The SR-71 Blackbird
 

https://youtu.be/xLoSLK7jmrc

Stumbled across this on YouTube and found it very interesting.

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When I was a little kid in Utah we went to an airbase in North Utah, somewhere around Ogden. I'll have to look it up. The SR was not there, or at least not visible, but they were testing the Wildcat APU's for them (this was an airshow) I will never forget the raw, unadulterated, noise and thunder that came off that APU.

A huge favorite. Never saw one fly. Saw one in pieces going up to Boeing Museum of Flight many years back. A thrill to see even on a truckbed.

Close.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1649556914.jpg

There is an A12 just outside the air museum in San Diego.

Such a fantastic plane. We've had several threads about it over the years! :)

There used to be one at the museum next to the Battleship USS Alabama, I haven't been down there in a while so, not sure if it is still there.
My brother-in-law was a fuel systems mechanic in the Air Force and he told me once that while stationed in Bitburg, Germany there was one that had flown in for some kind of service. He said the plane was completely covered up except for where a panel was removed for a new part to be installed. He said the old part was already removed, all they did was install the new part and that was it, they weren't allowed to touch anything else.

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Spy Plane?

An SR-71.

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Interesting documentary about a very young SR-71 pilot.

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There is one on display at the museum in Chantilly VA

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1649595020.jpg

I wrote an article for Excellence magazine (October 1994 issue) and the picture of my car is in front of the SR-71 at the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL…SmileWavy

Brian Shul flew the blackbird
He's a photographer and a speaker
Any one of his talks is a good listen
Butterflies to blackbirds is his book

Butterflies to Blackbirds is the name of his story. I'm not sure if it's his core one hour talk but I think it is.

Book is named "Sled Driver".

OMG, it's expensive to buy used. Pushing $2k

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1649601670.jpg

So I'm out searching for the book name just now and I run into the below. It's gotta be a joke but Amazon wants $60 for it. Edit: I see the "Insight into" line on the bottom of the book. That's different from a step by step teardown. lol

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1649601828.jpg

There's one at Evergreen in Oregon - https://www.evergreenmuseum.org/

Fantastic!

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-.../i-XmJGkbj.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-.../i-J3jzH7d.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-.../i-vFMvm5w.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-.../i-C98X8mh.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-.../i-DkLX8C9.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-.../i-ZK9qNVV.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-.../i-h4sxRbP.jpg

Nah, you can get the commemorative gold edition of two books including Sled Driver and a coin from Brian Shul for $550

https://galleryoneimages.com/Hangar/product_info.php?products_id=58

Not that long ago, you could get a regular edition for about half that on the same site, but it seems they sold them all.

Interesting article on moving the SR-71 from the Burbank factory to Area 51 for the test flights.

https://roadrunnersinternationale.com/transporting_the_a-12.html