Blackbird Fly

I saw one of these things fly once. I guess the conditions would be similar to seeing Mark Martin "drive" his car in a Thanksgiving parade: I didn't get to see all it was capable of doing. But very few have. It was at the Naval Air Show at Point Mugu, California in the early 1980s. The show included a fabulous demonstration by the Blue Angels and a fly-by of F-14s. But anticipation was probably highest for the hoped-for appearance of the SR-71 Blackbird. There was a hint in the air that the Bird might not even show. It might be on a "photo shoot" somewhere else over the globe. (This was still the pre-Gorby Cold War.) But the announcement came that the Blackbird was on its way. "Cover your ears, folks." But the approach seemed so quiet. The plane did a low pass over the crowd at what must have been just above stall speed. It then pitched upward and yawed as it climbed toward the mid-afternoon sun. We saw the "shock diamonds" appear as the afterburners lit up and the plane accelerated with an incredible roar. It took some time for the crowd to pull their jaws back in place. That one moment made the two-hour long post-show traffic jam worth enduring. You could tell what everyone was thinking: "Imagine what it must be like to fly one of those things!"

You can bring your imagination a little closer to the experience by reading Major Brian Shul's paean to the Blackbird posted at Maggie's Farm. The title of the piece, "I Loved That Jet", says it all, and reading it will only increase your envy of the men who flew it.

[HT - Instapundit]

Comments

[hank kaczmarek]

I got to get up pretty close at Kadena Field, Okinawa. There's a really nasty 3-step snake in Oki called the "Habu". (yes, that's 3 steps you'll take after your bitten by one before your on the ground).

The BlackBird Squadron on Oki is (Was) the Habu Squadron.

The thing that really wierd about the blackbird is that at standard air temp's and normal amospheric pressure, the Blackbird's fuel tanks don't seal. They have to be topped off just before it takes off, as it sits there oozing JP-5 jet fuel on the runway.

Once the skin of the aircraft gets warm and you get up into the thin air (which don't take long in THIS thing), the fuel cells seal up.

A very fascinating aircraft, and some of its systems are STILL classified.

Chances are you probably don't want to know that information.

[Marty]

The comments on the linked story talk about Habu. In fact, the Okis called the Blackbird the Habu and so did some of the airmen.

The plane leaked because the skin had to have expansion joints built into it due to the extreme heat (up to 1100 degrees) that some surfaces were subject to when flying at Mach 3+. The skin of the plane expanded when the plane reached altitude and speed.

[Ben]

Dangit, Marty, you beat me to it -- I read the same story and was gonna post on it. Well, I'll let your post suffice. The ground-speed-check story in the article you posted made me laugh out loud.