Shopping For A Real SR71 At Smithsonian Evergreen Museum 

My dad was flying around Sacramento with his 110 camera and a SR71 came cruising by us and dad snapped a picture ,it was very impressive

When I graduated from Air Force basic training in April 1990, we had an SR71 fly over our ceremony. We were told not to look at it by our TI's, you think I listened to him. Heck no. It was mostly cloudy that day and it dropped down below the clouds for like a split second and then BOOM it was gone. It was awesome. Ever since then I have been fascinated with that platform..I'm an aircraft mechanic by trade so airplanes in general fascinate me. Love the channel Jimmy!

Cool fact; In my younger days I spent a brief time working in a rebar plant in Portland. During that time, the rebar used in the construction of the newer space and missle wing came through our plant. I personally bent nearly all the rebar used in that portion of the museum.

My high school math teacher (I am from a very small town and we had our own school, my graduating class was 92 students) Mr. Klessel was a retired SR71 pilot. How friggin neat is that? He used to stump every class and ask them how long it took to get from NY to LA at Mach 2.2 or something along those lines.. Whatever it was I recall the answer was 54 minutes (I don't remember exactly the 2 points) anyway he had the most amazing stories! edit: Museums are awesome!

Normally I would get upset with so called click bait titles. However, I knew going in the government would never let a private civilian buy an SR-71 with that being said I love the creative way you incorporated the real purchase in your video. All that to say love the work you do.

Jimmy, at 6:03 into this video you pan past an F-105G Wild Weasel aircraft, #432 (visible on the nose gear plate). #432 was my aircraft when I served in the Georgia Air National Guard back around 1980. We got the Weasel mission when the F-105G's came back from Viet Nam. I guess that confirms what my son loves to tell me - "Dad, all the airplanes you used to fly are in museums now!" Currently, I am a professor of Aviation at the University of Dubuque in Iowa - still flying at 70!

The Pima Museum in Tucson had some open cockpit days in the past. They opened their SR-71 to the public to take a seat in it. I was surprised by the amount of space in the cockpit, but the space suit would cut into that abundance really fast.

I was at a small private auto and military museum that was offered an SR71 tail fin from an aerospace museum. They didn’t know what to do with it, but who could turn such an offer down? Two days later, 2 FBI agents came knocking on the door, and were there to confiscate the fin. It seems the tail fin wasn’t classified, but the anti radar coating was! Bye bye tail fin!

At 4:38, you are looking at a Cessna 337 Skymaster. 30 years ago, I flew a few hundred hours in the right seat with the pilot/owner out of 30A in Tennessee. His plane, N6200F, had a STOL kit and oversize rear intake scoop. Landing gear door hydraulics are quite complicated, and were a pain to work on, but the center-thrust twin could climb like a homesick angel. It was painted navy blue, and was called "Night Fighter" by many people who saw it. I miss that bird, not to mention my friend.

You were correct in saying it was the best day of your life after sitting in the Blackbird. I felt the sam way when I did it, but a few years earlier. I was fortunate enough to sit in the Operational #61-7974, the original Icheban Blackbird in 1978 when I was stationed at Kadena Air Base in Japan. I was one of the photo-processors that developed the film off of the Habu and 17974 was in the hanger next to our photo lab. It was talking to one of the techs that got permission for a few of us to actually get to sit in the drivers seat of this monumental aircraft. Unfortunately, that was the last Blackbird to crash in April 1989 off the Philippine coast. It is now in 25,597 feet of water, in an area known as the Mariana Trench. Buried at sea with full military honors.

It has to be a good day when you are allowed to sit in an SR71. Thanks for sharing that moment.

The Spruce Goose, actually not made of spruce. So he let you sit in the SR-71, then tells you that one is not for sale, but proceeded to sell you a non-functioning, reduced scale facsimile of one? Sounds like a bait and switch if I ever heard of one! 🤣 Great video, Jimmy.

Great way to start a Saturday morning with jimmy’s World

This one is on my bucket list. I visited the Spruce Goose in Long Beach, CA the second day it was on display. I saw it in pieces on barges on the Willamette River in Portland when they were moving it to McMinnville. But not living in the area now has prevented me from visiting the museum. It is on my bucket list and I hope to get it done now that we visit the Portland area frequently these days. One of the display building was built to tight specifications to receive a space shuttle, but shortly after President Obama was inaugurated the space shuttle was rerouted to another destination.

