Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Fastest Jet in the World Full Documentary
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- čas přidán 2. 02. 2014
- Lockheed SR 71 Blackbird Fastest Jet in the World Full Documentary
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The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" was an advanced, long-range, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft.[1] It was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft in the 1960s by Lockheed and its Skunk Works division. Clarence "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many of the design's innovative concepts. During reconnaissance missions, the SR-71 operated at high speeds and altitudes to allow it to outrace threats. If a surface-to-air missile launch was detected, the standard evasive action was simply to accelerate and outfly the missile.[2]
The SR-71 served with the U.S. Air Force from 1964 to 1998. A total of 32 aircraft were built; 12 were lost in accidents, but none lost to enemy action.[3][4] The SR-71 has been given several nicknames, including Blackbird and Habu.[5] Since 1976, it has held the world record for the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft, a record previously held by the YF-12. - Věda a technologie
This Jet flew right over my house in 1971 I was only 7 and sitting on the roof with my dad to watch the Air Show but little did we know this Bird was going to make a fly by right over top of our house that day.
I will never forget the blasting hum in my ears and my dad crouched down because the damn thing was so big it looked as if it was going to touch us.
It was so huge even though it was flying relatively high it seemed as if it was within arms reach.
Just after it passed over top our house shook and are ears began to hum then there was this huge bang like thunder then it was gone just like that.
I was never so scared and excited in my life at the same time as when I saw this beast of a bird flying right over my head that day.
I feel privileged to have had that moment only wish we had taken a picture of it, but its engraved in my memory for ever man oh man what a ride.
You
Possibly the most beautiful machine ever created
JB95 I think Concorde beats it for me but only just. A fantastic machine none the less!
+Daniel Addison this shits on the Concord
This plane was so far ahead of it's time.
This aircraft is my grandfather's legacy! He helped design the engines out at Pratt in West Palm ,FL!
Those engines are quite ingenious. Using RAM air as compression rather than the compressor greatly increases the gas mileage. Also allowing the turbines to run cooler and not melt at mach 3.2. That's absolutely amazing.
I was a grad physics student at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, FL in 1984 and I had dealings with a Mechanical Engineering prof who was doing research work on mathematically modeling heat flow in gas turbine engines for Pratt and Whitney, very cool stuff.
The sight and sound of those j58 engines being cranked up using buik start carts and then the engines kicking in is one hell of great sound.
Thank him for me. It's my favorite aircraft of all time, and ANYONE who was involved gets my ULTIMATE respect. The SR-71 is only eclipsed by one other gov't. sanctioned program in history. Apollo.
His legacy is YOU not an aircraft. We don't fight for metal or whatever. We better ourselves to protect loved ones. This is why MEN like your Grandfather educated themselves, devoted countless hours, worry and hope for a better life for future generations.. That's his legacy. Not a piece of machinery.
My grandfather worked for Eastman Kodak at the time this plane was developed. The first iterations of the SR-71 had problems with the immense frictional heat warping the optics, so he recommended painting the area around the lenses black, since it radiates heat. on a plane flight from Rochester to DC, he calculated the heat of the air frame on a napkin almost exactly, which was classified information. They decided to paint the entire aircraft black.
To think, there's a napkin sitting in some top-secret government storage facility. 2 years ago, my grandfather was asked to attend the declassification ceremony at the National Air and Space Museum.
From all military U.S. planes, this one is a masterpiece! Absolute beauty! Much respect from former soviet citizen.
My friend who is a pilot told me that the SR-71's fuselage will actually expand several inches when it is flying at those super extreme heights due to the temperature changes. It is a truly amazing machine.
Casey Smith More like almost 3 feet. Its crazy how much it expands
Casey Smith This is why the plane leaks fuel like a sieve on the ground. This expansion was intentional.
TheDistantEchos Mmm, I'll play a word Nazi here, but I wouldn't say that the expansion was intentional. The expansion was unwanted but unavoidable, and so they intentionally left more space so everything fit nicely once the temperature made the material expand. Unfortunately it made leaks in standard conditions possible, it was a necessary trade-off. Bullshit talk aside, that really shows the extreme conditions that the aircraft's creators had to face, and they succeeded.
