Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird | New York to London in 1h 54 mins | The untouchable reconnaissance plane
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 พ.ค. 2024
- The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a long-range, high-altitude, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. It was operated by both the United States Air Force (USAF) and NASA.
Just do a sr71a blackbird speed check!
The SR-71 was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft during the 1960s by Lockheed's Skunk Works division. American aerospace engineer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many of the aircraft's innovative concepts. The shape of the SR-71 was based on that of the A-12, which was one of the first aircraft to be designed with a reduced radar cross-section. At one point, a bomber variant of the aircraft was under consideration, before the program was focused solely on reconnaissance. Mission equipment for the reconnaissance role included signals intelligence sensors, a side-looking airborne radar, and a photo camera; the SR-71 was both longer and heavier than the A-12, allowing it to hold more fuel as well as a two-seat cockpit. The SR-71 designation has been attributed to lobbying efforts by USAF Chief of Staff General Curtis LeMay, who preferred the SR (Strategic Reconnaissance) designation over simply RS (Reconnaissance, Strategic). The aircraft was introduced to operational service in January 1966.
During aerial reconnaissance missions, the SR-71 operated at high speeds and altitudes (Mach 3.2 and 85,000 feet, 25,900 meters) to allow it to outrace threats. If a surface-to-air missile launch was detected, the standard evasive action was simply to accelerate and outfly the missile. On average, each SR-71 could fly once per week due to the extended turnaround required after mission recovery. A total of 32 aircraft were built; 12 were lost in accidents with none lost to enemy action. During 1988, the USAF retired the SR-71 largely for political reasons; several were briefly reactivated during the 1990s before their second retirement in 1998. NASA was the final operator of the type, retiring their examples in 1999. Since its retirement, the SR-71's role has been taken up by a combination of reconnaissance satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); a proposed UAV successor, the SR-72 is under development by Lockheed Martin, and scheduled to fly in 2025. The SR-71 has been given several nicknames, including "Blackbird" and "Habu". As of 2021 the SR-71 continues to hold the official world record it set in 1976 for the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft, previously held by the related Lockheed YF-12.
The SR-71 was the world's fastest and highest-flying air-breathing operational manned aircraft throughout its career.
General characteristics:
Crew: 2; Pilot and reconnaissance systems officer (RSO)
Length: 107 ft 5 in (32.74 m)
Wingspan: 55 ft 7 in (16.94 m)
Height: 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
Wheel track: 16 ft 8 in (5 m)
Wheelbase: 37 ft 10 in (12 m)
Wing area: 1,800 sq ft (170 m2)
Aspect ratio: 1.7
Empty weight: 67,500 lb (30,617 kg)
Gross weight: 152,000 lb (68,946 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 172,000 lb (78,018 kg)
Fuel capacity: 12,219.2 US gal (10,174.6 imp gal; 46,255 l) in 6 tank groups (9 tanks)
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney J58 (JT11D-20J or JT11D-20K) afterburning turbojets, 25,000 lbf (110 kN) thrust each
JT11D-20J 32,500 lbf (144.57 kN) wet (fixed inlet guidevanes)
JT11D-20K 34,000 lbf (151.24 kN) wet (2-position inlet guidevanes)
Performance
Maximum speed: 1,910 kn (2,200 mph, 3,540 km/h) at 80,000 ft (24,000 m)
Maximum speed: Mach 3.32[N 5]
Ferry range: 2,824 nmi (3,250 mi, 5,230 km)
Service ceiling: 85,000 ft (26,000 m)
Rate of climb: 11,820 ft/min (60.0 m/s)
Wing loading: 84 lb/sq ft (410 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.44
Avionics
3,500 lb (1,588 kg) of mission equipment
Itek KA-102A 36-48 in (910-1,220 mm) camera
SIGINT and ELINT equipment in the following compartments
A - nose radar
D - right chine bay
E - electronics bay
K - left forward mission bay
L - right forward mission bay
M - left forward mission bay
N - right forward mission bay
P - left aft mission bay
Q - right aft mission bay
R - radio equipment bay
S - left aft mission bay
T - right aft mission bay
More Aviation Icons @ • Airplanes | Icons & St...
0:00 Introduction
1:47 January 25, 1966
5:14 Winter, 1957
9:45 Spring, 1958
12:59 March, 1959
24:05 December 22, 1964
33:55 March 21, 1968
36:18 August 26, 1981
42:55 March 6, 1990
#blackbird #aircraft #SR71 - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
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the record for NY to London is 1H 4M 20S, your title has a typo in that regard my friend
Hey there how are you doing today?
D RUSSIAN BUILT ASCRIBE THEIR PLANE FASTER THAN US, WHY DONT D US TRANSFORM DS FASTEST PLANE THEY BUILT TO DEFEAT D RUSSIAN?
DroneScapes Thanks for the upload. and I checked out your recommended link. Dang! I just subscribed.
SR-71's chines that allowed the removal of the planned canard idea were recycled for F-22A and F-35A/B/C. The chines also acted like leading-edge extensions.
It’s crazy that they went from propeller planes in WW2 to this with all its capabilities and speed at Mach 3.2 in just 20 years roughly.
we had jets in ww2 bud
Thank those crazy Nazi scientists.
@@MarkPentler nothing like this "bud"
Aliens my friend.
@@joshua3630 The Nazi scientists didn't invent the jet engine, it was a British inventor called Frank Whittle. The Germans built the flying bombs, the Komet, the 262 and the Arado and we were slow to the party with the Meteor, all from patented Jet engine tech. The British air ministry said no the Whittle when he showed them the engines, the Germans saw the good side and beat us in our own game, no change there then.
When I was a kid my first ever experience with the SR-71 Blackbird was a small Matchbox toy. At the time I thought it was just a toy spaceship that looked cool, I was around four when I got that toy. A few years later I got a post from an aerial photograph of a Blackbird in flight & couldn’t believe something that looked this amazing was real. I would read books, articles, any information I could on the Blackbird was just always amazed at this incredible aircraft. I took JROTC classes in high school & on of my teachers for that class was a former crew chief for the Blackbird, I always asked him questions about the plane & his experiences working on it. I remember him telling me when seeing it take off & land was two of the most amazing things anyone can ever experience & that from talks with the pilots he worked with that flying at Mach 3 was just indescribable. I still remember going to that class in 1998, my teacher pulled me aside & asked if I heard the news, I told him what news? He told me that the Blackbird had been retired, I was dumbfounded & asked why? He told me let’s have a moment of silence for the aircraft, we did & after our moment of silence he said that aircraft is an amazing piece of engineering & that it was officially being retired because satellites were now going to be used for that purpose, & that the short retirement in the 90s didn’t count but for me to just think of the long career that the Blackbird had & the time it was designed & built just a feat of engineering. I’ve never got to see one up close but when I was in the military I was stationed in Okinawa in the early 2000s & I went to Kadena airbase to see where some of its flights took off from.
The people who created this plane are the type of people who should be famous, it’s genius.
When science figures out what politicians have figured out. That’s when these kinds of people will become famous and celebrated. Bill Nye and Neil Degrassi Tyson have figured it out. The rest of the science community needs to do the same. So we can get back to smart innovative thinking in America.
