Courtney, I was ground maintenance crew on the SR71 in the early 70's. The actual record was set on September 1, 1974, by Major Sullivan and his backseater, Major Widdifield, in SR-71A serial no. 64-17972, flying from New York to London in 1 hour 54 minutes and 56 seconds. They visited the Farnsbourough Air Show in the UK. September 13, 1974 Captain “Buck” Adams, and his backseater, Major Machorek returned that same plane to the USA, setting another record, this time from London to Los Angeles. The total time for the record flight was 3 hours, 47 minutes and 39 seconds. I was on the ground in California to receive that aircraft when it returned.
I assume that you were stationed at Beale AFB, CA. I arrived at Beale in 1976 from Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ. The U-2 aircraft moved to Beale to consolidate USAF strategic reconnaissance .
@@trentrouse5991 I worked with the SR-71 from 1976 to 1980 all over the world. My job was dressing the crew members in their full pressure suits, and putting them in the aircraft. After landing just the reverse. Myself and my coworkers took great pride in our work. Keep in mind that the SR-71 had many missions that were not related to national defense. Photos of an earthquake in Nicaragua was one of many. Our photos saved lives, and provided timely aid to civilians effected by the earthquake. May I mention that all members of the Air Force play an important role wether preparing food in the chow hall or working with the world's fastest aircraft. The mission is a team effort.
Another great Blackbird story: The Blackbird asks for clearance to 60,000 feet, and the controller responds with something along the lines of "FL600 is yours if you can get there." To which the SR-71 responds, "Roger, DESCENDING to FL600."
@@lindsaybush9215 Only one interceptor has ever caught Concorde in a tail chase. English Electric Lightning, serial no XR729. The same aircraft also intercepted a U2 flying at 70,000ft, when it climbed past the U2 and reached 88,000ft.
Clarence “Kelly” Johnson was the designer of the Blackbird. Someone told me that the highest recorded speed was Mach 3.45; and here’s the kicker, it was still ACCELERATING.
The aircraft speed record set by the SR-71 in 1976 and never challenged since is 2193 mph. This is the average of a two-way run under controlled conditions. The SR-71 cannot go much higher than 2200 for aerodynamic reasons no matter how much power might be supplied. The forward shock wave at Mach 3.4 is swept back almost to the point of touching the fuselage. This would destroy the subsonic boundary layer of air on the fuselage created by the shock wave and drag would skyrocket. Similarly, the shock wave would touch the outer edge of the wings further increasing drag. The SR-71 is a delta wing aircraft. This means that as speed increases, the center of lift moves rearward fairly quickly. This requires more elevon trim to keep the aircraft level. The very long SR-71 compensates for this by the chines, the side bodies on the fuselage. They provide lift near the nose as a canard wing would. The forward shock wave reaching the chines would destroy that lift capability. This would require more elevon trim and more drag. In addition to all this, the engine air inlets being outside the shock wave would mean supersonic airflow inside the engine and a good chance that the fuel/air mixture could be blown out the exhaust nozzle before full ignition, killing power. For the SR-71 to significantly exceed 2200 mph is simply not feasible.
@@maxwellharris507 Mach number varies with altitude due to the decreasing density of air. 2193 mph at 75000 feet is about Mach 3.32. That was the average of a two-way run so presumably one leg was a little faster. but probably not by a whole lot.
It's more likely you miss read about the AIM-47 missiles were that were fired from the YF 12 (SR 71 interceptor test bed). They flew away from the YF 12 at mach 3.2 at 74,000 ft. Easy to do I did it myself when I read the article. When I went back to reread it to post I realized it was the missiles speed and not the Sled.
@@douglascampbell9809 The YF-12A was slower than the SR-71 due to the conical nose that housed the radome having more drag than the flat nose of the A-12 and SR-71, The speed record set by the YF-12A in 1965 was 2070 mph, 123 mph less than the SR-71 in 1976.
Truth! Once it is in the air and starting to pick up speed, the fuel tank swells, the gaskets between panels fit perfectly, and she stops leaking fuel. They always refueled after takeoff so that the tanks would hold the fuel. And she is the sexiest jet ever made. I had posters of both the SR-71 and Farrah Fawcett. Which one was prettier depended where my blood was flowing at the moment. My brain said the Blackbird, and.....well....another part said Farrah.
The best in my opinion is by Nicholas Means of Lead Dev. You get all the technical specs and some fun facts you probably would never know. Like how the plane had to be built of titanium, but the US didn’t have any, so the Soviet Union literally provided the materials to build the most significant spy plane used against them. m.czcams.com/video/pL3Yzjk5R4M/video.html
One of the pilots talked about being so high you could see the earth was round and they saw the missile that was launched at them and they turned and out ran it. Some fighter jets could reach mach 3 for a few minutes. But the blackbird could fly that speed for an hour and a half. They said it was really expensive to fly.
@@sulaco2122 as one Blackbird pilot said in an interview, "If your attention drifted, the airplane would do something to bring your attention back". It remains the only aircraft that I'm aware of that both annealed its metal as it also work hardened it.
@@spvillano I thought about this and wonder if it would effect the durability of the plane. Thermal cycling plus the normal stresses wouldn't have been good for the plane.
I was stationed at an Air Force Base in the Mojave in the early 80's. One evening, at dusk, coming out of the building I worked out of, which was near the end of the runway, I heard an engine sound I did not recognize. Looking toward the runway, I saw a long, black silhouette with twin blue-white pins of flame against a pink-orange sky. It was a Blackbird doing a touch and go. One of the most memorable sights of my time in the service.
Assuming you have aerial refueling planes set up in advance and if the pilots themselves can hold out that long. I wager that the limiting factor for most missions wasn't the PLANE. It was the pilots own endurance. But yes - TECHNICALLY it was doable.
The Blackbird was one of the most badass pieces of machinery ever built. Growing up on and around air force bases, I got to see these things fly a few times. Even standing on the ground, if one flew over you, it felt like it was gonna suck all the air out of your lungs.
I was stationed in England in the USAF. I worked the HF radio communications with the airplane, the pilots even came to the station to thank us for the assistance.
Sorry I just wanted to let you know how much this video helped me to smile, I'm going through a emergency custody hearing tomorrow as my daughter was being abused by her mother and I haven't really smiled for some time but watching your video listening to your accent madd me smile so thank you God Bless
Courtney, you have no idea how long I've been waiting on this reaction! This is a great story. Edit: I thought this was the L.A. speed story. Check that one out, Court.
That was Maj. Brian Shul, who got the SR-71 up to mach 3.52 while outrunning missles in Libya the day after we bombed them. They never came close. czcams.com/video/3kIMTJRgyn0/video.html&ab_channel=TheIHMC He now runs GalleryOne in Marysville, CA, and he's available to speak at conferences.
The crazy thing is that a lot of the SR-71 is still classified. The top speed of mach 3 is the unofficial maximum speed. According to pilots that flew the plane it could go significantly faster then that. The Russian interceptors that where designed to catch it maxed out at mach 3. They couldn't catch the jet.
The MiG-25 was actually designed to intercept the B-70, which never entered service. The MiG was red lined at Mach 2.8 for engine service life reasons. It was capable of Mach 3 but if ever flown that fast, it was SOP to change the engines. There was also allegedly an issue with missile pylon vibrations at very high speeds.
@@johnnyquest5942 o no doubt, I dont think they've fully disclosed the true capabilities of the engines either. They say at high speeds they'd function as a pseudo scram jet but I think that's downplaying it. I think at super cruise they were a fully functional SCRAM jet. They won't discuss it because that tech is being used on either current or next gen fighters or on even deeper black project vehicles.
In his speech at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (see the video of it on CZcams), at one point former SR-71 pilot Brian Shul comments, "I can tell you that it would go way faster than what the book says." At the time he was photographing northern Africa, and one of Muammar Quadafi's / Khadafi's (SP) missiles got fired at it. Upon his electronics officer in the back seat advising him of it, he says he reached for the throttle stick and cobbed it so as to GTFO quickly.
I had an elderly neighbor who lived a couple of blocks from me in a small town in southwest Idaho. He was 91 a few years ago and has since died. He was an electrical engineer and flew in the back seat of the SR 71 when it was in development and did systems tests in the aircraft. He also designed the first radio system for LAPD. And, he was the communications officer on the non-stop flight around the world by Yeager and Rutan. Very interesting guy.
Mine is the Jug. the -47 would always get you home. Sometimes with 200,300,400 and more bullet holes. A guy hit a telephone pole on a low level run - the telephonepole lost. A guy hit a chimney - the guy got it home. Missing the outboard half of the starboard wing, but he got it home. One guy landed a Jug in the second story of a factory (don't ask- I don't have a clue) the guy lived to face his CO... Altogether one of the strongly built planes ever made.
The SR-71 was one hell of a badass spy plane. It had neither offensive nor defensive capability. It dealt with threats by simply outrunning them. Its top speed was classified of course, but the American press surmised that it was at least Mach 3. The SR-71 was a product of Lockheed's famous "skunk works," headed by a living legend named Kelly Johnson. The SW also designed the U2.
The SR-71 could fly at Mach 3 (2000 mph) for an hour and a half, That means a great deal of heat would be generated by friction, This heat was absorbed by the special JP7 fuel, This fuel has a high energy content but more importantly for this purpose it had very low volatility, It does not evaporate easily and can absorb a great deal of heat without boiling, To start the engines, electric heaters are needed to vaporize the fuel being fed into them. The engines are of turbo-ram design. There are seven stages of compressors., As airspeed increases the air being rammed into the intakes allows airflow to be diverted around these compressors one at a time. When the Mach 3 cruising speed is reached all of the compressors are inactive and the engine is effectively a ramjet. This allows greater fuel economy by not having to drive the compressors. Lots of other interesting techie stuff about the Blackbird.
Don't forget about the TEB required to light the fuel. I would see the guys test it in an aluminum pan before putting it into the tank. It would burn on contact with air. It burned green.
@@bluesreign Right, they needed that to get the JP-7 ignited even after heating it electrically, It is really cool that you got to see this stuff! Trieethylborane is also used as an igniter in the engines of the SpaceX Falcon launch vehicle.
@@mikenolan8044 You missed one MAJOR component... the start cart (AKA the Buick) as the SR didn't have a starter motor. No, the engines were not anywhere near a ramjet (Ramjets have no internal fans), but yes, the air coming in was pre-comressed by the inlet cones and the turkey feathers boosted it some more. It could cruise at 2+ MACH, the speed hops up to the realms of 3.5 were also fairly normal.