+AhzekAhriman EXCELLENT COMMENT
I'm sure this beuiteful plane would expand so much that it would fracture and often had to be patched up after a number of flights or even between every flight. I'm sure I heard that in a last documentary. I had a poster of this stunning piece of art on my bedroom wall I'm the 80s when I was just a young child. Great times the 80's were😌
To my eye, there is no man made machine more beautiful and awe inspiring to behold than the "blackbird". The importance of the fact that it flew the highest and the fastest seems to only add icing on the cake. When I first saw one, close up, less than ten feet away, I was struck by it's sight. Without explanation or understanding of it's stats, just by witnessing it's size, lines, shape and gargantuan engines, intuition alone communicated the greatness of this awesome flying beast. The thing impresses itself not so much as a magnificent artifact from the past but rather one seemingly granted to us from the future. It's seamless matte black titanium skin, known to perspire while in full flight, wore evidence of it's experience in extreme and unreachable environments, The blazing torch it flew against had left it with a multicolored patina on it's glass "wind shield". . To all servicemen and scientist with first hand knowledge of this great machine, please do not divulge technical aspects which the current tyranny we face may use
F14...For every day carousing at ground to cloud level would be most awesome as also the F16, especially for swatting enemy flies. For esthetic reasons, and for near space escapes across oceans and continents, the SR-71 is unapproachable
.
You know it's something special when it looks as good on the ground as it does in the air..
There were a lot of things we couldn't do in an SR-71 Blackbird, but we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe flying this plane - intense, maybe, even cerebral. But there was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment.
It occurred when Walt and I were flying our final training sortie. We needed 100 hours in the jet to complete our training and attain Mission Ready status. Somewhere over Colorado we had passed the century mark. We had made the turn in Arizona and the jet was performing flawlessly. My gauges were wired in the front seat and we were starting to feel pretty good about ourselves, not only because we would soon be flying real missions but because we had gained a great deal of confidence in the plane in the past ten months. Ripping across the barren deserts 80,000 feet below us, I could already see the coast of California from the Arizona border. I was, finally, after many humbling months of simulators and study, ahead of the jet. I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for Walter in the back seat.
There he was, with no really good view of the incredible sights before us, tasked with monitoring four different radios. This was good practice for him for when we began flying real missions, when a priority transmission from headquarters could be vital. It had been difficult, too, for me to relinquish control of the radios, as during my entire flying career I had controlled my own transmissions. But it was part of the division of duties in this plane and I had adjusted to it. I still insisted on talking on the radio while we were on the ground, however. Walt was so good at many things, but he couldn't match my expertise at sounding smooth on the radios, a skill that had been honed sharply with years in fighter squadrons where the slightest radio miscue was grounds for beheading. He understood that and allowed me that luxury. Just to get a sense of what Walt had to contend with, I pulled the radio toggle switches and monitored the frequencies along with him.
The predominant radio chatter was from Los Angeles Center, far below us, controlling daily traffic in their sector. While they had us on their scope (albeit briefly), we were in uncontrolled airspace and normally would not talk to them unless we needed to descend into their airspace. We listened as the shaky voice of a lone Cessna pilot who asked Center for a read-out of his ground speed. Center replied: “November Charlie 175, I'm showing you at ninety knots on the ground.”
Now the thing to understand about Center controllers was that whether they were talking to a rookie pilot in a Cessna or to Air Force One, they always spoke in the exact same, calm, deep, professional tone that made one feel important. I referred to it as the "Houston Center voice." I have always felt that after years of seeing documentaries on this country's space program and listening to the calm and distinct voice of the Houston controllers, that all other controllers since then wanted to sound like that and that they basically did. And it didn't matter what sector of the country we would be flying in, it always seemed like the same guy was talking. Over the years that tone of voice had become somewhat of a comforting sound to pilots everywhere. Conversely, over the years, pilots always wanted to ensure that, when transmitting, they sounded like Chuck Yeager, or at least like John Wayne. Better to die than sound bad on the radios. Just moments after the Cessna's inquiry, a Twin Beech piped up on frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his ground speed in Beech. “I have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed.”
