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Ghost-Flame
08-10-2009, 09:05 AM
I have not verified this but it seems to be legit, if not it will still give you goose bumps!!!

I served in the U.S. Air Force, though a pilot I was not. The person who forwarded this e-mail to me was also Air Force, and a pilot; he is also my college buddy for these past nearly 60 years. In my years since serving in the military, I have grown somewhat cynical about the warlike stance that drives our nation. And one could argue wastes our valuable treasure. But, that being said, this is one hell of an impressive slide show about a hell of an impressive airplane. I accept the platitudes in the show that this airplane did much to protect our nation and help win the cold war. More than a little tinge of patriotism crept up my spine, and filled my heart. Enjoy. Gerry Pickering

The Now-Retired SR-71

This is too cool!

The Black Bird "grows" over 8 inches in flight and the nose glows cherry red at high altitude cruise (90-100,000'). It will cover 180 miles if it has to turn around.
I was in Washington when the Bird made its last official flight. It took off from California, flew over the Pacific, refueled, turned east bound and when it crossed the west coast ofCalifornia, the stop watches started. 68 Minutes later, the Bird crossed the east coast of the United States near Washington, DC! That record along with many others still stands from an aircraft that people started designing in the late 1950's! Talk about being ahead of it's time. It shows how great a country can be when Government steps aside and lets people do their thing!

This is a slide show produced by one of the 93 people to ever pilot the Blackbird. He shares some formerly-classified info. This came from a link from the Lockheed Martin retiree group.

Click Below:

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

Ryder
08-10-2009, 11:04 AM
AWESOME! :thumbup:

KeyWasted
08-10-2009, 12:04 PM
Great post! Thank you.:thumbup:

Jbose
08-10-2009, 12:43 PM
It simply doesn't get any better that that!! thanks for the post.

Sioux Wolf
08-10-2009, 01:00 PM
That was a very cool video. If memory serves me correctly, my brother got to work on one of those. They made an unscheduled stop at Hill Air Force Base in Utah while he was working in a civilian capacity at one of the hangers. I can't remember what it was exactly that he worked on but I do know that it was electrical. At the time the stop was classified but he was able to tell me about it later.

Terminals
08-10-2009, 01:13 PM
Great presentation of another of America's great
technological achievments.

I had seen this quite a while ago, thanks for posting it,
so I could renew my appreciation for the SR71.

I had to laugh at his reference to " Mortal Planes ". :thumbup:

renagade
08-10-2009, 01:16 PM
Awesome aircraft!!!!! Thanks for sharing this with us.

Brew
08-10-2009, 01:39 PM
The SR-71 has always been my favorite aircraft. Truly an amazing machine.

Beast Rider
08-10-2009, 08:36 PM
WOW! Thanks for bringing back memories of this awesome aircraft.

A cool fact is that it would leak fuel while on the ground. Once it got up to speed, the body would stretch and seal off the leaks.

Sioux Wolf
08-10-2009, 08:51 PM
WOW! Thanks for bringing back memories of this awesome aircraft.

A cool fact is that it would leak fuel while on the ground. Once it got up to speed, the body would stretch and seal off the leaks.

Yep, that's why they fueled it in the air. They only put enough fuel in to get it up, then they'd fill it up in the air.8)

W9VD
08-10-2009, 09:15 PM
Dang! That was too cool. :thumbup:

JollyRoger
08-10-2009, 09:41 PM
A friend of mine flew one for a while, he never got over it. Still thinks its the greatest thing ever. He said that they had to be fitted with the NASA suits so they could handle the altitude. Cool plane.

RedWings
08-10-2009, 09:46 PM
Obligatory awesome picture:


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/archive/9/97/20050422125432!Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird.jpg



zoom...

Captain_s54
08-10-2009, 10:26 PM
Stood under one at the aircraft museum in Ogden, Utah. Awesome machine!!!:thumbup:

Beast Rider
08-10-2009, 11:03 PM
Obligatory awesome picture:


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/archive/9/97/20050422125432!Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird.jpg



zoom...

That is a picture of a trainer... the SR-71B. There were only two made - one crashed in 1968... I assume this is the other one.

Smoke
08-11-2009, 12:39 PM
The story behind the creation of this remarkable jet is just as amazing as the finished product. Deadlines which today would be insurmountable. Truly an incredible machine, made even more amazing when considering how fast it went from the drawing board to flight.

DRIGGS1800
08-11-2009, 08:09 PM
They have one on display at the Armament Museum at Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. It gives me chills every time I come around the curve and that is the first thing you see sitting next to the road. Awesome plane. Thanks for sharing that.

mojoguy
08-11-2009, 08:26 PM
To this day some of this aircrafts capabilities are still classified (speed and altitude) Thanks for the post, very effective weapon that had no guns nojoke

monty
08-11-2009, 10:39 PM
Wow! Thanks for the post and for rekindling some great memories. We had a SR-71 and a U2 based at RAF Upper Heyford for awhile in 1973. What tremendous aircraft and crews that operated them. I absolutely loved watching the launch roll and lift off of both aircraft but the Blackbird was absolutely awesome to watch it climb and disappear in just a few seconds.
During a visit to the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton Ohio a few years ago one of the curators said that NASA still had a couple that were "somewhat" operational. Don't know if that holds true today.
Thanks again.