@@nunyabidness674 The Buick Wildcat engines if I remember correctly. The J58 engine had doors that shut off airflow to the successive compressor stages as airspeed increased, At Mach 3 cruise, no compressors are in use and the engine operated as a ramjet as I said. The SR-71 never did Mach 3.5 which would be just over 2300 mph. The shock wave from the nose would contact the fuselage at that angle and the subsonic boundary layer would destabilize. Drag would increase catastrophically. If the SR-71 had been capable of Mach 3.5, the record it set would have been around 2300 mph not 2200 mph.
I remember the sound of those tandem Buicks when they started the J58s. I was part of the crew that took a U-2 and SR-71 to an air show. They had to hook four (4) dash 60 (-60) turbine carts together with a manifold to get enough air to start the J58s. It took WAY longer than the Buicks.
Hi Courtney, I grew up in Oshkosh, WI (home of the annual EAA air shows). I remember seeing the SR-71. The announcer on the radio stated "the pilot just left California 25 minutes ago. He made a high speed pass on just one engine, and nearly put everyone on the ground. OOOOHHHH the memories.
I enlisted in the USAF at RAF Mildenhall in East Anglia, UK. Waiting for a MAC flight to take me to Lackland, I was at Mildenhall when an SR-71 mission departed. You could feel your chest vibrating like your were going to lose your insides. Awesome experience. Next time you have a chance, visit Huntsville, AL, USA. There's a place there which has an A-12 - stablemate to the SR-71 - and a couple of other craft which travel even faster. One story I remember about the SR-71 was when the Libyans fired a missile on one back in 1982 or thereabouts. The SR-71 pilot started accelerating over Tripoli to outrun the missile, and overshot his tanker at Gibralter.
We have one in front of the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville Alabama. We also have a Space Shuttle and both a vertical and horizontal Saturn V rocket. Man I love this town.
I passed through Huntsville on my way to Houston in 1979. Bought some freeze-dried ice cream at the space museum. Only place I know to get freeze-dried ice cream.
My mother and her friends assembled most of the toggle switches used in military jets and spacecraft. All those tiny toggle switches have 27 pieces and were assembled with tweezers.
@@nancyjanzen5676 Okay. Thanks. I have been down inside mission control, but I did not eat there. I would like to go back there and tour the Saturn V rocket, so I will try some. 😎👍🇺🇸 ✝️
My Grandfather worked at Lockheed for 46 years and my Father worked there for 40, it was both their only job ever. My dad was assigned to work on the SR-71 Blackbird.. it's my favorite aircraft.
If you travel to NYC, you can see one on the USS Intrepid. It's a retired aircraft carrier that's now a museum. BTW, the wide eyes at the beginning of the video were precious 😄
I spent 36 years in the USAF. This was one of my favorite aircraft. I got to see the final flight of one of these beauties. AF could not afford to keep this thing flying because of the maintenance issues, but there was nothing like it. The U2 is much, much slower but flew as high. It is still in commission today. Interesting the videos that you check out. I am sure you have much to tell your husband about after all this information you get. Hopefully, you get a chance to visit us one day.
In 1968-69 I was stationed at a B-52/ KC 135 base in Thailand. We were able to see a SR71 fly overhead with an engine smoking. Due to our very long runway, they would land at our base, taxi to an enclosed hanger, get repaired and leave. This happened twice while I was there. Awesome bird taking off.
If anyone would like to see these planes, there are two on display in the Antelope Valley area of California. Drive to Palmdale and exit Rancho Vista Blvd/Ave P. Go east to 25th Street East. There are other planes in the area, including the 747 that carried the space shuttles from place to place.
I used to live near plant 42 in lancaster ca and we were just north of the flight path and in the 80s the sr 71s would fly near our home it was awesome One time i heard that one would take off at dawn and i took my 2 boys down at the end of the runway and watched it take off toward us we could see the fuel dumping out of as it went over then it was gone! Ive been to the blackbird park in palmdale a few times and the guy there let take a picture of my mgb in front of one Fun times w
Courtney, I also worked with the SR-71 back in 72-73. I was part of the 9th RECON Wing and we had 4 SR-71 aircraft stationed at Kadena AB in Okinawa. An interesting fact, which most people are not aware of unless you worked with the aircraft is, in order to start the engines, which burned JP-7, we had to inject triethylborane (TEB) into the engines combustion chamber. TEB is a colorless pyrophoric, which means it combust into flame when it comes in contact with oxygen. Yep, that's correct, it actually 'explodes' when it comes in contact with oxygen. The reason this was done was to help ignite the jet fuel, which is basically high grade kerosene.
In 1988, I was beside the tarmac to watch one of the last flights of an SR 71 takeoff (before it's "retirement" the first time). It rolled to the end of the runway, a little fleet of service vehicles including a firetruck behind it, rolled down the runway gathering speed, took off and then in a final salute did a long loop to come back over and buzz the runway at a very low altitude with an ear-shattering roar before it angled up in a near vertical climb and disappeared into the clear sky in seconds.
One the main bases for the SR 71 when I was a kid in the 70’s was Kadena AFB on Okinawa. Despite being called the Blackbird, on Okinawa it was nicknamed the Habu after a deadly snake that was native to Okinawa. My brother and I both built SR 71 models and displayed them on our dressers. We would always get excited when we would see it fly over.
I was told they began their descent to Kadena AFB from altitude over Australia because they had such a shallow descent angle at such high altitudes . USAF @ Naha AFB
The most remarkable thing about it was that it had a sustained speed. Not just a fly up and shut down. Heat mitigation at those speeds was its triumph and also engines that could produce that power and not burn up.
It was originally names the R-S 71 or reconnaissance supersonic , but back in 1966 when it was unveiled to the public President Johnson call it the SR -71 reverse the acronyms. so just SR 71.
The B-70 was relabeled RS-70 (Reconnaissance Strike) as part of a bid to get Congress to restore financing. President Johnson accidentally reversed the letters to SR. The Air Force came up with Strategic Reconnaissance to match that, The original bomber role was clearly never going to happen anyway, The SR-71 was always a Strategic Reconnaissance aircraft. Johnson had previously gotten the name of the A-12 wrong, calling it the A-11.
On the SR-71 last flight from L.A. to Washington D.C. it sanded in Dallas to refuel and only took 53 minutes of flight time. The jet engines were started with twin big block Cherolet 454 C.I. engines.
The SR-71 was preceded by a similar looking aircraft called the Y111A Archangel. It was slightly smaller and also very fast and in service while I was working in naval reconnaissance in the mid 60's.
I was told a story of one that had an engine failure near Seattle, Washington. It landed in Grand Forks, North Dakota (~1200 miles away). It was a very foggy morning, so the ground crew couldn't spot the plane. People lined up and walked out to the airplane with their hands in front of them to feel for the heat. The crew had to be lifted out of the cockpit, because the plane takes 2+ days to cool down. After repairs, they figured a pre-dawn departure would be a good idea. Some claimed it was so bright it looked like the sun was taking off into the sky. Fun fact: at speed, the turning radius was about 100 miles.
I think one of the most impressive things about that aircraft was that Kelly Johnson started developing this in the late 50's early 60's with nothing more than a slide ruler. No computers, just good old fashion paper, pencils and geometric know how. The tech to make this bird has not yet been invented. The fuel was specially made with a fleet of tankers dedicated just for the refueling of this. It would tank almost immediately after take off, climb some more, tank again, then take off to handle its mission. A couple people have mentioned the "LA SPEED" story. Major Brian Shul gives an entire speech at a university talking about his life before and leading up to being a sled driver. It's wonderful for anyone interested in Aviation and this jet. czcams.com/video/hFJMs15sVSY/video.html
The major factors in retiring the SR71 was cost, long mission planning cycles, and the need to find money to fund new unmanned Drone and Stealth aircraft. It took a week for one SR71 to recover from a mission and launch another. It was an expensive logistical nightmare, and the Air Force was looking for a way out to use the money on newer technology. The increase in intelligence satellites provided an opportunity. The SR71 few at a minimum of 2x to 3x the speed of sound (2,283 miles per hour) which burns about 16,000 to 20,000 kgs of highly specialized fuel PER HOUR of flight. One mission can be from 2 to 11 hours of flight. It can go much faster than 3x the speed of sound and burn much more fuel. An 11 hour mission would required a minimum of 5 tanker aircraft full of fuel to supply it with mid-air refueling operations every 3,000 or so miles -- and that is only 1 mission. So you needed a fleet of large tanker aircraft just to support the SR71s. You had many SR71 aircraft, so imagine the size the the flying tanker fleet supporting it. Maintenance was also costly often requiring a 1 week turnaround cycle. Satellites that were on station were much less expensive -- but not necessarily more effective. There was a tradeoff of losing some capability versus the cost. Satellites are often on a fixed course. They have to be "reprogrammed" to have them change course and move to another location. That takes time and money also. Sometimes it is easier to just send the SR71 on a direct mission or multiple missions at the need of a battlefield commander rather than reprogramming a bunch of Space Satellites that might be on the other side of the world at the time. Here is a full story of the SR71 czcams.com/video/hFJMs15sVSY/video.html
And to think it was designed before modern computers... Here’s a great story from an actual SR-71 pilot czcams.com/video/8AyHH9G9et0/video.html You should also check out the XB-70 Valkyrie.
There's one at the air and space museum in Oregon. It's bigger than you might think. It takes your breath away. It looks badass, and secretive, and very very fast as it's just sitting there. Like it's waiting.
It was not retired because of a replacement. It was cost that killed the program. It required $ 85,000 per flight hour for each mission and they cost 33 million dollars apiece to build. They never flew over enemy territory and took all their pictures from the side. They also developed satellites to take better pictures. One thing the SRs could do for them and satellites cannot is to give them real-time reconnonicence when it is needed. It takes time to position the satellites exactly where they need them. The SRs could give them what they want, quicker.
I lived in the Antelope Valley from 1966 to 1987. There's a spot on Sierra Hwy across from Lockheed, where you could park and it would take off and ascend over your head. Always thrilling.