Please don't start clickbaiting like every other RU-vidr this is one of the only channels left that I actually look forward to watching 😢

Thanks Jimmy, that was a great trip around the museum. You should do one more often. Regards Richard 🇬🇧

Wow, that museum has really grown up in the 20 years since I was there. Back then it was just the 1 hall with the H16 and some other stuff parked under it.

I visited the place with my grandma as one of the last things we did together before she passed. She had never been even though she lived in the area for decades and I had never been even though I remember growing up in the area and reading all about the Spruce Goose being brought up there - as I had moved away before the museum opened. Glad they still have the X-38. I never hear anyone talking about it but I thought it was pretty cool.

Thanks for coming out to Oregon, Jimmy! Glad you had a blast at what a lot of us consider to be the coolest museum in the state, if not the West Coast!

I used to sit on a seawall in Kadena, Okinawa drinking beers and watch the SR-71's take off and land. so cool.

YESSSSSSSSSSSS Finally a Jimmys World video!

Jimmy you never cease to entertain and enlighten👍👍

I really enjoyed my visit here some years back. Got to play around in the b-17 there with a old fella who used to fly them. Spent a good hour checking stuff out and chatting with him. 🍻

I joined the Air Force in January 1982 and retired in 2006 as a avionics technician. My first base was Beale AFB and at 19 I sat in that very cockpit running ops checks, replacing the avionics and repairing the wiring. I have been all over the world and ended my career working for Lockheed Martin teaching the AF, Navy, and Marines how to maintain the F-35, another even cooler plane. Nothing beats working on the SR-71 though. Great video 👍

We went to the Evergreen Aerospace Museum recently and it was great. Going up in to the Spruce Goose was amazing. If anyone hasn't been, I highly recommend going. We didn't get to sit in the SR-71 so how cool was that you did! I'm jelly😝

I live here in Va.Beach and was in a local restaurant and the old guy standing in front of me had on a flight jacket and hat with SR-71 nomenclature so I had to ask. Hey cool jacket I love the SR-71..! turns out he was a pilot that flew it quite a bit. He was telling me that they would only carry enough fuel to get off the ground and meet up with the tanker and then fill up and go on their mission.! About that time his wife pulled his arm and mine pulled mine and that was that..!

one was on the ground at an airshow in the UK some years ago. Surrounded by razor wire and an armed guard and the windows blanked off, and drip trays all around it, catching the fuel that was dripping out the tanks and off the wings and fuselage. Awesome, it took off later if my memory serves me right, circa 1980 maybe?

I was there 10 days before you posted this one. What an amazing place! I also got to sit in the cockpit of the 'Goose', so much fun!! Recommended for everyone by me. The space side of the museum is very cool as well.

My uncle was the president of Evergreen for. Any years. He was the one that insured the new home for the Spruce Goose. Such a cool place. McMinnville OR.

What a place! I visited it a few years ago specifically to see the Spruce Goose but was surprised by their other exhibits.

Thanks for the fun video. You now own an SR-71! I have a 60’s Batmobile, 1/24 scale. We will never grow up!

I loved this episode, Jimmy! Greetings all the way from Bulgaria :)

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My father was maintenance chief at Dobbins ARB back in their late 70s early 80s he was a major in the Air Force. He came into work one morning, and in the hangar where several C-130s were supposed to be parked, they were nosed out of the hangar. Behind a lead shielded curtain in the back of the hanger apparently was sitting an SR 71… It developed a hydraulic leak somewhere over Mississippi and made it to Marietta Georgia in about 15 to 20 minutes. Dad got a chance to talk to the pilots, and they told him some crazy stories about flying that bird. Those pilots have seen three sunrises on a flight, which is pretty cool, also, they told him a couple of stories of where they were shot at with missiles just outside of Soviet air space, and by the time the missiles got up to altitude …the SR71 was somewhere else. That bird could absolutely move.

Interestingly, Lockheed's name for the airplane was RS-71 for "reconnaissance strike." When President Lyndon B. Johnson announced the existence of the airplane ~2 yrs after it actually flew, his dyslexic brain read it as "SR" which sent Lockheed scrambling to rename the plane so as to not embarrass the president. Times have certainly changed as the media today would waste no time embarrassing the president of one political party over something like that. The name change and other tidbit about Lockheed are in Kelly Johnson's book titled "Kelly More Than My Share of it All."

