The Thrill of Flying the SR-71 Blackbird

[n2doc]

I can tell you about the SR-71 Blackbird's titanium frame, its Pratt&Whitney J58-P4 engines, or its genesis. But that's not important. What really matters is the thrill of flying it in an extremely dangerous mission, as remembered by this pilot.-JD

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 photos 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. On the morning of April 15, I rocketed past the line at 2,125 mph.

I was piloting the SR-71 spy plane, the world's fastest jet, accompanied by Maj Walter Watson, the aircraft's reconnaissance systems officer (RSO). We had crossed into Libya and were approaching our final turn over the bleak desert landscape when Walter 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.

After several agonizingly long seconds, we made the turn and blasted toward the Mediterranean 'You might want to pull it back,' Walter suggested. It was then that I noticed I still had the throttles full forward. The plane was flying a mile every 1.6 seconds, well 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.


Major Brian Shul is the author of Sled Driver, a fascinating account of his experiences as a pilot of the SR-71 Blackbird.

more

http://gizmodo.com/5511236/the-thrill-of-flying-the-sr+71-blackbird

[wtmusic]

1. I'll never forget seeing an SR-71 take off for its "last" flight

in 1989 (?) from Burbank Airport. The loudest jet I've heard in my life. And then it was gone. :wow:

[conscious evolution]

11. I was on a traing flight over Arizona

when they made that last flight.
We heard a call to Albequrque Center asking for a altitutde and speed check.
"We show you at FL720 at 2200 knots."
After a few moments of silence the air waves exploded with other pilots going "WTF!!"

[wtmusic]

15. Love that! nt

[yowzayowzayowza]

17. We used to joke noobz at the air base about 'em.

"Yea, you know that body shop just off the SR-71 side of the base? From the second floor you can see over the fence and berms to where they prep the planes for takeoff. They say it's owned by the Chinese to keep track of the SR-71 taking off!"

If that doesn't get 'em laughing the yarn would usually continue with a CT about airmen erecting fake SR-71 fins to throw the Chinese off.

[derby378]

2. Brought to you by the nonexistent personnel of Area 51

Was this a Lockheed "Skunkworks" project, too? I forget, and am too lazy to search Wikipedia. :silly:

[Lost4words]

4. I didnt think it was area 51 related, was it?

it was a Lockheed Skunkworks operation as was the U2.

[tinrobot]

13. They tested it at Area 51

Also tested it's sister plane, the A12.

http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/area-51-veterans-break-their-silence-591798

[Lost4words]

3. Skunk Works! I have been up close to one of these

it was stunning up close and sat about 6' off the ground on her gear, I walked from the very rear to the nose underneath while running my finger over her titanium skin. Never got inside, but to touch one of these for this aircraft nut was truly a thrill.

But I have flown in a 1927 Fleet and a 1947 Waco bi-wing and just about everything commercial up until the last 10 years or so.

Thanks for the post!

:hi:

[wtmusic]

10. There is one outside the California Science Center

you can get right up next to

[bananas]

12. And the San Diego Aerospace Museum in Balboa Park, and a bunch of other places...

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM25JD_SR_71_at_the_San_Diego_Aerospace_Museum


http://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/locations.php

[Lost4words]

19. I saw the one in Texas! cool map!

[tinrobot]

34. Take a drive out to Palmdale.

Near the entrance of the new Skunk Works on the north side of Palmdale, there's a place called Blackbird Park, with an SR71 and an A12 parked right next to each other. They also have a U2 and a bunch of other classic aircraft from the era.

[ixion]

5. one of the most beautiful airplanes ever designed

I've been a fan of the SR-71 since the 70's. It's really an amazing piece of engineering.

[enlightenment]

6. Absolutely agree - perhaps THE most beautiful airplane ever.

I remember watching one land at an airshow at Kadena AFB, about 1969 or 70 (?) - I was just a kid, but I fell in love with that plane. Some years later, when I was in basic training at Lackland AFB, I was given the opportunity to paint a mural on the wall of the flight - I chose the Blackbird in flight.

It still gives me a thrill to see pictures of this airplane.

[tango-tee]

9. I very much agree!

A beautiful piece of engineering.

[progressoid]

7. famous SR-71 quote

"Today we crossed Nebraska in 7 minutes. I think that's the best way to cross Nebraska. "

[Orsino]

8. Kelly Johnson or Ben Rich, I think, had a blackbird coffee mug...

...that bragged of "Mach 3+." Because that number was classified, the mug had to be locked in a safe between uses.

[LongTomH]

14. Amazing airplane - designed by an amazing engineer!

The person responsible for the SR-71 Blackbird design was legendary Lockheed engineer Clarence 'Kelly' Johnson, who also designed the P-38 and the F104 among other planes during his half-century with Lockheed. He was one of the people responsible for establishing Lockheed's famed 'Skunk Works' where secret designs like the SR-71 originated.

[wtmusic]

16. "Skunk Works" by Ben Rich is a great read

(if you haven't already read it)

I live in Burbank CA near where the original SW was. Like most companies of that era, Lockheed never paid much attention to hazardous waste disposal, they just dumped it 'out back'.

In the 80s it was discovered that a major source of Burbank groundwater contamination was coming from - you guessed it - and it was designated an EPA superfund cleanup site. There were various proposals about what to do with the site, ranging from hauling millions of cubic yards of dirt away, to burning off volatile organic compounds with a smokestack.

In the end, they paved over it and built a shopping center.