Sad part is that a lot of people never even heard of the a-12 which was pretty much a smaller blackbird that was kinda over shadowed by the SR-71 even though it was a little faster
Their are quite a few fallacy's on this plane even in this video. Like the leaking fuel. To start in an attempt to save weight and for maximum fuel capacity for this thirsty plane they did away with actual fuel tanks and instead used the body and skin of the plane for the fuel tank. The reason it leaked is yes because of the thermal expansion and contraction of the body but they didn't really design it loosely so it would tighten up at speed. They had sealer in the body panel joints to seal it up and the heating and cooling regularly broke the seal and they had to regularly replace the seals to keep the leaking fuel at bay. The fact that the plane constantly broke these seals made it impossible to stop the leaks while still being able to fly consistently. The loss of fuel and the leaks was seen as acceptable to a degree because of the extremely time consuming constant dismantling of the body and replacing of seals. Instead they set up a reference chart that effectively told them that for so many drips over a set time from different areas of the plane would determine if the seals were getting bad enough to be worth taking the time to replace them. As to why they stopped flying it. No it wasn't satellites, maybe to a degree but the main reason was the Russians had them on radar and steadily kept getting closer with new missiles and jets getting higher and faster to the point that the US finally thought is it really worth the risk at this point... should we stop and get out while the gettings good. They decided just that. They cut the flights before they lost a plane and caused an incident...again. The Russians constantly warned the US to stop the flights but since the Russians had no concrete evidence of it being a US plane the US just feigned ignorance and denied it was them. But if they lost one of the SR-71's like they had lost a U-2 previously... that would be a nightmare for them.
These airplanes were never shot down, shot at. The engineering on this machine was like something from a science fiction movie. They ran into problems and just figured out a means of overcoming that problem. I watched a video in which the pilot stated that they were so high he could see the curvature of the earth. This bird could hit 2,000 mph. Talk about hauling ass. This is so cool.
Courtney - You picked a really good one this time even though it is so short. Look at all the comments it generated! Look at the amazing people with first hand experience it brought!
Hi Mike! Yes so many comments and experiences!! It's wonderful reading people's firsthand accounts of this plane! Especially because they don't fly anymore!!
My cousin was an SR-71 pilot. I saw one in my AFB station in Minot in the early 80s, it stopped in for emergency maintenance. when it left, it took off and came back around for a flyby! halfway down the tarmac it went straight up and disappeared in less than 20 seconds!!!
It is one of the big attractions of the Museum of Flight. I always see it every time I go there. It is the best looking aircraft ever made. I can only speculate what its replacement looks like. There has to be one. Sometimes, we need reconnaissance that isn't predictable like satellite orbits.
@@MichaelScheele I like sitting in the pilot's cockpit and pretend I'm in a dog fight in the fighter jet just can't remember which plane it was. Last time there I went to see the B17 as it was landing for a visit after being refurbished.
Back in the early 80's when I was in my 20's I was racing (testing) for the BMW factory at Riverside Raceway in So. Calif. During a break the SR 71 Blackbird flew over the racetrack. I grabbed my camera with a telephoto lenses and took several pic's as it flew by so close you could see the rivets. About 15 minutes two guys dressed in suits walked up to me and said, "We need your film, you can't take photos of the SR 71".They opened my camera and took the film.....geezz
While stationed at KAB in Okinawa, I worked Line D delivering munitions to the flight line. I saw the SR71's take off and land many times. When the bird took off, the sound hurt my ears even with earplugs in. You could feel the heat from the afterburners as well!
It was retired for two reasons. One, it was incredibly expensive to keep it flying. And two, satellite imagery had become so good the aircraft wasn't really needed anymore. And keep in mind... this was 'Kelly Johnson's' (Lockheed's Warlock) genius 1960's technology! Pretty cool, huh?
Not quire accurate. Satellites have many many failings that make it so you still need a prompt global response asset. Sr71 was replaced by things better. Wouodnt it be crazy if the a12/sr71 wasnt even the USA first pick and was a stopgap until something we really wanted was built a few years later? Cia dumped it pretty fast. Maybe there was a reason
If that was the case, they would have to hide things nearly constantly. For low earth orbit satellites, it takes around 90 minutes to complete an orbit, so with multiple dozen satellites, you could have cameras on any portion of an enemy country more often than not, so they would never be able to do anything if they always hid their equipment.
I worked on the flight line for 21 years, first refueling them for 8, then doing NDI on them for 13 years. Stationed in ND, Wethersfield UK, SD, NC, AZ, NV, AK. So I had a little time with them.
@Helix Nebula While many satellites are able to detect infrared radiation from various heat signatures, infrared is curved and distorted far too much by the atmosphere for a satellite to have enough resolution to get any useful information from. If conditions were absolutely perfect, it may be possible to tell that there was something on the tarmac (Still extremely unlikely), but there is no way to accurately get any information about the shape of the object.
This bird still holds records that are over 40 years old and haven't been broken yet. It flew from New York to London in 1 hour 54 minutes: London to Los Angeles 3 hours and 47 minutes Los Angeles to Washington D.C. in 1 hour 4 minutes: Coast to coast 1 hour 8 minutes; Kansas City to St. Louis in 8 minutes; St. Louis to Washington D.C. in 26 minutes. It's retirement was militarily political.
It's a shame that the most awesome plane ever built was decommissioned. It was built in the late 50s early 60s with no computers to help it was all drawn up on the drafting board.
US Air Force Veteran here: Had one land on our base in 1984 for an oil leak. It went straight into the hanger after landing and spent 3 days there before taking off again. Definitely check out "LA Speed Check" by Major Brian Shul, one of the former pilots.
Officially the SR-71 was retired because “it’s expensive to operate and missiles were starting to catch up to it” etc. Unofficially, rumors are there is something better flying in the deserts of the southwestern U.S. If you’d like to hear a really awesome story by one of the pilots, checkout the “L.A. Speed Story”.
The SR71 Blackbird flew from NYC to LA in 64 minutes. That is over 3,000 miles. So it was going 3,000 miles an hour. You need to Check out it's replacement, the SR72, It can go 6,000 miles an hour.
One thing that is little known about the SR-71 Blackbird is that it uses nearly all of it's entire fuel supply on takeoff and rising to elevation. It is them refueled in the air before going on it's surveillance mission. By then friction has heated up all the panels, made them expand on the body, and the plane has stopped leaking.
My fav aircraft by far. I grew up in Palmdale, Ca home of the Lockheed Skunk Works where my Dad worked as an Electronic Tech Engineer from 1958 till 1993 when he retired and I saw that beauty fly all the time. When it would break the sound barrier (Mach 1 or 750mph) the sonic booms would rattle the windows and shake the house. I really miss seeing her fly and her sonic booms. I highly suggest binge watching some SR-71 vids. Then you will really know why she is the most awesome aircraft ever to be flown, IMO.
I actually got to see the SR-71 Blackbird fly at Scott AFB in Illinois back in 1983-84 when it did a few flyover passes during an Air Show event there. And that plane is very quiet until it flies right over you. But the one aircraft nobody talks about that did the same mission/ job as the SR-71 is the U-2 "Lady Dragon" spy plane, that's STILL flying & in operation to this day considering it first flew in 1955 & was used during the Cuban Missile Crisis back in the mid 1950's.
I loved this plane since I was a kid, the reason it leaks on the ground is because at high altitudes like he said, the panels warp and they made it so they seal during high flight.
Back in 1984-1986 I was a young USAF airman stationed at Mather AFB near Sacramento California...nearby Beale AFB operated the SR-71. It would overfly Mather occasionally and it was a nearly mythical machine. I recall jumping on my motorcycle and riding up to Beale during their open house airshow...got to see the SR do multiple low-level fly-by's.
This aircraft filled one with awe......like something out of sci fi. Had a friend stationed at a base in CA .....needed to hook up so he could drive his mom's car back home and then have me take him back to base before he went back on deployment. I pulled up to the base entrance...got clearance to enter and directions to his quarters at the gate....... which took me right by this baby........think she had just landed.......there were vapor clouds all over......which made the scene before me even more eerie......I saw what's mentioned in the clip later.....she was dripping fuel from all her panels......hence the vapor clouds.....at a certain height and speed she seals up tight....my buddy had clearance and we got up damn close and personal with her......right off the flight line. I been up close to a F-117 Nighthawk ( the original stealth aircraft) which was bizarre and awesome too......but the SR-71 was a beauty.
whoaaaa!! That's a once in a life time opportunity to see it up close like that!! I wish i could have seen it for myself! I wanna go see one in a museum at least!
I sent so much time reading about this aircraft and the SR-71 i seen it for the first time 2 years ago in the museum was the one that set a speed record by flying from New York to London England a distance 3,461.53 miles (5,570.79 km), 1,806.964 miles per hour (2,908.027 km/h), and an elapsed time of 1 hour 54 minutes on September 1st 1974 and it was retired due to modern satellites and the cost to fly the SR-71 was $200,000 per hour.
New Zealand Girl. I put out a plea about a month ago wanting someone to somehow get a hold of you and see your reaction to the SR-71! I just love this plane. 35 miles in one...minute!
The SR-71 is just one of many aircraft to come from the Lockeed Skunk Works. My uncle was an engineer that worked on the landing gear for the F-117 Night Hawk(the stealth fighter as it was known).
The look Amazement on your face is priceless. The Black Birds and other family members were so far ahead of everything else when they came out and entered service ; a lot of the technologies that were developed for the SR-71's have been used in newer planes. Yes satellites can do a majority of what the SR-71's were made for - but satellites can't get you instant results if you need information asap - that's why satellites and the SR-71's were better together. What's another amazing fact is that the designing and development was all done by hand and slide rules. The level of engineering was so ahead of the time.
The SR-71 may still hold the record for fastest jet flight, but the North American X-15 is the undisputed king of every powered aircraft that has ever flown within the atmosphere of the Earth...William (Pete) Knight flew the X-15 to Mach 6.7 on October 3, 1967.
X15 was a badass aircraft, but it was a rocket not a jet. It was air launched not ground launched. So to compare the two is kinda comparing apples and oranges.... but damnnnn it was fast.
i remember back in the 80s my mom worked out at Beale air force base in californis as a cook Beale was the first one to get the sr71 use to go out there and have lunch all the time i got to meet the pilots and even got to sit and have lunch with them and even got to get inside of it several times great memories i was 19 years old in 1986 miss those days so much R.I.P to mom and dad i love and miss you so very much
Basically on the reason why the blackbird was decommissioned was mainly because of the cost to keep it running and back when the blackbird operated, there were films in the plane that would take pictures, once the pictures were back at the base, the camera was disconnected from the plane and was sent to be analyzed by technical personnel to see if the photos gotten damaged, and more people to see what kind of info would be useful, also the plane is very special and it was made from titanium, and the wheels are so special, that normal tires on plane, when the plane goes to take off, the speed needed to get up is so fast, that the tires would explode, these are the reasons that the SR-71 Blackbird is no longer flying
I was stationed at Kadena Air Force Base on Okinawa. Seen these plane take off and land many times. When it took off, the ground shook. At 2 times the speed of sound at 80,000 feet it could take a picture of a news paper and read the headlines, or the numbers on a license plate on a car. Flip them off, they can tell the color of you your nail polish. That good.