I was just there at 3pm today. It was 107 outside, and they had closed earlier because of the extreme heat we are having. I'm going back and I'll camp there and spend a week looking at every inch. Really enjoyed this video. Thanks

I got to sit in the pilot seat of the Spruce Goose last Memorial Day weekend. The Evergreen Air & Space Museum in McMinnville Oregon is cool place to check out.

Jimmy, I think you're having more fun than is legally allowed!

Your in my territory Jimmy. 100 miles from the Museum. I worked all around that area when the Spruce Goose was in pieces across the road from there. 2 big long temp controlled, semi-clear tents. One tent held the wings and motors, and the other tent had the main fuselagee in it. Howard Hughes kept the Goose in 100% flyable condition until his death in 1976, by his orders. Evergreen was working on the funds and permits for quite some time for that museum. They used to fly model airplanes on that spot in that museum area. They had a paved control line circle for awhile, for U-control string planes and a paved landing strip for RC planes. The control line circle was to the west of the museum and the RC flying field was right behind it.

I cycled across America 2018 and went and spent the day here just amazing !!!!

Hey Jimmy, I am so happy that you got to visit the Evergreen Museum in McMinnville Oregon. That is one of the coolest Aviation Museums out there. I have visited the Smithsonian, but not the Annex Air Museum at the airport. I have Also visited the Wright Patterson Air Force Museum, the Warner Robbins Air Force Museum and the Air Force Academy visitors center. I have visited many private Aviation Museums and Evergreen was one of the best.

When he said “I’ll find us a ladder,” I thought for sure he was kidding, dammit! You lucky, lucky bastard!

If I'm not mistaken, the Swedish Airforce radar division was the first and only to lock their radar on the SR71 when it took a ride around the Baltic sea during the cold war. I was on that radar unit doing my military duty. Unfortunately it wasn't I who locked the radar on it. According to what I heared, they got a congrats card from the US for that. Hooray for Sweden, we have "sunk" one of your aircraft carriers too with one of our submarines of Gotland class, in a training session. This led to that the US Navy rented the sub and its crew for a year. I love your videos! You are a funny and crazy dude! 🙂

When I worked at the Toronto international Airport (YYZ) I had the chance prior to the 9/11 to go inside every commercial aircraft since I was a refueler. The amount of space in the AN-124 crew cabin was amazing. Had behind the control cabin a small kitchen, table large enough for 4 members then further in the back is the sleeping quarters which I didn't look at. However almost all controls are in Russian. The amount of fuel it took was roughly 7 loads at 50,000 litres of fuel where it was in route to a place in Africa then to continue to Australia. It was an awesome plane to see up close.

I been watching jimmy for like a week and my entire libary is full of his videos

So Amazing , Thank You . Looks like a place to spend several Days Exploring

I've driven past the museum more times than I can count. Now I have to stop in.

That’s a great museum. My good buddy’s name is on the side of the A-10 there. It was used as a test bed for Raytheon.

I was just there a few months ago. My family lives nearby. Glad to see it in RU-vid.

I was in the USAF 1984 to 1990. The only reason for limiting the SR71 to mach 3 was heat. It was actually able to do sprinting beyond mach 3 for short periods of time.

That is an awesome museum have been there twice and still will go back!

What a great channel man I freaking love the knowledge you give to us keep up the amazing work I wish you safe flying for many years to come !!

Neat seeing some of these old airplanes. I used to live in Seattle (before people went crazy) where we had the Museum of Flight. They've got an SR-71 there also. You definitely should grab that 310 if you can get it for .35 cents. :D

And Jimmy demonstrated the importance of asking for what you want... It can never hurt, right? Awesome visit to the museum!

We have one of two Lancair (235) here in the UK. Great to see one in the museum…👍

I grew up going to this place- even had prom under the Goose! Very very cool!

Awesome museum! I am wearing my Spruce Goose shirt right now! I went there for the first time last year. Wish I could of stayed longer, so much to see and take in. Super cool you videoed inside the water slide. That has to be the most unique water park ever! Looks like you had a great time, I plan on going back someday. What helicopter is at 8:09 ? It was pouring when I was there and didn't want to go outside again haha.

Awesome video Jimmy! I should have hung onto the back of your RV when you left Oshkosh, I've been wanting to visit the Evergreen museum. Just a heads up the tail wheel on a T6 can be unlocked and can do full 360's so it can be easily pushed around. That said some times it fights you when you are shoving it around to get it to go straight again.......ask me how I know lol. 😆 Now that Jimmy owns a SR-71 we need a "Can I get a clear.......turbine???" shirt.

