things that might make you go WOW!!!!! thread

Lancs Lad

Lancs Lad

Well-known member
V8Druid said:
New reporting from Aviation Week is indicating that NASA has quietly launched an effort to return SR-71A NASA 844 to flight, the same Blackbird that made the final flight of any SR-71 on October 9, 1999.
The aircraft was removed from its longtime outdoor display at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center earlier this year and moved into a hangar, where it was reportedly inspected.
According to Aviation Week, NASA has also contacted several former SR-71 personnel about helping with the effort. Two former Blackbird test engineers confirmed they had been approached.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has recently said the agency is rebuilding its X-plane portfolio and wants NASA flying higher and faster again. At AirVenture, when asked whether he had the power to bring the SR-71 back, Isaacman replied, “That’s classified.”
NASA has not officially confirmed that the return-to-flight project exists. When asked about 844, the agency said it had no additional information to share regarding the aircraft at this time.
:cool::cool::love::love::love:

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It does seem somethings afoot. Could just be research or a refurb of the display?
 
V8Druid

V8Druid

do it as well as you can,but learn to do it better
the last line is :oops: :oops:

" In April 1986, following an attack on American soldiers in a Berlin disco, President Reagan ordered the... bombing of Muammar Qaddafi's terrorist camps in Libya .
My duty was to fly over Libya , and take photographs recording the damage our F-111's had inflicted. Qaddafi had established a 'line of death,' a territorial marking across the Gulf of Sidra , swearing to shoot down any intruder, that crossed the boundary.
I was piloting the SR-71 spy plane, the world's fastest jet, accompanied by a Marine Major (Walt), the aircraft's reconnaissance systems officer (RSO). We had crossed into Libya , and were approaching our final turn over the bleak desert landscape, when Walt informed me, that he was receiving missile launch signals.
I quickly increased our speed, calculating the time it would take for the weapons, most likely SA-2 and SA-4 surface-to-air missiles, capable of Mach 5 - to reach our altitude. I estimated, that we could beat the rocket-powered missiles to the turn, and stayed our course, betting our lives on the plane's performance. On the morning of April 15, I rocketed past the line at 2,125 mph.
After several agonizingly long seconds, we made the turn and blasted toward the Mediterranean .. 'You might want to pull it back,' Walt suggested. It was then that I noticed I still had the throttles full forward. The plane was flying a mile every 1.6 seconds, (5760mph) above our Mach 3.2 limit..
It was the fastest we would ever fly. I pulled the throttles to idle, just south of Sicily, but we still overran the refueling tanker, awaiting us over Gibraltar ...
Scores of significant aircraft have been produced, in the 100 years of flight, following the achievements of the Wright brothers, which we celebrate in December. Aircraft such as the Boeing 707, the F-86 Sabre Jet, and the P-51 Mustang, are among the important machines that have flown our skies. But the SR-71, also known as the Blackbird, stands alone as a significant contributor to Cold War victory, and as the fastest plane ever, and only 93 Air Force pilots, ever steered the 'sled,' as we called our aircraft.
The SR-71, was the brainchild of Kelly Johnson, the famed Lockheed designer, who created the P-38, the F-104 Starfighter, and the U-2. After the Soviets shot down Gary Powers U-2 in 1960, Johnson began to develop an aircraft, that would fly three miles higher, and five times faster, than the spy plane, and still be capable of photographing your license plate.
However, flying at 2,000 mph would create intense heat on the aircraft's skin. Lockheed engineers used a titanium alloy, to construct more than 90 percent of the SR-71, creating special tools, and manufacturing procedures to hand-build each of the 40 planes..Special heat-resistant fuel, oil, and hydraulic fluids, that would function at 85,000 feet, and higher, also had to be developed.
In 1962, the first Blackbird successfully flew, and in 1966, the same year I graduated from high school, the Air Force began flying operational SR-71 missions. I came to the program in 1983, with a sterling record and a recommendation from my commander, completing the weeklong interview, and meeting Walt, my partner for the next four years. He would ride four feet behind me, working all the cameras, radios, and electronic jamming equipment. I joked, that if we were ever captured, he was the spy, and I was just the driver. He told me to keep the pointy end forward.
We trained for a year, flying out of Beale AFB in California , Karenna Airbase in Okinawa , and RAF Mildenhall in England . On a typical training mission, we would take off near Sacramento, refuel over Nevada, accelerate into Montana, obtain a high Mach speed over Colorado , turn right over New Mexico, speed across the Los Angeles Basin, run up the West Coast, turn right at Seattle , then return to Beale. Total flight time:- Two Hours and Forty Minutes.
One day, high above Arizona , we were monitoring the radio traffic, of all the mortal airplanes below us. First, a Cessna pilot asked the air traffic controllers to check his ground speed. 'Ninety knots,' ATC replied. A Bonanza soon made the same request. 'One-twenty on the ground,' was the reply.
To our surprise, a navy F-18 came over the radio, with a ground speed check.
Of course I knew exactly what he was doing!
This pilot,....he had a ground speed indicator in his cockpit, but he wanted to let all the bug-smashers in the valley, know what real speed was, 'Dusty 52, we show you at 620 on the ground,' ATC responded.
The situation was too ripe.
I heard the click of Walt's mike button in the rear seat. In his most innocent voice, Walt startled the controller by asking for a ground speed check from 81,000 feet, clearly above controlled airspace.
In a cool, professional voice, the controller replied, 'Aspen 20, I show you at 1,982 knots on the ground.'
We did not hear another transmission on that frequency, all the way to the coast.
The Blackbird always showed us something new, each aircraft possessing its own unique personality. In time, we realized we were flying a national treasure. When we taxied out of our revetments for take-off, people took notice. Traffic congregated near the airfield fences, because everyone wanted to see, and hear the mighty SR-71. You could not be a part of this program, and not come to love the airplane. Slowly, she revealed her secrets to us, as we earned her trust..
One moonless night, while flying a routine training mission over the Pacific, I wondered what the sky would look like from 84,000 feet, if the cockpit lighting were dark. While heading home on a straight course, I slowly turned down all of the lighting, reducing the glare and revealing the night sky. Within seconds, I turned the lights back up, fearful that the jet would know, and somehow punish me.
But my desire to see the sky, overruled my caution, I dimmed the lighting again. To my amazement, I saw a bright light outside my window. As my eyes adjusted to the view, I realized that the brilliance was the broad expanse of the Milky Way,now a gleaming stripe across the sky. Where dark spaces in the sky, had usually existed, there were now dense clusters, of sparkling stars.
Shooting Stars, flashed across the canvas every few seconds. It was like a fireworks display with no sound. I knew I had to get my eyes back on the instruments, and reluctantly, I brought my attention back inside.
To my surprise, with the cockpit lighting still off, I could see every gauge, lit by starlight. In the plane's mirrors, I could see the eerie shine of my gold spacesuit, incandescently illuminated, in a celestial glow. I stole one last glance out the window. Despite our speed, w"e seemed still before the heavens, humbled in the radiance of a much greater power. For those few moments, I felt a part of something far more significant, than anything we were doing in the plane. The sharp sound of Walt's voice on the radio, brought me back to the tasks at hand, as I prepared for our descent.
The SR-71 was an expensive aircraft to operate. The most significant cost was tanker support, and in 1990, confronted with budget cutbacks, the Air Force retired the SR-71. The SR-71 served six presidents, protecting America for a quarter of a century. Un-be-known to most of the country, the plane flew over North Vietnam , Red China , North Korea , the Middle East, South Africa , Cuba , Nicaragua , Iran , Libya , and the Falkland Islands .
On a weekly basis, the SR-71, kept watch over every Soviet Nuclear Submarine, and Mobile Missile Site,and all of their troop movements. It was a key factor in winning the Cold War. I am proud to say, I flew about 500 hours in this aircraft. I knew her well. She gave way to no plane, proudly dragging her Sonic Boom through enemy backyards, with great impunity. She defeated every missile, outran every MiG, and always brought us home. In the first 100 years of manned flight, no aircraft was more remarkable. The Blackbird had outrun nearly 4,000 missiles, not once taking a scratch from enemy fire.
On her final flight, the Blackbird, destined for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum , sped from Los Angeles to Washington in 64 Minutes, averaging 2,145 mph, and ,setting four speed records.
The Official Top speed of the SR-71 is MACH 14 or 10,500 Miles Per Hour!!!
 