Boy, I thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is dazzling his Cessna brethren. Then out of the blue, a navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock because he sounded very cool on the radios. “Center, Dusty 52 ground speed check.” Before Center could reply, I'm thinking to myself, hey, Dusty 52 has a ground speed indicator in that million-dollar cockpit, so why is he asking Center for a read-out? Then I got it, ol' Dusty here is making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows what true speed is. He's the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet. And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more distinct alliteration than emotion: “Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 on the ground.”
And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what? As my hand instinctively reached for the mic button, I had to remind myself that Walt was in control of the radios. Still, I thought, it must be done - in mere seconds we'll be out of the sector and the opportunity will be lost. That Hornet must die, and die now. I thought about all of our Sim training and how important it was that we developed well as a crew and knew that to jump in on the radios now would destroy the integrity of all that we had worked toward becoming. I was torn. Somewhere, 13 miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside his space helmet.
Then, I heard it - the click of the mic button from the back seat. That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke: “Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check?” There was no hesitation, and the replay came as if was an everyday request. “Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground.”
I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation, and you just knew he was smiling. But the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed the mic once again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like voice: “Ah, Center, much thanks, we're showing closer to nineteen hundred on the money.” For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in the armor of the Houston Center voice, when L.A. came back with, “Roger that Aspen. Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You boys have a good one.”
It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been flamed, all mortal airplanes on freq were forced to bow before the King of Speed, and more importantly, Walter and I had crossed the threshold of being a crew. A fine day's work. We never heard another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast. For just one day, it truly was fun being the fastest guys out there. The point is, you have a lot of free time.
+Wille k Wow that was a great story to hear and hats off and big thanks to your service. I think every American feels proud of the exceptional and innovative creation that was brought forth from the years of battle and service from the US. forces. I surely do. I can see every nation that strives to keep there country safe through there military will feel proud and allegiance to back there country and innovation's. So try to remember what draw you to this video. A debate over policy and the speed of light, rocket power and all other BS takes away from the great story above and the achievements made. I don't think there will ever be a time in history again that can replace the World wars, cold war and the men that produced those products for that era. Or the kind of men that fought for this country and gave lives the way they did for our freedom and other nations to live peacefully. Politicians come and go with there agenda but this we can all agree was a pretty bitchin ride by even todays standards. Its pretty cool to hear a real pilot and actual event that follows. : )BTW. This plane is the fastest and fly's the highest in the universe. LOL. It definitely looks mean as hell.
j baker As much as I appreciate your words, and hopefully Brian Shul could read it, I suggest you pick up the book Sled Driver. It will be hard to track down, but it's a good book if you have further interest in the subject.
In case you are bewildered, you're the latest victim of a copypasta. knowyourmeme.com/memes/copypasta
Good day to you sir/miss.
+j baker i have a PDF version of that book if you are interested.. Great read..
yes I would be grateful for the read.
Contains
Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed by Ben R. Rich
Sled Driver: Flying the World's Fastest Jet by Brian Shul & Sheila Kathleen O'Grady
www.mediafire.com/download/5jdix5a43cj6c86/SR-71.rar
I think the SR-71 is probably the finest looking plane ever made
I agree 100%
Agreed. Need to change pants every time I look at it.
Either the SR71 or Concorde
An elegant work of art.
Mr. Johnson should never have witnessed the blackbirds retirement. He died exactly a year later... Thank you Kelly, for feeding the dreams of us mere mortals.
Imagine what we could do today with this design? Modern polymers, avionics and tooling we could build it faster and better. I just wonder how much more speed and capability you could squeeze out of this design using modern era technology.
Untouchable........
Thanks Brian
Thanks Ben
Two of the greatest SR71 pilots I've ever known
They did not have computers back in 1958. They used slide rules. Because of the expansion of the metal at high speeds they had to design this so that the metal was "loose" until it was at high speeds. Incredible. The engine was unique as it combined two different types of engines. The pilots say that when they pushed the engine to full speed it kept accelerating after the levers were at max! Everything about this plane is mind blowing. They had to make the tools; and invent special lubricants and fuel. Faster than bullets and missles. Shot at over 4000 times. Set unbroken speed records on its last flight. etc. etc. etc.!
