Satchel Hogan Why use obsolete toy? They have much better toys now? Classified of course. Some whistle blowers says they can fly at few % of speed of light.
Satchel Hogan hahaha, too bad the U.S. government would never let you do that, and I am putting a lot of stress on never. Their top speed is still classified, but it took a little over one hour for it to reach New York from California. I doubt they would let a civilian EVER ride in one, unless you are a billionaire...
I am a retired Air Force pilot. One day in the early 70's I was flying along at 49,000 feet at about mach .95, and lo and behold way above me was an aircraft passing me like I was standing still. It was so high, I could not visually identify it, but obviously it was an SR-71.
+Michael frumento What exactly didn't you understand about his statement? Real men as opposed to a committee? Don't know what a slide rule is? What exactly "that" are you referring to?
Cutting edge. Titanium. Fuel JP7 just for this plane. Had to be ignited by triethlyborane. In open air it would spontaneously combust.The JP7 autoignition temperature was so high you couldn't get it to go alone. Drop a lit match in it and it goes out! JP7 was used for cooling of the airframe before burn - preheat of sorts. A compound was in the JP7 to disguise the exhaust plume from radar. Thermal expansion sealed the fuel tanks at altitude and speed. They weeped fuel on the ground. Surface coating for radiant heat transfer and radar absorption as well. And on and on.
Thermal expansion did help to seal the tanks @ temp, but at lower temps' these gaps would leak all the fuel -- if those gaps weren't 'filled in' with a substance to help seal those gaps. The gaps were filled with "elastopolymers". This tar like substance worked great after initial application, but slowly degraded over time & use until the leaking fuel was significant enough to effect performance. At some point the aircraft was taken back to Palmdale for re-sealing. One of the problems with bringing the aircraft back is that, by todays standards, the elastoploymer is listed as a carcinogen.
This Jet flew right over my house in 1971 I was only 7 and sitting on the roof with my dad to watch the Air Show but little did we know this Bird was going to make a fly by right over top of our house that day. I will never forget the blasting hum in my ears and my dad crouched down because the damn thing was so big it looked as if it was going to touch us. It was so huge even though it was flying relatively high it seemed as if it was within arms reach. Just after it passed over top our house shook and are ears began to hum then there was this huge bang like thunder then it was gone just like that. I was never so scared and excited in my life at the same time as when I saw this beast of a bird flying right over my head that day. I feel privileged to have had that moment only wish we had taken a picture of it, but its engraved in my memory for ever man oh man what a ride.
They can’t fly it any more, entire industries were needed for all the parts. Special tires no one makes any more, most parts are titanium which cost a lot and needs special tooling and entire factories to make one part. It’s insane, watch some of the videos about why it would be a massive massive endeavor to get one flying again
10 beauty beasts of these would drain air force budget😂😂 Lighter and more powerful planes are a lot out there! Sure it may be beautiful in looking, but function was not worth the money
I can't believe this things was made in the 1960's! So it is over 50 years old and still is the fastest aircraft, and probably has the most futuristic look of any planes. Awesome piece of engineering. :)
+Olli Jokinen Well the problem is we don't know exactly what replaced the SR-71 because it's top-secret. I would think it goes a lot faster and higher.
Well-sort of. But if it were not made in the US of A - the comments would be critiques about "copying". See "The Flight of the Phoenix" movie to get the idea how to get the idea...🤣 Then google Griffon III from France. Third step: Apply the Phoenix idea to two Griffons and add a long fuselage between them for fuel.
I bet somebody in a white lab coat had to put a stack of punch cards into a computer the size of a warehouse to calculate a quadratic equation at some point.
It doesn't get any better than this, folks! You are watching the most badass aircraft in the history of aviation! I had the pleasure of watching them do their stuff from up-close at Beale AFB back in '72. The twin hopped-up Buick 425 nailhead-powered start-cart at full-song, those glorious J-58s spooling-up, the twin booms of the afterburners kicking-in, followed by the unearthly screech as they literally tore the air apart is a sound like no other on this planet. I am thankful that I was fortunate enough to witness the spectacle from as close as one could get without getting shot.
Greetings from Chula Vista, California! Proud to say my father welded the titanium on these beautiful jets in the late 50's and into the mid 1960's. We lived in Manhattan Beach at the time then moved to Burbank, California. I'll be 66 soon and I was born in 1958. Torrance , California. God Bless!
I've been told that Kelly Johnson was stumped by the math that, by formula, was limiting the plane's speed. Someone told him to cool the plane...that the problem was caused by heat. Kelly Johnson's calculations factored in the added weight of the special paint that cools the SR-71. The math indicated that the added weight would only slow the plane even more. But he went with the idea anyway. And it worked!
My mom was a member of Skunk Works. They built these amazing planes. I remember it flying over my elementary school all the time. Along with the sonic booms. This is my all time favorite aircraft.!
I got the honor to see this magnificent machine when I was stationed at Kadena AB, Japan. We didn't know why it was there but the sound of those engines is a sound I will never forget!
I was stationed on Okinawa 76-77. On the Bicentennial at Kadena AFB there were a lot of air craft. I heard this sound more like a loud rumbling sound every day at about the same time. I saw the SR-71 for the first time up close and personal on static display. It wasn't much to look at but the stats on it was tremendous. Now I knew what went over my apartment every night. It was the sound of freedom. Semper Fi to USAF thank you from a Marine :-)
Just think about it. How perfect and masterfully made is this piece of engineering - that 51 years later it still holds the world record for the fastest production aircraft ever. God damn..
bertoh79 Its not a matter of safety to be honest, more about the money. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to develop an aircraft that travels faster - its just a matter of money and the question: Do we actually need one? And both answers are no.
+michealang1 Using God's name as a curse isn't a particularly smart thing to do. There are far better ways to express your excitement. On thing I'd like to point out is that the men who designed and built these marvelous aircraft used slide rules. How many of you have to look up what a slide rule is to even see that? There were no hand calculators, Computers took up whole warehouses instead of sitting on a desktop. My phone has more computing power than ALL the computers owned or used by Lockheed and probably the United States did back then.
+nick andhiscamera Actually from what I was told by one of the pilots it's kind of boring. You can't really see anything. You can't deviate from your flight path more than about a half degree of angle of attack or the plane comes apart. So it would be kind of like riding in an airliner by yourself, wrapped in a wet suit, inside a dry suit, with a old fashioned diver's helmet on, strapped down so you can't move and all the windows painted black.
+Chris Baker it was built for speed not maneuverability, it's the fastest plane around, the official record goes to the experimental YF-12 but it wasn't used in real warfare. The blackbird's missile evading system is just to speed up so that no missile can reach it.
+Antonio Klaić I'm quite aware of that. My other posts should make it clear. Plus Nick didn't answer my question about what he was putting on his Christmas list. The initial intention of the YF-12 was to be an interceptor not a fighter. I.E. Launch, fly to altitude and then really fast out to intercept incoming bombers and blow them up before they could reach America. Would have been a rude shock to incoming Bear pilots. Same logic as the original design specs that resulted in the Lockheed P-38. Never designed to be mass produced, never designed to be maneuverable much. They ended up instead of the expected 50 to 70 P-38s, building about 12,000 if I remember right and about half were converted to the F-5 variant which was photo reconnaissance. Interesting story in Martin Caidens book The Fork Tail Devil, in which an F-5 was sent out to photograph Japanese bases and the pilot kept on his photo run even though he could see the Japanese planes coming up to intercept him. They shot out one of his engines at which point he put the nose down a bit and the throttle full on the remaining engine and proceeded to out run the zeros. Wouldn't you hate to have to explain to your commander how your top of the line Zero, was outrun by a "crippled" enemy photo plane?
In the mid 90’s I worked on a new electric power generating system for the SR-71 at the Aerospace company I work for. I am still proud to have been associated with that fantastic aircraft.