@@mbrown7093 lmao...Bill Nye is not a doctor nor a real scientist...he's a celebrity...and Neil is an egotistic blabber mouth that never actually answers the questions aksed of him but simply talks a bunch of nonsense..and then retorts by answering the question with another question...he never truly simply just answers a question ...nope hes a choad.
@@Arturo-lapazamen brother. I celebrate himas well !!!
People who are scientists, engineers and biochemists ,,,,,, and contribute to society for ever. Nothing compared to gobshite celebrities .
they are famous lol
I was at Palmdale for the last SR71 fly over. The plane is simply an American achievement of the highest order. My father retired from the Skunkworks, and I couldn’t be more proud that he was counted among these men. 🙏🇺🇸
Palmdale come back to me.
@@yourdaddy6030 ??
@yourdaddy6030 Lol...I just moved from Palmdale a little over a year ago (thankfully) and remember that song. 😂
My business was just north of the end of the runway (by Sierra Highway), and I would often see the SR-71, B-1, B-2, the shuttle (on top of the B-747) F-117, and just about EVERYTHING that flew out of Plant 42. Fascinating as #$%^!
incredible. I make a comment 11 months ago and not even a thumb up or any reply, but any stupid comment get thumb up and reply. WOW. Really the world is full of stupid.
I'm the daughter of an aeronautical engineer who was --also-- a pilot, so I grew up in small planes and airports. When I told my dad, over a drink during his last battle with cancer, that the Blackbird was the most stunningly beautiful plane ever designed, he told me he was proud of me for having better taste and sense than some generals he knew. 8-)
i hoped your dad survived that cancer battle
@@micz8376 No, sorry, he passed on Xmas Eve 1996. Took 6 yrs to take him down though. His Quiet Birdmen buddies toasted his 'going west'.
@@bethjudie8 MUST'VE DONE A FINE JOB, NEVER HEARD OF ONE FUTZING OUT ANYWHERE. 8-)
my grandpa invented the airplane
Sorry, dear, TEAMS of engineers and designers work on those contracts; no one person is ever credited with 'inventing' any particular model of warplane. It's a military contract, with subcontracts for various modules and sections of the craft. Dad was director of the US Army's Aviation Command in St. Louis for a number of years, I heard reams of detail on projects while I was in high school. If he worked on part of the Blackbird project, they did great work! 8-)
The SR-71 was, and still is, a landmark in aviation. Speed, looks, technology-no other plane comes close. Great documentary.
Possibly not true, after the SR 71 was retired something flew out of area 51 and out to and around Catalina Island and back into Area 51 setting off Earthquake sensors. The only evidence of something flying out of it was the Earthquake sensors going off. They estimate whatever flew out of Area 51 can fly at least 2,000 mph faster than the SR 71. Months before the Catalina incident something crashed and it was believed to be the replacement for the SR 71. From what the vapor trails looked like it had a pulse jet engine and the friction from it going through the air tore the skin off and it crashed.
@@rmendoza5953 wank
Look up the A-12.
There was one other plane in the same league - the XB70. Unfortunately, it was never allowed to go past the prototype stage.
nothing today rivals it Keep your stupid "stealth,toy bomber !!can'tmatch Blackbird machs!!
Kelly Johnson was one of the truly great American heroes. His contribution to avionics is unmatched by anyone.
Except the wright brothers.
@@randymarsh9197Remarkable to think that just 60 years separated the Wright brother's flight at Kitty Hawk and the maiden flight of the SR-71.
Um,,, aviation…. 🤔
incredible. I make a comment 11 months ago and not even a thumb up or any reply, but any stupid comment get thumb up and reply. WOW. Really the world is full of stupid.
@@irisbaez1972 - I just thumb upped you. Hope you feel better.
However, I don’t see a previous comment on this thread.
Don’t worry about what others think. You have no control of that..
The SR-71 was a design marvel 50 years ahead of it's time design wise. The fact it wasn't made using computers still astounds me to this day. It's a legend among the aviation community and likely will be for many years to come. It should not have existed when it was made.
Indeed! I remember a documentary where they said all they used was a well used slide-rule! 😁
I bet what they are cooking up right now dwarfs this
We made the nuke without a computer pal this is childs play
incredible. I make a comment 11 months ago and not even a thumb up or any reply, but any stupid comment get thumb up and reply. WOW. Really the world is full of stupid.
Sigh…
Why does this myth persist? Of course it was designed with computers. Computers were in widespread use at the time. Look up the Wikipedia article the IBM 700/7000 series mainframe computer and the title photo is at NACA (where a lot of the aerodynamic data for the Blackbird and lots of other aircraft came from).
Slide rules were used for preliminary designs and checks.. not for heavy number crunching.
I’m 43 years old and this aircraft is actually one of the reasons I joined the military. I did a report on the SR-71 in 7th grade and absolutely fell in love with it and the military. Unfortunately my grade’s were not good enough nor did I have that great 20/20 vision to land my ass in the Air Force and I ended up and infantrymen in the USMC lol just a bit different… but I still love the aircraft none the less.
Thank you for your service
It’s amazing how they were able to creat this at such an early age... hard to imagine what other feats they have engineered that are top secret and unknown to the general public. Hats off to the engineers!
Yess...50 years old damnn
learn to spell
@@adrian-qr6zk Why should he, he didn't need to and contributed more than you did )))
@@BeKindToBirds i have no idea what you are talking about
People are getting dumber and they are forgetting how to build these technical marvels as the engineers and people who made them pass away. We live in a brain drain technological dark age because tiny hats are in control and they repress the world
That engineer was the real talented man.
WOW. I get goose bumps! My dad worked at Lockheed and he was part of the Skunkworks. He's passed now and I sure miss him.
Are you serious?
Yeah, I miss my dad too... it's been 28 yrs, and it still hurts a bit. I know I'll see him again. I'll catch up to him next run around the mulberry bush... lol.
(hugs)
This magnificent machine was created by guys with vision, determination and a can-do attitude. No ridiculous computer modelling or twenty-three year old grads that say it can't be done, just slide rules, HB pencils, a pack of Marlboros and sheer bloody determination. Gentleman, the world salutes you all.
It was an amazing achievement. Those engineers didn’t invent the slide rule so why is it frowned upon to utilize tools like computer modeling now?
LOL! weak ass comment
@@dowdayjing8442 It's not so much that the computer is frowned upon, but rather, the computer over the years has gained a kind of mystical infallibility.
In some circles, the computer is no longer just a tool, but an end in itself.
Those old guys with the slide rules understood this, and knew that slide rules (or computers) are tools that should never be confused with desired results.
@@dowdayjing8442 The slide rule isn’t frowned upon at all. It was what engineers and scientists used since calculators hadn’t been invented. The computers at the time were still being researched to make them smaller and faster. When I was in high school in the 1970’s, we were taught how to use the many functions of the slide rule. Some calculation results even had to be approximated as you would when measuring something and the distance falls between a couple of hash marks on the ruler. The year the first hand held calculators became available to consumers, a simple for function one cost $100. My mom and I paid $50 each to get one. Years later, in private pilot ground school, I was introduced to the E6B flight computer. Turned out to be basically a circular slide rule.
