Satchel Hogan Why use obsolete toy? They have much better toys now? Classified of course. Some whistle blowers says they can fly at few % of speed of light.
Satchel Hogan hahaha, too bad the U.S. government would never let you do that, and I am putting a lot of stress on never. Their top speed is still classified, but it took a little over one hour for it to reach New York from California. I doubt they would let a civilian EVER ride in one, unless you are a billionaire...
I am a retired Air Force pilot. One day in the early 70's I was flying along at 49,000 feet at about mach .95, and lo and behold way above me was an aircraft passing me like I was standing still. It was so high, I could not visually identify it, but obviously it was an SR-71.
Cutting edge. Titanium. Fuel JP7 just for this plane. Had to be ignited by triethlyborane. In open air it would spontaneously combust.The JP7 autoignition temperature was so high you couldn't get it to go alone. Drop a lit match in it and it goes out! JP7 was used for cooling of the airframe before burn - preheat of sorts. A compound was in the JP7 to disguise the exhaust plume from radar. Thermal expansion sealed the fuel tanks at altitude and speed. They weeped fuel on the ground. Surface coating for radiant heat transfer and radar absorption as well. And on and on.
Thermal expansion did help to seal the tanks @ temp, but at lower temps' these gaps would leak all the fuel -- if those gaps weren't 'filled in' with a substance to help seal those gaps. The gaps were filled with "elastopolymers". This tar like substance worked great after initial application, but slowly degraded over time & use until the leaking fuel was significant enough to effect performance. At some point the aircraft was taken back to Palmdale for re-sealing. One of the problems with bringing the aircraft back is that, by todays standards, the elastoploymer is listed as a carcinogen.
Well-sort of. But if it were not made in the US of A - the comments would be critiques about "copying". See "The Flight of the Phoenix" movie to get the idea how to get the idea...🤣 Then google Griffon III from France. Third step: Apply the Phoenix idea to two Griffons and add a long fuselage between them for fuel.
I bet somebody in a white lab coat had to put a stack of punch cards into a computer the size of a warehouse to calculate a quadratic equation at some point.
+Michael frumento What exactly didn't you understand about his statement? Real men as opposed to a committee? Don't know what a slide rule is? What exactly "that" are you referring to?
This Jet flew right over my house in 1971 I was only 7 and sitting on the roof with my dad to watch the Air Show but little did we know this Bird was going to make a fly by right over top of our house that day. I will never forget the blasting hum in my ears and my dad crouched down because the damn thing was so big it looked as if it was going to touch us. It was so huge even though it was flying relatively high it seemed as if it was within arms reach. Just after it passed over top our house shook and are ears began to hum then there was this huge bang like thunder then it was gone just like that. I was never so scared and excited in my life at the same time as when I saw this beast of a bird flying right over my head that day. I feel privileged to have had that moment only wish we had taken a picture of it, but its engraved in my memory for ever man oh man what a ride.
They can’t fly it any more, entire industries were needed for all the parts. Special tires no one makes any more, most parts are titanium which cost a lot and needs special tooling and entire factories to make one part. It’s insane, watch some of the videos about why it would be a massive massive endeavor to get one flying again
10 beauty beasts of these would drain air force budget😂😂 Lighter and more powerful planes are a lot out there! Sure it may be beautiful in looking, but function was not worth the money
I can't believe this things was made in the 1960's! So it is over 50 years old and still is the fastest aircraft, and probably has the most futuristic look of any planes. Awesome piece of engineering. :)
+Olli Jokinen Well the problem is we don't know exactly what replaced the SR-71 because it's top-secret. I would think it goes a lot faster and higher.
It doesn't get any better than this, folks! You are watching the most badass aircraft in the history of aviation! I had the pleasure of watching them do their stuff from up-close at Beale AFB back in '72. The twin hopped-up Buick 425 nailhead-powered start-cart at full-song, those glorious J-58s spooling-up, the twin booms of the afterburners kicking-in, followed by the unearthly screech as they literally tore the air apart is a sound like no other on this planet. I am thankful that I was fortunate enough to witness the spectacle from as close as one could get without getting shot.