I recently spoke to a friend who is a radar operator on my little island in Hawaii. At that time, the fastest military planes could reach speeds up to Mark two. During a training exercise, with several high-ranking officers present, he noticed that that suddenly appear on his radar flying at Mark 3+. He dutifully reported the incident to the seniors, apologizing for his faulty radar equipment. The senior general in the room smiled and said,: “nothing wrong with your equipment“. He didn’t learn until 10 years later, after he had become a civilian again, that he had witnessed the test flights Of the SR 71 blackbird.
Lots of awesome things about this plane. One of my favorite is the pilot said "I made the first flight Dec 24 of 1964." This plane was most likely developed in the 1950's.
While in the U.S.Navy I was stationed in the desert in Nevada. A SR71 had hydraulics failure over Idaho and could not slow down fast enough to land until Nevada. It was guarded with live ammo.
This bird is crazy. As posted already, Real Engineering does a great video or two on it. But it was all designed by hand without computer help. Fuel lines ran through the body to cool it while also heating the fuel for ignition.
I gotto see one of these babies, back in the ‘80s. It was escorted by the Air Force security into the hanger next to the hanger where I worked in the Air Force. We got to watch it take off a couple days later. It circled the area twice and then it just disappeared with a huge sonic boom that even my neighbors off base in Forth Worth, Texas talked about for days!
As an Aerospace Explorer Scout in Jr.High and High School, I got to see and do some very cool things. The coolest was a behind the scenes tour of Beale AFB, home of the Blackbird. We watched the pilots prep for a flight, got to touch one of the aircraft and look inside the camera bay, and check out the modified KC-135Q (Boeing 707) tanker. The best part was being driven out to the end of the runway to watch the tanker, a U-2 Spyplane, and the SR-71 take off. Impressive doesn't begin to describe it.
Actual Air Traffic Control communication. ATC AF 271 requesting clearance to Flight Level 800 (eighty thousand feet) Unknown aircraft on same frequency “Good luck getting up there”. SR-71 “ We are descending”!
The ground speed unit is in the Radar operator seat. There is a pretty cool story on youtube about how an sr71 pilot shows up a navy fighter pilot who was trying to show off
The "Sled" retired after there were enough hi-res satellite cameras in space to photograph anything they needed to see. Also, the SR-71 was a very expensive operation. It required a fleet of DC-10 refueling aircraft that stored the special fuel for this aircraft to take on in-flight. Fun fact: although fuel "weeped" out of the tanks into drop pans in the hangar, it would not easily catch fire. It took a special ingredient injected into the fuel in the engine to get it to light.
Lots of comments here, but some interesting facts: 1) The SR-71 was made primarily of titanium, and - given the altitude - the pilots wore what were in effect astronaut suits. 2) The first mission after an SR-71 took flight was to refuel with an orbiting aerial tanker. Combining the lost fuel from seeping fuel tanks with the takeoff thrust, refueling had to be the first task. 3) The world's largest supplier of titanium during the SR-71s production was... the USSR. Now, the US couldn't openly order titanium from the Soviets for hosts of reasons. So the CIA set up shell comapanies that bartered with the USSR. I think the main trade item was... Pepsi syrup, which could be carbonated on the Soviet side to create this interesting Western drink (Pepsi was also traded for Stolichnaya Vodka). So this is one of the first documented instances where the US used capitalism to defeat Communism. Lastly, I think the major decision to retire the SR-71 was around the improved capability of satellites, which did not put pilots' lives at risk. This was a riding concern ever since Francis Gary Powers was shot down and taken prisoner in what was deemed a "missile-proof" U-2. Once that happened, and the US had to negotiate a spy-captive trade with the USSR to get Powers back, human assets became more important.
I fell in love with the SR-71 when they would fly over my house in Okinawa City late ‘70’s early ‘80’s. Beautiful machine! And yes , Courtney, i agree with you... I have always believed UFOs were military experimental aircraft.
The SR 71 was retired for the following reasons. Aircraft require X number of hours and dollars of maintenance for each hour of flight. The Blackbird took a lot of maintenance. Fuel, the SR 71 took a special fuel with an extremely high flash point. This was due to the extreme speed and altitude at which the aircraft flew. If you use normal jet fuel in the SR-71 the engines would explode because the fuel would ignite before it got to the burners. It tied up a number of KC 135 tankers to support each flight. Each mission required multiple refuelings to complete. For example the Blackbird never took off with full fuel tanks. This was due to the leaking that occurred on the ground before the aircraft warmed up. Right after takeoff and climb to about 35,000 feet the aircraft got hot enough to seal all those little leaks. At that time the SR-71 would fuel from a kc-135 to fill her tanks. At the minimum you would have three refueling for a given mission. If additional range was required you had to arrange for more refueling. The Casey 135 maximum service ceiling I want to say is over just over 40,000 ft. The Blackbird operated at 70,000 ft Plus. The Blackbird would have to descend and reduce speed for each refueling except for the one after takeoff. The KC 135s were dedicated to the SR 71 program. Each of those planes required maintenance just like the SR 71. The disadvantage satellites have compared to the SR-71 is there a positioning is dictated by the physics of orbital Dynamics. Yes you can change orbits but satellites only carry so much fuel. Once they're out of fuel they're worthless essentially. The SR-71 on the other hand can be anywhere in the world annoying the hell out of the enemy within say 10 hours. A lot of the missiles fired at the SR-71 were fired by the Vietnamese and the North Koreans. All they had to do was ultra speed and heading slightly and the missile would miss. There are some claims that the MIG 31 and MIG 25 got close enough to shoot it down. I question the veracity of this because the speed of the missiles fired by these aircraft. In order to fire a missile at an SR-71 from another aircraft that missile has to be faster than the SR-71 to catch it. It also has to be faster than the airplane making the interception. Early in the SR-71 program they thought about making it into some kind of fighter. Then they realize that all the missiles in the inventory of the United States Air Force and Navy were slower than the SR-71. So once the missile was launched the SR-71 would be ahead of it. You can't fire a gun at the SR-71 or a Cannon like aircraft have today. The muzzle velocity of the cannon is lower than the speed of the SR-71. Once again the platform firing the cannon would have to fly faster or as fast as SR 71 to make the interception. So the aircraft firing at the Blackbird would end up shooting itself down. I am not saying it's impossible to build a missile fast enough to get the SR-71, but the missile would have to be light enough to be carried on the intercepting aircraft. It would also have to have enough range to catch the SR-71. All it takes is a slight change in altitude and direction and speed to totally out maneuver a ground-based missile. The same can be done too air launched missiles as well. I am referring to the SR-71 only when it detects a missile launch. If someone knows something more about the maintenance and the fuel which I think was jp9, please chime in. I'm open to new information from anywhere. I can tell you this the Mig 25 and 31 have really crappy engines. I won't say anything more.
Fun fact. The fuel used by the SR71 had such a high flash point that you could throw a match into a bucket full of it and the match would go out without igniting the fuel.
2,200mph = 3540kph. That's Seattle to New York City in just over an hour (SeaTac to La Guardia, 2,408 miles, straight line). I have always been just utterly fascinated by this jet for most of my life (I'm 53). An article I read once said that at altitude, the engines are running at 110% capacity, with maximum afterburner, and it was actually designed to do so. Another article said that it could cover the length of the state of Montana (630 miles) in 15 minutes.
Courtney, I was ground maintenance crew on the SR71 in the early 70's. The actual record was set on September 1, 1974, by Major Sullivan and his backseater, Major Widdifield, in SR-71A serial no. 64-17972, flying from New York to London in 1 hour 54 minutes and 56 seconds. They visited the Farnsbourough Air Show in the UK. September 13, 1974 Captain “Buck” Adams, and his backseater, Major Machorek returned that same plane to the USA, setting another record, this time from London to Los Angeles. The total time for the record flight was 3 hours, 47 minutes and 39 seconds. I was on the ground in California to receive that aircraft when it returned.
dude, the fact that you were a ground crew member for the SR71 is awesome
Wow that is an amzing story thank you for sharing
If you can put it into words what was it like seeing that aircraft fly and what it was like to just be around that aircraft when it ran and taxied
I assume that you were stationed at Beale AFB, CA. I arrived at Beale in 1976 from Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ. The U-2 aircraft moved to Beale to consolidate USAF strategic reconnaissance .
@@trentrouse5991 I worked with the SR-71 from 1976 to 1980 all over the world. My job was dressing the crew members in their full pressure suits, and putting them in the aircraft. After landing just the reverse.
Myself and my coworkers took great pride in our work. Keep in mind that the SR-71 had many missions that were not related to national defense. Photos of an earthquake in Nicaragua was one of many. Our photos saved lives, and provided timely aid to civilians effected by the earthquake.
May I mention that all members of the Air Force play an important role wether preparing food in the chow hall or working with the world's fastest aircraft. The mission is a team effort.
Another great Blackbird story: The Blackbird asks for clearance to 60,000 feet, and the controller responds with something along the lines of "FL600 is yours if you can get there." To which the SR-71 responds, "Roger, DESCENDING to FL600."
SR71: Decending FL600 Aspen30
ATC: (Did I hear him right?) *Smack* "Uhhh, Cliff? Your scope working? I think mine's busted..."
Is a video of that online somewhere?
When concord was flying intercepters on both sides of the pond could use it to home in on.the sr71 could watch with amusement.
@@lindsaybush9215 Only one interceptor has ever caught Concorde in a tail chase. English Electric Lightning, serial no XR729. The same aircraft also intercepted a U2 flying at 70,000ft, when it climbed past the U2 and reached 88,000ft.
😂😂😂👍
Clarence “Kelly” Johnson was the designer of the Blackbird. Someone told me that the highest recorded speed was Mach 3.45; and here’s the kicker, it was still ACCELERATING.
The aircraft speed record set by the SR-71 in 1976 and never challenged since is 2193 mph. This is the average of a two-way run under controlled conditions. The SR-71 cannot go much higher than 2200 for aerodynamic reasons no matter how much power might be supplied.
The forward shock wave at Mach 3.4 is swept back almost to the point of touching the fuselage. This would destroy the subsonic boundary layer of air on the fuselage created by the shock wave and drag would skyrocket. Similarly, the shock wave would touch the outer edge of the wings further increasing drag.
The SR-71 is a delta wing aircraft. This means that as speed increases, the center of lift moves rearward fairly quickly. This requires more elevon trim to keep the aircraft level. The very long SR-71 compensates for this by the chines, the side bodies on the fuselage. They provide lift near the nose as a canard wing would. The forward shock wave reaching the chines would destroy that lift capability. This would require more elevon trim and more drag.
In addition to all this, the engine air inlets being outside the shock wave would mean supersonic airflow inside the engine and a good chance that the fuel/air mixture could be blown out the exhaust nozzle before full ignition, killing power.
