Found something faster than my FZ6... thinking of upgrading

[dxh24]

I've seen one fly in person, by far my favorite Recon plane of all time. Saw one do a fly by at about 7/8's speed- WOW. Good ole' Osh Kosh Wisconsin :thumbup: Gotta get back there some time.
If you ever get a chance hit up the Wright Patterson AFB museum, get to see alot of modern stuff up close and personal, in the "restricted area" they've got one of the prototypes of the SR71, Although that pales in comparison to the Valkyrie that looms above everything in the hanger lol.

Edit: dug up a picture.....

Prototype/predecessor to the SR-71, i forget what it's called and don't want to make an arse of myself by guessing

Another pic just for kicks- Experimental Aircraft built by the Canadians for the USAF but project was scrapped because it was unstable past 6ft off the ground, makes ya wonder though. Roswell anyone?

 

[famous556]

Thanks for sharing your pics. Unfortunately I'm not quite old enough to have ever seen one fly.

 

[dxh24]

Hehe not old at all it was probably 10 years ago, i was only 10 or so at the time, IIRC NASA Sent one of theirs for a flyby as a little "thanks" to the EAA crowd, since in part EAA has alot to do with NASA and aviation technology. I'm sure i have a picture of it on one of the computers somewhere.

The Oshkosh Airshow is one of the bigger ones in the world, definitely worth checking out, never know what they'll have there. I've seen everything from triplanes to RAF Harriers to B 52's there, quite a sight. Except the last 3 years i've gone somethings crashed I remember my dad pointing an older looking fellow out and saying "That's Chuck Yeager" and i really didn't know how important or cool it was that i'd met him in real life til' much later on when i learned what he did for aviation.

Really nothing else like it out there, that and you get to see stuff fly you'd never see anywhere else-SR71, MIG's of all sorts, B2 spirits, and one of the rarer ones- a p-38 lightning.... the had that fly next to a mustang and an f-22, for a flyby, that was pretty awesome... i'll have to find some more pics of Oshkosh for you guys... really neat stuff

 

[templar]

Ya know how many times that bird had to be re-fueled during a mission? 1st refill came upon taking off.

 

[Clovis]

Very cool read, thanks for sharing!

"I came to the program in 1983 with a sterling record and a recommendation from my commander, completing the weeklong interview and meeting Walter, 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."

SR-71 OL-Griffiss AFB

If you scroll down just a little bit, Col. Jim Wilson writes about a sortie he flew in the particular aircraft in my picture.


The Thrill of Flying the SR-71 Blackbird

This link takes you to an excerpt from the book "Sled Driver" by Major Brian Shul. The part about the Cessna making a ground speed request to ATC is one of the funniest things I have ever read. I bet the Navy pilot's ego felt a little smaller that day.

 

[famous556]

Very cool read, thanks for sharing!

"I came to the program in 1983 with a sterling record and a recommendation from my commander, completing the weeklong interview and meeting Walter, 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."

No problem, whats even cooler is the story about all of the stuff that the author went through before coming to the SR-71 program.

Biograpical Sketch of Brian Shul - Sleddriver.com

He was expected to die from severe burns and eventually made a recovery and passed all his physicals with no waivers. A truly inspirational story.

 

[Humperdinkel]

Freakin' Awesome photo's dude :thumbup: Im soooo jealous , I dream of the day I see one in the flesh :drool:

 

[Humperdinkel]

Dude...you're really arguing for a 747 against an SR-71? Have you completely lost it? The SR-71 is supersonic. The 747? Yeah right. When 747's fly, they cruise. Yes, they have more than enough power to make up lost time (it happens all the time), but to say that it can even DREAM of competing with the SR-71 (which is essentially what you're saying), is foolish.

Dude , he wasnt saying a 747 is faster than an SR-71 Sheesh !!! Nor was he comparing the 2 aircraft , they are chalk & cheese simple as that :thumbup: The 747 however is far more capable than most people believe , thats what he is saying :thumbup:

In a documentry I saw about the 747 a few years ago they stated that the airframe was tested to Mach 1.2 in shallow dives during testing BUT the practice was cancelled after metal fatigue was discovered

China Airlines also had a 747 accident where the aircraft rolled inverted & began to dive , the pilots luckily regained control & landed luckily & both reported breaking the sound barrier , experts estimate a speed of around Mach 1.4 in that case as well as experiencing +5g (enough for blackout)

Im also friends with Max Hinchliffe a Cathay Pacific Freight pilot & he quotes me some amazing performance figures out of an empty bird , figures like a 'noise abatement' take off climb of a sustained 29800 ft/min :rockon: :rockon: Now that is just about vertical


And here is one last little bit of food for thought..... This pic was taken out of the window of a Virgin Atlantic 747-400 :thumbup: YES they are shockwaves

 

[Humperdinkel]

When they used to fuel the SR on the ground it would leak fuel from it's seams. Once airborne the skin temps would change and the seams would seal up.

Hey Cliff , did you also know that the Concorde was about 6 - 8 inches longer while while cruising at Mach 2 than she was when sitting on the ground because of the heat of supersonic flight :thumbup:

 

[FinalImpact]

What am I seeing here??? Is that the shock through the cabin and beyond to the airspace?

 

[oaks]

This is at the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center aside Washington-Dulles Airport. Awesome museum.

The boxy little puddle jumper in the background is faster though.

Watch for Discovery to jet into Washington DC atop a 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft this April. And the Enterprise test craft (seen here) to head for New York soon after.

 

[Red Wazp]

I live 30 miles from Beale AFB in Northern Ca. where the SR was stationed when it was active. We used to watch the SR-71 fly over at slow speed almost daily, or I would park near a road that went by the north end of the base and was under the flight path for the main landing strip. They were only a few hundred feet over head doing their touch and goes-good stuff.

During the air shows at Beale I watched them start up a SR 71. They had a 425 buick wildcat or a chevy 454 on start carts, these motors had high rise intakes and headers so they were above stock but man would the grunt when it came time to start the SR.

They would do a take off at full power including after burners (just like in the picture) then disappear for 20 minutes. Soon you would hear a sonic boom as they did a fly over at 75,000 feet and mach II while the pilot would dump some fuel so we could see his contrail zip across the sky- it was sooooo cool! I will never forget it, sure do miss seeing him cruise by but we do see the modern U2 flying around Beale.

No other plane even comes close to watching the Blackbird.

 

[Jmnielsen]

You could dub your bike the "SR6"