Sr-71

PG5768 said:
Had to look it up. A-12.
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Yep. Most everyone knows about the SR, a few know about the YF-12 (interceptor version), but few know of the A-12, precursor to the SR, designed, developed, flown and operated by the CIA, not the USAF. They were decommissioned in 1968, and then put into classified storage until 1986 or so.

They flew higher and faster than the SR - yes, I know the SR has all the world records - do you think the CIA would allow their highly classified project be a record breaker? Further, it was designed for direct overflights vs. the SR's side looking sensors. By far the most fascinating aircraft every built.

The state of Alabama has no SR-71's, but it has more Blackbirds than any other state save the PRK.
 
Albin said:
Yep. Most everyone knows about the SR, a few know about the YF-12 (interceptor version), but few know of the A-12, precursor to the SR, designed, developed, flown and operated by the CIA, not the USAF. They were decommissioned in 1968, and then put into classified storage until 1986 or so.

They flew higher and faster than the SR - yes, I know the SR has all the world records - do you think the CIA would allow their highly classified project be a record breaker? Further, it was designed for direct overflights vs. the SR's side looking sensors. By far the most fascinating aircraft every built.

The state of Alabama has no SR-71's, but it has more Blackbirds than any other state save the PRK.
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I remember being disappointed when I learned that they'd scrapped the interceptor program and went with a plane that didn't have missiles or guns and just took pictures.
 
One of my first models I ever built! I had that in my bookcase for a long time. :thumbup: Definitely one of the coolest looking planes on the planet.
 
I was stationed on Okinawa from December 86 through January 88. I saw the Habu many times at night. It was an amazing plane. I was stationed at Camp Courtney and would go to Kadena often.
 
I was stationed at Beale AFB seen them every day. But to this day they are the coolest plane ever. It still blows my mind to think they built this plane a long time ago and was officially in service in 1964, I cant even imagine what they have that they are not allowing us to see.
 
I saw one, just one time at very low altitude with a bunch of friends in the army on a very large field exercise in 1978 in Germany. I was the only one that knew what it was and was telling them about the aircraft. I didn't know that they were even still using that aircraft at that time. It flew very low and slow over us. I know about it because when I was a kid my dad brought home a magazine called Beehive. It was the quarterly publication that Pratt and Whitney published (the makers of the very special engines for the SR-71) and it had a huge article about the YF-12A/SR-71 and as a kid in 1967? I still have that magazine somewhere. I thought that was the coolest thing I had ever read about but by 1978 I didn't know it was still in use. Just an amazing aircraft. I took pictures of many things I saw in the Army both foreign and American vehicles and aircraft. Many would overfly us on exercises but that was one picture I didn't get that I really wish I had.:(

KR
 
jdm61 said:
I got to see one of those bad boys up close for the first time at the Air Force Armaments Museum at Eglin AFB a few years back. It is a big plane. One really wild thing about it is that the shape actually gave the aircraft some degree of what we would call stealth characteristics even though that was probably never intended by the designers. You occasionally here stories about the SR-71's being shot at a number of times in Vietnam and just flat outrunning SA-2's without having to do the normal violent evasive manuevering.
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I went there September 2009 and took these, amazing looking plane.

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Mal :)
 
The rumors have been that the Mach 3.2 is the "speed limit' set by the Air Force at the end of the plane's service life, but it ca go faster and the pilots who fly them may not be exactly sure how fast it can go. Supposedly, one pilot who was outrunning a couple of missiles over Libya after the big air raid there in the 80's was going at least 100 mph faster than the speed of the plane's last LA to Washington record run before his RSO told him that he could pull the throttles off of the firewall.
 
FYI... there is a Blackbird on display in Warner Robbins AFB outside of Macon, Georgia.

They have some type of drone proto-type as well with it.
 
jdm61 said:
The rumors have been that the Mach 3.2 is the "speed limit' set by the Air Force at the end of the plane's service life, but it ca go faster and the pilots who fly them may not be exactly sure how fast it can go. Supposedly, one pilot who was outrunning a couple of missiles over Libya after the big air raid there in the 80's was going at least 100 mph faster than the speed of the plane's last LA to Washington record run before his RSO told him that he could pull the throttles off of the firewall.
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The SR's actual top speed and max altitude were never revealed.
 
Iron City said:
FYI... there is a Blackbird on display in Warner Robbins AFB outside of Macon, Georgia.

They have some type of drone proto-type as well with it.
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That was likely a D-21. Not a proto-type. They were designed to fly photo missions that were deemed too hazardous for the SR. IIRC, it was faster than an SR. Also IIRC, they never got it to fully work due to the primitive guidance systems of the day (mid 60's).
 
AS a KC-135 navigator this was my all time favorite to refuel. The SR-71 are great aircrafts and the rendezvous's were always thrilling for me.
 
jdm61 said:
The rumors have been that the Mach 3.2 is the "speed limit' set by the Air Force at the end of the plane's service life, but it ca go faster and the pilots who fly them may not be exactly sure how fast it can go. Supposedly, one pilot who was outrunning a couple of missiles over Libya after the big air raid there in the 80's was going at least 100 mph faster than the speed of the plane's last LA to Washington record run before his RSO told him that he could pull the throttles off of the firewall.
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And they were shocked when they landed as they found out that they got significantly better mileage the faster they went.

I lived in Okinawa from 1967 - 1969. Saw more than a couple Blackbirds take off and land en route to parts out west of us. Fantastic plane! One of the best planes and best looking planes EVER built! :thumbup:
 
Longtrang said:
The sr71 was impressive (still is) but some of the skunk works planes coming out soon are mind blowing. Google "scram jet" or "Hyper-X".
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not to precipitate thread drift from the awsomest of awesome sr-71. but they've been screwing around with scram-jet stuff for the last 15 years. none of those projects have been as well engineered as the blackbird. Anyway, having a plane that can go that fast is as close to tactically irrelevant as you can get for the resources it uses.
 
My only hope is that we have something in the USAF/US inventory that is the 21st Century equivalent of the SR-71 that incorporates all the technological advances we've had in the last 50 years or so (and is not a drone).
 
knarfeng said:
The SR's actual top speed and max altitude were never revealed.
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Rough estimate:
Speed: over Mach 3.2 / 2,000 mph (3,200 kph)
Ceiling: over 85,000 feet (26,000 m)
Range: over 2000 miles (3200 km) unrefueled

The numbers are always published lower (or with + added) for "national security" reasons. One government would not want another to know what a piece of equipment is truly capable of, would they?

I say this because of the numbers that were published for a ship I served on that is no longer in service were definitely different than what it was capable of.

And, to think... the first units went into service for the CIA back around 1962... 48 years later, hmmm, wonder what's flying about now? and, what's it capable of? :confused: :eek:
 
TheZenful1 said:
And, to think... the first units went into service for the CIA back around 1962... 48 years later, hmmm, wonder what's flying about now? and, what's it capable of? :confused: :eek:
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Those were the days when aircraft were designed by engineers, not bureaucracies.
 
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