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"I loved that jet..."
Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 8:10 pm
by ELB
Here's a great post that reminds me of why it was fun, and I was proud, to be in the US Air Force, proud to be part of a country that can produce stuff like this. If you like man-made things that go faster than a speeding bullet and tweaked the noses of America's foes for many years, go check this out.
http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/ar ... t-jet.html
A snippet to get you started:
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.
I think we have some "bug-smasher" drivers who frequent this forum. Here's an excerpt for you:
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 twin 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. I knew exactly what he was doing. Of course, 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 525 on the ground,' ATC responded. The situation was too ripe. I heard the click of Walter's mike button in the rear seat. In his most innocent voice, Walter 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 1,742 knots on the ground.' We did not hear another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast.
Go read the whole thing.
Re: "I loved that jet..."
Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:03 pm
by LarryH
IIRC, that excerpt was published in Aviation Week, a few months ago. The magazine occasionally prints similar first-person narratives.
Re: "I loved that jet..."
Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:26 pm
by LarryH
ELB wrote:I think we have some "bug-smasher" drivers who frequent this forum.
We're exchanging greetings in the Pilots and Airplanes thread.
Re: "I loved that jet..."
Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:56 pm
by Wildscar
I have a 1/48 model of one of those in my Garage right now. It's the only one that survived the BB guns and fire crackers of my youth.
Guess it was fast even as a model.
Forgot to mention i just got my 4 year old his first Snap-tite model kit and it was one of these. He though it was the coolest thing he ever saw.
Re: "I loved that jet..."
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 7:35 am
by The Annoyed Man
What a great read!
Re: "I loved that jet..."
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:19 am
by Tactical_Texan_CHL
We visited my wife's extended family in Nebraska a couple of years ago. Her uncle took us to the Strategic Air Command museum. They have an SR-71 hanging from the ceiling. What a cool plane!! If you guys ever have the chance to go to the SAC Museum, DON'T PASS IT UP!!!
Re: "I loved that jet..."
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:48 am
by Tactical_Texan_CHL
Thought I'd add this,
http://www.strategicairandspace.com/, in case you guys wanted to check it out.
Re: "I loved that jet..."
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:57 am
by Kalrog
I haven't read that page yet (opened it in another tab already though). I remember hearing a story about a request by an SR71 pilot for clearance to 90k feet. Ground control asked him how he thought he was going to get UP to 90k. SR71 replied that he didn't want to go UP... Clearance was granted.
Re: "I loved that jet..."
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:59 am
by nitrogen
My first encounter with the SR-71 came when I was 10 years old in the form of molded black plastic in a Revell kit. Cementing together the long fuselage parts proved tricky, and my finished product looked less than menacing. Glue,oozing from the seams, discolored the black plastic. It seemed ungainly alongside the fighter planes in my collection, and I threw it away
I remember building a very similar kit.
I painted mine red for some reason. I was a weird kid. (Actually, I still am.)
Tactical_Texan_CHL wrote:We visited my wife's extended family in Nebraska a couple of years ago. Her uncle took us to the Strategic Air Command museum. They have an SR-71 hanging from the ceiling. What a cool plane!! If you guys ever have the chance to go to the SAC Museum, DON'T PASS IT UP!!!
My dad and I were driving my sister's car from NYC to AZ; as she was in school in NYC and didn't need it there. We stopped at that museum on a whim. It was awesome.
Re: "I loved that jet..."
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:19 am
by nitrogen
Kalrog wrote:I haven't read that page yet (opened it in another tab already though). I remember hearing a story about a request by an SR71 pilot for clearance to 90k feet. Ground control asked him how he thought he was going to get UP to 90k. SR71 replied that he didn't want to go UP... Clearance was granted.
Isn't that high uncontrolled airspace usually?
Re: "I loved that jet..."
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:36 am
by Kalrog
nitrogen wrote:Isn't that high uncontrolled airspace usually?
Of course it is - but if you want to brag...
Re: "I loved that jet..."
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:40 am
by LarryH
The airspace above FL 600 is Class E, but it is still controlled. FL 600 is the top of Class A, which may be what you're thinking of.
Black Birds
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:38 pm
by DoubleJ
Wildscar wrote:I have a 1/48 model of one of those in my Garage right now.
I had the GI Joe version, when I was a wee lad. my brother was benevolent enough to test it's flying capabilities a few times. turns out, not only fast, it's durable, too!
When we were stationed at Wright Patterson AFB, they had a great air show there. have a few pics of me next to the ol' SR71. had a poster on my wall as a youngin' of that thing. that, and Black Moon Rising.
Wright Pat has a pretty good Air Force museum, too.
Re: Black Birds
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:44 pm
by Wildscar
DoubleJ wrote:Wildscar wrote:I have a 1/48 model of one of those in my Garage right now.
I had the GI Joe version, when I was a wee lad. my brother was benevolent enough to test it's flying capabilities a few times. turns out, not only fast, it's durable, too!
When we were stationed at Wright Patterson AFB, they had a great air show there. have a few pics of me next to the ol' SR71. had a poster on my wall as a youngin' of that thing. that, and Black Moon Rising.
Wright Pat has a pretty good Air Force museum, too.
Ah yes the Night raven. It had a detachable smalled plane and rear firing missiles. Modeled more so from the movie Firefox. I had that one too.
I tell you what thought the most impressive feeling was getting to sit in the cockpit of one of those things.
Re: "I loved that jet..."
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:55 pm
by dukalmighty
I was in the US Air Force Security Police in the mid 70's and the SR71 was a plane that wasn't even acknowledged that we had it for a long time.