First saw this Majestic Beast in 1962 at Beale AFB. That night it made a hot final approach over LAX at Mach 3.
We parked close enough that night to remember it smelled like burnt toast.
Heads-up: The majority of this technology is still classified as “TOP SECRET”
Meaning that they let you know what they want you to know !
Lyndon B. Johnson’s slip on this this subject was responsible for disclosing the secret of the SR-71 existence.
Cruising at Mach 3.2 / 82,000 ft. is its most fuel efficient speed…not its top speed. More like +1.5 times this…with a huge appetite for fuel.
Max sustained altitude was +95,000 ft. and was seldom reached because of flame-out problems with the PW engines.
Maybe one day the Air Force will declassify its true performance potential.
wish I could have been at Beale to see that. I have read a lot on the SR and it seems like they tell all, but you are right. I bet there is much we don't know. Just amazes me what those guys did back then.
Dad was assigned to the U2, SR-71 and Apollo programs. Saw things that most dream about. Knew about Microwaves long before Amana developed them, 3 phase Doppler Radar (tracking aircraft), before weather radar & police radar guns and lots of other things that are taken as normal in these times. The Aurora Project....Hmmm
Rocky Jeep Then your dad should have told you the name Aurora Project was the B-2 Spirit bomber..
Sorry Dude, I knew about the Aurora Project back late 60's. It looked nothing like a B-2 Bomber. The B-2 was a hand-me-down Delta Wing from WWII.
From 1983 till 1990 I lived near camp far west lake, just south of beale AFB gate... saw these planes almost daily, and was honored to be able to attend the official retirement in Jan of 90..... still amazes me!!
What an AWESOME aircraft! Kelly Johnson: from the WWII P38 Lightning to the SR71 Blackbird: one hell of a career! The man is definitely in a class that is his alone. It boggles the mind to even think about all that Johnson saw and did. He has at least two full lifetimes of major accomplishments to his credit!
my father was a member of the sr71 crew. back In the 70s.
Is that what he told you, 😂
This plane is perfect intersect between menacing beauty and deadly functionality.
+Zero Sum Game Like the Gibson M-III electric guitar.
like a guy farting into a lighter.
such beautiful flames
such deadly results
hyperj20; when you do your "lighter" trick, be sure to be wearing underwear. Burns in that part of your body can be quite painful, not to mention embarrassing.
hyperj20 What the actual fuck?
It STILL looks futuristic decades later.
The SR-71 Blackbird.... The most beautiful Woman to EVER grace the sky's!!
I remember when she was "Moth Balled".... I couldn't see why, when we spent (back then) Hundreds of millions of dollars on stupid and unnecessary garbage. And now, today, we need her "grace under fire" on a daily basis! Until they remove those storage locks, and allow you to roam the sky's once again.... You are SORELY missed!!
My God those engines are enormous!!!!
SR-71. The COOLEST man-made object in all of human history!
An engineering marvel. There is nothing like it and never will be. The Mig 25/31, while impressive, could never achieve sustained Mach 2.8 speeds. The SR-71 sustain Mach 3.1+ (still don’t know the exact top speed) for extended periods. Absolutely mind blowing.
Bruce Ashby
When traveling at Mach 3, one does not simply open a hatch to release a bomb/missile; the hatch would simply be torn off by the wind pressure.. completely. Combine that with the extreme requirement for aerodynamical smoothness, you essentially have an airplane incapable of delivering payloads.
On top of that, as TheNewGreenWay mentions, weapons cannot be mounted without increasing weigth. This extra weigth would in term require stronger structural support, furtherly increasing its weigth. With all this extra weigth, you would need larger wings (or more camber on the wings, resulting in increased drag). This would then require bigger engines, which would also need additional structural strength. So you see friend, this is the spiral without end. Fitting The SR-71 with weapons is simply NOT possible without a complete makeover of the ENTIRE aircraft.