[Ready4Change]

18. Even more amazing in view of WHEN it was designed/built.

When the U-2 was first put into operation it's designers knew it was just a matter of time before it would become vulnerable to interception by missiles. So some work on it was started back in the late 1950's.

Thus it was over 50 years ago that work was started in this aircraft. And, as far is known publicly at least, there is no other aircraft in existence that matches, much less exceeds, its performance, in terms of altitude and cruising speed. For example, our top of the line fighter, the F-22, cruises at almost Mach 2, while the SR-71 cruises at something over Mach 3 (the actual value is still classified, I think?) F-22 service altitude is 65,000ft, while the SR-71 topped out at something over 85,000 feet (still classified also.)

It's still amazing performance today. In view of 1950's/1960's technology? Stupefying.

[Lost4words]

20. Agreed! nt

[RT Atlanta]

21. recall a statement

that was maybe from Kelly Johnson, right after the plane went into operation, that was to the effect that after the SR-71 was built, there wouldn't be another plane made in the 20th century that could top her performance.

[wtmusic]

22. Lockheed wrote the book on titanium alloys and machining

Brittle, high melting point, hard as hell. Nothing else would do for this airplane.

[hunter]

23. Titanium was my grandfather's other wife.

Brittle, high melting point, hard as hell...

My grandmother suffered the neglect, but Titanium payed the bills.

Often titanium parts were made by chemical milling. They'd take a solid chunk of titanium, mask over the areas they wanted to save with a toxic sort of paint, and then dip the whole thing into a ferociously toxic acid bath. The areas not masked by the paint were eaten away by the acid. Hydrofluoric acid was just one of the horrible components of this witch's brew.

For large thick titanium parts this process was repeated many times. Mask, dip, rinse, dry, mask, dip, rinse...

The final shaping of the part was done with a grinder.

The amount of toxic waste produced must have been incredible and it didn't end up decently sequestered anywhere.

If it was anything like the solar plant I once worked at they probably dumped the acid waste into a big tank and neutralized it, preferably with equally toxic but alkaline chemical waste streams.

Where I worked this neutralized waste was picked up by a hazardous waste tanker whenever they'd collected a truck full. I don't know where it went, but there was a whole lot of paperwork and chemistry to do before the stuff shipped out.

In the fifties and sixties the disposal of such wastes wasn't much regulated.

[wtmusic]

24. A lot of it ended up in my groundwater

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=228&topic_id=65189&mesg_id=65254

[hunter]

25. There, and in the sediments and living creatures of Santa Monica Bay.

[Ter]

26. Project Aurora (SR-91) blows it away

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_%28aircraft%29

[lazarus]

27. according to that article

Aurora could do up to Mach 5.

So could the Blackbird.

[Ter]

28. The Air Force isn't saying

However, it's been leaked that it may do Mach 8-10, which would truly be amazing.

[lazarus]

29. that would be

I know the Blackbird could easily do 5.5. The question is, why would they continue to deny the existence of Aurora, when they didn't have a problem releasing the existence of the SR-71?

[Ter]

35. Supposidly Aurora is so fast

That if it's fired at with either bullets or any missile, all the pilot has to do is accelerate, and can go anywhere in the world in under two hours. That defines awesome.

[Ready4Change]

30. If it exists, and if it matches speculation.

From your linked wiki article: "Aurora (SR-91 Aurora) is the popular name for a hypothesized United States reconnaissance aircraft, alleged to be capable of hypersonic flight."

(emphasis mine.)

Personally, I would not be at all surprised if it does (or did) exist. It would make sense regarding the SR-71's retirement, for just one example. But it's existence has not been verified yet, and performance estimates for secret programs often turn out to be wrong. (I recall how VERY wrong some of the claims for the Stealth Fighter turned out to be.)

I'd like to see a reference for that mach 5 speed for the SR-71. That's way outside anything I've seen referenced anywhere else. Readings of Ben Rich's 'Skunk Works' and Milton Thompson's 'At the Edge of Space' (about the x-15 program) make me very skeptical about that high a number.

[lazarus]

31. I'm a veteran of the Air Force

it was pretty much an open secret in my squadron that the SR-71 could do that speed. I have since confirmed it with someone who was tracking one on radar whilst serving in another branch.

I'm sorry I can't get any more specific than that, and I won't be at all upset if you don't believe me. I don't have anything official to back it up with.

:hi:

[Ready4Change]

32. No problem.

While I'd love to hear more, my curiosity isn't worth getting anyone in trouble.

From my reading of those two books I'd think the SR-71 would have been subject to severe heating at such speeds, and I had gathered it was near the heat limits at the reported 3.2 speeds. The X-15 easily exceeded those speeds, but did so in very short sprints, and was constructed largely of a special steel that served well as a short term heat sink.

I'm fascinated by this area of flight, and frustrated by our apparently stalled efforts. Both the planned delta winged X-15 follow on and the Dyna-soar were intended to explore these speeds back in the 60's. And only recently have we seen (at least publicly) efforts there in terms of the three unmanned X-43 flights.

[lazarus]

33. I can let out a little more

from my perspective. The source in my squadron was from a more senior NCO who had been stationed in the western US. He and a couple of friends from another base had basically "timed" the Blackbird's trip from take off to landing, and said they calculated it to have topped out at about Mach 5.5. This was supported by a friend who had been stationed at the Blackbird's home base (Edwards? Can't remember) and said it was open knowledge there that it regularly went over 5.

Again, it's all hearsay, but having it pegged to nearly the same speed from three independent sources gave it some credibility to me.