Tag: Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
Majs Tom Pugh and Ronnie Rice had been extremely lucky, considering the number of SAMs that encircled Hanoi. It appeared that the Vietnamese radar operators and their Soviet advisers had been 'asleep at the switch' during their SR-71 mid-altitude pass over one of the best-defended cities in the world. On May 15, 1972,...
‘This rock is going God only knows how fast and is fifty miles straight up. If I can't shoot down a SR-71, how in hell am I going to even begin to bring missiles to bear on a meteor?’ Ed Cobleigh, former F-4 Pilot. The following story appears in Ed Cobleigh’s book War for...
The aerodynamic dissimilarity of the subsonic KC-135Q and its triple-sonic receiver dictated a precise rendezvous, and the actual air refueling was conducted at the limits of each airplane's operational envelope. The KC-135Q Story, Part Two. The major differences between the KC-135Q and other KC-135s were primarily related to the fuel...
‘The remains of SR-71 Ichi-Ban were buried at sea with full military honors. The occasion occurred at 1157 hours on Christmas Eve of 1989,’ Colonel (Ret) Don Emmons, former SR-71 RSO. On Apr. 21, 1989, SR-71 #61-17974, better known as Ichi-Ban departed Kadena Air Base (AB) on a mission. At the controls were...
Why the series suffix 'Q' was selected is unknown. Using normal designation procedures, the KC-135Q should have been called the KC-135C as the MDS 'KC-135B' had already been allocated to the airborne command post then under development. The KC-135Q Story, Part One. On Jul. 4, 1956, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)...
The last ever flight of an SR-71 Blackbird took place on Oct. 9, 1999 at the Edwards AFB Open House Airshow. Taken on Saturday Oct. 9, 1999 at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) the short movie in this post shows the last ever flight of an SR-71 Blackbird. This...
The original SR-71 Blackbird Space Pilot Helmet comes with the original carrying bag. Grab your chance to buy on Ebay an ultra-rare Original SR-71 Blackbird Pilot Helmet. The seller includes in the shipment the
original helmet bag. Furthermore the seller has included “a rare t-shirt and two patches that come from...
Bob Gilliland made the historic SR-71 first flight on Dec. 22, 1964. Robert J. “Bob” Gilliland, former Lockheed
test pilot and the first man to fly the iconic SR-71 Blackbird spy plane, the
world’s fastest aircraft, died on Thursday, Jul. 4, 2019 at the Rancho Mirage,
California retirement facility where he had been living for several...
“You know the part in 'High Flight'—where it talks about putting out your hand to touch the face of God? Well, when we're at speed and altitude in the SR, we have to slow down and descend in order to do that,” Gil Bertelson, former SR-71 Blackbird pilot. The SR-71, the most advanced...
On Mar. 21, 1968 in this aircraft, Maj. (later Gen.) Jerome F. O'Malley and Maj. Edward D. Payne made the first operational SR-71A sortie. Taken in March 1990 the emotional video in this post shows the arrival of the iconic SR-71A Blackbird at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) at...