Greetings from Chula Vista, California! Proud to say my father welded the titanium on these beautiful jets in the late 50's and into the mid 1960's. We lived in Manhattan Beach at the time then moved to Burbank, California. I'll be 66 soon and I was born in 1958. Torrance , California. God Bless!
I've been told that Kelly Johnson was stumped by the math that, by formula, was limiting the plane's speed. Someone told him to cool the plane...that the problem was caused by heat. Kelly Johnson's calculations factored in the added weight of the special paint that cools the SR-71. The math indicated that the added weight would only slow the plane even more. But he went with the idea anyway. And it worked!
+nick andhiscamera Actually from what I was told by one of the pilots it's kind of boring. You can't really see anything. You can't deviate from your flight path more than about a half degree of angle of attack or the plane comes apart. So it would be kind of like riding in an airliner by yourself, wrapped in a wet suit, inside a dry suit, with a old fashioned diver's helmet on, strapped down so you can't move and all the windows painted black.
+Chris Baker it was built for speed not maneuverability, it's the fastest plane around, the official record goes to the experimental YF-12 but it wasn't used in real warfare. The blackbird's missile evading system is just to speed up so that no missile can reach it.
+Antonio Klaić I'm quite aware of that. My other posts should make it clear. Plus Nick didn't answer my question about what he was putting on his Christmas list. The initial intention of the YF-12 was to be an interceptor not a fighter. I.E. Launch, fly to altitude and then really fast out to intercept incoming bombers and blow them up before they could reach America. Would have been a rude shock to incoming Bear pilots. Same logic as the original design specs that resulted in the Lockheed P-38. Never designed to be mass produced, never designed to be maneuverable much. They ended up instead of the expected 50 to 70 P-38s, building about 12,000 if I remember right and about half were converted to the F-5 variant which was photo reconnaissance. Interesting story in Martin Caidens book The Fork Tail Devil, in which an F-5 was sent out to photograph Japanese bases and the pilot kept on his photo run even though he could see the Japanese planes coming up to intercept him. They shot out one of his engines at which point he put the nose down a bit and the throttle full on the remaining engine and proceeded to out run the zeros. Wouldn't you hate to have to explain to your commander how your top of the line Zero, was outrun by a "crippled" enemy photo plane?
In the mid 90’s I worked on a new electric power generating system for the SR-71 at the Aerospace company I work for. I am still proud to have been associated with that fantastic aircraft.
My mom was a member of Skunk Works. They built these amazing planes. I remember it flying over my elementary school all the time. Along with the sonic booms. This is my all time favorite aircraft.!
I got the honor to see this magnificent machine when I was stationed at Kadena AB, Japan. We didn't know why it was there but the sound of those engines is a sound I will never forget!
I was stationed on Okinawa 76-77. On the Bicentennial at Kadena AFB there were a lot of air craft. I heard this sound more like a loud rumbling sound every day at about the same time. I saw the SR-71 for the first time up close and personal on static display. It wasn't much to look at but the stats on it was tremendous. Now I knew what went over my apartment every night. It was the sound of freedom. Semper Fi to USAF thank you from a Marine :-)
I attended that show with my Mum, we couldn't get anywhere near the perimeter fence due to the amount of people crowding at the Farnborough end, so we walked right down to the Fleet end of the runway.....when that bird left the runway she was virtually at our position and despite having our hands over our ears, it was deafening - what was more scary was the breath getting knocked out of us by the roar of those engines....an experience I will never forget.....
Just think about it. How perfect and masterfully made is this piece of engineering - that 51 years later it still holds the world record for the fastest production aircraft ever. God damn..
bertoh79 Its not a matter of safety to be honest, more about the money. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to develop an aircraft that travels faster - its just a matter of money and the question: Do we actually need one? And both answers are no.
