How slow can an SR 71 fly ?... A short story

a reply to: JAY1980

There were no overflights of the Soviet Union by either the A-12 or SR-71

a reply to: HarryJoy

Four crew members lost but none to enemy action.

A-12 pilots Walt Ray and Jack Weeks.
MD-21 LCO Ray Torrick
Jim Zwayer SR-71 RSO.

a reply to: grey580

to grey580 and Harryjoy

Those are two of the coolest stories I have ever heard.

Zap... looks like i have a book to read.

I LOVE THAT BIRD!!!
That is on my bucket list to go see one in a museum here in the UK i never got to see one fly in our UK air space and i wont get to see one fly ever and that's kind of sad.
The design of those engines it's pure genius, The shape is just so out there.As far as I’m concerned it is THE plane that set the bar so high.

I loved those stories and any more that may come to light in the future.
Kelly Johnson you were a true visionary a legend a hero.

a reply to: stealthyaroura

I agree completely in regards to the SR71' s lines. No one will ever design a more provocative aircraft. She is truly a legend in her own time. I'm sure there is a commander of a starship in some distant galaxy with a picture of an SR71 hanging on the wall of his quarters.

a reply to: SmilingROB

Two. He wrote two about flying the Blackbird. I think he also has one about flying with the Thunderbirds as well.

I like his story about the Libyan overflight as well.

Or watching the icy contrails near the Soviet Union. "Still had 4 inches of throttle left".

a reply to: Zaphod58

This article showed up in my newsfeed this morning, must be a declass?

theaviationgeekclub.com... stars-even-in-daylight/

GL may be getting evicted this month.
Used to be thread worthy here but whatever..

edit to add keywords

"five eyes" echelon CIA

a reply to: Bordon81

It's been declassified for a while now, but people are learning more about the SR so there's more information slowly being spread around. There are a couple social media groups that have lots of information that's being seen by other places like The Aviation Geek Club.

And in case anyone missed it, while giving a presentation on his time as a sled driver in late May of this year, Brian Shul collapsed on stage and was subsequently transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Cardiac arrest…

Shul was an amazing man. His origin story from being badly burned in a plane crash and nearly dying, to going on to fly some of the most strategically significant ISR missions of the 1980s is almost too terrific to be true, but it was 100% legit.

I had the great privilege to be able to communicate back and forth with him for a few years after I stumbled across his photography online. Brian was just a genuinely good guy (and one hell of a wildlife photographer).

If you’ve never read about or heard him tell his back story, DO IT. He had every reason to give up but he refused to do so. Just an incredible human being.

a reply to: sqd5driver

He created more discussion about the jet than anyone. He was either loved or despised, there wasn’t much middle ground. A lot of people claim he was fired for cause, but he continued to fly the T-38 chase aircraft as part of the program. A lot seems to come from a Commander that was not selected as a pilot. Love him or hate him though, he let a lot more people know the jet than anyone else.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: sqd5driver

He created more discussion about the jet than anyone. He was either loved or despised, there wasn’t much middle ground. A lot of people claim he was fired for cause, but he continued to fly the T-38 chase aircraft as part of the program. A lot seems to come from a Commander that was not selected as a pilot. Love him or hate him though, he let a lot more people know the jet than anyone else.

Funny isn’t it? How people totally unaffiliated can have such a strong opinion about someone with exactly zero personal knowledge of the players involved?

For example - I know one of the very first men to serve in “Delta Force”. He was in OTC 3, and was there at Desert One for Operation Eagle Claw. That certainly qualifies better than most as a “founding member”, yet he has been derided by many people as a piece of s_it, a liar, a loser, and many other things because he wrote and published a book about his time in the Unit. He never shared any kinds of secrets and with the exception of one particular mission in South America, never let on to anything particularly ground breaking that wasn’t already common knowledge. I think it was his retelling of the outcome of that one event that stirred the hornet’s nest, though he never used the subject’s real name.

The man was a Sargent Major in Delta for Pete’s sake - a unit that will excommunicate a person for minor things that most of us wouldn’t even notice day to day. He spent over a decade with them before he promoted to CSM and went to Panama with a regular Army non-Special Operations outfit. He served with distinction. Period.

But for some reason, a lot of people who have never served in ANY military branch a day in their life all seem to have insider knowledge about this man’s service as a Ranger and Delta operator. Amazing.

I don’t have any knowledge of why Brian stopped flying the SR-71, though I did get the impression it wasn’t HIS choice. Regardless, he was one hell of a good man and like you said, he did more to turn that airplane’s history into a proper legacy. Every aircraft in the inventory should have a Brian Shul to share stories that bring these amazing pieces of engineering to life long after they have retired.

a reply to: sqd5driver

From what I understand, the commander in question was over the program and was going to, or had started to take steps against him so he voluntarily stopped flying the Blackbird and stepped aside into the T-38s to remain in the program.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: sqd5driver

From what I understand, the commander in question was over the program and was going to, or had started to take steps against him so he voluntarily stopped flying the Blackbird and stepped aside into the T-38s to remain in the program.

Death by administration. Boy oh boy it sure is a good thing that’s so gosh darn rare in programs that make a difference, huh? I have seen “management” annihilate more morale and careers in various industries and particularly in my own former life as a firefighter/paramedic. Aiming for 25 and at 20, due in large part to what I can only classify as borderline criminal levels of ineptitude, I just broke. Couldn’t take it anymore and almost 5 years on, I’m STILL reeling. And I was just a dumbass fireman. I can’t imagine how deeply that sort of “leadership” has to cut a person to force that kind of move. Kinda makes me sad to think about it.

Brian Shul was one in ten million. Men like that deserve better.

I’d bet you have plenty of “questionable management” stories yourself… Kinda makes a person wonder how the hell we manage as well as we do across the board, day to day, with that kind of upper management calling the shots. It also makes me wonder what I DON’T know about so much of the seemingly odd/poor decisions these people make.

a reply to: sqd5driver

Death by administration is what killed the program. The decision to kill the Blackbird came from someone that hated how much money they got every year and that they were treated like they walked on water. So he set out to kill the program.

And yeah, I have more than a few. Several commanders that people, now, swear we’re great and did good things for the service that were the biggest dumbasses in history.

One i have heard of is the practice of the navy/marine fighter pilots and the airforce pilots trying to get radar lockon on each other over the calif Nevada desert.

Many a navy/marine pilot has tried to get a lockon on a SR71 but none ever did.