BLACKBIRD RECORDS Altitude in Horizontal Flight Date: 28 July 1976 Crew: Capt. Robert C. Helt and Maj. Larry A. Elliott Altitude: 85,068.997 feet Speed Over a Straight Course Date: 28 July 1976 Crew: Capt. Eldon W. Joersz and Maj. George T. Morgan Average Speed: 2,193.167 mph Speed Over a Closed Course Date: 27 July 1976 Crew: Maj. Adolphus H. Bledsoe, Jr. and Maj. John T. Fuller Distance: 1,000 km Average Speed: 2,092.294 mph Speed Over a Recognized Course: New York to London Date: 1 September 1974 Crew: Maj. James V. Sullivan and Maj Noel F. Widdifield Distance: 3,461.53 miles Time: 1 hour, 54 minutes, 56.4 seconds Average Speed: 1,806.964 mph Speed Over a Recognized Course: London to Los Angeles Date: 13 September 1974 Crew: Capt. Harold B. Adams and Capt. William C. Machorek Distance: 5,446.87 miles Time: 3 hours, 47 minutes, 39 seconds Average Speed: 1,435.587 mph Speed Over a Recognized Course: West Coast to East Coast Date: 6 March 1990 Crew: Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and Lt. Col. J.T. Vida Distance: 2,404.05 miles Time: 1 hour, 7 minutes, 53.69 seconds Average Speed: 2,124.51 mph Speed Over a Recognized Course: Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. Date: 6 March 1990 Crew: Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and Lt. Col. J.T. Vida Distance: 2,299.67 miles Time: 1 hour, 4 minutes, 19.89 seconds Average Speed: 2,144.83 mph Speed Over a Recognized Course: Kansas City to Washington, D.C. Date: 6 March 1990 Crew: Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and Lt. Col. J.T. Vida Distance: 942.08 miles Time: 25 minutes, 58.53 seconds Average Speed: 2,176.08 mph Speed Over a Recognized Course: St. Louis to Cincinnati Date: 6 March 1990 Crew: Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and Lt. Col. J.T. Vida Distance: 311.44 miles Time: 8 minutes, 31.97 seconds Average Speed: 2,189.94 mph
I attended that show with my Mum, we couldn't get anywhere near the perimeter fence due to the amount of people crowding at the Farnborough end, so we walked right down to the Fleet end of the runway.....when that bird left the runway she was virtually at our position and despite having our hands over our ears, it was deafening - what was more scary was the breath getting knocked out of us by the roar of those engines....an experience I will never forget.....
I was fortunate to see this plane retired in 1990 while in basic training in San Antonio with the Air Force. Pouring down rain but it was still awesome. They brought some out of retirement a few years later, but the plane could still do it's job. Love your video. It brings back memories!!!!!!
We were on our way to see my grandparents who lived in Hampshire, UK. On the way, we passed the Farnborough airshow and saw the SR-71 as she landed having just broken the Transatlantic speed record. My mother pretended she was having car problems and pulled over to the shoulder so that my brother sister and I could get a great view of her landing. She still sends shivers up my back.
define best, just because it's the fastest doesn't mean it's the best. The SpaceShuttle could be considered a aircraft because of it's similarities. Does that mean it's the best? Or is the airliner the best as it shaped the world a lot more than the blackbird did.
That's just my opinion. If you look at the time period in which it was produced, the engineering involved, and not to mention the massive quantity of titanium the CIA purchased from Russia to build it, Id say it's up there with some of the "best" aircraft ever built. I don't see how you could deny that.
Loobo2012 To set a speed record, the A/C must fly a straight and level path over a measured distance, of course the Space Shuttle or the X-15 couldn't do this..also a glider isn't classified as an airplane, as a glider aircraft can't launch under its own power...
I so enjoyed building this as a 1/48 scale model kit from Testors. It was over 3' long and painted like an early OxCart SR-71 with the exposed titanium finish on upper parts of the aircraft. It was my first large metalizing project with the airbrush.
I was a freshman in high school in 1990 at the Dayton Air Show in Dayton Ohio when the PA announcer came on and said the "SR -71 Blackbird has taken off from an airbase in California attempting to break the transcontinental air speed record." 67 minutes later he came back on the PA to announce that the Blackbird had broken the record by nearly an hour. The plane then turned around and came back to the Dayton Air Show and I got to see it and meet the pilot. A day that I will never forget!
Amazing aircraft. 1960's technology and still no air-breathing engine, piloted craft has ever been built since that could come close to keeping up with it. A true marvel of ingenuity and technology. It's a shame to see this bird retired. Not one ever lost to hostile fire. Amazing.
I was lucky enough to see an SR-71 flight demonstration like this at an air show in California when I was 11 years old. When it makes a low pass like this you don't even hear it coming until it's already flown past you.
True, but when the SR-71 did low demonstration passes over the runway the pilots kept the speed near but below the speed of sound to prevent a sonic boom which at 450-500 feet above the runway would probably have blown out the windows of every house and store within a 5 mile radius.
Thanks, experiences like that led me to pursue a career in the USAF as a pilot but I washed out of flight training due to a minor eyesight impairment. Though I also count my blessings every time I fly my own small plane.
@Satanis Von Jesus The 3rd Facts don't care about your feelings However I saw her at IAT Fairford, I even saw a duck flying once....Yes really no fibs
Acidect GD "fighters"?? Turboprop engines are far more fuel efficient than jet engines, and more reliable in unimproved areas with lots of dust, sand, grass, and rocks. So they are the engine of choice in applications where speed is not valued, but reliability and cost per mile is highly valued. They're not the primary "fighters" by any means : /
I only saw The SR-71 take off once and it's an experience I will never forget. It was at Norton AFB during an airshow. It was fascinating watching them roll out the start carts to get her going. I believe the announcer said the start carts had Chrysler engines. When she took off, the noise of her engines was so loud that it rattled everyone's innards. A kid had broken a plastic bead necklace leaving the beads all over the ground. Those things were jumping up and down as the SR took off. Long tails of shock diamonds. She looked unreal in the air to me. After a few passes she tipped nose up in a very steep climb with those long tails of shock diamonds again and flew until she was out of sight. I think it must have been maybe a minute or two later when the announcer said she was over Nevada. Wish I had a video camera because I think that was some "hot leggin."
First off I’m going to have to compliment you on your profile picture. It’s badass Secondly, 4 years late, your probably not gonna respond, oh well yadayada Third, I know that feeling. I was at an airshow where they had an F-35 and F-22 take off in succession It was the most traumatic I’ve ever felt just from hearing a jet For a full minute the ground is shaking, but insides are rumbling, I can’t process any noise, and you feel a wave of dry heat as the exhaust of the f-35s massive engine hit you That is an experience I will never forget. I actually lost my hearing for a good 10 minutes I love that. Just being able to feel the extreme power one of those jets possess It’s really cool that you got to see an sr-71 fly. I’ve only been able to see them in museums. And damn are they HUGE. Like, the side of a house! I can only imagine what being near them when they took of felt like Anyway, one of the SR-71s I saw was supposedly the last that ever flew, or the last one that was made. Pretty interesting, knowing that the behemoth before you probably hit Mach 3. Literally, the engine is the size of a trailer. A fucking trailer.
Imagine Wilbur and Orville, standing at an airshow and witnessing this awesome craft, pass by, at full afterburner... I doubt words could exit their mouths! Words will never, sum up, the true impact of this amazing aircraft! The sound is, simply, angelic... The SR-71 Blackbird, is a gift, for the ages✈🎆🎉
I was a US Resident in the early 60´s and to go to work I went by the Burbank Lockeed airport every day, never saw this airplane. But sometimes I had the night shift and around 430AM a couple times I saw it right over my head while approaching the runway. I guess at that time the USAF didn´t show it to anyone like the do now, which makes me think what will they be hiding nowadays...
Good point. Hopefully we never have to find out in any circumstances of war because I have a feeling that whatever they're probably working on right now is crazier technology than we can ever imagine.
Military's of the world like to hide their best stuff so foe's don't know what they're up against but the military is more conservative with planes nowadays. Speed is far from a priority, it's more about stealth, effective weaponry, and cost efficiency these days. I'd say today's equivalent of the SR-71 in the advanced technology department would be the autonomous drones that can fly an entire mission from take-off to landing without human interaction. Just press start and away it goes.
Killer2600 True, it seems that more of the speed technology of the past was really motivated by desire to keep the pilot from dying, basically. With drones, there's no threat of pilots dying and plus, the whole concept of dogfighting seems like a thing of the past.
Aidan Cox Perhaps, I tend to think the need for speed (and the willingness to buy the fuel for such speed) was attributed to protecting the investment by having a significant advantage. The SR-71 before it's disclosure was so fast that if anyone saw it they would be in disbelief that it was a plane and if they did know it was up there and try to shoot it down it was capable of out running any missiles let alone fighter planes. Protects the pilot by proxy but truly protects the great sums of money spent on the plane. SR-71 pilots were required to be married to ensure the pilot would have a reason to come home and come home alive.