+michealang1 Using God's name as a curse isn't a particularly smart thing to do. There are far better ways to express your excitement. On thing I'd like to point out is that the men who designed and built these marvelous aircraft used slide rules. How many of you have to look up what a slide rule is to even see that? There were no hand calculators, Computers took up whole warehouses instead of sitting on a desktop. My phone has more computing power than ALL the computers owned or used by Lockheed and probably the United States did back then.
I was lucky enough to see an SR-71 flight demonstration like this at an air show in California when I was 11 years old. When it makes a low pass like this you don't even hear it coming until it's already flown past you.
True, but when the SR-71 did low demonstration passes over the runway the pilots kept the speed near but below the speed of sound to prevent a sonic boom which at 450-500 feet above the runway would probably have blown out the windows of every house and store within a 5 mile radius.
Thanks, experiences like that led me to pursue a career in the USAF as a pilot but I washed out of flight training due to a minor eyesight impairment. Though I also count my blessings every time I fly my own small plane.
I was fortunate to see this plane retired in 1990 while in basic training in San Antonio with the Air Force. Pouring down rain but it was still awesome. They brought some out of retirement a few years later, but the plane could still do it's job. Love your video. It brings back memories!!!!!!
We were on our way to see my grandparents who lived in Hampshire, UK. On the way, we passed the Farnborough airshow and saw the SR-71 as she landed having just broken the Transatlantic speed record. My mother pretended she was having car problems and pulled over to the shoulder so that my brother sister and I could get a great view of her landing. She still sends shivers up my back.
Acidect GD "fighters"?? Turboprop engines are far more fuel efficient than jet engines, and more reliable in unimproved areas with lots of dust, sand, grass, and rocks. So they are the engine of choice in applications where speed is not valued, but reliability and cost per mile is highly valued. They're not the primary "fighters" by any means : /
@Satanis Von Jesus The 3rd Facts don't care about your feelings However I saw her at IAT Fairford, I even saw a duck flying once....Yes really no fibs
I was a US Resident in the early 60´s and to go to work I went by the Burbank Lockeed airport every day, never saw this airplane. But sometimes I had the night shift and around 430AM a couple times I saw it right over my head while approaching the runway. I guess at that time the USAF didn´t show it to anyone like the do now, which makes me think what will they be hiding nowadays...
Good point. Hopefully we never have to find out in any circumstances of war because I have a feeling that whatever they're probably working on right now is crazier technology than we can ever imagine.
Military's of the world like to hide their best stuff so foe's don't know what they're up against but the military is more conservative with planes nowadays. Speed is far from a priority, it's more about stealth, effective weaponry, and cost efficiency these days. I'd say today's equivalent of the SR-71 in the advanced technology department would be the autonomous drones that can fly an entire mission from take-off to landing without human interaction. Just press start and away it goes.
Killer2600 True, it seems that more of the speed technology of the past was really motivated by desire to keep the pilot from dying, basically. With drones, there's no threat of pilots dying and plus, the whole concept of dogfighting seems like a thing of the past.
Aidan Cox Perhaps, I tend to think the need for speed (and the willingness to buy the fuel for such speed) was attributed to protecting the investment by having a significant advantage. The SR-71 before it's disclosure was so fast that if anyone saw it they would be in disbelief that it was a plane and if they did know it was up there and try to shoot it down it was capable of out running any missiles let alone fighter planes. Protects the pilot by proxy but truly protects the great sums of money spent on the plane. SR-71 pilots were required to be married to ensure the pilot would have a reason to come home and come home alive.
I so enjoyed building this as a 1/48 scale model kit from Testors. It was over 3' long and painted like an early OxCart SR-71 with the exposed titanium finish on upper parts of the aircraft. It was my first large metalizing project with the airbrush.
