LA Speed Story - SR-71 Crew trolls Navy and civil aviators

One of my favorite stories. Always brings a smile to my face.

originally posted by: Barnalby
a reply to: Zaphod58

What about the apocryphal one about the SR-71 crew that asked for a speed/altitude check and were accidentally given the readings for ...something else... by the ATC?

5 internet high fives if anyone can find the source/pilots name of that story....

a reply to: Barnalby

Another nice thread!

I've been asking about this story in one of the last threads(in time of 2-3 months) but got no response. I remember reading this story but haven't saved the link or text of it Now, I have no data...

a reply to: Woody510

U-2 pilots have seen star-shaped vehicle over Iraq during the Desert Storm. Their reports were published in AW&ST magazine. The vehicle was operating higher than their altitude.. My personal view on it, is that it was something that was hinted by our old friend Astr0 while he was here on this forum. This is something that was very very decent but unfortunatelly expensive and that's why it got canceled later..
There is an idea that there was a pendant being wore by a female engineer from the Phantom Works in one of the released videos. It was a stylized star that resembled a plane in a form of 5-point star.

That would be great to find that video btw.. lol

a reply to: FredT

Oh yeah. I heard this last week.

It's a great story. "A crew had been formed" lol

And I love that they used that scene from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

a reply to: SpeedFanatic

are you talking about that NASA animation of the multi directional jet, and stylized or not i dont think her handlers would be happy if there was a secret project hanging around someone's neck. then again i don't run security for LM

a reply to: penroc3

I've never seen this video before. Heard-not-seen. I would like to have a chance to make a glimpse on it. btw I think that it is just a plot with the video but on the other side who knows...

a reply to: SpeedFanatic

I'll have to look on YouTube to find it, it was a 4 pointed jet that if I remember correctly it was a quite boom multi vector demonstrater.

It was all cgi

a reply to: penroc3

Do you mean the Ninja Star ?



NIAC gave them 100K in 2012 with another 500K promised if it worked...is this low sum an indication of suspected worth?

Very much doubt this (or an aircraft with its spec.) would have been in use during desert storm....BUT... the reputed DarkSTAR UAV derivative might well have been...and that could be whatever exotic shape the software and designers spat out last.

Guys, I've just found the SR-71 story we were looking for..

"Some years later, I was talking with a fellow test pilot named Rogers Smith, who at the time was flying the SR-71 at NASA Dryden. He related a story about flying from Edwards to White Sands and back. He asked his back seater, flight test engineer Marta Bohn-Meyer, to see what the controllers at White Sands were showing as their ground speed and altitude. The controller replied that they were at 3500 feet per second and 129,000 feet. Both Rogers and Marta knew that wasn’t correct. When asked again, the rather flustered controller replied, 2450 feet per second and 81,500 feet. They both knew that there was another flight above them, using their flight as a cover for a classified program."

After a distinguished career at NASA's Dryden (now Armstrong) Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA, Rogers E. Smith retired at the end of September 2000 to pursue a career in consulting.

a reply to: SpeedFanatic

Nice find.
What's the source?

a reply to: Jukiodone

The source is: www.eaa55.org...

It's Experimental Aircraft Association issue from April 2006. Nice read, I recommend

3500 feet a second. Thats mach 3.11

Pretty impressive. What year was this from. And wouldnt it be cool if we had sonething pushing 6900+ feet a second these days.

a reply to: BASSPLYR

The story took place most probably before 2000 or in 2000. NASA used to use Blackbirds as test beds and Rogers Smith was a NASA test pilot for high-speed, high-altitude aeronautical researches these days.

a reply to: SpeedFanatic

Cool. I wonder what the other bird could have been. Wonder if folks on the ground heard one series of sonic booms or two.

a reply to: FredT

Never seen that video before. Absolutely amazing. I envy those guys -- what an amazing piece of history they contributed to.

a reply to: Jukiodone

yep, thats the one.


and i am not saying that was used in DS. there was a target designation, EW and BDA aircraft in use.

a reply to: SpeedFanatic
wonder what that was