I want to be borned in 50’s so i can see this amazing jet fly. I get tears in my eyes every time i see this legendary bird the SR-71 Blackbird. Amazing
this plane is, without question, one of the most stunning works of beauty and engineering that has ever left the runway. if it were legal to marry and breed with an aircraft, i would totally wed this one.
Jeremy Nickols You forgot to mention it was designed in the 50's, with no help of 3D computer design whatsoever...Lockheed Skunk Works literally drew this amazing piece of technology by hand (and mind) !
Just imagine, the SR71 could cruise at Mk3 or slightly above, for nearly an hour at a time, without any lasting damage to its engines. Just about every other jet capable of Mk3 or faster,could only achieve that speed for around four minutes,then their engines needed technical maintenance, due to the intense stress placed on their engines. The SR71 was one special jet.
Not many people will know, that the Skunk Works responsible for the maintenance of the SR71, also had to maintain 53 specially adapted Boing 737 aircraft. Every time a SR71 took off, there had to be two of these 737 fuel tankers in the air at the same time, to refuel the tanks of the almost empty SR71s. It was the incredible cost of maintaining both jets and transporter planes that saw the demise of the SR71 programme, as well as the deployment of satellites in space.
I was stationed at Osan AFB Korea in 1983 and saw it take from there and do a fly by after circling the hills and mtns around song ton tee and came blazing down the center of the runway before going almost vertical before returning to Guam. What a beautiful site to see.
An amazing day, it's remained so vivid, thanks to this plane! I was about 7. Amusingly, during this display I got separated from my dad in the crowd but still managed to enjoy an epic moment in aviation history. Wonder who the crew were and where that plane is now?
I was at the Pima air museum in Tucson, AZ. They have an SR-71 on display there. I'd wanted to see the plane for a long time. I felt a sense of grief when I had to leave it behind and go home. It was absolutely majestic.
Back when our country was so adventurous with technology and pushing the limit of what's possible... We were so curious and determined. Nowadays, we just don't have the same passion, sadly.. I wish things will change soon. It's sad that our highest flying and fastest aircraft was late 50's, early 60's technology. I'm sure there's something being worked on, but, its just not the same.
The footage looks as though it was at RAF Mildenhall. I remember the bird well. When I was stationed there in the late 80's, Air Fete was in full swing. I was a member of the base crash rescue team. We were allowed to train on the SR-71 for such situation as to egress the crew from the plane. I even got to sit in the front cockpit. Wonderful aircraft. Sorry to see her go.
Was wondering if it was RAF mildenhall because the announcer sounds British. I’m English and grew up in the neighbouring town of Newmarket. Went to an air show at mildenhall in the very early 90’s and was lucky enough to see this fly. The reason I’m sure it was the early 90’s was that half way though it’s display it went vertical and sodded of at an incredible speed. That announcer said it had been called into service over the Gulf.
Yeah, not meaning to say this video is from the 90’s. Just that I attended in ‘90(I think) and saw this fly. Think they left the bases not long after that. Remember it being billed as a farewell sort of display.
Thank you, it brings back memories, my father worked on this plane, I saw it when I was 9 or 10 years old, mid- late 80's Cal. It was cool to see, will never forget it.
@@Kay_213_ Doesn't matter if they could or couldn't carry bombs or if they were or weren't allowed to.................they were designed solely for spying! How effective do you think bombs would be at 80,000 feet? Didn't have smart bombs yet. That's like asking if a tractor trailer rig could carry passengers. Sure it could if you put seats, windows and doors in it! The point is, it is not made for that!
Growing up next to Offut AFB in Nebraska in the late 70's and 80's. For some reason this clip brings tears to my eyes. Maybe its thinking of childhood and air shows or the horns in the background.?.?.. i dont know.
Are there any comments on here about how this thing leaks fuel on the ground because the fuselage expands and contracts so much? The plane goes so fast and creates so much friction heat on the leading edge of the craft that the fuselage had to be engineered to expand and contract with the temperature difference! Amazing piece of engineering for an amazing aircraft!
It's a foot longer in the air at speed than on the ground. The standard takeoff procedure is to get in the air running on empty, get altitude and do a supersonic "sprint" to warm up the airframe and seal the fuel tanks, then come back down and fill up before heading off on a mission.
Ryan Willis you had everything right besides landing to refuel they get up to alt and do a mid air refuel then had off just sayin look it up and you will see.
I watched one of these awesome machines landing at R.A.F.Lakenheath with my daughter years ago,it was an incredible sight,i have never forgotten it and my daughter,now30,remembers it clearly.A superb aircraft and sorely missed.
A lot of them are in museums. You could probably easily find one. Hill AFB...The SAC Museum in...Kansas I think You also got the National Air and Space Museum If you ever are going to go there btw, make sure to go to the HANGAR, not the one near the whitehouse The SR-71, Discovery, those are all in the hangar
@@Kay_213_ The Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio, on the Wright-Patterson base has one. I stood next to it, and touched it. It is bigger than it seems in all the pictures I see of it.
@@googleuser868 I've seen the one at the Smithsonian. I'm a couple hours drive from Dayton, which I'd like to see really bad. Kalamazoo Michigan has the one of two sr-71 B's that wasn't crashed, I would also like to drive to that one.
LOVE this plane. Kinda looks like something batman would fly back in the 80s haha. Love this. And I know it's unarmed, but it looks like it would drop a nuke or something. Intimidating bird right there.
Whenever I see these clips I always imagine its missions over the Ho Chi Minh trail and it out running SAM after SAM. To my knowledge I do not think a single pilot was ever lost while this plane was in military service!
Yeah, 20 is probably an exaggeration This plane was super successful. I don’t think a single one was SHOT down. Crashes, yeah. Pilot errors, yeah. But SAM missiles have nothing in this planes speed
One SAM detonated close enough to cause a minor shrapnel impact. But they couldn't lock on to the aircraft, due to the speed, altitude and to a smaller degree the stealth. It basically needed to be a lucky hit, which was feasible but apparently very unlikely as they went about zero for 4,000 in their attempts. The crew described the SAM as appearing like a speeding telephone pole!
The amazing thing is that I remember when I was a kid in the mid 1960's these planes were around. Now I am in my 60's! We used to build Revell models of them, and they were a recognized modern marvel then. One piece of American technology that made us #1.
Felipe Massa Yeah sure, but by the time the Migs scrambled to take off for interception after radar detection, the Black Bird was already too distant to catch up with :-)
+Felipe Massa 1 out of 3 were lost over the entire service life of the program which was 1968 till 1999. That's basically 1 plane a year which is amazing considering most of the time these planes were operating at mach 2+. The program was shut down because of many factors. Soviet missile tech was finally catching up to the SR-71. More importantly though is that the Satellite surveillance network became extensive enough to take over the vast majority of the missions. UAVs were used for those rare times when a satellite wasn't available. Basically economically cheaper methods that didn't risk the lives of men became available and took over. Migs wouldn't be able to do anything about the sr-71. It's far to high and far too fast to catch up to. THe mig 29 and even the mig 35's service ceilings are at least 27,000 feet BELOW the SR-71s. Not to mention the difference in speed being at least mach 1.15. It'd take one hell of a lucky shot for a mig to hit a sr71. This is assuming that the mig pilot knew exactly when a SR-71 was coming in and was already in the air trying to intercept. There wouldn't even be a point to launching a mig otherwise. By the time the mig pilot got into the air the SR-71 would be damned near out of Russian airspace. A mig 25 wouldn't even be able to reach a SR-71. With missiles the mig 25 is looking at a service ceiling 20,000 or so feet below the SR-71. Sure the mig 25 can hit mach 3.2 but it grenades it's engines in the process. Mach 3.2 of course being .2 mach too slow to even keep up with a sr-71. Best you could hope for is to take a shot at the SR-71 while it flies over the top of you and that's not likely. The newest s400 on the other hand SHOULD easily be able to reach the SR-71.
I lived in Lancaster, California at the end of the runway of Edwards Air force base in the 1970's! Every once in a while the window of our office building would start to rattle. Everyone would run outside, we knew what caused the noise, the SR-71 was flying by. It's an amazing site to watch it fly by, not only the noise, but the speed. It was a treat to watch such an historical aircraft...
crotchrocket00 It was actually brought back into service for a few years during the 90's because of the limitations of satellites, and that bit on technology is a bit of a moot point to me. Yes the electronics are out-dated, but they can be switched out and upgraded to modern standards, including the cameras and intelligence gathering systems, which they actually were during the 90's to meet the demands of the command staff who sought their reactivation. The airframe itself is still far from out-dated and has yet to be truly outperformed to this day. All we might be able to do to upgrade the airframe itself might be to get Pratt & Whitney to essentially recreate the J58 with any improvements modern aerospace technology might be able to provide.
crotchrocket00 Eh, that could be replaced. It is an expensive son of a bitch to maintain though, which is the main reason it was put out of service in the first place. And sats have some serious issues.