I was a freshman in high school in 1990 at the Dayton Air Show in Dayton Ohio when the PA announcer came on and said the "SR -71 Blackbird has taken off from an airbase in California attempting to break the transcontinental air speed record." 67 minutes later he came back on the PA to announce that the Blackbird had broken the record by nearly an hour. The plane then turned around and came back to the Dayton Air Show and I got to see it and meet the pilot. A day that I will never forget!
define best, just because it's the fastest doesn't mean it's the best. The SpaceShuttle could be considered a aircraft because of it's similarities. Does that mean it's the best? Or is the airliner the best as it shaped the world a lot more than the blackbird did.
That's just my opinion. If you look at the time period in which it was produced, the engineering involved, and not to mention the massive quantity of titanium the CIA purchased from Russia to build it, Id say it's up there with some of the "best" aircraft ever built. I don't see how you could deny that.
Loobo2012 To set a speed record, the A/C must fly a straight and level path over a measured distance, of course the Space Shuttle or the X-15 couldn't do this..also a glider isn't classified as an airplane, as a glider aircraft can't launch under its own power...
I was stationed at Osan AFB Korea in 1983 and saw it take from there and do a fly by after circling the hills and mtns around song ton tee and came blazing down the center of the runway before going almost vertical before returning to Guam. What a beautiful site to see.
Having seen one up close at the Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport, I think it is nearly a crime that this beautiful aircraft is not still being flown and displayed at USAF air shows. It is clearly one of the best man-made machines ever created - ever. I imagine the Blue Angels don't appreciate being upstaged by an "obsolete" plane, though.
I was at the Pima air museum in Tucson, AZ. They have an SR-71 on display there. I'd wanted to see the plane for a long time. I felt a sense of grief when I had to leave it behind and go home. It was absolutely majestic.
Imagine Wilbur and Orville, standing at an airshow and witnessing this awesome craft, pass by, at full afterburner... I doubt words could exit their mouths! Words will never, sum up, the true impact of this amazing aircraft! The sound is, simply, angelic... The SR-71 Blackbird, is a gift, for the ages✈🎆🎉
An amazing day, it's remained so vivid, thanks to this plane! I was about 7. Amusingly, during this display I got separated from my dad in the crowd but still managed to enjoy an epic moment in aviation history. Wonder who the crew were and where that plane is now?
BLACKBIRD RECORDS Altitude in Horizontal Flight Date: 28 July 1976 Crew: Capt. Robert C. Helt and Maj. Larry A. Elliott Altitude: 85,068.997 feet Speed Over a Straight Course Date: 28 July 1976 Crew: Capt. Eldon W. Joersz and Maj. George T. Morgan Average Speed: 2,193.167 mph Speed Over a Closed Course Date: 27 July 1976 Crew: Maj. Adolphus H. Bledsoe, Jr. and Maj. John T. Fuller Distance: 1,000 km Average Speed: 2,092.294 mph Speed Over a Recognized Course: New York to London Date: 1 September 1974 Crew: Maj. James V. Sullivan and Maj Noel F. Widdifield Distance: 3,461.53 miles Time: 1 hour, 54 minutes, 56.4 seconds Average Speed: 1,806.964 mph Speed Over a Recognized Course: London to Los Angeles Date: 13 September 1974 Crew: Capt. Harold B. Adams and Capt. William C. Machorek Distance: 5,446.87 miles Time: 3 hours, 47 minutes, 39 seconds Average Speed: 1,435.587 mph Speed Over a Recognized Course: West Coast to East Coast Date: 6 March 1990 Crew: Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and Lt. Col. J.T. Vida Distance: 2,404.05 miles Time: 1 hour, 7 minutes, 53.69 seconds Average Speed: 2,124.51 mph Speed Over a Recognized Course: Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. Date: 6 March 1990 Crew: Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and Lt. Col. J.T. Vida Distance: 2,299.67 miles Time: 1 hour, 4 minutes, 19.89 seconds Average Speed: 2,144.83 mph Speed Over a Recognized Course: Kansas City to Washington, D.C. Date: 6 March 1990 Crew: Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and Lt. Col. J.T. Vida Distance: 942.08 miles Time: 25 minutes, 58.53 seconds Average Speed: 2,176.08 mph Speed Over a Recognized Course: St. Louis to Cincinnati Date: 6 March 1990 Crew: Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and Lt. Col. J.T. Vida Distance: 311.44 miles Time: 8 minutes, 31.97 seconds Average Speed: 2,189.94 mph
The footage looks as though it was at RAF Mildenhall. I remember the bird well. When I was stationed there in the late 80's, Air Fete was in full swing. I was a member of the base crash rescue team. We were allowed to train on the SR-71 for such situation as to egress the crew from the plane. I even got to sit in the front cockpit. Wonderful aircraft. Sorry to see her go.
