Title: Pilot Recounts Tales of SR-71 Blackbird Source:
[None] URL Source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpVT5Lr0BbI Published:Jul 18, 2013 Author:Lockheed Martin Post Date:2015-07-04 18:13:04 by Justified Keywords:None Views:2308 Comments:19
I was a an air traffic control specialist at Chicago center, that required a secret clearance.
Nobody knew the top speed or top altitude capabilities of the SR-71. The pilots received astronaut credentials because of the altitude it flew at. It was the last project of lead engineer Kelly Johnson. Pilots wore special G compensating flight suits and were relegated to special diets to deal with cockpit temperature which ran 140 degrees. Whenever it was desired to set a new speed record they had but to advance the throttle another quarter of an inch. It requored hours after the plane landed before the TiMetal frame cooled down to permit servicing. During its last flight from March air force base in California to Washinton to be retired at the Smithonian institution, the SR-71 crossed the country in 58 minutes.
I has the pleasure of watching one on Radar take off from Rapids City South Dakota and execute a 180 climbing right turn that was completed over Pawnee Kansas pulling four Gs all the way.
I watched one take off from Kadena AFB on Okinawa in the 60's,and that sure was a loud MoFo.
Didn't make quite as much noise as a whole flight of B-52's loaded up with full loads of bombs and having to take off under full military power,but it was amazingly loud for a single aircraft.
The B-52 flight was noise you could feel in your bones. I swear I could even feel the ground vigrate.
I know some people claim none were ever based in VN,but I could swear I saw one parked in the "black bird" compound at Ton Sha Knut AFB in Saigon once in 68 or 69. My memory ain't what it used to be since I had the stroke,though.
Didn't make quite as much noise as a whole flight of B-52's loaded up with full loads of bombs and having to take off under full military power,but it was amazingly loud for a single aircraft.
They used to practice that "Alert scramble" scenario all the time when I was stationed at K.I. Sawyer. Used to wake me up all the time in the middle of the night doing that.
Noticed all the BUFFS in the film clip were "Tall Tails", either A or B models.
Noticed all the BUFFS in the film clip were "Tall Tails", either A or B models.
I cannot tell the older models apart, and the only difference I can spot between the G and H model is the engines. I did some research, the movie was shot at Beale AFB, and at that time they had the E model assigned.
I did some research, the movie was shot at Beale AFB, and at that time they had the E model assigned.
Then I would have to say the clip was of "E" models instead of the earlier models, I stand corrected. I also forgot that "A"s were only test aircraft never flew actively. Brain farts. :o
I figured the AF had staged this for the movie makers and consequently had used some of the older models because they were coming to the end of their structural service life. (They started retiring the "B"s in 1964 and all were gone by 1966). That way if something went wrong it wasn't the loss of a frontline aircraft.
They were manufactured with the Tall Tails until the "G" models came out, they were shortened by 8' to reduce weight in the aircraft. But with all the other mods they did (like wet wings) they still ended up being heavier than the earlier models, somewhere close to 500,000 lbs!!
I agree it would be hard to tell the difference of all the earlier models just looking at them from the outside. I know they did a "Big Belly" mod to the "D"s so they could carry more bombs but don't know if you can really see any difference to its fuselage. I think most of those mods were to the doors and the internal racks.
But with all the other mods they did (like wet wings) they still ended up being heavier than the earlier models, somewhere close to 500,000 lbs!!
That's probably why you could actually see the wings "flapping" on fully loaded ones doing their run-outs.
That and the fact that they HAD to be somewhat flexible to keep them from cracking and falling off. One universal law of nature is "That which doesn't bend,breaks".