I don't think you realize just how extreme this aircraft is! - I mean it barely has control surfaces for steering because external moving parts is a really bad idea when flying at Mach3. I don't think I even have to try and explain why weapons can't be mounted externally on this particular aircraft, right?!
this bird is so fast it can bend light
Everybody agrees on one thing...There has never been an aerospace engineering project that had presented such a gigantic and enourmous challenge to its engineers and technicians to complete. Kelly Johnson, its father was the greatest aerospace engineer of the last century .
Thanks so much for the post, awesome!
The SR 71 is probably the sexist aircraft ever made and Kelly Johnson WAS one of the most incredible aircraft designers of all time . The Blackbird will stand as a monument to the amazing work done at the SKUNK WORKS and to Kelly Johnson himself
Remember that the Space Shuttle didn't JUST do scientific experiments for some 6th grade class in Bumfuk Iowa. There were several Space Shuttle Missions that were highly classified by the U.S. Military. Talk about flying 'High and Fast'! The U2 and SR71 were fantastic and way ahead of their time but were both obsolete within 2 decades. Cool era of Manned Flight!
+randy109 HEY !!! I'm from Eldon Iowa, a place you intellectuals would call Bumfuk.
We call it Podunk, much better plus your Mom won't wash your mouth out with soap !!!
+randy109 The U2 is still in active service, just not used for high altitude recon
Honored to say I flew T-38's with Brian Shul at Beale AFB and remember a top notch pilot who always showed us how to do it right.
All time favorite aircraft! Nothing compares!
Nice music, but it nearly drowns out the narrative.
Saw this plane at the old SAC Air force base in Omaha. They kept all the old planes out on the old runway. It was just sad too see them just falling apart out in the elements. About 10 to 12 years ago they built A new fancy building between Omaha and Lincoln on the interstate and all of the planes have been restored. The SR-71 is in the picture window of the building when you pull up you can see it all restored and beautiful.
+backwoodsbully Awe Inspiring SR-71, can be seen right before you take the escalator downstairs; you can almost touch it. Visit The SAC Muscum Today...
Thanks for sharing this great video. The fact that the human body can go through Mach 3 is just incredible. Man oh man, just imagining those triple sonic booms is quite something!
One hell of a jet. Happy 51st birthday, SR-71!!!
the plane that made u love it. i saw it and my dad told me it was the fastest in the world and i was in love.
That plane is still so boss
Amazing to think that humans, the world over, can conquer the elements and achieve this.
I have always loved this aircraft! Great video. Thanks for sharing.
"Can it escape RADAR? "
Blackbird: What RADAR!?
25:03 I wouldn't have thought that something like that would be possible even with today's technology. Absolutely incredible!
+sphinxrising58 Spoken like a troo joo traitor.
+sphinxrising58
Nikola Tesla was no Idiot he was one of the best mines to ever pick up a pin and his work was 100 years a head of his time and I am sure
that some documents fake. but if you knew Tesla work and could under stand it. Then you not call him a idiot, Try reading the book
Skunk Works by Tom Clancy and watch the move call the
master of lighting it on Tesla's life and work.
SR71 was the number 1 supersonic jet!
I got to watch the SR-71 fly in an airshow in the early 1980's... Very impressive!
I thought this was something the USAF had just created... But the United States has had this world class space ship since the last world war...
Amazingly functional but also just so beautiful.
Luv and Peace.
From an article in a swedish defence magazine.
The article presents an interview with the former Viggen division leader, Per-Olof Eldh. The article is about near encounters with the SR-71 Blackbird near swedish airspace. He recalls one time as they where practicing airdefense over Gotland (an island outside the eastcoast of Sweden) but suddenly where interupted by the command central to intercept a target moving towards them, coming from the near costal area south of Stockholm. Per-Olof was guided to an direct attack at a target flying at 21500 meters (about 65 000 feet). His radar locked on at maximum distance,and the primary weapon selected was the Rb 71 Skyflash, and by the numbers presented to him he knew that it could only be a Mig 25 or the SR-71. As the contact came closer he could eventually see the gray siluette of an SR-71 passing a couple of 1000 meters above. Per-Olofs altitude is claimed to still be classified. But he says that he was higher then he had ever been before, and the sky turned black instead of the usual blueish colour. Since that day they had several contacts with the SR-71. They often flew very close to swedish airspace. coming from the east just south of Ã...land at mach 3, decreasing speed to mach 2.56 to make the turn and head south along the swedish coast, accelerating between the islands Gotland and Öland. Per-olof says that he made 5 encounters during his time as an active pilot.