Was wondering if it was RAF mildenhall because the announcer sounds British. I’m English and grew up in the neighbouring town of Newmarket. Went to an air show at mildenhall in the very early 90’s and was lucky enough to see this fly. The reason I’m sure it was the early 90’s was that half way though it’s display it went vertical and sodded of at an incredible speed. That announcer said it had been called into service over the Gulf.
Yeah, not meaning to say this video is from the 90’s. Just that I attended in ‘90(I think) and saw this fly. Think they left the bases not long after that. Remember it being billed as a farewell sort of display.
I was at a museum once in Cambridge, England, United Kingdom. There she was, I was so shocked and instantly turned into a little boy. The sign said “Do not touch” every man looked over his shoulder like a spy followed by the hand up whilst graciously touching her, mumbling something too. I felt the same when visiting Concorde 🇬🇧. That said, nothing makes me emotional like the Spitfire or Hurricane. We owe everything to that generation. Oh yeah, the Vulcan, she’s pretty to. Oh one more, Miss Sea Harrier. My wife doesn’t know this but when we win the lottery I’m buying all the above and putting them on the front garden.
Just imagine, the SR71 could cruise at Mk3 or slightly above, for nearly an hour at a time, without any lasting damage to its engines. Just about every other jet capable of Mk3 or faster,could only achieve that speed for around four minutes,then their engines needed technical maintenance, due to the intense stress placed on their engines. The SR71 was one special jet.
Not many people will know, that the Skunk Works responsible for the maintenance of the SR71, also had to maintain 53 specially adapted Boing 737 aircraft. Every time a SR71 took off, there had to be two of these 737 fuel tankers in the air at the same time, to refuel the tanks of the almost empty SR71s. It was the incredible cost of maintaining both jets and transporter planes that saw the demise of the SR71 programme, as well as the deployment of satellites in space.
I only saw The SR-71 take off once and it's an experience I will never forget. It was at Norton AFB during an airshow. It was fascinating watching them roll out the start carts to get her going. I believe the announcer said the start carts had Chrysler engines. When she took off, the noise of her engines was so loud that it rattled everyone's innards. A kid had broken a plastic bead necklace leaving the beads all over the ground. Those things were jumping up and down as the SR took off. Long tails of shock diamonds. She looked unreal in the air to me. After a few passes she tipped nose up in a very steep climb with those long tails of shock diamonds again and flew until she was out of sight. I think it must have been maybe a minute or two later when the announcer said she was over Nevada. Wish I had a video camera because I think that was some "hot leggin."
