I slowly turned down all of the lighting, reducing the glare and revealing the night sky.

Where dark spaces in the sky had usually existed, there were now dense clusters of sparkling stars. Shooting stars flashed across the canvas every few seconds. It was like a fireworks display with no sound.

I knew I had to get my eyes back on the instruments, and reluctantly I brought my attention back inside. To my surprise, with the cockpit lighting still off, I could see every gauge, lit by starlight. In the plane's mirrors, I could see the eerie shine of my gold spacesuit incandescently illuminated in a celestial glow. I stole one last glance out the window. Despite our speed, we seemed still before the heavens, humbled in the radiance of a much greater power. For those few moments, I felt a part of something far more significant than anything we were doing in the plane. The sharp sound of Walt's voice on the radio brought me back to the tasks at hand as I prepared for our descent.

The SR-71 was an expensive aircraft to operate. The most significant cost was tanker support, and in 1990, confronted with budget cutbacks, the Air Force retired the SR-71.

The SR-71 served six presidents, protecting America for a quarter of a century. Unbeknownst to most of the country, the plane flew over North Vietnam , Red China , North Korea , the Middle East , South Africa , Cuba , Nicaragua , Iran , Libya , and the Falkland Islands . On a weekly basis, the SR-71 kept watch over every Soviet nuclear submarine and mobile missile site, and all of their troop movements. It was a key factor in winning the Cold War.

I am proud to say I flew about 500 hours in this aircraft. I knew her well. She gave way to no plane, proudly dragging her sonic boom through enemy backyards with great impunity. She defeated every missile, outran every MiG, and always brought us home. In the first 100 years of manned flight, no aircraft was more remarkable.

The Blackbird had outrun nearly 4,000 missiles, not once taking a scratch from enemy fire.

On her final flight, the Blackbird , destined for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, sped from Los Angeles to Washington in 64 minutes, averaging 2,145 mph and setting four speed records.

[URY914]

Great piece.

[porsche4life]

A repost, but still a great read.

[onewhippedpuppy]

A marvel of technology, designed with slide rules. I really wish I had been given the opportunity to see it fly.

[R K T]

I was at the Reno Air Races in 1986 when it did one fly over after the National Anthem.
It went over relatively quiet and slow and incredibly low. Just past the grandstands it nosed up, "flipped the switch" and literally disappeared into the heavens. The crowd was screaming and you couldn't hear a single person! I'll never forget that.

[tchanson]

There is an SR-71 in the entry of the Strategic Air Command Museum.

These are a few pictures I took on a trip through last summer. The angle belies the size of this thing.










Tim

[tevake]

I LOVE THAT BEAUTIFUL BIRD!!
Kelly Johnson the Ferdinand Porsche of modern aviation.

Cheers Richard

[exc911ence]

Amazing that a machine like that could be built and flown under the radar back then. Especially considering the mess that the F-35 project has become! I used to wonder what sci-fi-esque aircraft were flying around under cover while the current crop of fighters were operating in the public eye... sadly it seems that there can't be any secret hi-tech aircraft since the JSF has been so publicised during its gestation.

[911_Dude]

Under the radar? It flew so high nothing could touch it. The JSF was nowhere near a secret in the cold war sense of the word. But dont be suprised if in 10-15 years you learn of a few craft flying today that no one has heard of right now.

[Embraer]

i drive by the very first A-12 (oxcart) as well as an SR-71 blackbird everyday when i go into work. lots of interesting books have been written about that plane. the radar signature of that plane equalled that of a 1 inch steel ball bearing. i think the coolest part of the history of that plane was the initial testing at R-4808. Amazing what was accomplished back then

[Embraer]

Originally Posted by exc911ence

sadly it seems that there can't be any secret hi-tech aircraft since the JSF has been so publicised during its gestation.

i wouldn't be so sure about that...

[t6dpilot]

That bird was way ahead of its time. An amazing machine for sure. I was at Edwards AFB for the 50th anniversary of Yeager breaking the sound barrier. They were doing a big airshow and shindig and we were there as special VIP's doing TPS checkouts the next week in a Lodestar. So we got a bunch of "backstage" access. I stood out on the taxiway at the departure end of the runway next to the SR-71 that was preparing to fly in the show. The GPU cart has two GM 454 V-8 motors (iirc) and that aircraft weeps so much fuel on the ground it is amazing. From every pore...

Even got to fly the SR-71 sim. Kinda cool, but standard rate turns take FOREVER and many states/countries.

[carreraken]

Amazing plane - used to look forward to the Beale air shows just to see the blackbird. Was sad to see them go.

[daepp]

What follows is a repost, but if you are a gearhead and you like this ship or the other Kelly Johnson specials, buy a copy of Skunkworks by Ben Rich. It is a great story of all the chain smoking, white shirted slide rule jockeys and the planes they built. It is about a great industry and a great point in our nation's history, and it is a tale told by an American Jew who rose to the top of his industry and how thankful he was to his country for accepting him!

[daepp]

http://www.amazon.com/Skunk-Works-Personal-Memoir-Lockheed/dp/0316743003/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320795901&sr=8-1

[wdfifteen]

It's one of the most beautiful machines ever built IMHA.
Here is a pic of two of the most beautiful machines ever built - my Speedster and a YF-12 (SR-71 with guns).


random pics that YOU have taken.......

[azasadny]

Excellent!!

[LWJ]

I saw the SR-71 that was trucked up I-5 to the Boeing Museum of flight many years ago. It was parked at a truck stop with the wings off. I was able to walk right up to it. There was a fellow who was with the plane and gave little personalized tours. It was very amazing. One of the coolest things I have ever seen. It was even better that it was disassembled.

Larry

[Don Ro]

Originally Posted by jshape

SR-71 Blackbird

Thanks for posting this...a good read written w/great affection.
A national treasure, indeed!
'Makes me proud.

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by tchanson

There is an SR-71 in the entry of the Strategic Air Command Museum.

These are a few pictures I took on a trip through last summer. The angle belies the size of this thing.










Tim

Somewhere I have similar photos... I went to the SAC Museum after seeing your pictures. It was only about an hour out of hour way on a trip. Was well worth the stop.