The usual way to make an intercept was to climb up to 8000 meter, turn around and head north back towards Stockholm, accelerating to maximum speed and altitude. The later evaluations told them that they would have succeded in shooting down the aircraft if they had used their missiles.
Gammal nyhet, men ja vi kan vi med. :)
I did my military service as radar observer in the Swedish Airforce 1980-1981. We oftenly followed the SR 71 on the radar screen, or to be correct, tried to follow it, which was quite hard when it flew in Mach 3. Planes from the Warzaw pact came out from the Baltic states to have a watch. Always the same pattern. Between Öland and Gotland there is a narrow corridor of international water of about two kilometres, which was like a needles eye for the SR 71. It happened quite often that the plane missed and flew over Swedish territory. We were there with polaroid cameras and photographed the radar screen with the ecos, as proof. The picture was sent to the American embassy with a protest. Now it´s already history.
I guess shoulda, coulda, woulda just doesn't do it. Hearsay is not evidence and until one is actually shot down we'll never know.
Certainly not the only black missile that has invaded a swedish crack.
christer granquist
Interesting.
A SR-71 flew right over me at low altitude when it was heading in to land at Beale AFB in California. I just stood there with my jaw dropped , totally in awe. What an awesome piece of equipment.
This is my favorite plane! I've seen it in person several times, and I've seen it fly once. I love it and wish I could've flown in it
Most beautiful bird to ever fly. Blackbirds!!!
You can count using just ten fingers of aircraft that stir the soul. What I mean by that, they have a living, breathing personality; the embodiment of the human condition. Aircraft that excite people from the engineers and pilots to children at airshow's.
This is my list:
Concorde
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
P-51 Mustang
Supermarine Spitfire
Vulcan
English Electric Lightning
Boeing 747
Lockheed Constellation
BAe Harrier
Boeing B-52
Hero's of mine.
Avro Lancaster enough said.
A-10 Warthog
+o0CyberMC0o The A-10 is truly a monster, beautiful aircraft in my opinion
+peanuts2105 ME-262 Swallow
+peanuts2105 Handley Page Victor is jsut wow
Pity they never mentioned the A12! It is often forgotten and it was what the SR71 was developed from.
THE most beautiful plane ever built!!!
No mention of the A-12? Shame.
The A-12's were the first models, they were single seat.
I love that plane!
Thanks for posting this. I found it very interesting. I was stationed at Beale AFB in support of the SR-71 Blackbirds in 1968-69. A very awesome plane to see and be around
Fantastic documentary. Thanks for the upload.
Badass, Best plane ever!
The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. An advanced, long-range, strategic reconnaissance aircraft capable of Mach 3 and an altittude of 85,000 ft!
Hellsing ultimate abridged
I must say, I lost track of the last one...
Some say it's in my garbage, with some other military crap now... Conspiracy, I believe again...
i gave this one a THUMB UP because i love technic and secret things,
This aircraft was far ahead of its time in 1964 just imagine what they have now in 2019 let that sink in for a little
I met pat tonight, so amazing.
Americans are amazing !!
I agree. My husband loves this jet! We saw in person and he's still excited about it! Congrats on all those who had the opportunity to fly this remarkable jet! From what I understand they were an elite group! Thanks!
Lockheed Power! Well Done! Thanks for the post!
War can create beautiful things
+Nayt Mare Let's have another one! North Korea has been acting like a little bitch lately. Time for 'air mail' delivery.
+nolean99z North Korea has unicorns
+Nayt Mare And we have weaponized drones
The most badass plane goes to the A-10 Warthog with tank busting rounds the most feared plane it will end any firefight My men and I always felt safe when it flew over us "Brrrrrt" "GET DOWN"
For an A/C that operated in the speed / altitude envelop of the SR-71, this A/C flew from 1972 to 1989 without a single loss...the Habu had the best safety record of any A/C in the Air Force inventory..a truly remarkable record..
