In February 1988 the SR-71 community hosted a small conference and invited representatives of the four types of US fighters –…
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
-
Cold War EraF-14 TomcatMilitary Aviation
-
Cold War EraMilitary Aviation
Impressive photos show Viktor Belenko’s defecting MiG-25 Foxbat buzzing Hakodate rooftops before landing at the city’s international airport
by Dario LeoneBelenko had intended to fly his MiG-25 to Chitose airbase, but with fuel running low, he had to land at the…
-
Cold War EraMilitary Aviation
Here are the materials you should use instead of titanium to build Blackbird Mach 3 spy planes today
by Dario LeoneThere are lots of opportunities to improve on the SR-71 Blackbird’s original design with new materials, and there are a lot…
-
Cold War EraLosses and Aviation SafetyMilitary Aviation
Swedish Viggen pilot tells the story of when he was scrambled to help an SR-71 Mach 3 spy plane that suffered a catastrophic engine failure over the Baltic
by Dario Leone‘Throughout the incident, my intention was to try to help fellow pilots who were in trouble,’ Major L-E. Blad, former Viggen…
-
Cold War EraMilitary Aviation
SR-71 Pilot tells the story of the “Secret” Party He and other Habu Crews had with Victor Pugachev and other Soviet Su-27 Pilots at Paris Air Show 1989
by Dario Leone‘All Soviet flying demos were mysteriously canceled that day. Could it have been the Tequila, or did they all want to…
-
Military Aviation
Cool Time Lapse Video shows SR-71 Blackbird Installation at the Science Museum of Virginia
by Dario LeoneThe time lapse video in this post shows how an SR-71 Blackbird was moved from the Richmond Virginia Aviation Museum to…
-
Cold War EraMilitary Aviation
‘We truly felt invincible at Mach 3.15:’ SR-71 pilot tells the story of his BDA flight of Libya in Support of Operation El Dorado Canyon
by Dario Leone‘The take seemed normal as we made our hard right turn towards Tripoli, and we were tuned for the SA-5 site…
-
AirshowsCold War EraMilitary AviationUncategorized
The Story Behind the Unique Photo of the SR-71 Blackbird Creating ‘Fireballs’ during Air Fete Air Show 1986 at RAF Mildenhall
by Dario Leone‘During that pass we had “13 fireballs” come out of the SR-71’s exhaust. It looked beautiful, and people wanted to know…
-
Cold War EraMilitary Aviation
The Story of the SR-71 that diverted to Taiwan (Using a KC-135 Call Sign) while returning to Kadena from Blackbird Programme’s first ever Combat Mission
by Dario LeoneThe sight of the SR-71 caused considerable confusion in Ching Chuan Kang tower, particularly when one controller asked for the call-sign…
-
Cold War EraMilitary Aviation
Even if it was faster than the Blackbird, the SA-2 SAM was never able to hit the SR-71. Here’s why.
by Dario LeoneNo Blackbird has ever been lost or damaged due to hostile action: in fact, even though over 4,000 missiles have been…