For the SR-71 to significantly exceed 2200 mph is simply not feasible.
@@mikenolan8044 thanks for explaining, thinking back, I must’ve misread the Mach number
@@maxwellharris507 Mach number varies with altitude due to the decreasing density of air. 2193 mph at 75000 feet is about Mach 3.32. That was the average of a two-way run so presumably one leg was a little faster. but probably not by a whole lot.
It's more likely you miss read about the AIM-47 missiles were that were fired from the YF 12 (SR 71 interceptor test bed).
They flew away from the YF 12 at mach 3.2 at 74,000 ft.
Easy to do I did it myself when I read the article. When I went back to reread it to post I realized it was the missiles speed and not the Sled.
@@douglascampbell9809 The YF-12A was slower than the SR-71 due to the conical nose that housed the radome having more drag than the flat nose of the A-12 and SR-71, The speed record set by the YF-12A in 1965 was 2070 mph, 123 mph less than the SR-71 in 1976.
The most mind blowing thing to me about the SR-71 is that is was designed almost entirely with a slide rule and a pencil.
If you think this was interesting, watch the " LA speed check " video. Guy tells a story about a funny thing they did in an SR71.
I second this. That story is hilarious
Brian Shul was the pilot, and is the one who tells the story
Yes
Yes!! Wonderful story!
m.czcams.com/video/8AyHH9G9et0/video.html
Yes, Ms. Courtney, this story is a must. It's the best.
The SR-71 is the only plane in history to get more fuel efficient the faster it goes!!
That’s insane
Truth! Once it is in the air and starting to pick up speed, the fuel tank swells, the gaskets between panels fit perfectly, and she stops leaking fuel. They always refueled after takeoff so that the tanks would hold the fuel. And she is the sexiest jet ever made. I had posters of both the SR-71 and Farrah Fawcett. Which one was prettier depended where my blood was flowing at the moment. My brain said the Blackbird, and.....well....another part said Farrah.
True, but then again the plane literally just leaks fuel on the tarmac before takeoff
@@brian2440 Is it true the fuel is not very flammable?
@@MegaBadgeman it's much less likely to erupt in flames than gasoline is, if that's a good reference point for you.
You should react to "The insane engineering of the SR-71" by Real Engineering.
czcams.com/video/3hYSnyVLmGE/video.html
Agreed!
Yes much better video, also they have a good one on the A-10 Warthog too
😁
Yeah this video did not have a lot of technical detail.
No shit the real engineering video is epic and very detailed and is way better than the one she just reacted to :)
The best in my opinion is by Nicholas Means of Lead Dev. You get all the technical specs and some fun facts you probably would never know.
Like how the plane had to be built of titanium, but the US didn’t have any, so the Soviet Union literally provided the materials to build the most significant spy plane used against them.
m.czcams.com/video/pL3Yzjk5R4M/video.html
One of the pilots talked about being so high you could see the earth was round and they saw the missile that was launched at them and they turned and out ran it. Some fighter jets could reach mach 3 for a few minutes. But the blackbird could fly that speed for an hour and a half. They said it was really expensive to fly.
They also said the bird was unforgiving and you had to "fly it" every second.
That's a huge flex. " i can outrun the missiles fired at me."
@@sulaco2122 as one Blackbird pilot said in an interview, "If your attention drifted, the airplane would do something to bring your attention back".
It remains the only aircraft that I'm aware of that both annealed its metal as it also work hardened it.
@@spvillano I thought about this and wonder if it would effect the durability of the plane. Thermal cycling plus the normal stresses wouldn't have been good for the plane.
It actually used less fuel at top speeds and altitude due to the ramjet mods. Really cool idea for the time.
I was stationed at an Air Force Base in the Mojave in the early 80's. One evening, at dusk, coming out of the building I worked out of, which was near the end of the runway, I heard an engine sound I did not recognize. Looking toward the runway, I saw a long, black silhouette with twin blue-white pins of flame against a pink-orange sky. It was a Blackbird doing a touch and go. One of the most memorable sights of my time in the service.
Was that Geoge Air Force Base?
@@davidbarr49 Sure was.
The SR-71 is so fast it could fly around the entire world in 10 hours.
Assuming you have aerial refueling planes set up in advance and if the pilots themselves can hold out that long. I wager that the limiting factor for most missions wasn't the PLANE. It was the pilots own endurance.
But yes - TECHNICALLY it was doable.
The Blackbird was one of the most badass pieces of machinery ever built. Growing up on and around air force bases, I got to see these things fly a few times. Even standing on the ground, if one flew over you, it felt like it was gonna suck all the air out of your lungs.
In '87 there was an "In Flight Emergency" declared over Japan. within an hour we had an SR-71 in East Washington.
That’s badass
I was stationed in England in the USAF. I worked the HF radio communications with the airplane, the pilots even came to the station to thank us for the assistance.
Sorry I just wanted to let you know how much this video helped me to smile, I'm going through a emergency custody hearing tomorrow as my daughter was being abused by her mother and I haven't really smiled for some time but watching your video listening to your accent madd me smile so thank you God Bless
Courtney, you have no idea how long I've been waiting on this reaction! This is a great story. Edit: I thought this was the L.A. speed story. Check that one out, Court.
Yes
@@SA786.comChannel no sir.
That was Maj. Brian Shul, who got the SR-71 up to mach 3.52 while outrunning missles in Libya the day after we bombed them. They never came close. czcams.com/video/3kIMTJRgyn0/video.html&ab_channel=TheIHMC He now runs GalleryOne in Marysville, CA, and he's available to speak at conferences.
LA speed story 👀 ok noted!!! 🙏🏼
@@CourtneyCoulston you'll love it!
The crazy thing is that a lot of the SR-71 is still classified. The top speed of mach 3 is the unofficial maximum speed. According to pilots that flew the plane it could go significantly faster then that. The Russian interceptors that where designed to catch it maxed out at mach 3. They couldn't catch the jet.
The MiG-25 was actually designed to intercept the B-70, which never entered service. The MiG was red lined at Mach 2.8 for engine service life reasons. It was capable of Mach 3 but if ever flown that fast, it was SOP to change the engines. There was also allegedly an issue with missile pylon vibrations at very high speeds.
Neither the altitude or the air speed has ever really been disclosed. It’s well beyond what has been said ..
@@johnnyquest5942 o no doubt, I dont think they've fully disclosed the true capabilities of the engines either. They say at high speeds they'd function as a pseudo scram jet but I think that's downplaying it. I think at super cruise they were a fully functional SCRAM jet. They won't discuss it because that tech is being used on either current or next gen fighters or on even deeper black project vehicles.
In his speech at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (see the video of it on CZcams), at one point former SR-71 pilot Brian Shul comments, "I can tell you that it would go way faster than what the book says." At the time he was photographing northern Africa, and one of Muammar Quadafi's / Khadafi's (SP) missiles got fired at it. Upon his electronics officer in the back seat advising him of it, he says he reached for the throttle stick and cobbed it so as to GTFO quickly.
Try the “LA speed story” about the black bird. A much better video
One of the best stories ever
Yes this one
Yes
Yes. Best aviation story ever.
Great video
I had an elderly neighbor who lived a couple of blocks from me in a small town in southwest Idaho. He was 91 a few years ago and has since died. He was an electrical engineer and flew in the back seat of the SR 71 when it was in development and did systems tests in the aircraft. He also designed the first radio system for LAPD. And, he was the communications officer on the non-stop flight around the world by Yeager and Rutan. Very interesting guy.
My 3 favorite planes: SR-71, A-10 Warthog and the B-52.
I like the a10 ac 130 and the b2 spirit
My 3 are the F4U Corsair, The SR-71 and the F-111 Aardvark. Flying NOTE on the hard setting at Mach 1 with a belly full of hate. What a plane.
My 4 faves: A-10, SR-71, B-17, and Polikarpov I-16.
The BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT
Mine is the Jug. the -47 would always get you home. Sometimes with 200,300,400 and more bullet holes. A guy hit a telephone pole on a low level run - the telephonepole lost. A guy hit a chimney - the guy got it home. Missing the outboard half of the starboard wing, but he got it home. One guy landed a Jug in the second story of a factory (don't ask- I don't have a clue) the guy lived to face his CO... Altogether one of the strongly built planes ever made.
The SR-71 was one hell of a badass spy plane. It had neither offensive nor defensive capability. It dealt with threats by simply outrunning them. Its top speed was classified of course, but the American press surmised that it was at least Mach 3.
The SR-71 was a product of Lockheed's famous "skunk works," headed by a living legend named Kelly Johnson. The SW also designed the U2.
The SR-71 could fly at Mach 3 (2000 mph) for an hour and a half, That means a great deal of heat would be generated by friction, This heat was absorbed by the special JP7 fuel, This fuel has a high energy content but more importantly for this purpose it had very low volatility, It does not evaporate easily and can absorb a great deal of heat without boiling, To start the engines, electric heaters are needed to vaporize the fuel being fed into them. The engines are of turbo-ram design. There are seven stages of compressors., As airspeed increases the air being rammed into the intakes allows airflow to be diverted around these compressors one at a time. When the Mach 3 cruising speed is reached all of the compressors are inactive and the engine is effectively a ramjet. This allows greater fuel economy by not having to drive the compressors. Lots of other interesting techie stuff about the Blackbird.
Don't forget about the TEB required to light the fuel. I would see the guys test it in an aluminum pan before putting it into the tank. It would burn on contact with air. It burned green.
@@bluesreign Right, they needed that to get the JP-7 ignited even after heating it electrically, It is really cool that you got to see this stuff! Trieethylborane is also used as an igniter in the engines of the SpaceX Falcon launch vehicle.
@@mikenolan8044 You missed one MAJOR component... the start cart (AKA the Buick) as the SR didn't have a starter motor. No, the engines were not anywhere near a ramjet (Ramjets have no internal fans), but yes, the air coming in was pre-comressed by the inlet cones and the turkey feathers boosted it some more. It could cruise at 2+ MACH, the speed hops up to the realms of 3.5 were also fairly normal.
@@nunyabidness674 The Buick Wildcat engines if I remember correctly. The J58 engine had doors that shut off airflow to the successive compressor stages as airspeed increased, At Mach 3 cruise, no compressors are in use and the engine operated as a ramjet as I said. The SR-71 never did Mach 3.5 which would be just over 2300 mph. The shock wave from the nose would contact the fuselage at that angle and the subsonic boundary layer would destabilize. Drag would increase catastrophically. If the SR-71 had been capable of Mach 3.5, the record it set would have been around 2300 mph not 2200 mph.