I heard that NASA had a few of these for whatever research NASA was doing. NASA Also has a few F-104's still flying for research. NASA brought two or three of the F104's to the Dayton Air Show a few years ago and did a flight demonstration. It so cool!
Just visited the Air and Space Museum where one of these beauties is on display. Really impressive machine. The music is by French composer Jean Michel Jarre - " Oxygene 4 "
Meanwhile in 1916.. Orville Wright: "bro do you think flyer will be fast as sound? just random thought" Wilbur Wright: "hahah..maybe in 1000 years" 50 years later...
Hard to believe that these relics from the 60s can still fly. Seriously, we can make a plane that can work for fifty years but we can't make a car that lasts for five?
Von Neely The SR-71 was retired in 1999 and from the looks of this video I would say it just as old. Although I will say it blows me away how it still holds the official Air Speed Record for a manned airbreathing jet aircraft with a speed of 2,200 mph.
I saw the SR-71 make a full speed pass with my family at Burke Lakefront airport near Cleveland, Ohio and that was an amazing sight! Yes, there was a sonic boom and yes it rattled the windows of nearby aircraft hangers! I consider this to have been a rare privilege of my childhood and believe it was only permitted because the Blackbird was flying over lake Erie and current restrictions of speed were not in place back then. It was awesome!
Don’t get your pants in a twist! Not only do we have the F-22, but we have excellent cameras to record it You have to admit, the F-22 is super badass I still love the Blackbird though
This plane is just amazing for its time. This amazing piece of history was decades ahead of its time. This could still fly in service today and still beat most of the planes out there even in 2019. Just truly amazing.
The fastest plane ever made 6 months from design to construction. Saw one on display at Duxford air museum. The most stunning plane ever made, I was like a kid at Xmas.
Fifty years later the SR71 still has to be the coolest looking plane ever built.....what a plane.
Sucks they don't use it anymore, I'd love to take that thing for a spin!
))) Valkyrie ;)
Satchel Hogan
Why use obsolete toy? They have much better toys now? Classified of course.
Some whistle blowers says they can fly at few % of speed of light.
Satchel Hogan hahaha, too bad the U.S. government would never let you do that, and I am putting a lot of stress on never. Their top speed is still classified, but it took a little over one hour for it to reach New York from California. I doubt they would let a civilian EVER ride in one, unless you are a billionaire...
oldi184 Because the only things faster are missles or The Space Shuttle (eventually, but not at first).
I am a retired Air Force pilot. One day in the early 70's I was flying along at 49,000 feet at about mach .95, and lo and behold way above me was an aircraft passing me like I was standing still. It was so high, I could not visually identify it, but obviously it was an SR-71.
Jerry Frechette UFO?
Jerry Frechette which aircraft were you flying at 49000 feet? Sir.
Jerry Frechette nice story sir, 31st an 86TH TACTICAL FIGHTER WING "73-78", 63150 refueling unit !!!! JP-4 salute sir !!!
Jerry Frechette that was me sorry. My girlfriend texted me that she was home alone
Jerry if it was an SR 71 you were standing still 😂
Designed in the 1950's and it's the most futuristic looking plane yet.
John A Designed with slide rules back when real men built airplanes. Kelly Johnson was a genius.
If I have to explain it to you, there is no point and I'm not going to waste my time.
+Michael frumento What exactly didn't you understand about his statement? Real men as opposed to a committee? Don't know what a slide rule is? What exactly "that" are you referring to?
It was built in 1966. and the a 12 was built 1 year before it
It has more of a very retro-futuristic look, it is the sort of look that the Jetson's has.
1960's technology... makes you wonder what they are designing now.
Nothing of that sort, you get better res from orbit today then what thay could produce back then
ills ke Resolution
Cutting edge. Titanium. Fuel JP7 just for this plane. Had to be ignited by triethlyborane. In open air it would spontaneously combust.The JP7 autoignition temperature was so high you couldn't get it to go alone. Drop a lit match in it and it goes out! JP7 was used for cooling of the airframe before burn - preheat of sorts. A compound was in the JP7 to disguise the exhaust plume from radar. Thermal expansion sealed the fuel tanks at altitude and speed. They weeped fuel on the ground. Surface coating for radiant heat transfer and radar absorption as well. And on and on.
Reading that gave me a semi
Thermal expansion did help to seal the tanks @ temp, but at lower temps' these gaps would leak all the fuel -- if those gaps weren't 'filled in' with a substance to help seal those gaps. The gaps were filled with "elastopolymers". This tar like substance worked great after initial application, but slowly degraded over time & use until the leaking fuel was significant enough to effect performance. At some point the aircraft was taken back to Palmdale for re-sealing. One of the problems with bringing the aircraft back is that, by todays standards, the elastoploymer is listed as a carcinogen.
This Jet flew right over my house in 1971 I was only 7 and sitting on the roof with my dad to watch the Air Show but little did we know this Bird was going to make a fly by right over top of our house that day.
I will never forget the blasting hum in my ears and my dad crouched down because the damn thing was so big it looked as if it was going to touch us.
It was so huge even though it was flying relatively high it seemed as if it was within arms reach.
Just after it passed over top our house shook and are ears began to hum then there was this huge bang like thunder then it was gone just like that.
I was never so scared and excited in my life at the same time as when I saw this beast of a bird flying right over my head that day.
I feel privileged to have had that moment only wish we had taken a picture of it, but its engraved in my memory for ever man oh man what a ride.
One lucky person.
Can it VTO ?
Philip Croft No it can't do a vertical take off
that huge bang is called a supersonic boom where something goes faster than the speed of sound
Ya I know just didn't use that word at the time I posted my comment but yes it was loud man.
Cheers
They need to take this thing out from storage, and at least give her one more flight.
Thumbs up if you agree!
give me Death, or give me Death they have secretly 🤫
Aren't they working on a SR-72 by 2025 ..
They can’t fly it any more, entire industries were needed for all the parts. Special tires no one makes any more, most parts are titanium which cost a lot and needs special tooling and entire factories to make one part. It’s insane, watch some of the videos about why it would be a massive massive endeavor to get one flying again
Id kill to see an air show with this birdy just one last time
10 beauty beasts of these would drain air force budget😂😂
Lighter and more powerful planes are a lot out there!
Sure it may be beautiful in looking, but function was not worth the money
I can't believe this things was made in the 1960's! So it is over 50 years old and still is the fastest aircraft, and probably has the most futuristic look of any planes. Awesome piece of engineering. :)
+Olli Jokinen Well the problem is we don't know exactly what replaced the SR-71 because it's top-secret. I would think it goes a lot faster and higher.
+Hesperus Possibly the top secret mythical "Aurora".
+Michael M people actually saw exhaust trails from the Aurora
+Hesperus
Satellite technology didn't do the SR71 any favors. What a great plane it was!
R.I.P.
true. you are right.
And to think the engineers designed this baby with slide rules and pencils.......... Pure genius....
Well-sort of. But if it were not made in the US of A - the comments would be critiques about "copying". See "The Flight of the Phoenix" movie to get the idea how to get the idea...🤣 Then google Griffon III from France. Third step: Apply the Phoenix idea to two Griffons and add a long fuselage between them for fuel.
I bet somebody in a white lab coat had to put a stack of punch cards into a computer the size of a warehouse to calculate a quadratic equation at some point.
They definitely used computers to design it.
It's a pity that back then we could build amazing aircraft like this, but not a decent video camera.
That's a good one.
They had better cameras but not in the consumer grade.
cause ppl werent obsessed with video cameras or anything like that back then.they had better things to do and build like this plane!
They had HD camera's in that time. Look up a video on TH-cam: New York 1960 in HD. They knew more in that time then we did
they could fly over at 80,000 and tell what color eyes you have
It doesn't get any better than this, folks! You are watching the most badass aircraft in the history of aviation! I had the pleasure of watching them do their stuff from up-close at Beale AFB back in '72. The twin hopped-up Buick 425 nailhead-powered start-cart at full-song, those glorious J-58s spooling-up, the twin booms of the afterburners kicking-in, followed by the unearthly screech as they literally tore the air apart is a sound like no other on this planet. I am thankful that I was fortunate enough to witness the spectacle from as close as one could get without getting shot.