First off I’m going to have to compliment you on your profile picture. It’s badass Secondly, 4 years late, your probably not gonna respond, oh well yadayada Third, I know that feeling. I was at an airshow where they had an F-35 and F-22 take off in succession It was the most traumatic I’ve ever felt just from hearing a jet For a full minute the ground is shaking, but insides are rumbling, I can’t process any noise, and you feel a wave of dry heat as the exhaust of the f-35s massive engine hit you That is an experience I will never forget. I actually lost my hearing for a good 10 minutes I love that. Just being able to feel the extreme power one of those jets possess It’s really cool that you got to see an sr-71 fly. I’ve only been able to see them in museums. And damn are they HUGE. Like, the side of a house! I can only imagine what being near them when they took of felt like Anyway, one of the SR-71s I saw was supposedly the last that ever flew, or the last one that was made. Pretty interesting, knowing that the behemoth before you probably hit Mach 3. Literally, the engine is the size of a trailer. A fucking trailer.
Growing up next to Offut AFB in Nebraska in the late 70's and 80's. For some reason this clip brings tears to my eyes. Maybe its thinking of childhood and air shows or the horns in the background.?.?.. i dont know.
Amazing aircraft. 1960's technology and still no air-breathing engine, piloted craft has ever been built since that could come close to keeping up with it. A true marvel of ingenuity and technology. It's a shame to see this bird retired. Not one ever lost to hostile fire. Amazing.
Thank you, it brings back memories, my father worked on this plane, I saw it when I was 9 or 10 years old, mid- late 80's Cal. It was cool to see, will never forget it.
I saw the SR-71 make a full speed pass with my family at Burke Lakefront airport near Cleveland, Ohio and that was an amazing sight! Yes, there was a sonic boom and yes it rattled the windows of nearby aircraft hangers! I consider this to have been a rare privilege of my childhood and believe it was only permitted because the Blackbird was flying over lake Erie and current restrictions of speed were not in place back then. It was awesome!
It's truly amazing how far man has come with regards to flight in the short time it was first discovered , I can only imagine (or not) where the minds of tomorrow will take us
I lived in Lancaster, California at the end of the runway of Edwards Air force base in the 1970's! Every once in a while the window of our office building would start to rattle. Everyone would run outside, we knew what caused the noise, the SR-71 was flying by. It's an amazing site to watch it fly by, not only the noise, but the speed. It was a treat to watch such an historical aircraft...
I want to be borned in 50’s so i can see this amazing jet fly. I get tears in my eyes every time i see this legendary bird the SR-71 Blackbird. Amazing
An interesting bit of trivia. The tires on the main landing gear of this aircraft were impregnated with aluminum to help the rubber withstand the heat of Mach 3+ flight. They were inflated with nitrogen to 415 psi. (Saw one on display at the Pima Air and Space Museum)
+thooke222 I saw one blow three tires on an attempted landing at Kadena AB in Okinawa in 1972 then when they tried to catch it in the barrier the gear was taller than the barrier and ripped the landing gear off. Definite oops.
Another trivia is that the SR71 goes so fast that if you shot a gun from it, it would catch up to the bullet and the velocity is so great that the bullet can do serious damage to the aircraft
I got to fly in the landing pattern with an SR-71 while doing practice carrier landings in the F-14 at NAS Miramar in the last 80's. It was a big thrill just to be flying in the same airspace with such an amazing aircraft. Skunk Works was top notch in those days!
Watched one coming into our SAC base in NC. Circled the entire base in 30 seconds. Then got to see it up close in the hanger, even snuck my camera in. Impressive!
this plane is, without question, one of the most stunning works of beauty and engineering that has ever left the runway. if it were legal to marry and breed with an aircraft, i would totally wed this one.
Jeremy Nickols You forgot to mention it was designed in the 50's, with no help of 3D computer design whatsoever...Lockheed Skunk Works literally drew this amazing piece of technology by hand (and mind) !
I watched one of these awesome machines landing at R.A.F.Lakenheath with my daughter years ago,it was an incredible sight,i have never forgotten it and my daughter,now30,remembers it clearly.A superb aircraft and sorely missed.
My favourite aircraft of all time. I am still gutted to have missed it fly in real life. When I was 4, my Mum took me to RAF Finningley airshow, the Blackbird was supposed to fly there, but bad weather meant it got cancelled. Luckily, they didn't cancel the Vulcan.