It’s very much like the fascination people have for things like The Pyramids. How a people could build something so momentous with such limited technology. I am all for making the SR-71 the Eighth Wonder of the World. Kelly Johnson wasn’t just a brilliant engineer, he had a goal in mind and had the determination to reach it.
This is the best comment of all youtube .,cheers
My father was a mechanic on the SR- 71. I still have memories of seeing these awesome planes flying over Beale AFB in California. Even today, still the most beautiful aircraft ever made.
Do you have any proof? :/
@@LazyLizzy706 who the fuck you think you are asking for proof.
@@LazyLizzy706 he’s not gonna post his dad’s experience certificate now, would he?
Did your father know a guy named Arnold Leifring? He worked on U2's as a mechanic.
@@davidlibby5430 I couldn't tell you. I was just a little boy then and my father passed away several years ago. It is possible because my father also worked on the U2. Especially if he was stationed in Thailand or Okinawa.
The SR-71 has to be the coolest looking aircraft ever to grace the skies ! 👍
I kike the B-1 also.
True but the B-2 is up there. Maybe even second imo
incredible. I make a comment 11 months ago and not even a thumb up or any reply, but any stupid comment get thumb up and reply. WOW. Really the world is full of stupid.
I like the B-1. A real beauty.
Saw the Blackbird up close on a couple occasions in the mid-80s in England, included from a car near the runway when one was taxiing and taking off. Looking at these videos of test flights from sunny California doesn't quite capture the dark, menacing spookiness of this plane like it does seeing it in the gloomy early evening of rural England. Also, it maybe quiet at altitude but taking off it was absolutely deafening! As an Air Force brat I was used to jet noise, but this thing was on another level.
Jerome - I was stationed at Kadena’84-86. It received the nickname ‘Habu’ there. The Habu snake was the most poisonous and feared thing on the island. Also, when first deployed there, it was launched only under cover of night. So, the general civilian did not know what it was. I got to ride in the “FOD” car prior to a takeoff and stand in salute on the tarmac as it took off. Yes, the sound was tremendous. I described it as “thunders the soul”. I had many amazing opportunities during my USAF career - this was one of the most outstanding. Your dad obviously did a great job, to be part of the team! 👍🫡
Oops, it obviously wasn’t you who said their dad worked with the SR. Please disregard.🤦🏻♀️
Amen to that "noize" bit. Duck hunting at Gray Lodge national Wildlife Refuge one time an hour or so before dawn I heard the loudest jet roll off I ever could imagine..
love the description of the SR prowling through gloomy English countryside...GOOSEBUMPS
I feel so privileged and fortunate to have witnessed this plane in flight. As a child living on the former KI Sawyer AFB, the SR-71 made a slow and then a fast fly by at an air show, as close as I can estimate, around 1980. What I remember about the slow flyby was how incredibly loud it was. What I remember about the fast flyby: You saw a speck in the distance, and about halfway through your thought about perceiving the speck, it whistled over the flight line. Then, what seemed like a minute later, came the shock wave and the roar. I’ll never forget it.
I saw it at an airshow as a kid. The thing I remember most, was when they fired that thing up while it was sitting on the tarmac. The whole ground rumbled and vibrated. The shear power in those engines was nothing short of awesome.
As I age sometimes I wonder about why we still have airshows given how many deaths occur every year. Then I remember going to them as a kid and how interested it got me in mechanical things, science and engineering etc.
I got to watch an Aussie FA18 go completely batshit at an airshow in NZ. I'll not forget it, but I so envy you your memory!
I grew up near Beale AFB in California. During the Viet Nam War, I saw this plane all the time and of course, heard sonic booms all the time as well.
Me too. I seen it in early 80s. What an awesome experience... Loud as hell too
My Father worked with Kelly Johnson on this Aircraft in Palmdale and Burbank but was primarily located in Ontario,Ca. Dad was Lockheeds highest paid Radar engineer from 1954 to 1978 with only an 8th grade education, He was self tought, the fact that Dad was an FCC licensed Ametuer Extra class Ham radio operator is pretty much how he landed the position without filling out an application, Lockheed didn't know he didn't have a diploma and somehow found that out in the 70's and made dad go back to school and get one, boy was Dad pissed!🤣
Not having a diploma didn't show on his job, otherwise he would have got booted. That stupid thing to go back to school, when your career is almost done.
Lmao !! That's GREAT !! My Dad in law had only a 6th or 8th grade education and was common sense WICKED SMART and a self made multi millionaire before age 40 !!! WHAT is going on with people anymore !! No one has any common sense !!!
Great friggin story !!
@@kurtbyars766sometimes smart is portrayed differently. I see kindness and don’t need millions. I’d like it but that’s not my prerogative or that’s what I’d do. To each their own.
That’s awesome to hear about. Im a lockheed engineer working on stuff right now, and working at skunk works is my dream. Self teaching myself a bunch of things to hopefully interview there some day.
I can't remember where I saw it, but I remember reading a comment that read along the lines of: "my grandad grew up in the Soviet Union military and worked in one of the jets designed to tackle the SR-71, and was there first hand to witness the sheer speed of the blackbird... and in 2005 he went to a space museum, reached out, and touched the jet and said "finally, caught you" I don't remember who said that, but that comment has never left my mind whenever I think about the SR-71
This will always be my all time favorite aircraft. An absolute icon and a HUGE step forward.
incredible. I make a comment 11 months ago and not even a thumb up or any reply, but any stupid comment get thumb up and reply. WOW. Really the world is full of stupid.
😅😅😅@@irisbaez1972
I had the privilege and honor to work on both the SR-71 and the U-2 aircraft from about 1980 through 1990. Truly amazing technology for its time ans many experiences i will never forget.
Wow, Congratulations
I envy you. I turn 60 this year, and been working in IT since 40 years (as a woman ). I always wanted to become a pilot of this Kind of Planes. But having a child with 16 years, Kind of Finished that dream. So at least i wanted to be Part of aviation IT. I enden up at EADS. Not Bad. But my dream Was always to fly the böaclbird.
The most important quote here.....
"I think one of the lessons of the SR-71 is, when you give men and women a task and you give them the authority and the resources, it's amazing what you can create. "
I don't think any women worked on that thing 😂😂
women do horrible things with authority
@@alainportant6412 EXACTLY. Tell it like it is. The girls weren't there for this bird.
What they can create.Give credit where credit is due
Got that right !
I met Col. Rosenberg briefly at an aviation presentation in California. He was a very unassuming man--none of that hotshot pilot swagger, but rather just an ordinary guy. But of course he was NOT just an ordinary guy. He flew 230 combat missions in Vietnam, many of them over enemy territory. He was an instructor at the Air Force's version of the Top Gun school. He calmly dodged a missile over North Korea. He was selected to take flying legend Chuck Yeager for a ride in the SR-71, and post-Air Force, he was a captain with United Airlines. He's an example of America's finest.
As a Marine stationed on Okinawa in 1970 - 71 I remember traveling along the highway along side of Kadena AFB and the traffic would be shut down and the Blackbird would exit the hanger and hit the runway at speed and launch just that fast. Very little time for photos.