I can't believe this was made in the 60s It's the fastest plane to exist I would love to fly this!
I was there at Beale in 1971. This brings back a lot of memories.
Sorry 1974 - 1981.
Yep, that's the best description, the most badass plane ever created! Cheers.🍻
Greetings from Chula Vista, California!
Proud to say my father welded the titanium on these beautiful jets in the late 50's and into the mid 1960's.
We lived in Manhattan Beach at the time then moved to Burbank, California. I'll be 66 soon and I was born in 1958. Torrance , California. God Bless!
I've been told that Kelly Johnson was stumped by the math that, by formula, was limiting the plane's speed. Someone told him to cool the plane...that the problem was caused by heat. Kelly Johnson's calculations factored in the added weight of the special paint that cools the SR-71. The math indicated that the added weight would only slow the plane even more. But he went with the idea anyway. And it worked!
@@ralphcrisp2896Awesome 😇
I get tears in my eyes just watching this masterpiece fly.
Yeah me to
As do I.....
Adahop glad I'm not the only one
Adahop i
Adahop lmao. #lonelyfuck
My mom was a member of Skunk Works. They built these amazing planes. I remember it flying over my elementary school all the time. Along with the sonic booms. This is my all time favorite aircraft.!
wmyrup do you know what ur mom did at skunk works? like did she work as an engineer or scientist?
Don't forget we had concord about the same time British technology aye
I got the honor to see this magnificent machine when I was stationed at Kadena AB, Japan. We didn't know why it was there but the sound of those engines is a sound I will never forget!
I was stationed on Okinawa 76-77. On the Bicentennial at Kadena AFB there were a lot of air craft. I heard this sound more like a loud rumbling sound every day at about the same time. I saw the SR-71 for the first time up close and personal on static display. It wasn't much to look at but the stats on it was tremendous. Now I knew what went over my apartment every night. It was the sound of freedom. Semper Fi to USAF thank you from a Marine :-)
er1073
And a large THANK YOU for your service, my brother in arms. Semper Fi, Marine!
You asked the question. I answered it so now what?
joel trevino
Sophia
There are only two Air Force bases that houses the black bird at that time, one being from the England and the other is at the Kadena, Japan.
Just think about it. How perfect and masterfully made is this piece of engineering - that 51 years later it still holds the world record for the fastest production aircraft ever. God damn..
Yeah.
+michealang1 on the other hand 12 out of 32 chrashed. I think nowadays they prefer to go safety first so there are no more records.
bertoh79 Its not a matter of safety to be honest, more about the money. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to develop an aircraft that travels faster - its just a matter of money and the question: Do we actually need one? And both answers are no.
+michealang1 Using God's name as a curse isn't a particularly smart thing to do. There are far better ways to express your excitement.
On thing I'd like to point out is that the men who designed and built these marvelous aircraft used slide rules. How many of you have to look up what a slide rule is to even see that? There were no hand calculators, Computers took up whole warehouses instead of sitting on a desktop. My phone has more computing power than ALL the computers owned or used by Lockheed and probably the United States did back then.
Chris Baker Whats yourpoint
Its sad that they are all gone and retired . My favorite plane ever .
+JakeTheSnake Well think of it this way, at least our tax dollars don't have to fill up these gas guzzlers anymore haha.
+JakeTheSnake Sattelite technology has made these spy planes redundant.
smoraptor yeah , but still they are cool planes .
JakeTheSnake One of my personal favorites
Why did they retire a plane like this
This is going on my Christmas list
+nick andhiscamera Actually from what I was told by one of the pilots it's kind of boring. You can't really see anything. You can't deviate from your flight path more than about a half degree of angle of attack or the plane comes apart. So it would be kind of like riding in an airliner by yourself, wrapped in a wet suit, inside a dry suit, with a old fashioned diver's helmet on, strapped down so you can't move and all the windows painted black.
Chris Baker I was making a reference to something actually.
+nick andhiscamera What were you referring to then? I thought you wanted a ride.
+Chris Baker it was built for speed not maneuverability, it's the fastest plane around, the official record goes to the experimental YF-12 but it wasn't used in real warfare. The blackbird's missile evading system is just to speed up so that no missile can reach it.
+Antonio Klaić I'm quite aware of that. My other posts should make it clear. Plus Nick didn't answer my question about what he was putting on his Christmas list. The initial intention of the YF-12 was to be an interceptor not a fighter. I.E. Launch, fly to altitude and then really fast out to intercept incoming bombers and blow them up before they could reach America. Would have been a rude shock to incoming Bear pilots. Same logic as the original design specs that resulted in the Lockheed P-38. Never designed to be mass produced, never designed to be maneuverable much. They ended up instead of the expected 50 to 70 P-38s, building about 12,000 if I remember right and about half were converted to the F-5 variant which was photo reconnaissance. Interesting story in Martin Caidens book The Fork Tail Devil, in which an F-5 was sent out to photograph Japanese bases and the pilot kept on his photo run even though he could see the Japanese planes coming up to intercept him. They shot out one of his engines at which point he put the nose down a bit and the throttle full on the remaining engine and proceeded to out run the zeros. Wouldn't you hate to have to explain to your commander how your top of the line Zero, was outrun by a "crippled" enemy photo plane?
In the mid 90’s I worked on a new electric power generating system for the SR-71 at the Aerospace company I work for. I am still proud to have been associated with that fantastic aircraft.
The Blackbird is one of the most amazing aeronautical engineering feats.
BLACKBIRD RECORDS
Altitude in Horizontal Flight
Date: 28 July 1976
Crew: Capt. Robert C. Helt and Maj. Larry A. Elliott
Altitude: 85,068.997 feet
Speed Over a Straight Course
Date: 28 July 1976
Crew: Capt. Eldon W. Joersz and Maj. George T. Morgan
Average Speed: 2,193.167 mph
Speed Over a Closed Course
Date: 27 July 1976
Crew: Maj. Adolphus H. Bledsoe, Jr. and Maj. John T. Fuller
Distance: 1,000 km
Average Speed: 2,092.294 mph
Speed Over a Recognized Course: New York to London
Date: 1 September 1974
Crew: Maj. James V. Sullivan and Maj Noel F. Widdifield
Distance: 3,461.53 miles
Time: 1 hour, 54 minutes, 56.4 seconds
Average Speed: 1,806.964 mph
Speed Over a Recognized Course: London to Los Angeles
Date: 13 September 1974
Crew: Capt. Harold B. Adams and Capt. William C. Machorek
Distance: 5,446.87 miles
Time: 3 hours, 47 minutes, 39 seconds
Average Speed: 1,435.587 mph
Speed Over a Recognized Course: West Coast to East Coast
Date: 6 March 1990
Crew: Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and Lt. Col. J.T. Vida
Distance: 2,404.05 miles
Time: 1 hour, 7 minutes, 53.69 seconds
Average Speed: 2,124.51 mph
Speed Over a Recognized Course: Los Angeles to Washington, D.C.
Date: 6 March 1990
Crew: Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and Lt. Col. J.T. Vida
Distance: 2,299.67 miles
Time: 1 hour, 4 minutes, 19.89 seconds
Average Speed: 2,144.83 mph
Speed Over a Recognized Course: Kansas City to Washington, D.C.
Date: 6 March 1990
Crew: Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and Lt. Col. J.T. Vida
Distance: 942.08 miles
Time: 25 minutes, 58.53 seconds
Average Speed: 2,176.08 mph
Speed Over a Recognized Course: St. Louis to Cincinnati
Date: 6 March 1990
Crew: Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and Lt. Col. J.T. Vida
Distance: 311.44 miles
Time: 8 minutes, 31.97 seconds
Average Speed: 2,189.94 mph
JT vida is my grandpa
@@harperg6489 Nice that he holds a spot in aviation history. 👍
I attended that show with my Mum, we couldn't get anywhere near the perimeter fence due to the amount of people crowding at the Farnborough end, so we walked right down to the Fleet end of the runway.....when that bird left the runway she was virtually at our position and despite having our hands over our ears, it was deafening - what was more scary was the breath getting knocked out of us by the roar of those engines....an experience I will never forget.....
Simply a gorgeous aircraft and a masterpiece of engineering. How can you not get goosebumps watching the black beauty fly
I was fortunate to see this plane retired in 1990 while
in basic training in San Antonio with the Air Force. Pouring down rain but it was still awesome. They brought some out of retirement a few years later, but the plane could still do it's job. Love your video. It brings back memories!!!!!!