I remember the sound of those tandem Buicks when they started the J58s. I was part of the crew that took a U-2 and SR-71 to an air show. They had to hook four (4) dash 60 (-60) turbine carts together with a manifold to get enough air to start the J58s. It took WAY longer than the Buicks.
Hi Courtney, I grew up in Oshkosh, WI (home of the annual EAA air shows). I remember seeing the SR-71. The announcer on the radio stated "the pilot just left California 25 minutes ago. He made a high speed pass on just one engine, and nearly put everyone on the ground. OOOOHHHH the memories.
The SR 71 is an absolute beast of an aircraft… By the way I love the content! Keep it up
Built by people using pencils and slide rules!
@@chrisnorden8043 can't be an engineer without them. Lol
I enlisted in the USAF at RAF Mildenhall in East Anglia, UK. Waiting for a MAC flight to take me to Lackland, I was at Mildenhall when an SR-71 mission departed.
You could feel your chest vibrating like your were going to lose your insides.
Awesome experience.
Next time you have a chance, visit Huntsville, AL, USA. There's a place there which has an A-12 - stablemate to the SR-71 - and a couple of other craft which travel even faster.
One story I remember about the SR-71 was when the Libyans fired a missile on one back in 1982 or thereabouts. The SR-71 pilot started accelerating over Tripoli to outrun the missile, and overshot his tanker at Gibralter.
We have one in front of the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville Alabama. We also have a Space Shuttle and both a vertical and horizontal Saturn V rocket. Man I love this town.
I passed through Huntsville on my way to Houston in 1979. Bought some freeze-dried ice cream at the space museum. Only place I know to get freeze-dried ice cream.
My mother and her friends assembled most of the toggle switches used in military jets and spacecraft. All those tiny toggle switches have 27 pieces and were assembled with tweezers.
@@Matthew_Loutner Johnson Space Center cafeteria too.
@@nancyjanzen5676 Okay. Thanks. I have been down inside mission control, but I did not eat there. I would like to go back there and tour the Saturn V rocket, so I will try some. 😎👍🇺🇸 ✝️
My Grandfather worked at Lockheed for 46 years and my Father worked there for 40, it was both their only job ever. My dad was assigned to work on the SR-71 Blackbird.. it's my favorite aircraft.
This was the most perfect aircraft ever designed period. J.
And you needed a free economy country to do it. No disrespect to the Russians by the way.
I will say it again. This was the most perfect aircraft ever engineered.
Have you ever heard of TR3b? This craft is even far greater then anything
@@dwightherron2838 no I have not but to beat the bird It must defy physics. J.
@@Jskew Go online check it out
If you travel to NYC, you can see one on the USS Intrepid. It's a retired aircraft carrier that's now a museum.
BTW, the wide eyes at the beginning of the video were precious 😄
I spent 36 years in the USAF. This was one of my favorite aircraft. I got to see the final flight of one of these beauties. AF could not afford to keep this thing flying because of the maintenance issues, but there was nothing like it. The U2 is much, much slower but flew as high. It is still in commission today. Interesting the videos that you check out. I am sure you have much to tell your husband about after all this information you get. Hopefully, you get a chance to visit us one day.
In 1968-69 I was stationed at a B-52/ KC 135 base in Thailand. We were able to see a SR71 fly overhead with an engine smoking. Due to our very long runway, they would land at our base, taxi to an enclosed hanger, get repaired and leave. This happened twice while I was there. Awesome bird taking off.
If anyone would like to see these planes, there are two on display in the Antelope Valley area of California. Drive to Palmdale and exit Rancho Vista Blvd/Ave P. Go east to 25th Street East. There are other planes in the area, including the 747 that carried the space shuttles from place to place.
Wow very cool! Would love to see one in person!! Thanks for sharing!!
There is also an SR71 at the Smithsonian Institute Air and Space Museum, Udvar Hazy Center. Gorgeous, gorgeous aircraft!
There is also one at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, near Cambridge, England
I used to live near plant 42 in lancaster ca and we were just north of the flight path and in the 80s the sr 71s would fly near our home it was awesome
One time i heard that one would take off at dawn and i took my 2 boys down at the end of the runway and watched it take off toward us we could see the fuel dumping out of as it went over then it was gone!
Ive been to the blackbird park in palmdale a few times and the guy there let take a picture of my mgb in front of one
Fun times
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Courtney, I also worked with the SR-71 back in 72-73. I was part of the 9th RECON Wing and we had 4 SR-71 aircraft stationed at Kadena AB in Okinawa. An interesting fact, which most people are not aware of unless you worked with the aircraft is, in order to start the engines, which burned JP-7, we had to inject triethylborane (TEB) into the engines combustion chamber. TEB is a colorless pyrophoric, which means it combust into flame when it comes in contact with oxygen. Yep, that's correct, it actually 'explodes' when it comes in contact with oxygen. The reason this was done was to help ignite the jet fuel, which is basically high grade kerosene.
The most amazing thing about the SR-71 to me is that while it still looks futuristic today, it flew first in 1964, almost 60 years ago.
This beautiful aircraft was the great mind of Kelly Johnson in 1958. Nothing like it.
The most beautiful machine man has ever made both from an aesthetics standpoint and a functional standpoint.
In 1988, I was beside the tarmac to watch one of the last flights of an SR 71 takeoff (before it's "retirement" the first time). It rolled to the end of the runway, a little fleet of service vehicles including a firetruck behind it, rolled down the runway gathering speed, took off and then in a final salute did a long loop to come back over and buzz the runway at a very low altitude with an ear-shattering roar before it angled up in a near vertical climb and disappeared into the clear sky in seconds.
One the main bases for the SR 71 when I was a kid in the 70’s was Kadena AFB on Okinawa. Despite being called the Blackbird, on Okinawa it was nicknamed the Habu after a deadly snake that was native to Okinawa. My brother and I both built SR 71 models and displayed them on our dressers. We would always get excited when we would see it fly over.
oh wow that is so interesting! Thanks for sharing that!
My younger brother in the United States Marines was stationed in Okinawa, Japan. He watched Habu take off many times. 🇺🇸
I was told they began their descent to Kadena AFB from altitude over Australia because they had such a shallow descent angle at such high altitudes . USAF @ Naha AFB
I had a tour to Kadena from 1972 to 1973. Often saw the Blackbird fly.
The most remarkable thing about it was that it had a sustained speed. Not just a fly up and shut down. Heat mitigation at those speeds was its triumph and also engines that could produce that power and not burn up.
It was originally names the R-S 71 or reconnaissance supersonic , but back in 1966 when it was unveiled to the public President Johnson call it the SR -71 reverse the acronyms. so just SR 71.
ummm... no... The SR71 was a two seat modification of the A 12, and wasn't unveiled to the public till 1974 when it started doing airshows
The B-70 was relabeled RS-70 (Reconnaissance Strike) as part of a bid to get Congress to restore financing. President Johnson accidentally reversed the letters to SR. The Air Force came up with Strategic Reconnaissance to match that, The original bomber role was clearly never going to happen anyway, The SR-71 was always a Strategic Reconnaissance aircraft. Johnson had previously gotten the name of the A-12 wrong, calling it the A-11.
Good thing it was Johnson instead of Biden. He might have designated it the 17-RS.
On the SR-71 last flight from L.A. to Washington D.C. it sanded in Dallas to refuel and only took 53 minutes of flight time. The jet engines were started with twin big block Cherolet 454 C.I. engines.
The SR-71 was preceded by a similar looking aircraft called the Y111A Archangel. It was slightly smaller and also very fast and in service while I was working in naval reconnaissance in the mid 60's.
That was the YF-11
Sorry. YF-12.
I was told a story of one that had an engine failure near Seattle, Washington. It landed in Grand Forks, North Dakota (~1200 miles away). It was a very foggy morning, so the ground crew couldn't spot the plane. People lined up and walked out to the airplane with their hands in front of them to feel for the heat. The crew had to be lifted out of the cockpit, because the plane takes 2+ days to cool down. After repairs, they figured a pre-dawn departure would be a good idea. Some claimed it was so bright it looked like the sun was taking off into the sky. Fun fact: at speed, the turning radius was about 100 miles.
I think one of the most impressive things about that aircraft was that Kelly Johnson started developing this in the late 50's early 60's with nothing more than a slide ruler. No computers, just good old fashion paper, pencils and geometric know how. The tech to make this bird has not yet been invented.
The fuel was specially made with a fleet of tankers dedicated just for the refueling of this. It would tank almost immediately after take off, climb some more, tank again, then take off to handle its mission.
A couple people have mentioned the "LA SPEED" story. Major Brian Shul gives an entire speech at a university talking about his life before and leading up to being a sled driver. It's wonderful for anyone interested in Aviation and this jet. czcams.com/video/hFJMs15sVSY/video.html
The major factors in retiring the SR71 was cost, long mission planning cycles, and the need to find money to fund new unmanned Drone and Stealth aircraft. It took a week for one SR71 to recover from a mission and launch another. It was an expensive logistical nightmare, and the Air Force was looking for a way out to use the money on newer technology. The increase in intelligence satellites provided an opportunity. The SR71 few at a minimum of 2x to 3x the speed of sound (2,283 miles per hour) which burns about 16,000 to 20,000 kgs of highly specialized fuel PER HOUR of flight. One mission can be from 2 to 11 hours of flight. It can go much faster than 3x the speed of sound and burn much more fuel. An 11 hour mission would required a minimum of 5 tanker aircraft full of fuel to supply it with mid-air refueling operations every 3,000 or so miles -- and that is only 1 mission. So you needed a fleet of large tanker aircraft just to support the SR71s. You had many SR71 aircraft, so imagine the size the the flying tanker fleet supporting it. Maintenance was also costly often requiring a 1 week turnaround cycle. Satellites that were on station were much less expensive -- but not necessarily more effective. There was a tradeoff of losing some capability versus the cost. Satellites are often on a fixed course. They have to be "reprogrammed" to have them change course and move to another location. That takes time and money also. Sometimes it is easier to just send the SR71 on a direct mission or multiple missions at the need of a battlefield commander rather than reprogramming a bunch of Space Satellites that might be on the other side of the world at the time. Here is a full story of the SR71
czcams.com/video/hFJMs15sVSY/video.html
And to think it was designed before modern computers...
Here’s a great story from an actual SR-71 pilot
czcams.com/video/8AyHH9G9et0/video.html
You should also check out the XB-70 Valkyrie.
Designed with 60 Tech , Now UFO's what do you think they were doing for the last 60 yrs. TR-3B might help you out ..
There's one at the air and space museum in Oregon. It's bigger than you might think. It takes your breath away. It looks badass, and secretive, and very very fast as it's just sitting there. Like it's waiting.