I was stationed with the Marine Corps in Okinawa, Japan in 1981 and saw the Blackbird on several occasions. At least twice when it was coming in for a landing as it flew over my camp, Camp Courtney, and then a handful of times on the flight line when I drove past Kadena Air Base, which my job in the Corps required me to do. The coolest and most lasting memory was once on a trip around Kadena I stopped at the end of the runway when I had the chance to witness one take off. What an amazing experience watching that singularly impressive leviathan fly over my head up close and personal.
I was there at camp kinser (Army) we bought in all the fuels for us military on island ! Even time it went up the area round Kadena came to a stop til in was out of sight! Bout 20 seconds from the time you saw the 15-20ft.blue flame afterburner light til the roar of those J58s died down...what a show!!!😎
fawfwa123
@@abbeyoatley?????
I was down at Kinser in 86 and got to watch it take off and go straight up in the night sky many times. It never failed to make me stop whatever I was doing and stare in awe.
@scott d when you saw that afterburner you knew what it was! Early morning or at night just as impressive!😎
It amazes me how humble these men who flew this great feat of aviation are.
I remember the first time I heard about the SR-71 as a kid and I was awe struck.
Look up Brian Schuls "Sled Driver". you'll love it!. Especially the "Speed check" at the end ;)
Pilots tend to be really humble and respectful from what I've heard. Especially military ones. Such an awesome breed
yes.. only If you have nothing to say, you need to speak loud and much.
@@emphopho I heard him call this story in originally to Art Bell... this perked my interest in it even more. I had a box of cards... that were 8x8 cards... that had all the various military aircraft. With photos & specs... I fell in love with the SR-71 and the B2 on those cards... especially the SR-71... just look at that beauty. Nothing today even compares to it. But it's also this aircraft that inspired the Space Shuttles Discovery, Challenger, & the other ones I can't remember the names of. I think there was 3 or 4 Space Shuttles that all looked alike.... Challenger was lost in 1986 Tragically... Discovery was the last to fly if I remember correctly?
@@factsdonthavefeelingsbeawa2953 Orbiter Vehicle-099 Challenger(lost 1986), OV-101-Enterprise(atmospheric flight test vehicle only), )OV-102 Columbia(lost 2003), OV-103 Discovery, OV-104 Atlantis and OV-105 Endeavour. During the 4 orbital test flights using OV-102 Columbia beginning in 1981-STS-1 through STS-4, the crew size were just 2 crew and the pilot and commander were both wearing a pressure suit called the Shuttle Ejection Escape Suit((S1030A). This pressure suit and helmet setup is a direct descendant of the A-12/TF-12A/SR-71/M-21 Blackbird family's S1030 pressure suit. The David Clark Company's suits allowed Blackbird/U2 and Space Shuttle crews to eject up to 100,000 feet altitude at speeds over Mach 3. The suits/helmet/ejection seat all worked in concert to keep the crewmembers arms and legs from flailing about during ejections. Too bad that for STS-5, after the shuttle was declared "operational", crew size increased to 4 at minimum and the crew compartment became a "shirt sleeves" environment. These suits and parachutes would have given the Challenger crew at least a chance of survival. As it were, the orbiter broke up at 58,000 ft IIRC and continued upwards to 72,000 feet before falling down to teh sea. Those altitudes do not support consciousness without PRESSURIZED oxygen supplies, which they did not have. Just the PEAPs(personal egress air packs) which were designed to allow breathing, on the ground, in smokey noxious environments. Not to supply breathable oxygen at altitude. I didnt realize Shul called in to Coast To Coast with that story, I'll have to search for it. Art Bell was awesome. BELLGAB!
Thank you for this video of the SR-71. One day while delivering freight to Palmdale Air Force Base..I was given the opportunity to see this plane up close and personal. Actually got to see inside the cockpit and was amazed at all the oil pans laying the length of the SR-71 and untold in the video... astronauts actually pilot this plane because of it's altitude. Beautiful aircraft and I'll cherish these memories of that day as long as I live.
Did my time at Beale when I served in the AF. 100th CES. I worked at “Special Facilities” that handled the photography side of things. Saw images of Mt St Helens when it blew! Also had a flight on board a KC135 to refuel that plane. Completely out of this world laying in the back looking at that aircraft with the snow capped Sierra Nevada’s in the background. Really enjoyed my time there.
''Very cool'' !! 😎👍
In August 1984,my cousin and I flew an SR71 from Beale Air Force Base to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. We hit 85,000 feet at Mach 3.9 before landing at RAF Fairford to take a leak then took off for a Mach 3.8 flight to Laikipia Fighter Base in Nanyuki, Kenya. We landed to loud applause from Kenya Air Force personnel,that's the minute I awoke from my super duper dream on a Bed in an Eastlands Estate in Nairobi, Kenya. I had been reading Frederick Forsythe's THE DEVILS ALTERNATIVE paperback thriller and had just gotten to the chapter where a Captain O'sullivan flew a Blackbird to Moscow. What a dream that was :) :) :) :}
👍😉
It's a flyable bullet. Still the coolest plane ever made.
Not cooler than the 22 or 35.
@@commiezombie2477 Hotter than both. Faster than both. Higher than both. The ultimate spy plane for over three decades. Nothing touches this plane for it's legacy. It was tried and proven. but yes, the F22 and the F35 are really cool planes, but as fighters they don't even come close to the mighty F15.
The SR-71 Blackbird is the most badass plane ever conceived and built IMHO.
Could fly higher and faster than anything of its kind!! In fact nothing even close was ever built!! The F-22 & F-35 are great planes that can move in ANY conceivable direction in fractions of a second!! But the SR-71 will never be equaled.🛩🛩
And not made with computers.
@@patrickmollohan3082 it flies high and fast. That's cool, but that's all it does really. It's a one trick pony. A really nice and fast pony. But just one trick.
The SR-71 Blackbird was the most advanced reconnaissance aircraft of its kind. Its air superiority was on a totally different level. Sublime.
''Waaaay ahead'' !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I met at his house on a plumbing service call an airforce general who in a picture had a bunch of stars on his collar and in his "man cave/office had the coolest pictures and a model SR-71!! HE WAS with the operational part of the program and what a joy to talk with!! I just love this stuff and no date to come over and just listen to him was briefly discussed but never confirmed!! In retrospect I'm sure I wasn't the first ya-hoooo that "wanted to come over and talk with him!! Lol. The plumbing issue unfortunately minor an quick to repair so I went on my way, lol, I wanted to hangout and look at all the pictures!¡
Totally agree that it is a piece of artwork. It still looks futuristic. I've seen it at the Smithsonian and it's far larger than I'd have ever imagined. It's a masterpiece.