We were on our way to see my grandparents who lived in Hampshire, UK. On the way, we passed the Farnborough airshow and saw the SR-71 as she landed having just broken the Transatlantic speed record. My mother pretended she was having car problems and pulled over to the shoulder so that my brother sister and I could get a great view of her landing. She still sends shivers up my back.
Most beautiful plane ever built.
well it is the fastest
not
X-15 was twice as fast... even though it was more like a man inside a rocket.
The x-15 wasnt a plane, It was a bullet with wings!
Sorry, but no, that was Concorde!
Beautiful plane, unmistakeable look, a credit to the designers....
The absolute best jet aircraft ever built by man PERIOD.
define best, just because it's the fastest doesn't mean it's the best. The SpaceShuttle could be considered a aircraft because of it's similarities. Does that mean it's the best? Or is the airliner the best as it shaped the world a lot more than the blackbird did.
That's just my opinion. If you look at the time period in which it was produced, the engineering involved, and not to mention the massive quantity of titanium the CIA purchased from Russia to build it, Id say it's up there with some of the "best" aircraft ever built. I don't see how you could deny that.
Loobo2012 space shuttle's not a jet anyway.
Rufusdos Well technically it's a glider, so the Blackbird speed record got bet by a glider.
Loobo2012 To set a speed record, the A/C must fly a straight and level path over a measured distance, of course the Space Shuttle or the X-15 couldn't do this..also a glider isn't classified as an airplane, as a glider aircraft can't launch under its own power...
I so enjoyed building this as a 1/48 scale model kit from Testors. It was over 3' long and painted like an early OxCart SR-71 with the exposed titanium finish on upper parts of the aircraft. It was my first large metalizing project with the airbrush.
I was a freshman in high school in 1990 at the Dayton Air Show in Dayton Ohio when the PA announcer came on and said the "SR -71 Blackbird has taken off from an airbase in California attempting to break the transcontinental air speed record." 67 minutes later he came back on the PA to announce that the Blackbird had broken the record by nearly an hour. The plane then turned around and came back to the Dayton Air Show and I got to see it and meet the pilot. A day that I will never forget!
Wow! What a privilege & such a memorable moment! Thanks for sharing, Cheers.🍻 Rich.😎
Amazing aircraft. 1960's technology and still no air-breathing engine, piloted craft has ever been built since that could come close to keeping up with it. A true marvel of ingenuity and technology. It's a shame to see this bird retired. Not one ever lost to hostile fire. Amazing.
Yeah, I did some work on the bird . I'm in Seattle and we have one here. It is still awesome!
I was lucky enough to see an SR-71 flight demonstration like this at an air show in California when I was 11 years old. When it makes a low pass like this you don't even hear it coming until it's already flown past you.
That's because its faster than the speed of sound :)
True, but when the SR-71 did low demonstration passes over the runway the pilots kept the speed near but below the speed of sound to prevent a sonic boom which at 450-500 feet above the runway would probably have blown out the windows of every house and store within a 5 mile radius.
Keith Wright
yes but what about the speed of smell?
You lucky bastard!
Thanks, experiences like that led me to pursue a career in the USAF as a pilot but I washed out of flight training due to a minor eyesight impairment. Though I also count my blessings every time I fly my own small plane.
Some of the gnarliest vintage footage I’ve seen. The grain, the music straight out of Midnight Express, I’m in heaven.
I was at this airshow and this aircraft blew my mind and ears and a few car alarms, fond memories and a shame we won't get to see her fly again.
@Satanis Von Jesus The 3rd Facts don't care about your feelings However I saw her at IAT Fairford, I even saw a duck flying once....Yes really no fibs
Such a beautiful piece of American engineering : )
Sir Red El LaBuke lol Dont be jealous because your hole of a country has inferior technology ; )
***** psst... we still use some prop fighters too....
Acidect GD psst, we use prop trainers dummy.
Acidect GD "fighters"?? Turboprop engines are far more fuel efficient than jet engines, and more reliable in unimproved areas with lots of dust, sand, grass, and rocks.
So they are the engine of choice in applications where speed is not
valued, but reliability and cost per mile is highly valued.
They're not the primary "fighters" by any means : /
+TripleThreatKris We use the T-38. No props.
I only saw The SR-71 take off once and it's an experience I will never forget. It was at Norton AFB during an airshow. It was fascinating watching them roll out the start carts to get her going. I believe the announcer said the start carts had Chrysler engines.
When she took off, the noise of her engines was so loud that it rattled everyone's innards. A kid had broken a plastic bead necklace leaving the beads all over the ground. Those things were jumping up and down as the SR took off.
Long tails of shock diamonds.
She looked unreal in the air to me. After a few passes she tipped nose up in a very steep climb with those long tails of shock diamonds again and flew until she was out of sight. I think it must have been maybe a minute or two later when the announcer said she was over Nevada.
Wish I had a video camera because I think that was some "hot leggin."
First off I’m going to have to compliment you on your profile picture. It’s badass
Secondly, 4 years late, your probably not gonna respond, oh well yadayada
Third, I know that feeling. I was at an airshow where they had an F-35 and F-22 take off in succession
It was the most traumatic I’ve ever felt just from hearing a jet
For a full minute the ground is shaking, but insides are rumbling, I can’t process any noise, and you feel a wave of dry heat as the exhaust of the f-35s massive engine hit you
That is an experience I will never forget. I actually lost my hearing for a good 10 minutes
I love that. Just being able to feel the extreme power one of those jets possess
It’s really cool that you got to see an sr-71 fly. I’ve only been able to see them in museums. And damn are they HUGE. Like, the side of a house!
I can only imagine what being near them when they took of felt like
Anyway, one of the SR-71s I saw was supposedly the last that ever flew, or the last one that was made. Pretty interesting, knowing that the behemoth before you probably hit Mach 3.
Literally, the engine is the size of a trailer. A fucking trailer.
@@Kay_213_ Have you both heard of hearing protection?
Imagine Wilbur and Orville, standing at an airshow and witnessing this awesome craft, pass by, at full afterburner... I doubt words could exit their mouths! Words will never, sum up, the true impact of this amazing aircraft! The sound is, simply, angelic... The SR-71 Blackbird, is a gift, for the ages✈🎆🎉
it's 5 days from 2020,that plane looks more menacing than anything in the air today.
Laughs in AC 130
@@RFSA180 Yeah no not even close lol
yeah ironically she was mainly recon,imagine if she had teeth too go with that boom.you wouldn't be laughing then.
The UAV's are more menacing. They kill many targets.
RFSA180 AC is slow asf 💀
I was a US Resident in the early 60´s and to go to work I went by the Burbank Lockeed airport every day, never saw this airplane. But sometimes I had the night shift and around 430AM a couple times I saw it right over my head while approaching the runway. I guess at that time the USAF didn´t show it to anyone like the do now, which makes me think what will they be hiding nowadays...
Good point. Hopefully we never have to find out in any circumstances of war because I have a feeling that whatever they're probably working on right now is crazier technology than we can ever imagine.
Military's of the world like to hide their best stuff so foe's don't know what they're up against but the military is more conservative with planes nowadays. Speed is far from a priority, it's more about stealth, effective weaponry, and cost efficiency these days. I'd say today's equivalent of the SR-71 in the advanced technology department would be the autonomous drones that can fly an entire mission from take-off to landing without human interaction. Just press start and away it goes.
Killer2600 True, it seems that more of the speed technology of the past was really motivated by desire to keep the pilot from dying, basically. With drones, there's no threat of pilots dying and plus, the whole concept of dogfighting seems like a thing of the past.
Aidan Cox Perhaps, I tend to think the need for speed (and the willingness to buy the fuel for such speed) was attributed to protecting the investment by having a significant advantage. The SR-71 before it's disclosure was so fast that if anyone saw it they would be in disbelief that it was a plane and if they did know it was up there and try to shoot it down it was capable of out running any missiles let alone fighter planes. Protects the pilot by proxy but truly protects the great sums of money spent on the plane. SR-71 pilots were required to be married to ensure the pilot would have a reason to come home and come home alive.
I fully agree with you.
We’re all admiring this beauty, but imagine how much cooler it is to Fly this thing..
I want to be borned in 50’s so i can see this amazing jet fly. I get tears in my eyes every time i see this legendary bird the SR-71 Blackbird. Amazing
this plane is, without question, one of the most stunning works of beauty and engineering that has ever left the runway. if it were legal to marry and breed with an aircraft, i would totally wed this one.