My favourite aircraft in the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum at Dulles Airport. I walked around it, looked down upon it, but could only imagine what flying that hot rod would've been like. Now I can imagine a little better... It's eerie staring up the barrel of those engines, knowing they had the power to outrun a missile.
Whats the crack with all the damn adverts??
Only ONE aircraft has ever had a perfect missile lock on a blackbird. Sweden's former main fighter jet, the JAS Viggen! True story! The saying goes, that the yank pilots later sent a congratulatory card to the Swedish squadron where the Viggen hailed from.
+Boomhauer like does he have a car? No I kidd. I don't know, that's it I guess. :) The blackbirds route over the Baltic Sea was a regular and well known route. Swedish planes had a great advantage due to their geographical location which meant that they could scramble fast and meet the blackbird on the route. They were probably never able to shoot it down anyway due to the incredible speed of the blackbird. Still interesting tho, we build kick ass planes too :)
Didn't a Mig-31 achieve close visual contact with a SR-71 on a couple of occasions? I believe that the Blackbirds were vulnerable to interception by the Soviet's R-33 air to air missile.
+Jim Nesta Visual contact does not mean anything. Of course you can see it when you are up in the sky. No, the blackbird was never threatened by any aircraft but the Viggen. It's purpose was just that, to stay hidden. The world would not even know about it if Lyndon b Johnson didn't announce it. The blackbird would be like those choppers they built in Area 51 and used against UBL in Abbottabad .
+Karl XII In the book "Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond the Secret Missions" the author, Paul Crickmore, states that a Russian pilot, Mikhail Myagkiy, and his WSO achieved a weapons radar lock on with the Blackbird at 52,000 ft at a distance of 120 km. They closed on the Blackbird to within visual range as it was gaining altitude to 65,000 ft, probably in an attempt to evade them. The Russian pilot said that had he fired his missile the Blackbird would have had no chance to escape. He didn't fire his missile because the Blackbird didn't violate Russian airspace, only flew close to it. The Russian was flying a Mig-31 Fox hound, a high altitude, high speed interceptor that succeeded the Mig-25 Foxbat.
This incident supposedly took place on Jan 31, 1986. Crickmore reports that the US Air Force quit flying Blackbird Missions that penetrated Russian airspace after that and only flew recon missions along the borders. It's interesting to note that the SR-71 program was discontinued three years later. Anyway, it's an interesting story about an interesting plane.
That's 28 years after the plane was designed, the fact it took the Soviets that long to find a response speaks to how incredible a craft it was.
The MiG-25 was able to catch up to the SR-71 however the former couldn't sustain those speeds for very long. The J-58 engines on the SR-71 were built for continuous use of speeds over Mach 3. It could fly for hours on end over 80,000 feet over Mach 3, the Foxbat could reach those altitudes and speeds only for a brief moment after which the engine would have to be overhauled. The J-58's could operate on mission after mission with relatively little overhaul at all.
CorvetteCoonass Consider that if the SR-71 was a mach 3.2 and the MIG was flying at 3.2 it could never "catch up" unless it was flying an oblique intercept course beginning at a point ahead of the SR-71 and knowing it's course. But it could not chase it down from below and behind. Plus as you mention, the MIG was only good for very short periods at full mach.
simply amazing- I saw one when I was a kid around 14 yrs old over Collins Lake
Reverse engineering at it's finest. Thanks Aliens.
Not aliens - Germans.
The SR-71 Blackbird may be the fastest jet, but the ICBM goes Mach 23, the third fastest hing on the planet, internet is the second, and the speed of light is the first.
is the speed of light on this planet?
yeah everywhere the electric lights, fire, and lots of other light sources.
Why are you comparing a jet with a missle
Because I can, dude it's America it's a free freakin' country.
Yes, America has many retards
Kelly Johnson is a flippin genius, this is simply the most amazing jet there ever was, is & probably will be.