I've got a pic of me with a hand on the starboard nacelle and you're right, it's HUGE!!! (This was in the late 90's b4 9-11. I think it was on display at the St Paul/Min National Gaurd Base) But I guess it had to be to hold 80,000lbs of fuel😂 Actually met Col Graham at the 03 Sun n Fun, really nice gentkeman👍
I have watched this playing fly hundreds of times in and out of kadena Air Base Okinawa and the Okinawan people whenever it's coming and going stop completely on the highway and watch it come and go out of respect for the plane known there as "The Habu"... When I was stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base I happened to be in Cincinnati Ohio and heard the sonic boom as the SR-71 overflew that City and that record setting flight in 1 hour 4 minute flight from Los Angeles to Washington DC... Just a couple of months later if not less I was on the west end of the runway for the Air Force museum as I was headed back to work and traffic at that end of the base was shut down as the SR-71 spent a little over an hour doing flybys and touching goes to burn off fuel and then went and did a couple of flybys of the Dayton international airport at the airport traffic control towers request so that normal 15 minute drive back to the office took me about two and a half hours but I wasn't complaining LOL I've also viewed the plane at the Warner robins Air Force Base museum as well as here at Eglin Air Force Base armament museum and driving interstate 15 up past Hill Air Force Base museum... I have also seen the A-12 in battleship Park along the US 90/98 bypass alongside interstate 10 on the east side of Mobile Alabama, then on interstate 565 just before entering Huntsville, another A-12 and the US space and rocket center in Huntsville Alabama And I'm anxious to see what the sr-73 is going to do...
@@n7565j if you go on Google and search locations of SR-71 it will give you a complete list of where they are located across the country as well as where the A-12s are located... It lists and shows you on the map about 25 locations across the country and of course there weren't but about 12 or 13 sr-71s... And if you never got the opportunity to see that plane fly I tell you, you missed something... I had that pleasure in 76 through 78 on Okinawa and when it landed at the Air Force museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in 1990
They had one at the Air Force Museum. But then it was pressed back into service.
When I was a kid, I used to build model airplanes and I always bought the same scale. That way when I hung them up, all their size was relative to one another. When I built the blackbird, I thought I had bought the wrong scale because it was so big!
Kelly Johnson was one of the most important geniuses of aviation history.
He is definitely on the Mt Rushmore of aviation legends.
Him and the skunkworks
Big +1 there !
It was tracked by me on my radar and clocked at over 2200 mph in 1962. The plane was spotted into and out of its range without any issues. Can not say any more.!!!!
The SR71 didn't even fly until 1964
@@gr8crash His dates may be wrong, but his facts aren't. I used to track it on a regular basis as it would fly East from Central Canada and enter Soviet airspace around Provideniya Soviet Naval Base. Alaskan Air Command radar at the time (1972) would track the aircraft outbound at mach 3.1 (in my case, the aircraft would transmit IFF until feet wet, then it would go dark). BTW, my specific job at the time was "movements and identification", where I was tasked with identifying EVERY aircraft flying in and around the northeastern corner of Alaska... every aircraft except this "unknown" mach 3 aircraft that routinely flew long duration missions over the Soviet Union and (I assumed) China. It might not have been the Blackbird, but that's what my money's on. P.S. When they say the SR-71 never flew reconnaissance missions over Russia, it never flew AFTER the 1980's and the development of the MIG-31
@maxsdad538 so many inaccuracies in this comment. The aircraft didn't fly east from Canada to Russia. The only missions it flew from the east coast was a few of the Yom Kippur Middle East missions. Going west isn't likely either as they didn't fly to Russia from Beale. The missions to Russia was from Mildenhal and some from Kadena. There was a mission they flew from Beale up to Alaska once or twice but that was it.
And no, in its entire career it never flew into Soviet or Chinese airspace. In the early years it did perform some flights over NK but these to were changed to border flights as there was just no need to fly into their actual airspace. Not did the Mig25/31 have and influence on what the SR71 did it didn't do.
All wrong. Besides, the unarmed spy camera platform pilots learned real fear when the 1968 MIG-25 hit the skies. Fully armed, armoured & combat ready it can do Mach 3.2 and blow the helpless SR-71 out of the skies to boot.
The unarmed SR-71 does Mach 3.4; a combat-ready, armed & armoured 1968 MIG-25 does Mach 3.2, about 125 mph less.
My Father was stationed at China Lake 64-66' and we got to go to Edwards and see the Blackbird on the ground and in the air. Entering Edwards there was a big sign that read- "What you see, what you hear here...let it STAY HERE". We were friends with X-15 pilot Bill Dana and some of the Blackbird pilots. The size of the Blackbird is imposing at 107 ft. Watching it fly was a memory I shall never forget.
Redding California here. I have seen this beautiful bird twice. Both at our airshow. 1st time it was a centerpiece of the show, disassembled on trucks. The 2nd time though is a childhood memory I'll never forget. A low, and a high-speed flyby. It actually looks like a missile in the air at low speed. The high-speed was incredible. The announcer said, look south here he comes, I looked, saw a black spec in the distance.. the spec grew and shot silently past the crowd and was completely out of sight when the ungodly BOOOOOM hit the crowd. They used to let the blue angels and others break the sound barrier here. You have no idea how awesome till you've been BUZZED by this scary machine..... I was 8 or 9. So loud it made me cry. And I had muffs on.
Red bluff here saying hello
Awesome story, thanks.
I envy u, I wish that was me crying
@@peoasdosdsdas they just took away our airshow because our greedy city hall wanted too much for the use of the airport and fuel. Makes me sad. But super sonic blue angels, thunderbirds and the all mighty black missile are indeed some of my most cherished memories
This presentation was all business. There are bunches of stories from the pilots from doing air shows, fly-bys, and the infamous speed check.
I've been within ten feet of one numerous times.
I looked all over this magnificiently designed aircraft and it never failed to hyponotize me with numerous questions I knew I could never ask.
I imagined the fuel leaking out of it before it took off and the smoking hot wing tips when it landed.
I tried to guess how the engineers defeated the massive heat expansion and front edge erosion problems with the various surfaces versus the airframe where those panels were attached.
How they worked out actually getting the work done in a aircraft flying so damn fast.
What a gorgeously silent keeper of her own secrets.
I truly envy the very few human beings who ever flew these rocketships of the sky.
The SR-71- an engineering benchmark in time.
Beautifully said
Phil It was "beautifully said". You, or any of us, could "ask' the questions, it's just that they ain't giving out any answers, at least not in this lifetime or the next.:).
One time my grandpa got hit by one
@@jakesock58 working on the ground crew?
@@phil4986 nah in the air he was a hot air balloonists
To think they didn't have fast computers, but slide rulers, pencils back then to make an aircraft that still holds speed records, awesome, simply awsome.
They had computers. IBM 700/7000 mainframes. If they had to use slide rules they would still be trying to design it to this day.
Nothing but respect for those who designed this flying technological marvel. No supercomputers, no CAD. Just paper. pencil and straight edges. Amazing!
Kudos to all the engineers and test pilots. You can have all the money in the world but without the brains and skilled people to bring quality out of it, it becomes of little use.
Built it with a slide rule. Amazing!
Welcome to America today...all the money in the world but without the brains and the skilled people to bring quality out of it...
I mean you could have all the brains in the world and not a dollar and it's just the same
The world needs less money and brains and more compassion.
@@charlesnelson5187 you have no clue the engineering marvels being developed now in the US.
The SR-71 will always be my favourite plane and behind that the Harrier and Thunderbolt II. Absolutely genius engineering.