No-lifer
Bestguy2000 u wot m8
Jeremy Nickols You forgot to mention it was designed in the 50's, with no help of 3D computer design whatsoever...Lockheed Skunk Works literally drew this amazing piece of technology by hand (and mind) !
Jeremy Nickols it’s out of your league
It’s out of everyone’s league
I am so very proud of my uncle and the others who made this plane a reality. Rest in peace Uncle Richard!
Just imagine, the SR71 could cruise at Mk3 or slightly above, for nearly an hour at a time, without any lasting damage to its engines.
Just about every other jet capable of Mk3 or faster,could only achieve that speed for around four minutes,then their engines needed technical maintenance, due to the intense stress placed on their engines.
The SR71 was one special jet.
And expensive :)
Yes that too
+Alex Yen more expensive than Concorde and tu-144
Not many people will know, that the Skunk Works responsible for the maintenance of the SR71, also had to maintain 53 specially adapted Boing 737 aircraft.
Every time a SR71 took off, there had to be two of these 737 fuel tankers in the air at the same time, to refuel the tanks of the almost empty SR71s.
It was the incredible cost of maintaining both jets and transporter planes that saw the demise of the SR71 programme, as well as the deployment of satellites in space.
The tankers were kc-135s, modified from Boeing 707, not 737
I was stationed at Osan AFB Korea in 1983 and saw it take from there and do a fly by after circling the hills and mtns around song ton tee and came blazing down the center of the runway before going almost vertical before returning to Guam. What a beautiful site to see.
An amazing day, it's remained so vivid, thanks to this plane! I was about 7. Amusingly, during this display I got separated from my dad in the crowd but still managed to enjoy an epic moment in aviation history. Wonder who the crew were and where that plane is now?
Thank you so much Kelly Johnson...you saved our asses.
Rick Davis thats a stretch!
@@rojay9546 Take a look at all the planes Kelly Johnson designed and their history of contribution.
He was kind of an asshole, but, like Patton, he was OUR asshole
My favourite plane of all time . The look is just PERFECT
I was at the Pima air museum in Tucson, AZ. They have an SR-71 on display there. I'd wanted to see the plane for a long time. I felt a sense of grief when I had to leave it behind and go home. It was absolutely majestic.
Back when our country was so adventurous with technology and pushing the limit of what's possible... We were so curious and determined. Nowadays, we just don't have the same passion, sadly.. I wish things will change soon. It's sad that our highest flying and fastest aircraft was late 50's, early 60's technology. I'm sure there's something being worked on, but, its just not the same.
Well, we have the f-22
That thing is fucking badass
@@Kay_213_ But it has no correlation to the SR-71! The F-22 is a stealth fighter jet and the SR-71 is purely a recon aircraft.
The footage looks as though it was at RAF Mildenhall. I remember the bird well. When I was stationed there in the late 80's, Air Fete was in full swing. I was a member of the base crash rescue team. We were allowed to train on the SR-71 for such situation as to egress the crew from the plane. I even got to sit in the front cockpit. Wonderful aircraft. Sorry to see her go.
Was wondering if it was RAF mildenhall because the announcer sounds British. I’m English and grew up in the neighbouring town of Newmarket. Went to an air show at mildenhall in the very early 90’s and was lucky enough to see this fly. The reason I’m sure it was the early 90’s was that half way though it’s display it went vertical and sodded of at an incredible speed. That announcer said it had been called into service over the Gulf.
I think it’s RAF Fairford
Yeah, not meaning to say this video is from the 90’s. Just that I attended in ‘90(I think) and saw this fly. Think they left the bases not long after that. Remember it being billed as a farewell sort of display.
It's great us Brits having allies like the USA. We get to see beauties like this.
*The LockHeed SR-71 BlackBird* An advanced, long-ranged, strategic reconnaissance aircraft capable of mach 3 and an altitude of 85,000 *feet!!!!*
DO YOU EVEN READ MY CHRISTMAS LIST!?
mach 3.5*
Thank you, it brings back memories, my father worked on this plane, I saw it when I was 9 or 10 years old, mid- late 80's Cal. It was cool to see, will never forget it.
there is no sweeter sound than the sound of jet engines. it is the sound of freedom.
no its the sound of war
Samath Lokuge and hearing loss
I believe that F-104 is far the best souding jet ever made.
F-14 is the best sound i ever heard.
Heard it too, but still prefere F-104.
Still the most beautiful bird in the skies! 💚
All of you jerks pay respect to the SR-71 Blackbird.
Correction:
The BADASS
SR-71 Blackbird!!! A legend & Aviation Icon!!
All hail the fastest air breathing aircraft ever created
Technically yes
Are they allowed to?
Hell no
@@142horizon I want one in my Christmas stocking this year !!!
@@Kay_213_ Doesn't matter if they could or couldn't carry bombs or if they were or weren't allowed to.................they were designed solely for spying! How effective do you think bombs would be at 80,000 feet? Didn't have smart bombs yet. That's like asking if a tractor trailer rig could carry passengers. Sure it could if you put seats, windows and doors in it! The point is, it is not made for that!
Growing up next to Offut AFB in Nebraska in the late 70's and 80's. For some reason this clip brings tears to my eyes. Maybe its thinking of childhood and air shows or the horns in the background.?.?.. i dont know.
Kelly Johnson the genius who designed it
Are there any comments on here about how this thing leaks fuel on the ground because the fuselage expands and contracts so much? The plane goes so fast and creates so much friction heat on the leading edge of the craft that the fuselage had to be engineered to expand and contract with the temperature difference! Amazing piece of engineering for an amazing aircraft!
It's a foot longer in the air at speed than on the ground. The standard takeoff procedure is to get in the air running on empty, get altitude and do a supersonic "sprint" to warm up the airframe and seal the fuel tanks, then come back down and fill up before heading off on a mission.
Ryan Willis Pretty amazing considering the planes age. Definitely one of my favs!
Ryan Willis you had everything right besides landing to refuel they get up to alt and do a mid air refuel then had off just sayin look it up and you will see.
Bigthings559 By come back down I meant come down out of the stratosphere. You're right, they don't land for fuel.
The cockpit was hot enough to cook on when it landed. The red strips were warning tape to tell engineers to keep away because of heat
SR-71. -- designed. By: Kelly. Johnson. And. The. Boys. At. Lockheed! Just: Genius!!
And, made with only Logarithmic Rulers, Computer was not there yet. Beautiful achievement by Kelly Johnsson. and his Skunk team.
I watched one of these awesome machines landing at R.A.F.Lakenheath with my daughter years ago,it was an incredible sight,i have never forgotten it and my daughter,now30,remembers it clearly.A superb aircraft and sorely missed.
I get tears in my eyes knowing almost all of them have been scrapped for their titanium alloy.
A lot of them are in museums. You could probably easily find one.
Hill AFB...The SAC Museum in...Kansas I think
You also got the National Air and Space Museum
If you ever are going to go there btw, make sure to go to the HANGAR, not the one near the whitehouse
The SR-71, Discovery, those are all in the hangar
@@Kay_213_ The Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio, on the Wright-Patterson base has one. I stood next to it, and touched it. It is bigger than it seems in all the pictures I see of it.
I've seen 2
One in Huntsville Alabama
One in Dayton Ohio
lots of em are just chillin in the museums now they safe bro don’t worry
@@googleuser868 I've seen the one at the Smithsonian. I'm a couple hours drive from Dayton, which I'd like to see really bad. Kalamazoo Michigan has the one of two sr-71 B's that wasn't crashed, I would also like to drive to that one.
I don't care what you say, the SR-71 is STILL the most awesome looking plane in flight, ever...
LOVE this plane. Kinda looks like something batman would fly back in the 80s haha. Love this. And I know it's unarmed, but it looks like it would drop a nuke or something. Intimidating bird right there.
Wrestling World ironically it was the X-mens plane
Wrestling World if the devil came to the earth , I think he would arrive in this ! 😄
One of the best soundtracks combined with one of the best planes and vintage quality... Nice!
On March 06 1990 an SR-71 flew from Los Angeles, Calif. to Washington, D.C. in 64 minutes and 20 second. Mach 3+ (2,000 MPH +)
And taxied straight into the National Air and space museum hangar
XD
Top speed of the SR-71 is still classified. They may say mach 3, but it is so much quicker than that.
Cut it with the conspiracy bulls hit
Such a beautiful plane.
Indeed!
A glorious machine, perfect testament to human enginuity
Such a bad ass looking bird. There will never be anything quite like it. Still can't believe this thing came out of the 60s!