Please do a reaction to the L A speed check if like the sr71. Its funny
Odds are it was retired because they have something that can outperform it now. Like the Aurora project...
Or the hundreds of spy satellites circling the globe 24/7
@@blindleader42
Meh, the country's that are of concern know when they are overhead. Just like we do. Look up the Aurora project✌
@@rickhaddad7261 Yeah, yeah. I know about Aurora. _Nothing_ that flies can escape detection, regardless of the hype.
@@blindleader42
Yeah, yeah I know. Wasn't talking about detection. Just a newer aircraft.
It was not retired because of a replacement. It was cost that killed the program. It required $ 85,000 per flight hour for each mission and they cost 33 million dollars apiece to build. They never flew over enemy territory and took all their pictures from the side. They also developed satellites to take better pictures. One thing the SRs could do for them and satellites cannot is to give them real-time reconnonicence when it is needed. It takes time to position the satellites exactly where they need them. The SRs could give them what they want, quicker.
I lived in the Antelope Valley from 1966 to 1987. There's a spot on Sierra Hwy across from Lockheed, where you could park and it would take off and ascend over your head. Always thrilling.
React to the "LA Speed check Story" where a blackbird pilot tells a really funny story about its speed.
Here's a link to it. czcams.com/video/ILop3Kn3JO8/video.html
Sad part is that a lot of people never even heard of the a-12 which was pretty much a smaller blackbird that was kinda over shadowed by the SR-71 even though it was a little faster
It was also originally designed for use by the C.I.A. before they turned it over to the Air Force.
Their are quite a few fallacy's on this plane even in this video. Like the leaking fuel. To start in an attempt to save weight and for maximum fuel capacity for this thirsty plane they did away with actual fuel tanks and instead used the body and skin of the plane for the fuel tank. The reason it leaked is yes because of the thermal expansion and contraction of the body but they didn't really design it loosely so it would tighten up at speed. They had sealer in the body panel joints to seal it up and the heating and cooling regularly broke the seal and they had to regularly replace the seals to keep the leaking fuel at bay. The fact that the plane constantly broke these seals made it impossible to stop the leaks while still being able to fly consistently. The loss of fuel and the leaks was seen as acceptable to a degree because of the extremely time consuming constant dismantling of the body and replacing of seals. Instead they set up a reference chart that effectively told them that for so many drips over a set time from different areas of the plane would determine if the seals were getting bad enough to be worth taking the time to replace them.
As to why they stopped flying it. No it wasn't satellites, maybe to a degree but the main reason was the Russians had them on radar and steadily kept getting closer with new missiles and jets getting higher and faster to the point that the US finally thought is it really worth the risk at this point... should we stop and get out while the gettings good. They decided just that. They cut the flights before they lost a plane and caused an incident...again. The Russians constantly warned the US to stop the flights but since the Russians had no concrete evidence of it being a US plane the US just feigned ignorance and denied it was them. But if they lost one of the SR-71's like they had lost a U-2 previously... that would be a nightmare for them.
From what I read and heard, the Black Bird never flew over Russia and it didn't need to.
These airplanes were never shot down, shot at. The engineering on this machine was like something from a science fiction movie. They ran into problems and just figured out a means of overcoming that problem. I watched a video in which the pilot stated that they were so high he could see the curvature of the earth. This bird could hit 2,000 mph. Talk about hauling ass. This is so cool.
Courtney - You picked a really good one this time even though it is so short. Look at all the comments it generated! Look at the amazing people with first hand experience it brought!
Hi Mike! Yes so many comments and experiences!! It's wonderful reading people's firsthand accounts of this plane! Especially because they don't fly anymore!!
My cousin was an SR-71 pilot. I saw one in my AFB station in Minot in the early 80s, it stopped in for emergency maintenance. when it left, it took off and came back around for a flyby! halfway down the tarmac it went straight up and disappeared in less than 20 seconds!!!
Their is one at the Museum of Flight in Seattle across the street from the original Air Force One.
there is also a bird in Huntsville, Alabama at the NASA facility there too & in the Air & Space Museum in Washington DC
It is one of the big attractions of the Museum of Flight. I always see it every time I go there.
It is the best looking aircraft ever made.
I can only speculate what its replacement looks like. There has to be one. Sometimes, we need reconnaissance that isn't predictable like satellite orbits.
@@MichaelScheele I like sitting in the pilot's cockpit and pretend I'm in a dog fight in the fighter jet just can't remember which plane it was. Last time there I went to see the B17 as it was landing for a visit after being refurbished.
I believe the aircraft at the Museum of Flight is an A-12 of YF-12, not an SR-71.
@@allynvannoy4743 We both are wrong it is the m21 Blackbird which to me looks like a 71.
Back in the early 80's when I was in my 20's I was racing (testing) for the BMW factory at Riverside Raceway in So. Calif. During a break the SR 71 Blackbird flew over the racetrack. I grabbed my camera with a telephoto lenses and took several pic's as it flew by so close you could see the rivets. About 15 minutes two guys dressed in suits walked up to me and said, "We need your film, you can't take photos of the SR 71".They opened my camera and took the film.....geezz
The reason we know about it and its been benched is because we created something better to replace it not just satellites
Yup!
While stationed at KAB in Okinawa, I worked Line D delivering munitions to the flight line. I saw the SR71's take off and land many times. When the bird took off, the sound hurt my ears even with earplugs in. You could feel the heat from the afterburners as well!
They may say they are retired………
It was retired for two reasons. One, it was incredibly expensive to keep it flying. And two, satellite imagery had become so good the aircraft wasn't really needed anymore. And keep in mind... this was 'Kelly Johnson's' (Lockheed's Warlock) genius 1960's technology! Pretty cool, huh?
Not quire accurate. Satellites have many many failings that make it so you still need a prompt global response asset. Sr71 was replaced by things better. Wouodnt it be crazy if the a12/sr71 wasnt even the USA first pick and was a stopgap until something we really wanted was built a few years later? Cia dumped it pretty fast. Maybe there was a reason
Problem with satellites is countries would know when they were coming over and hide stuff…
If that was the case, they would have to hide things nearly constantly. For low earth orbit satellites, it takes around 90 minutes to complete an orbit, so with multiple dozen satellites, you could have cameras on any portion of an enemy country more often than not, so they would never be able to do anything if they always hid their equipment.
@Helix Nebula I don’t think so. Ever been in the Air Force?
I worked on the flight line for 21 years, first refueling them for 8, then doing NDI on them for 13 years. Stationed in ND, Wethersfield UK, SD, NC, AZ, NV, AK. So I had a little time with them.
@Helix Nebula Sorry, but the heat signature comment is not true.
@Helix Nebula While many satellites are able to detect infrared radiation from various heat signatures, infrared is curved and distorted far too much by the atmosphere for a satellite to have enough resolution to get any useful information from. If conditions were absolutely perfect, it may be possible to tell that there was something on the tarmac (Still extremely unlikely), but there is no way to accurately get any information about the shape of the object.
This bird still holds records that are over 40 years old and haven't been broken yet. It flew from New York to London in 1 hour 54 minutes: London to Los Angeles 3 hours and 47 minutes
Los Angeles to Washington D.C. in 1 hour 4 minutes: Coast to coast 1 hour 8 minutes; Kansas City to St. Louis in 8 minutes; St. Louis to Washington D.C. in 26 minutes. It's retirement was militarily political.
It's a shame that the most awesome plane ever built was decommissioned.
It was built in the late 50s early 60s with no computers to help it was all drawn up on the drafting board.
US Air Force Veteran here: Had one land on our base in 1984 for an oil leak. It went straight into the hanger after landing and spent 3 days there before taking off again. Definitely check out "LA Speed Check" by Major Brian Shul, one of the former pilots.
Officially the SR-71 was retired because “it’s expensive to operate and missiles were starting to catch up to it” etc. Unofficially, rumors are there is something better flying in the deserts of the southwestern U.S. If you’d like to hear a really awesome story by one of the pilots, checkout the “L.A. Speed Story”.
The SR71 Blackbird flew from NYC to LA in 64 minutes. That is over 3,000 miles. So it was going 3,000 miles an hour. You need to Check out it's replacement, the SR72, It can go 6,000 miles an hour.
One thing that is little known about the SR-71 Blackbird is that it uses nearly all of it's entire fuel supply on takeoff and rising to elevation. It is them refueled in the air before going on it's surveillance mission. By then friction has heated up all the panels, made them expand on the body, and the plane has stopped leaking.
My fav aircraft by far. I grew up in Palmdale, Ca home of the Lockheed Skunk Works where my Dad worked as an Electronic Tech Engineer from 1958 till 1993 when he retired and I saw that beauty fly all the time. When it would break the sound barrier (Mach 1 or 750mph) the sonic booms would rattle the windows and shake the house. I really miss seeing her fly and her sonic booms. I highly suggest binge watching some SR-71 vids. Then you will really know why she is the most awesome aircraft ever to be flown, IMO.
I actually got to see the SR-71 Blackbird fly at Scott AFB in Illinois back in 1983-84 when it did a few flyover passes during an Air Show event there.
And that plane is very quiet until it flies right over you.
But the one aircraft nobody talks about that did the same mission/ job as the SR-71 is the U-2 "Lady Dragon" spy plane, that's STILL flying & in operation to this day considering it first flew in 1955 & was used during the Cuban Missile Crisis back in the mid 1950's.
I loved this plane since I was a kid, the reason it leaks on the ground is because at high altitudes like he said, the panels warp and they made it so they seal during high flight.
Back in 1984-1986 I was a young USAF airman stationed at Mather AFB near Sacramento California...nearby Beale AFB operated the SR-71. It would overfly Mather occasionally and it was a nearly mythical machine. I recall jumping on my motorcycle and riding up to Beale during their open house airshow...got to see the SR do multiple low-level fly-by's.
This aircraft filled one with awe......like something out of sci fi. Had a friend stationed at a base in CA .....needed to hook up so he could drive his mom's car back home and then have me take him back to base before he went back on deployment. I pulled up to the base entrance...got clearance to enter and directions to his quarters at the gate....... which took me right by this baby........think she had just landed.......there were vapor clouds all over......which made the scene before me even more eerie......I saw what's mentioned in the clip later.....she was dripping fuel from all her panels......hence the vapor clouds.....at a certain height and speed she seals up tight....my buddy had clearance and we got up damn close and personal with her......right off the flight line. I been up close to a F-117 Nighthawk ( the original stealth aircraft) which was bizarre and awesome too......but the SR-71 was a beauty.
whoaaaa!! That's a once in a life time opportunity to see it up close like that!! I wish i could have seen it for myself! I wanna go see one in a museum at least!