Hey what and why’d we leave all that hardware in your front door and yard? Biden’s Dreams Of Total Anialation
For me the English Electric Lightning, SR71 a very close second😊
Concorde
My favorite military plane will always be the next one!
I’ll excuse the A-10 not being on this list since it’s more of a flying gun than a plane lol
It is unbelievable that the prop planes used in movie Devotion took place just 13 years earlier. This level of engineering advancement is absolutely insane.
ufo technology
incredible. I make a comment 11 months ago and not even a thumb up or any reply, but any stupid comment get thumb up and reply. WOW. Really the world is full of stupid.
The SR-71, The Concorde and the B747, all three icons.
Amazing what a pot of coffee, slide rule and a pack of Luckies will get you.
Back in my college days we were the first class to use calculators. My instructor voiced his displeasure with the school's decision to make it mandatory. The beauty of the slide rule is SEEING how changing factors affect the answer...the calculator does NONE of that...just the answer.
That and a team of some of the greatest minds in aerodynamics, and engineering. Actual geniuses on a level most humans can't conceive of.
Having seen one of these under the refueling boom while on a mission, I'm so impressed and honored to have provided support for that mission. She was beautiful, even with all of her leaks, and I would do the same mission today if able.
Leaks? Thermal expansion on the metal joints I take it?
@@quigonjinn5349 yes, apparently it leaks when on the ground. When in the air the friction causes incredible heat and expands all the seals to the correct size
It must have been surreal.. you were witnessing an aircraft decades ahead of its time. People cannot imagine how fast it was because there’s no film of her flying close to the ground at max thrust.
@@finsterclause7184 well at refueling the sr-71 had to go to a super slow speed (sub subsonic) and the fueling plane had to go almost max speed.
Cool, me too. I was at Det 1, and then Det 4, when it was cancelled.
The single most gorgeous aircraft to grace the skies of our planet!!! The epitome of aircraft design so far ahead of its time and pushing every envelope of the aeronautics industry at the time...she is one of the if not the sexiest aircraft to ever fly...speed, looks, and a holder of records which will anyone will struggle to beat...E V E R...it's one plane that if you merely mention it she conjures up all sorts of ideas of just how this beast firstly flew...and secondly how the Skunkworks came up with its design during the era it did...everything about this aircraft is astonishing...exotic and just simply awe inspiring!!!!
The most memorable moments of my Marine Corp years were those few months stationed in Okinawa while attached to VMA- 513 (AV8-A Harriers) . We always stopped our work to watch the Black Bird take off and land. The SR-71 always sat isolated on the runway after landing, the rumor was it had to cool down after each flight
incredible. I make a comment 11 months ago and not even a thumb up or any reply, but any stupid comment get thumb up and reply. WOW. Really the world is full of stupid.
Maybe its cuz your an azz@@irisbaez1972
One thing they did not mention about the record-setting retirement flight of that particular SR-71 (on display at the Smithsonian & setting yet another record, the Fastest speed/time coast to coast) was piloted by Ed Yeilding.
One of many flights he made in the Blackbird... I was lucky enough to meet him while working at the Southern Museum of Flight in B'ham, Alabama. He is an Alabama native and moved back to the same small town upon retirement.
An extremely nice and humble man.
I went to the Air and Space Museum, and there was nothing there.
@@philipwebb960 yeah, I’ve been there as well.
The Smithsonian air & space museum encompasses several buildings and areas around DC… not just the main/original museum at the mall.
@@philipwebb960 It may have been at the Udvar-Hazy campus in Chantilly, Virginia.
Possibly in one of the hangars.
It was mentioned. In this video.
If you are on Reddit for more than a week you will see the text version of that story. Copy-pasted. You can run a clock by it.
This is the best documentry ever. The aircraft was truely an engineering marvel.
I agree the best documentary !!! God Bless America !!!! 👍👍👍👍
I was in the Air Force from 1974-1996 and sadly never got to see an SR-71 until they were retired in museums. I teach aviation classes and one of things I mention is that we went from the Wright Bros first flight to the SR-71 in the first 60 years of aviation! We went from the SR-71 to UAVs in the second 60 years. My question is: Where will we be in the next 60 years? Also one of the few remaining SR-71 pilots that gives presentations, Brian Shul (author of Sled Driver) gives great presentations. Don't miss him if you have the chance. I've had the pleasure of seeing him 5 times. Every time is a treat.
Brian Shul is a great person and pilot! If you are interesting in other amazing pilots, here is another list not to miss:
Hal Farley, F-117 / Skunk works test pilot: th-cam.com/video/HVRgRReiYPk/w-d-xo.html
Richard Engle (X-15, Space Shuttle): th-cam.com/video/VlT_IdjE6OY/w-d-xo.html
Eric Winkle Brown (flew almost 500 different aircraft): th-cam.com/video/PSRAdZzRycc/w-d-xo.html
Hoot Gibson (too many aircraft to list!): th-cam.com/video/sPH1kSa-6zE/w-d-xo.html
Bud Anderson (WW2 Ace): th-cam.com/video/_cyEeyDT52c/w-d-xo.html
There are many more on the channel, hopefully you will enjoy these videos.
Saw this at the S.A.C. museum up close n personal and even stading still it looks terrifying beautifull stunning and powerful at 8yrs old it was hands down the most amazing thing i had seen in my life and i still remember that experience nearly 30 yrs later
Anybody that's ever seen any of these - ''timeless/steller'' - works of ''epic'' functional art,, in the air,, or on the ground,, will never forget it . 😉
I visited the SR71 at Duxford last year, beautiful aeroplane , still looks futuristic to this day, imagine people seeing it 60 years ago.
Mistook it for a weather balloon Lol.
incredible to me that this actually existed in the 60s
Oh aye, it's a supersonic beast, it only landed at airports with a long enough runway.
Safety was utmost, the french one crashed taking off because a mechanic left a tool on the runway when a wheel ran over the pliers they shot up straight through the wing and fuel tank and turned the Concorde in to a flying bomb.
Looks like a Sega Megadrive peripheral.
Ummm...like, a real REALLY fast (and expensive) one
@@thegreathadoken6808 a brit invented the first jet engine that was up to the standard to be put in to operation.
As a child I spent six years living in North Las Vegas, Nevada near the runways of Nellis Air Force Base, during the Viet Nam war era. As the F100's and F105's etc., would take off and land. The jets were low enough that I could see the pilots and I waved as they passed. Which for me, was a very exciting experience as a young boy.
Several years ago I visited the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, OR. where the SR71 is on display. It was my lucky day, as an SR71 pilot and his wife were also there at a book signing event. The pilot delivered a very informative and equally as exciting presentation.
I sincerely enjoyed this detailed video documentary as well.
Thank You,
to all of those committed to the development of the SR71.
Hi there I'm also from Vegas born and raised nice to meet another native , but bro I can't see the pilots at all but the planes are badass iv been seeing the b1 bomber a lot because there doing the red flag Exercises right now. It's cool.
@@TYSONBAR123 Howdy,
My address was 3787 North Lake Mead Blvd. Which is close to the runway. I also had friends whose dads were stationed on base. So, we rode our bicycles around the base. Fun and Exciting!
