One of my father's friends (like my dad, an 80-something retired Lockheed engineer and former pilot) sent him this slideshow about the SR-71 Blackbird. The pictures are accompanied by a lyrical musical score and anecdotes by one of only 93 pilots ever to fly this beautiful plane.
My father must have watched it 3 or 4 times in a row, and my heart ached when I remembered how much he'd loved flying and realized how deeply he misses it now. Viewing this slideshow gave me, in addition, a sense of the affection and respect pilots grow to feel for their airplanes, as well the debt we owe to our fathers and grandfathers for their ingenuity, courage, and dedication to doing whatever the nation's defense required.
http://www.greatdane...tary.com/SR-71/ index.htm
SR-71 Blackbird
Started by
Shawna11
, Jul 20 2009 01:14 AM
4 replies to this topic
#2
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Posted 20 July 2009 - 01:48 PM
I enjoyed that, Shawna. There's something beautiful about jet flight, seemingly defying the laws of gravity. We've all dreamed at least once or twice in our sleep at night that we were flying – remember how exhilarating it felt? Jet flight is about as close as you can get to that in the waking world.
I guess that a lot if not most of the reconnaissance and surveillance that the SR-71 used to do is now performed by satellites. Short distance reconnaissance flights are still with us today but are usually flown at far more pedestrian altitudes and speeds than the 15 miles high and 2000 mph that was the SR-71's domain.
I guess that a lot if not most of the reconnaissance and surveillance that the SR-71 used to do is now performed by satellites. Short distance reconnaissance flights are still with us today but are usually flown at far more pedestrian altitudes and speeds than the 15 miles high and 2000 mph that was the SR-71's domain.
One of my father's friends (like my dad, an 80-something retired Lockheed engineer and former pilot) sent him this slideshow about the SR-71 Blackbird. The pictures are accompanied by a lyrical musical score and anecdotes by one of only 93 pilots ever to fly this beautiful plane.
My father must have watched it 3 or 4 times in a row, and my heart ached when I remembered how much he'd loved flying and realized how deeply he misses it now. Viewing this slideshow gave me, in addition, a sense of the affection and respect pilots grow to feel for their airplanes, as well the debt we owe to our fathers and grandfathers for their ingenuity, courage, and dedication to doing whatever the nation's defense required.
http://www.greatdane...tary.com/SR-71/ index.htm
#3
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Posted 22 July 2009 - 04:14 PM
My dad was a Field Representative for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft from '61-'86. He worked on the engines for Lockheed's "Skunk Works" in the developmental phase of the SR-71 - he has a lot of good stories about it. Beautiful aircraft.
Thanks.
Thanks.
#4
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Posted 01 August 2009 - 03:12 PM
Speaking of jets, you'll remember that in April of this year (2009) President Obama took Air Force One, accompanied by two fighter jets, on a flight over New York City for an in-flight photo session. The flight caused some controversy because it spooked many New Yorkers who remembered the attack of 2001.
Photos from that trip have been released and can be seen on a PDF file at the Pentagon's website.
Link: http://www.dod.mil/p...over_photos.pdf
Politics aside, the photos are pretty nice.
The Wall Street Journal article in which I saw the link also mentioned that the photo opportunity cost USD 328,000.
Most of that cost was for the use of an airliner and two fighter jets, for a few hours.
The figure caused me to think about how much a real military operation costs.
It's true that defeat can be even more expensive.
Photos from that trip have been released and can be seen on a PDF file at the Pentagon's website.
Link: http://www.dod.mil/p...over_photos.pdf
Politics aside, the photos are pretty nice.
The Wall Street Journal article in which I saw the link also mentioned that the photo opportunity cost USD 328,000.
Most of that cost was for the use of an airliner and two fighter jets, for a few hours.
The figure caused me to think about how much a real military operation costs.
It's true that defeat can be even more expensive.
#5
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Posted 11 September 2009 - 12:21 AM
For those in California (or planning a visit here) there is an excellent statically displayed SR-71 at the Castle Air Museum (located at the former Castle AFB) in Atwater, a small city between Merced and Modesto.
Also at that base are several other classic Cold War planes - B36, B47, B52, Vulcan, etc.
Also at that base are several other classic Cold War planes - B36, B47, B52, Vulcan, etc.
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