PILOT ENVY

[George Hayduke]

 

[boosterbglee]

Nice one George! 

[Shabibilicious]

Hilarious, awesome and informative........This Army vet salutes you. 

 

GO RV, then BV  

[new york kevin]

Grrrrreat !!!

[nstoolman1]

I saw the last flight of an SR-71 when it flew out of MAFB (March Air Force Base) and a few hours later we heard it had already made it to Washington, DC. One fast bird. No one out of the loop really knows how fast she will do. 

[Xtaxguy]

I well remember that flight.  I had heard on the car radio during my morning commute the flash news that the SR-71 was being retired and that the sole squadron at Beale AFB was standing down and dissolving that day.  I called my Sacramento Office and hung a uturn.  The base was open which to my knowledge was a first.  All the birds were there except for the lone plane that took off from March and overflew the stand down ceremony exactly on schedule "at a classified speed in excess of mach 2 at a classified altitude in excess of 70,000 feet."  Great double boom!  There was a northbound United flight parallel at around 30,000 feet that seemed to be standing still.  Wonder what they thought of the booms.  It then turned West, descended for refueling over the Pacific, went back up and blew over the Bay area.  Later in the ceremony they announced its arrival at Andrews AFB after 58 minutes, again breaking its coast to coast record.  All the other planes flew out that night to different destinations to become museum displays.  They could not announce the times because all SR-71 ops were classified.  Many of us hung around the off base areas to see them fly off, but gave up and went home long after dark.  In the morning they were gone.  The faces of their pilots just after the ceremony, particularly the ones who were not assigned to the fly-off, were about the saddest I've ever seen.

 

The first time I saw a Blackbird it was a couple of hundred feet right over me with idling engines on final at Hickam AFB where I was finalizing my discharge pay in March, 1969.  It came up behind me, I did not hear it, I just sensed danger, spun around, and thought I was about to be eaten by some ancient avian dinosaur.  Its shadow covered most of the parking lot next to the old hanger that still is scarred from strafing on December 7th.  Among my top 5 all time spooky experiences, for sure.  Had no idea what it was.  Neither did any of the people I talked to in the next few hours.  One major not 20 feet from me when it landed smiled and said he saw nothing worth talking about.  Always thought it must have been a very unscheduled arrival - airborne refueling problem or something  akin.  Did know what it was until more than a year later.

 

 

Edited November 22, 2017 by Xtaxguy
typos

[George Hayduke]

An awesome bird for sure.  When one considers the history of our Air Defense flight and, in particular the development of ‘Recon/Strike’ flight from the late fifties forward it causes one to truly take a deep breath, step back and bow in humble awe.  Now add in the fact that the SR71 is retired… WHAT replaced it…?

[Synopsis]

7 minutes ago, George Hayduke said:

An awesome bird for sure.  When one considers the history of our Air Defense flight and, in particular the development of ‘Recon/Strike’ flight from the late fifties forward it causes one to truly take a deep breath, step back and bow in humble awe.  Now add in the fact that the SR71 is retired… WHAT replaced it…?

 

Could be the SR-91 Aurora. Looks like the Aurora had roots all the back to 1985 (accidentally appeared as a Pentagon budget list item) or before. I heard some time ago the SR-91 could do mach 5+.

 

 

 

The contrail suggests some type of pulse engine propulsion. Back in WWII (You and many others may know) the Germans had a "Buzz Bomb" that had some type of pulse propulsion for enhanced delivery performance.

 

Food for thought. Pretty cool if true. 1985 was over 30 years ago. The SR-71 had a nominal service of 30 years so I wonder what we have now?

 

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! We have so much to be Thankful For - Especially our Service Personnel and Veterans!!!

 

      

[moose 57]

49 minutes ago, Synopsis said:

 

Could be the SR-91 Aurora. Looks like the Aurora had roots all the back to 1985 (accidentally appeared as a Pentagon budget list item) or before. I heard some time ago the SR-91 could do mach 5+.

 

 

 

The contrail suggests some type of pulse engine propulsion. Back in WWII (You and many others may know) the Germans had a "Buzz Bomb" that had some type of pulse propulsion for enhanced delivery performance.

 

Food for thought. Pretty cool if true. 1985 was over 30 years ago. The SR-71 had a nominal service of 30 years so I wonder what we have now?

 

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! We have so much to be Thankful For - Especially our Service Personnel and Veterans!!!

 

      

 

We are on a need to know basis... Happy Thanksgiving everyone! God Bless you all

[Synopsis]

2 hours ago, moose 57 said:

 

We are on a need to know basis... Happy Thanksgiving everyone! God Bless you all

 

Happy Thanksgiving to You, Moose57!