[I cannot even believe I still remember, the address after 50 years]
Perhaps the older jet cockpits were configured differently, is the reason I could see the pilots? Being on base made it close up and 'personal'.
F100's and F105's are the two jets, I best remember.
Thanks for your reply.
@@markgenn8967 oh no bro I'm not saying your lying I believe you but Damm how did you see them .
@@TYSONBAR123 th-cam.com/video/SiAW6u4Yt1w/w-d-xo.html
It's rare that you find such a nice documentary *for free* on youtube! Good Job
That plane for me is the most beautiful thing man has ever made, it boggles my mind it was done so long ago.
''Saturn 5'', is pretty darn ''steller'' also,, but the the SR-71 has always been my fav. Plane .
I had the pleasure of meeting and later discussing the “Habu” with Dave Fruehauf. He wouldn’t tell me everything about the Blackbird but his stories were amazing! He passed away October 2020. RIP Dave Fruehauf
I knew the 1st SR-71 instructor pilot that ejected with Dave Frehauf. I have pictures of the two of them together in 1967 and 2017. Robert G Sowers passed away Dec 2018. Sowers best friend of 50 years was Gen Pat Halloran . It’s awsome getting to talk to the blackbird pilots.
Forgot to mention Gen Pat Halloran is in this video in the yellow shirt. He helped me get information from other blackbird pilots on how the engine system worked.
My picture has Robert “Gray” Sowers, me and Gen Pat Halloran at the Air Force Academy in 2016.
@@lardawg6794 I was planning on meeting up with Dave when the pandemic cooled off. Since both of us were USAF fighter pilots, we had a lot to discuss. I hate that I didn’t get the chance for the follow up.
@@lardawg6794 very cool!
This is the best sr-71 documentary I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen many
Ya great job DroneScape for making it! You sure do make some great documentaries.
Thanks so much for the fantastic trip. Your genuine caring kindness interacting with those soldiers was great to see / feel. Eah
Thanks for a great video I truly appreciate it. I’m a design engineer using many different CAD systems. I’m always astonished by the fact that these guys used slide rules and pencil/ink. too design such a magnificent plane. The mother of all invention is inspiration (and desperation). These engineers and pilots took invention light-years beyond. Thank you Skunkworks!!!!!
I had the privilege of seeing the SR-71 when I was in the Marine corps in 1976 in Okinawa Japan, totally incredible plane, Natives called it the Habu. We had to wait for one to land before our plane took off for the states. Semper Fi
Natives? Talk about bad word choice.
@@coldwynn I wasn't being derogatory when using the word "natives" as I was referring to the people who ever they are as in habitats of the island.
@@coldwynn Looks like you need to increase your word vocabulary. You think the word "Native" is only used uniquely to describe primitive people dancing around a fire cooking the explorer in a pot.
@@kevinmckinney3785 Native Hawaiians you knob. They don't need some pasty mick trying to get outraged on their behalf lol sit down.
@@jasonablah7702 Looks like you need to increase your reading skills.
My reply was to Coldwynn Frost, not Tom McDonald....
I was stationed at Kadena AB in 1970. I saw the bird take off three times. It was the "Habu" squadron. I worked on B-52 D,F, and G models. 1968-72
Refresh my memory. I was there in 1986. Did they use to send 3 or 4 jets out first before the Habu went up?!?
1986 in Vancouver British Columbia, sitting in my office I heard an unworldly howl rapidly increasing in intensity, I ran to my windows overlooking the harbor just in time to see the SR-71 screaming UNDER the Lion's Gate suspension bridge ...it flew past just above the water then shot up with both afterburners lit and disappeared in a few seconds. The next day I was attending the Abbotsford Airshow and there she was in all her glory. Parked on the apron surrounded by barriers dripping fuel from the wings. The attending Russians were just standing as close as they could get staring at what they had only heard about,. That Vancouver flypast was the single most impactful audio and visual event in my lifetime.
As a teenaget in the 70’s I remember seeing a picture of this machine and literally going WOW! All these years later I’m still saying WOW., Amazing the speed record is still held by it decades later… WOW…
Am guessing you didn't get to see it in the air though ??
Damn shame if you didn't. 😔
@@I7435IC I wish I had. !
I live in Las Vegas. My Dad woke me up one morning, I'm guessing around 3:00. I figured he was talking me fishing although I had expressed zero interest in going. I fell back asleep in the truck on the way to what I presumed was the lake. My Dad nudged me awake as we entered the back gate of Nellis AFB. I was still groggy and had no idea why we were stopping at the base. Suddenly, my Dad pulled over to the side of the road and said, "C'mon, we won't have much time."
I got out, and he grabs my shoulders and aims my body at a hangar. The nose of an SR-71 was poking out of the entrance of the hangar. No sooner did I see that when an MP Jeep pulled in front of our truck. The main was quick to the point, but pleasant..."You can't stop here."
My Dad explained that he just wanted to show me my favorite plane as he saluted my Dad and we got back into the truck and headed home. The entire viewing lasted maybe a minute and a half, lol, but it's still the fondest memory I have with my father.
🤩🙂♥️
That is so freaking awesome.
I saw one at an air show outside Sacramento. First, it did a slow, low altitude fly by. At first, I thought how quiet it was, but apparently, I was outside the cone of noise. Once it got closer, wow, it was incredibly loud. Then it did a high altitude fly over, on the way back home. The announcer said that if it was doing its top speed, and initiated a U turn over Sacramento, it would be over Reno before it finished it.
The explanation of its engineering transcends beyond my imagination. I don't normally make comments but I cant help it after fully watching this documentary about such a profound technology as the SR-71. Tears of of joy and excitement just rolling down my cheeks from a statement of SR-71 ''You cant get us, we are here, we are watching you'' . Love it
👍♥️🙏
I saw the SR-71 in Palmdale California. They are absolutely amazing!!
I drive by one of these on my way to work everyday. It's one of the coolest aircraft I have ever seen.
Thank you to all the pilots, rso’s and engineers at skunkworks that made this masterpiece possible. From the A12 to the SR these beautiful tools contributed tremendously to the safety and freedom of America for decades. We would not be where we are today without these amazing aircraft and brave men and women that made them possible.
Cooking? The pilot's food was wrapped in aluminum foil. When they got hungry, they would hold the package against the window to warm it up. (The windows ran at 400 F.)
I saw one at the Pima air museum in Tucson. Incredible....flown 60 years ago. Imagine what we have now that we've never seen !
Talent and diligence made this possible. Those engineers behind the scenes need their own awards.
Thank you for the documentary, my second cousin Stormy flew the Blackbird in the early 80s. Nothing but pride and awe to the plane and the pilots.
To think they they built that plane without a computer people today couldn’t do what these genius minds accomplished
You were a great wrestler.
Yet genius minds design computers.
they built this plane with a slide-rule, paper, and pencils; no software lol
When men where men
It is just incredible that this plane was designed with slide rules!!!
incredible. I make a comment 11 months ago and not even a thumb up or any reply, but any stupid comment get thumb up and reply. WOW. Really the world is full of stupid.
It was not. Computers were common.
Designed and built without computers. That is engineering at its best! Kelly Johnson at his best!
I'm a Air Force veteran. And the SR71 is my favorite jet.
