[BITList] Bye Bye SR-71 Blackbird
FA
franka at iinet.net.au
Thu Apr 10 00:52:46 BST 2014
Interesting to read.
*Bye Bye SR-71 Blackbird*
FROM AN SR-71 PILOT ..... a fascinating read!
The SR-71 Blackbird.
[]
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.
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 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.
[]
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, 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 .......
[]
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 week long 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 , Kadena 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.
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
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, we 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.
[]
San Diego Aerospace Museum 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.
Unbeknown 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, 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.
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