A little ice for the black eye....SR-71

[Artos]

....sorry if this is old or inaccurate but I found it very cool.



http://www.greatdanepromilitary.com/SR-71/index.htm

[Mark71]

I wonder how accurate some of that info was. Either way it was very cool. Thanks for the link.

[exkc135driver]

Based upon some things I heard from some folks once upon a time, I think some of those numbers are ... a little off. Cool site, though.

[Icculus]

No idea to the legitimacy of what was said but still pretty cool to watch. Was always my favorite plane as a kid.

[EzGoingKev]

If anyone is interested in learning more about the Blackbird and Lockheed's Skunkworks I would suggest reading this book.

I read it years ago and thought it was great. The gentleman it is about, Ben Rich, came over from Lockheed to Skunkworks to work on the SR-71 and ended up taking Skunkworks over when Kelley Johnson retired. Skunkworks developed the stealth technology under him and there are some really great stories in there.

[dirksterg30]

A book I'd love to get about the Blackbird is Sled Driver, Too bad it's $427.

[montanadave]

Regardless of the veracity of some of the flight specifications represented in the video, the SR-71 was (and is) a truly remarkable aircraft.

[Herkemer]

I think it is a bunch of storys compiled into one, but I'm pretty sure everything said there is true.

[gkanga]

Several paraphrased stories from Sled Driver.

One of the senior guys I work with was a Marine Corps pilot in Vietnam and later a test pilot for many years. He flew almost every type aircraft in the inventory, but not the SR71. He said to me one time "The SR71 is an amazing plane, and if it weren't for the fact that the missions were extremely long and boring, I would have loved to have flown it"

[Bat Guano]

Spent a year at Beale AFB, pulling security. Saw the first one come in on Jan. 2, 1967.

Fascinating aircraft in all respects. The startup procedure (starter cart was two Buick Wildcat engines on a common shaft) was a real attention getter. The initial green flame was quite the visual effect.

Night takeoffs with those big engines and their shock diamonds were beautiful!

Lockheed put out a film on the SR back in the late 80s that had great photography and soundtrack. I put it on about once a year and marinate in the memories.