I sent so much time reading about this aircraft and the SR-71 i seen it for the first time 2 years ago in the museum was the one that set a speed record by flying from New York to London England a distance 3,461.53 miles (5,570.79 km), 1,806.964 miles per hour (2,908.027 km/h), and an elapsed time of 1 hour 54 minutes on September 1st 1974 and it was retired due to modern satellites and the cost to fly the SR-71 was $200,000 per hour.
New Zealand Girl. I put out a plea about a month ago wanting someone to somehow get a hold of you and see your reaction to the SR-71! I just love this plane.
35 miles in one...minute!
The SR-71 is just one of many aircraft to come from the Lockeed Skunk Works. My uncle was an engineer that worked on the landing gear for the F-117 Night Hawk(the stealth fighter as it was known).
The look Amazement on your face is priceless. The Black Birds and other family members were so far ahead of everything else when they came out and entered service ; a lot of the technologies that were developed for the SR-71's have been used in newer planes. Yes satellites can do a majority of what the SR-71's were made for - but satellites can't get you instant results if you need information asap - that's why satellites and the SR-71's were better together. What's another amazing fact is that the designing and development was all done by hand and slide rules. The level of engineering was so ahead of the time.
The SR-71 may still hold the record for fastest jet flight, but the North American X-15 is the undisputed king of every powered aircraft that has ever flown within the atmosphere of the Earth...William (Pete) Knight flew the X-15 to Mach 6.7 on October 3, 1967.
X15 was a badass aircraft, but it was a rocket not a jet. It was air launched not ground launched. So to compare the two is kinda comparing apples and oranges.... but damnnnn it was fast.
i remember back in the 80s my mom worked out at Beale air force base in californis as a cook Beale was the first one to get the sr71 use to go out there and have lunch all the time i got to meet the pilots and even got to sit and have lunch with them and even got to get inside of it several times great memories i was 19 years old in 1986 miss those days so much R.I.P to mom and dad i love and miss you so very much
Basically on the reason why the blackbird was decommissioned was mainly because of the cost to keep it running and back when the blackbird operated, there were films in the plane that would take pictures, once the pictures were back at the base, the camera was disconnected from the plane and was sent to be analyzed by technical personnel to see if the photos gotten damaged, and more people to see what kind of info would be useful, also the plane is very special and it was made from titanium, and the wheels are so special, that normal tires on plane, when the plane goes to take off, the speed needed to get up is so fast, that the tires would explode, these are the reasons that the SR-71 Blackbird is no longer flying
I could watch Jeremy Clarkson talk about anything. The dude is greatness.
Blackbird Airpark, in Palmdale, CA, has an SR-71 and an A-12, that you can view up close. Worth the trip, if you are in Southern CA.
I was stationed at Kadena Air Force Base on Okinawa. Seen these plane take off and land many times. When it took off, the ground shook.
At 2 times the speed of sound at 80,000 feet it could take a picture of a news paper and read the headlines, or the numbers on a license plate on a car. Flip them off, they can tell the color of you your nail polish. That good.
I recently spoke to a friend who is a radar operator on my little island in Hawaii. At that time, the fastest military planes could reach speeds up to Mark two. During a training exercise, with several high-ranking officers present, he noticed that that suddenly appear on his radar flying at Mark 3+. He dutifully reported the incident to the seniors, apologizing for his faulty radar equipment. The senior general in the room smiled and said,: “nothing wrong with your equipment“. He didn’t learn until 10 years later, after he had become a civilian again, that he had witnessed the test flights Of the SR 71 blackbird.
Lots of awesome things about this plane. One of my favorite is the pilot said "I made the first flight Dec 24 of 1964." This plane was most likely developed in the 1950's.
It was designed in 1959 and the first prototype flew in 1962.
While in the U.S.Navy I was stationed in the desert in Nevada. A SR71 had hydraulics failure over Idaho and could not slow down fast enough to land until Nevada. It was guarded with live ammo.
This bird is crazy. As posted already, Real Engineering does a great video or two on it. But it was all designed by hand without computer help. Fuel lines ran through the body to cool it while also heating the fuel for ignition.
I gotto see one of these babies, back in the ‘80s. It was escorted by the Air Force security into the hanger next to the hanger where I worked in the Air Force. We got to watch it take off a couple days later. It circled the area twice and then it just disappeared with a huge sonic boom that even my neighbors off base in Forth Worth, Texas talked about for days!
As an Aerospace Explorer Scout in Jr.High and High School, I got to see and do some very cool things. The coolest was a behind the scenes tour of Beale AFB, home of the Blackbird. We watched the pilots prep for a flight, got to touch one of the aircraft and look inside the camera bay, and check out the modified KC-135Q (Boeing 707) tanker. The best part was being driven out to the end of the runway to watch the tanker, a U-2 Spyplane, and the SR-71 take off. Impressive doesn't begin to describe it.
Kelly Johnson of Lockheed was the Steve Jobs of the aeronautical world.
Actual Air Traffic Control communication.
ATC AF 271 requesting clearance to Flight Level 800 (eighty thousand feet)
Unknown aircraft on same frequency “Good luck getting up there”.
SR-71 “ We are descending”!
The ground speed unit is in the Radar operator seat. There is a pretty cool story on youtube about how an sr71 pilot shows up a navy fighter pilot who was trying to show off
The "Sled" retired after there were enough hi-res satellite cameras in space to photograph anything they needed to see. Also, the SR-71 was a very expensive operation. It required a fleet of DC-10 refueling aircraft that stored the special fuel for this aircraft to take on in-flight. Fun fact: although fuel "weeped" out of the tanks into drop pans in the hangar, it would not easily catch fire. It took a special ingredient injected into the fuel in the engine to get it to light.
Lots of comments here, but some interesting facts:
1) The SR-71 was made primarily of titanium, and - given the altitude - the pilots wore what were in effect astronaut suits.
2) The first mission after an SR-71 took flight was to refuel with an orbiting aerial tanker. Combining the lost fuel from seeping fuel tanks with the takeoff thrust, refueling had to be the first task.
3) The world's largest supplier of titanium during the SR-71s production was... the USSR. Now, the US couldn't openly order titanium from the Soviets for hosts of reasons. So the CIA set up shell comapanies that bartered with the USSR. I think the main trade item was... Pepsi syrup, which could be carbonated on the Soviet side to create this interesting Western drink (Pepsi was also traded for Stolichnaya Vodka). So this is one of the first documented instances where the US used capitalism to defeat Communism.
Lastly, I think the major decision to retire the SR-71 was around the improved capability of satellites, which did not put pilots' lives at risk. This was a riding concern ever since Francis Gary Powers was shot down and taken prisoner in what was deemed a "missile-proof" U-2. Once that happened, and the US had to negotiate a spy-captive trade with the USSR to get Powers back, human assets became more important.
I believe that the SR-71 was a result of the U2 incident. After the U2 was shot down, the SR-71 was intended as a recon plane that was untouchable.
I fell in love with the SR-71 when they would fly over my house in Okinawa City late ‘70’s early ‘80’s. Beautiful machine! And yes , Courtney, i agree with you... I have always believed UFOs were military experimental aircraft.
For a good laugh check out the story about the SR 71 called the LA Speed Check. Its only about 5 or 6 minutes long.
The SR 71 was retired for the following reasons. Aircraft require X number of hours and dollars of maintenance for each hour of flight. The Blackbird took a lot of maintenance. Fuel, the SR 71 took a special fuel with an extremely high flash point. This was due to the extreme speed and altitude at which the aircraft flew. If you use normal jet fuel in the SR-71 the engines would explode because the fuel would ignite before it got to the burners. It tied up a number of KC 135 tankers to support each flight. Each mission required multiple refuelings to complete. For example the Blackbird never took off with full fuel tanks. This was due to the leaking that occurred on the ground before the aircraft warmed up. Right after takeoff and climb to about 35,000 feet the aircraft got hot enough to seal all those little leaks. At that time the SR-71 would fuel from a kc-135 to fill her tanks. At the minimum you would have three refueling for a given mission. If additional range was required you had to arrange for more refueling. The Casey 135 maximum service ceiling I want to say is over just over 40,000 ft. The Blackbird operated at 70,000 ft Plus. The Blackbird would have to descend and reduce speed for each refueling except for the one after takeoff. The KC 135s were dedicated to the SR 71 program. Each of those planes required maintenance just like the SR 71. The disadvantage satellites have compared to the SR-71 is there a positioning is dictated by the physics of orbital Dynamics. Yes you can change orbits but satellites only carry so much fuel. Once they're out of fuel they're worthless essentially. The SR-71 on the other hand can be anywhere in the world annoying the hell out of the enemy within say 10 hours. A lot of the missiles fired at the SR-71 were fired by the Vietnamese and the North Koreans. All they had to do was ultra speed and heading slightly and the missile would miss. There are some claims that the MIG 31 and MIG 25 got close enough to shoot it down. I question the veracity of this because the speed of the missiles fired by these aircraft. In order to fire a missile at an SR-71 from another aircraft that missile has to be faster than the SR-71 to catch it. It also has to be faster than the airplane making the interception. Early in the SR-71 program they thought about making it into some kind of fighter. Then they realize that all the missiles in the inventory of the United States Air Force and Navy were slower than the SR-71. So once the missile was launched the SR-71 would be ahead of it. You can't fire a gun at the SR-71 or a Cannon like aircraft have today. The muzzle velocity of the cannon is lower than the speed of the SR-71. Once again the platform firing the cannon would have to fly faster or as fast as SR 71 to make the interception. So the aircraft firing at the Blackbird would end up shooting itself down. I am not saying it's impossible to build a missile fast enough to get the SR-71, but the missile would have to be light enough to be carried on the intercepting aircraft. It would also have to have enough range to catch the SR-71. All it takes is a slight change in altitude and direction and speed to totally out maneuver a ground-based missile. The same can be done too air launched missiles as well. I am referring to the SR-71 only when it detects a missile launch.
If someone knows something more about the maintenance and the fuel which I think was jp9, please chime in. I'm open to new information from anywhere. I can tell you this the Mig 25 and 31 have really crappy engines. I won't say anything more.
Fun fact. The fuel used by the SR71 had such a high flash point that you could throw a match into a bucket full of it and the match would go out without igniting the fuel.
2,200mph = 3540kph. That's Seattle to New York City in just over an hour (SeaTac to La Guardia, 2,408 miles, straight line).
I have always been just utterly fascinated by this jet for most of my life (I'm 53). An article I read once said that at altitude, the engines are running at 110% capacity, with maximum afterburner, and it was actually designed to do so. Another article said that it could cover the length of the state of Montana (630 miles) in 15 minutes.