A lot of them are in museums. You could probably easily find one. Hill AFB...The SAC Museum in...Kansas I think You also got the National Air and Space Museum If you ever are going to go there btw, make sure to go to the HANGAR, not the one near the whitehouse The SR-71, Discovery, those are all in the hangar
@@Kay_213_ The Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio, on the Wright-Patterson base has one. I stood next to it, and touched it. It is bigger than it seems in all the pictures I see of it.
@@googleuser868 I've seen the one at the Smithsonian. I'm a couple hours drive from Dayton, which I'd like to see really bad. Kalamazoo Michigan has the one of two sr-71 B's that wasn't crashed, I would also like to drive to that one.
LOVE this plane. Kinda looks like something batman would fly back in the 80s haha. Love this. And I know it's unarmed, but it looks like it would drop a nuke or something. Intimidating bird right there.
Used to be a static display of SR71 at the Virginia Air Museum at Richmond Intl Airport. Have seen it dozens of times. What a beautiful bird she was. The plane is gone now as is the museum.
I was stationed in Okinawa in the late '80s and saw this wonderful aircraft take-off from Kadena many times. This is the aircraft that peaked my interest in aviation before high school. I saw a poster of an SR-71 that showed it from a straight-on viewpoint, making it look like an alien aircraft.
crotchrocket00 It was actually brought back into service for a few years during the 90's because of the limitations of satellites, and that bit on technology is a bit of a moot point to me. Yes the electronics are out-dated, but they can be switched out and upgraded to modern standards, including the cameras and intelligence gathering systems, which they actually were during the 90's to meet the demands of the command staff who sought their reactivation. The airframe itself is still far from out-dated and has yet to be truly outperformed to this day. All we might be able to do to upgrade the airframe itself might be to get Pratt & Whitney to essentially recreate the J58 with any improvements modern aerospace technology might be able to provide.
crotchrocket00 Eh, that could be replaced. It is an expensive son of a bitch to maintain though, which is the main reason it was put out of service in the first place. And sats have some serious issues.
I heard that NASA had a few of these for whatever research NASA was doing. NASA Also has a few F-104's still flying for research. NASA brought two or three of the F104's to the Dayton Air Show a few years ago and did a flight demonstration. It so cool!
Had one do an emergency landing when I was stationed at RAF Bentwaters in 1988. When it was fixed and took off, the sound of the afterburners during takeoff was something to hear.
Are there any comments on here about how this thing leaks fuel on the ground because the fuselage expands and contracts so much? The plane goes so fast and creates so much friction heat on the leading edge of the craft that the fuselage had to be engineered to expand and contract with the temperature difference! Amazing piece of engineering for an amazing aircraft!
It's a foot longer in the air at speed than on the ground. The standard takeoff procedure is to get in the air running on empty, get altitude and do a supersonic "sprint" to warm up the airframe and seal the fuel tanks, then come back down and fill up before heading off on a mission.
Ryan Willis you had everything right besides landing to refuel they get up to alt and do a mid air refuel then had off just sayin look it up and you will see.
Whenever I see these clips I always imagine its missions over the Ho Chi Minh trail and it out running SAM after SAM. To my knowledge I do not think a single pilot was ever lost while this plane was in military service!
Yeah, 20 is probably an exaggeration This plane was super successful. I don’t think a single one was SHOT down. Crashes, yeah. Pilot errors, yeah. But SAM missiles have nothing in this planes speed
The fastest plane ever made 6 months from design to construction. Saw one on display at Duxford air museum. The most stunning plane ever made, I was like a kid at Xmas.
Back when our country was so adventurous with technology and pushing the limit of what's possible... We were so curious and determined. Nowadays, we just don't have the same passion, sadly.. I wish things will change soon. It's sad that our highest flying and fastest aircraft was late 50's, early 60's technology. I'm sure there's something being worked on, but, its just not the same.