JUST FOUND YOUR CHANNEL. ...THANK YOU.
Lockheed SR-71......2000 MPH
Nasa X43A............7000 MPH!!!
Just like my Buick Park Avenue!!
ROFLMAU
Yes and the x 15 4500 mph
sr-71 is a plane... x43a is a rocket..
+customtheatres sometime when your bored look up some of the SR-71's speed records over set distances and calculate the average speeds needed to set those records. Now add in the time spent at approx. 200mph during refueling required during those runs.......seems the 2000mph quoted is off by a significant amount doesn't it! Try almost 3500mph.
+customtheatres X-15 7200 mph fasted man jet
Filmed through a potato
Love this video. Thank you for sharing
240p should be illegal
Why?
Such a beautiful aircraft, I feel privileged to have seen a working one on the ground at the Maryland Air National Guard base here in Middle River. I got to see it a few months before the F117 stealth fighter crashed 500 yards from my house. The Blue Angels also take off here for Fleet Week in Annapolis and I got to see the new F35's a few weeks ago. But I do get to see A10's flying in formation everyday so I feel lucky to be able to witness so many different aircraft take off everyday, but it's usually just A10's and C130's.
I love the SR-71 black bird
Thanks for the upload! Amazing military breakthroughs have also had great impact on civilian life.
"We're doing over 2000 miles per hour at this point; and we were like a speeding bullet, except faster. And we had crossed the line of death with impunity"--Brian Shul
I was a cop at Beale in the mid 1980s. The plane needed a lot of maintenance and was expensive to maintain. In the 1990s I saw a homeless guy sleeping under the SR on display in San Diego-I felt so pissed off.
+Forensource Actually, the one in front of the museum in Balboa Park is an A-12...a precursor to the SR.
So it was.
+Forensource I have a special connection to the other plane on the hardstand outside....I'm the surviving member of the restoration crew for the Sea Dart. My father was a young engineer at Convair and that was one of the planes he worked on.
great video tks 4 sharing !!!
Breathe was an absolutely fantastic video. You feel one with the earth. Beautiful! Mind boggling!
This film is old. They used the 71s in the 90s too. Two were pulled out of retirement. NASA has been using them over the years on accasion for aerodynamic technologys, etc. Newer films will show them used in 2002-04 etc. The pilots on this film are right, the satellites can't pickup what a Blackbird can. The ugly drones are a joke, some are shot down, the government just keeps it hush. They fly slow. The SR71 is the badass that will never be outdone. The greatest to this day. From Vietnam to Iraq. 1964-90s and testing In 2000s. Kelly Johnson said in the 60s My plane will be talked about with still greatness in the year 2000, he was right. Still holds the records to this day.
I saw two in Okinawa at Camp Hansen while I was on the rifle range . Absolutely beautiful bird. One came five or ten seconds behind the other.
Error at 10:10 - Lockheed's Skunkworks was in Palmdale, and they NEVER would have rolled this out in Burbank.
I am in love. What a genius aircraft
That was a nice touch, putting #61-7959 "BIg Tail" as the thumbnail.
quite a few years ago on a family vacation I remember seeing this plane as well as many others at a museum somewhere in alabama. they were all absolutely breath taking. this one in particular really caught my eye.
iluvhorsez1700
This thing rocks! Thank you Kelly Johnson!
One thing I noticed from watching it on TV for so many years, and then seeing it in person a year or two ago, I can can say it looks a lot bigger on screen than in person.
Wow, was designed and built at a time when this was not possible. A plane ahead of it's time.
There are only two military aircraft that set my pulse racing. Firstly, the English Electric Lightening, the most astounding fighter I have ever seen; then the Lockheed SR71...BOTH AMAZING.
I was at a job fair. Lockheeed was there. Talking to the girl recruiter, I mentioned the SR-71. She said, "What's that???" She also never heard of Kelly or the Skunk works.
decades on SR71 has still no equal.... what a machine
In the book "skunk works" written by a guy who worked under R Kelly Johnson and later became the head of skunk works when they developed the F-117A Nighthawk said they called the suits "precious" suits because of the price tag it's a fantastic book I would recommend it to anyone.