Unreal aerospace technology for its time, for any time....
Whenever I see these clips I always imagine its missions over the Ho Chi Minh trail and it out running SAM after SAM. To my knowledge I do not think a single pilot was ever lost while this plane was in military service!
There was at least 1 pilot lost, out of Kadena after takeoff, about 1968
It was 67. Turns out there were 3 losses and I thank them for there service.
www.sr-71.org/blackbird/losses.php
Thanks!
flip inheck But they were all non combat casualties
Yeah, 20 is probably an exaggeration
This plane was super successful. I don’t think a single one was SHOT down. Crashes, yeah. Pilot errors, yeah.
But SAM missiles have nothing in this planes speed
One SAM detonated close enough to cause a minor shrapnel impact. But they couldn't lock on to the aircraft, due to the speed, altitude and to a smaller degree the stealth. It basically needed to be a lucky hit, which was feasible but apparently very unlikely as they went about zero for 4,000 in their attempts. The crew described the SAM as appearing like a speeding telephone pole!
Still the fastest air-breathing aircraft to ever fly. And a product of the Cold War.
The amazing thing is that I remember when I was a kid in the mid 1960's these planes were around. Now I am in my 60's! We used to build Revell models of them, and they were a recognized modern marvel then. One piece of American technology that made us #1.
Behold! The eternal glory of Jetfire!
This just may be the greatest aircraft ever built
Official speed 2193 mph. That's 2063.61 FPS (feet per second)and that makes it faster than most speeding bullits.
Alfonso Ramos Fast enough to escape friggin' Russian (well, Soviet) Ground to Air missiles !
Felipe Massa
Yeah sure, but by the time the Migs scrambled to take off for interception after radar detection, the Black Bird was already too distant to catch up with :-)
+Al Wallace Yep. It's main purpose was to run the rockets out of fuel before it could be caught.
+Alfonso Ramos 2193 mph is equal to 3216.4 feet per second.
+Felipe Massa 1 out of 3 were lost over the entire service life of the program which was 1968 till 1999. That's basically 1 plane a year which is amazing considering most of the time these planes were operating at mach 2+.
The program was shut down because of many factors. Soviet missile tech was finally catching up to the SR-71. More importantly though is that the Satellite surveillance network became extensive enough to take over the vast majority of the missions. UAVs were used for those rare times when a satellite wasn't available. Basically economically cheaper methods that didn't risk the lives of men became available and took over.
Migs wouldn't be able to do anything about the sr-71. It's far to high and far too fast to catch up to. THe mig 29 and even the mig 35's service ceilings are at least 27,000 feet BELOW the SR-71s. Not to mention the difference in speed being at least mach 1.15. It'd take one hell of a lucky shot for a mig to hit a sr71. This is assuming that the mig pilot knew exactly when a SR-71 was coming in and was already in the air trying to intercept. There wouldn't even be a point to launching a mig otherwise. By the time the mig pilot got into the air the SR-71 would be damned near out of Russian airspace. A mig 25 wouldn't even be able to reach a SR-71. With missiles the mig 25 is looking at a service ceiling 20,000 or so feet below the SR-71. Sure the mig 25 can hit mach 3.2 but it grenades it's engines in the process. Mach 3.2 of course being .2 mach too slow to even keep up with a sr-71. Best you could hope for is to take a shot at the SR-71 while it flies over the top of you and that's not likely.
The newest s400 on the other hand SHOULD easily be able to reach the SR-71.
I lived in Lancaster, California at the end of the runway of Edwards Air force base in the 1970's! Every once in a while the window of our office building would start to rattle. Everyone would run outside, we knew what caused the noise, the SR-71 was flying by. It's an amazing site to watch it fly by, not only the noise, but the speed. It was a treat to watch such an historical aircraft...
I bet that was a real handful to fly low and slow. The sled wants to stretch its legs and touch the edge of space.
Maury Rosenberg is on youtube somewhere else, saying it was a joy to fly on landing circuits.
Freakin love this black jet they should put it back in service lol
crotchrocket00 It was actually brought back into service for a few years during the 90's because of the limitations of satellites, and that bit on technology is a bit of a moot point to me. Yes the electronics are out-dated, but they can be switched out and upgraded to modern standards, including the cameras and intelligence gathering systems, which they actually were during the 90's to meet the demands of the command staff who sought their reactivation. The airframe itself is still far from out-dated and has yet to be truly outperformed to this day. All we might be able to do to upgrade the airframe itself might be to get Pratt & Whitney to essentially recreate the J58 with any improvements modern aerospace technology might be able to provide.
crotchrocket00 Eh, that could be replaced. It is an expensive son of a bitch to maintain though, which is the main reason it was put out of service in the first place.
And sats have some serious issues.
I heard that NASA had a few of these for whatever research NASA was doing. NASA Also has a few F-104's still flying for research. NASA brought two or three of the F104's to the Dayton Air Show a few years ago and did a flight demonstration. It so cool!
Just visited the Air and Space Museum where one of these beauties is on display. Really impressive machine. The music is by French composer Jean Michel Jarre - " Oxygene 4 "
I saw the SR71 display just like this at RAF Mildenhall in the 1980's. Still one of the coolest things I've ever seen.
I wish the US would keep this bird in service
+Richard Caballero Sadly they're obsolete now with satellites. Fantastic plane though, totally agree with the sentiment.
Simply beautiful, master piece.
This thing was faster than the Flash on the season finale...
The engine roar at 0:23 is probably the most awe-inspiring thing I've ever heard. Unbelievable.
honestly the plane is really scary looking....
and interesting but this thing has no armament but only speed.Hell, that's more than enough tho.
It doesnt need countermeasures. All it has to do it accelerate and turn
@@vczs imagine it with some sort of mini gun and bombs
Meanwhile in 1916..
Orville Wright: "bro do you think flyer will be fast as sound? just random thought"
Wilbur Wright: "hahah..maybe in 1000 years"
50 years later...
Chuck Yeager flew his Bell X-1 at Mach 1.06 in level flight on 1947-Oct-14. He's still alive (about 97yo now).
Love the john michel jarre tunes..
I remembered watching your video when I was a kid literally when TH-cam first came out. Glad to see you still have this video up after all these years
I still find it amusing that in order to save fuel, all they had to do was fly faster!
I can hear Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygène Part 4 in the background
@Martin M Nice but unnecessary. We are here to listen to the plane.
@@RossNixon super necessary
T H E J O U R N E Y
Dude actually Thankyou. I found this video years ago and couldn’t find the song. I read every comment until yours.. 😂
'MURIKA!
Big stupid thing.
Hard to believe that these relics from the 60s can still fly. Seriously, we can make a plane that can work for fifty years but we can't make a car that lasts for five?
Von Neely The SR-71 was retired in 1999 and from the looks of this video I would say it just as old.
Although I will say it blows me away how it still holds the official Air Speed Record for a manned airbreathing jet aircraft with a speed of 2,200 mph.
*****
Fair enough. Still impressive, though.
***** FUCK YEAAAA
I saw the SR-71 make a full speed pass with my family at Burke Lakefront airport near Cleveland, Ohio and that was an amazing sight! Yes, there was a sonic boom and yes it rattled the windows of nearby aircraft hangers! I consider this to have been a rare privilege of my childhood and believe it was only permitted because the Blackbird was flying over lake Erie and current restrictions of speed were not in place back then. It was awesome!
this son of a bitch did a record time of 1 hour and 54 min from new york to london!!!!!!!
If there was one thing i really wanted soo much
It would be flying the SR-71
+Gewoon Doen look up the a-12, it's the sr-71's badass brother.
50 yrs old. But we got snapchat now, HOOOORRRAAAY.
snapchat is for teenagers and lets see if you can snapchat at 85,000 ft and read a watch on the ground!😊
Don’t get your pants in a twist! Not only do we have the F-22, but we have excellent cameras to record it
You have to admit, the F-22 is super badass
I still love the Blackbird though
This plane is just amazing for its time. This amazing piece of history was decades ahead of its time. This could still fly in service today and still beat most of the planes out there even in 2019. Just truly amazing.
Even in 2024
just amazing!
Wish I could have been at this air show!
the best. respect
DO YOU EVEN READ MY CHRISTMAS LIST
CH-CH-CHECK YOUR PRIVILEGE!
Alacnay The Great bitches love cannons😂
The fastest plane ever made
6 months from design to construction.
Saw one on display at Duxford air museum.
The most stunning plane ever made, I was like a kid at Xmas.