Silversabre

Silversabre

Well-known member
Smiffy said:
They have massively extended the service life of the b1b and b52 bombers. I think the cost of developing anything new is just unfeasible.
Especially when a toy drone can do as much damage now.
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and yet still pressing on with getting rid of the A10 warthog, with no real like for like replacement for close air support
 
Gecko

Gecko

Well-known member
The Official Top speed of the SR-71 is MACH 14 or 10,500 Miles Per Hour!!!
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Not a chance.
Arguably the most impressive plane ever built, but not that fast.

The USAF say the top speed is 2193 mph

also, 1982 knts is 2280 mph, so also a bit optimistic
The plane was flying a mile every 1.6 seconds, (5760mph) above our Mach 3.2 limit..
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A mile every 1.6 seconds works out to be 2250 mph. (2250mph is 2.93mk at sea level, but at 70,000ft, it's 3.4mk)

I'm not suggesting the events didn't happen, only that the number have been exposed to the internet and become 'alternative facts'.

Here is the pilot telling the story. "speed check" start at 56min
 
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S

Smiffy

Well-known member
Silversabre said:
and yet still pressing on with getting rid of the A10 warthog, with no real like for like replacement for close air support
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I would think close air support is the job of drones now.
I think nearly everything will be the job of drones for a few years. Until we go full circle and just have wooden sticks.
 
V8Druid

V8Druid

do it as well as you can,but learn to do it better
Gecko said:
Not a chance.
Arguably the most impressive plane ever built, but not that fast.

The USAF say the top speed is 2193 mph

also, 1982 knts is 2280 mph, so also a bit optimistic

A mile every 1.6 seconds works out to be 2250 mph. (2250mph is 2.93mk at sea level, but at 70,000ft, it's 3.4mk)

I'm not suggesting the events didn't happen, only that the number have been exposed to the internet and become 'alternative facts'.

Here is the pilot telling the story. "speed check" start at 56min
Click to expand...
she was some bird
 
Jimbo69

Jimbo69

Well-known member
IMG_8412.jpeg

This was at the Boeing museum in Seattle.
 
T

topkit

Well-known member
I can remember way back when Blackbird was flown over to the UK . If i remember correctly it landed at Gatwick and was in the hangar there for a couple of days, My friends dad was an aircraft engineer over at Gatwick and took his son (my friend) over to see it and afterwards he was given a picture of blackbird with the pilots which was also signed by the pilots. I wonder if he still has it tucked away somewhere.
 
V8Druid

V8Druid

do it as well as you can,but learn to do it better
Lancs Lad said:
Don't need to go there although I'd like to 😊...there's one at Duxford and a B52 an absolute must visit if you've any interest in aviation
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bloody long way from me - circa 3.5-4 hr run :(
 
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