*an
I had the pleasure of seeing this magnificent beast fly at an airshow in the 80's here at el toro (socal) as a kid. I was blown away and in awe and instantly became my favorite plane, and still remains my favorite plane.
Until the day I die this former AF brat will forever love the SR-71....my father SMSGT Harrison M Fox Ret. was involved with this remarkable beautiful aircraft almost his entire career...My mom had her SR-71 pin until she died...now one of my sisters cherishes it.
Watching the blackbird take off & land was always thrilling & this video brings back so many AF memories...and yes we were @ both Edward's AFB & Beale AFB..
Sometimes I think I was one of the luckiest people in the world....to see the X-15..the XB-70 and the SR-71....
SR-71 Blackbird single-handedly tipped the reconnaissance battle in favor of the US during the Cold War. Really I felt a heavy heart when I read about its retirement after decades of service.
The SR-71 still retains the record as one of a very few if not the only aircraft never shot down in combat.
I believe one was shot down over Yugoslavia and that’s how the soviets got their ideas for stealth planes
@@Papashaft that's not correct. This aircraft was never shot down.
@@WillsJazzLoft I served in the US Air Force, two aircraft come to mind of never being shot down in combat, the SR-71 Blackbird, and McDonnell F-15 fighter!!!!
@@GM8101PHX thank you for your input and for your service
@@GM8101PHX Actually, two F-15's were lost in 91 due to enemy fire. There's a video somewhere of an interview with the pilot of one of them.
Watched the Blackbird at Cosford Air show back in the day, so impressive. What an amazing aircraft
Thank you so much for this video. It is amazing what our people in the field have accomplished. WOW!!!
thank you again
To think this was built 60 years ago is impressive, I wonder what kind of crazy plane could be in existence now with modern technology?
They would end up with the SR71, she wasnt just state of the art then, she it now. And she pushes her materials to the limmit even today, it would be a BITCH to manufacture. The SR71 was then, is now, and always will be the pinnacle.
We'll find out in 60 years. Doubt they'll release new proprietary technologies
Unfortunately the need for planes has reduced.
Like a beautiful sword, things have moved on somewhat.
In short, missile technology won. This, the su-29's and F-14's ... basically broadswords in history.
Same with this wonderful bird. She is of an era that is gone ... aerodynamic speed and power for manned aircraft.
Now it is electronic
The "Green Lady" is nearly 20 years old. Look in to Wichita and the "Flying Dorito". Then, the RQ-180. Welcome to the Rabbit Hole.
@@lexion2772 What you did there was try to legitimize two completely bullshit things with one thing that is real.
Two "alien quality" sightings don't legitimize your assertion that the 180 is born from the same programs. The 180 is absolutely nothing special at all and you have missed a lot of more serious signs because you focused on moronic evidence.
Real evidence is things like the additional construction and blurred hangars on satellite images of Tonopah. Things like lockheed's vp dropping hints in 2017 they 3d printed an engine.
You know, actual verifiable evidence. Not garbage speculation and blurry conspiracy blogs.
Like, come on. If you are actually interested in this out some work into it and get higher than 4chan and blurry zoomed in photo level garbage ok
I saw an SR71 on the tarmac of Kadena A.B. in Okinawa.The year was 1971.i guess it was refueling, possibly for a run over Cambodia or maybe North Vietnam.I.was blown away by it.It was, of course, heavily guarded.
I was at Kadena AB at the same time. I was around 2 years old at that time though. The "Habu" nickname was adopted from the venomous Habu snake found on Okinawa and the neighboring Ryukyu Islands. Dad got stationed there again in the early eighties. (Mom is from Okinawa.) The SR71's hangar was located on the far side of the runway opposite the main terminal.
I wonder what kind of mileage it gets. Probably uses a gallon of fuel every six seconds or something like that. Who can afford one?
@@stevenwolfe7101 I know it gets more fuel efficient when you fly it high and fast )))
@@stevenwolfe7101 it used up to 44,000 lbs of fuel per hour, so 730 lbs per minute. specially formulated fuel.
@@romulus_ JP-7
I was lucky enough to fly a blackbird on a number of occasions. It was memorizing every time I had the incredible experience of opening my birdcage door and watching my little polly enjoy her freedom. She was a beautiful Black Canary.
In 1969 I was at a strategic air command base where we also had nuclear missiles, and I was taken in the middle of the night to the flight line and let off in front of a aircraft that looked more like a flying saucer. I was left to guard an SR-71, because I had the security clearance and the rank for it. It wasn't on base very long, but for a few hours I was allowed to watch over it with my mouth wide open and my eyes bugged out.
I was at a base were we had the SR - 71 also station there.
it was just at our base once for a few hours. but I was just a few feet from it and it's just otherworldly. We had nuclear loaded missiles and storage site too.@@efrainrodriguez9550
Just AWSOME. I get excited every time I see it. The Air Plane that the world needed and didn't even know it at the time. Guardians of Peace and Tranquility for all of mankind for all time.
Guardians of peace and tranquility? My ass!
Bloody warmongers
I keep watching the SR 71 videos and amazes me all the time. The Pilots were heroes and now legends flying the (still) fasted airplane ever built.
Sickest plane in the history of mankind!!! I had the poster of it up on my wall as a child, should have kept it...
Sr71 has always been a wonder to me. a true masterpiece. a dream. i still remember toughing one. as astounding as this plane is/was. more so when you think the first real powered maned plane was only 63 years earlier. thats easily in one persons life span to say i remember the first flight and now this. truly stunning. Wish I could have met Kelly Johnson. One of my inspirations to be come an engineer.
O man, sr-71 is my overall favorite. So amazing it’s 50 years later still the fastest
I loved Planes all my life. Ynd the blackbird Was and will always be the one .
In 1981, when North Korea fired missile at the SR-71, I was tracking the SR-71 in Osan, South Korea.
After a while, I heard from someone that the pilot had seen a missile explode down there. After that, the route changed a little to the south.
We called Jae-b (swallow) instead of black bird.
It was a really cool aircraft.
Very difficult not to cry throughout this. Thinking about how much of an engineering feat this is, makes me emotional. Many try to replicate such greatness today but fail.
There will never be a more dedicated group engineers than those that carried us through WW2 right on through to the days of the SR-71.
These men and women of skunkwerks and beyond were nothing short of miracle workers compared to some folks all to willing to stand on the shoulders of greatness.
@@JackG79 now they complain about the hours they work
"Many try to replicate such greatness today but fail."
You're not wrong there. Last night I tried to build the SR-71 in my shed, but failed.
@@Kunfucious577 And all the illegal offensive wars and abuses of our soldiers
Cry baby
Plus if you consider how old (when they made it) the Blackbird is, you have to give it a lot more credit. Sweet aircraft!
Used to fly over Western Montana, based out of Great falls the Sonic booms were unbelievable, never forget them! What an incredible plane! American technology at its finest.
Excellent documentary. One of my favorite all time airplanes. And my favorite for appreciation of an aircrews ability.
One day at Nevada County Airport in Northern California in the late 80's, a SR-71 did a low pass . The exhaust plume had the little conical shapes. It was pretty amazing to say the least. Beal AFB is just a few miles to the west.