I have a SR-71 plane tag .. when ever I hold it I feel the power 😂😂 love that bird !

I fortunate enough that I got to go to Beal AFB and actually see and touch the SR71 when I was only 14 years old. Met the pilots that were suiting up watched it take off and 25 min. later return. They said they flew to Colorado, circled back and landed. 25min. It goes way faster than mach whatever they say it does. It used to take the USA so much money to keep the thing that they canned it. But pilots won't say how fast it actually is. One pilot said that he got shot at by missiles and he just pumped up the throttle and walked away.

Lol. you really had me going with the SR71 purchase ...... Cool museum 😀

Evergreen is one of the most amazing places. Second only to the Smithsonian and that is close. I wanted to see the Spruce Goose from the age of 5. In june I got to go for the first time. A life long dream was realized that day.

Always a joy when I need a break from the insanity.

What a collection!! WOW!!

When I was stationed at Offutt AFB in the mid 90's I got to look inside the SR-71 that was at the back gate by Wherry housing. They used to have a crawl through once a year where you got to go through all their aircraft. They had a walkway leading up to the aircraft and the cockpit was open. Sadly, some of the instrumintation was removed of coarse. It was still cool to look inside though. I was told all the aircraft are housed in a museum now. When I was stationed at Ramstein in the early 90's a friend of mine was an ex-boomer. He had a video of various aircraft re-fuelling that he took with his camcorder. F-15's and F-16's would request re-fuelling and he would causually finish his coffee, slowly walk back to the boomer seat and wait for the aircraft to approach. The last video on the tape was a call from an SR-71. He ran back and the SR-71 was already there waiting. He wasn't supposed to record it, but he did anyway. The pilot and co-pilot never reported him doing it.

I used to live an hour away from Evergreen Museum, a great place to spin the day. McMinnville airport is across the road from the museum, for those wanting to fly in for a visit.

Hello from Minnesota!! That place is on my bucket list!!

When me and my girlfriend went there I noticed the ch-37 and the staff let us out the back door to check it out. I didn't know that they existed up to that point. It is an excellent museum. The modern stuff is just out there in a way that you can get right up and touch it.

Only about 30 miles from me. Been there at least twice before they built the water slide out of the 747. yea I have touched the SR71. I love pointing out that the P-38 (they had one last time I was there) and the SR71 were both designed by Kelly Johnson. And yea, I got that same model of SR71 as well =)

Jimmy so awesome - in the Early 2000's I was a VP with Evergreen, and used to buy and sell - been in the cockpits of those planes back in the day...... even the Spruce Goose HAHAHA seems like a thousand years ago..... nice visit I haven't been there in years. Since Dell Smith was still alive and my boss :)

I live just a few miles from the museum...If you had gone to the coast you could have seen another air museum that's in a WW2 Blimp hanger. It's part of an abandoned military base. Did you get out to some of the dozens of vineyards in the area?

seeing you in the blackbird i freaked out , how freaking awesome

Whatever you do, you DO NOT want to fall off the Heli-Vector!

I was the guy that rebuilt the green jack for that sr71. I used to work in evergreen restoration department. Along with that navy heli drone. I remade the antenna covers from scratch. Ive got tons of behind the scenes pics and my father and I doing all the work.

If you're gonna be down there, don't forget the Oregon Air and Space Museum in Eugene! The volunteers are fantastic and it's very well stocked considering its size.

As a teen, I was in the CAP and we got a tour of a radar installation that covered the the entire Northern U.S., Canada, Alaska and Bering Sea. On the screen was an aircraft track that streached from Southern California to nearly the Bering Sea. We weren't told what this was, but I had my suspicions. This track was 5 or 6 times as long, maybe more, than every other track on the screen. The other tracks were commercial aircraft, best guess (lol). Do the math, the upper limit on that Mach Meter seems legit. My Bet is around that mark at 4.5, the meter goes to 6, so 4.5 cruising at 75% max. I never thought to look for a cockpit image till you showed this and it brought back this memory. I'm NOT Kidding.

Got a kitset ftom Heller of an SR71 since I was a kid. Am a bit envious and proud you got to sit in the real one. That's marvellous 😂

I try to go to evergreen every couple years. They let you park the rv in the parking lot. Perfect 3 day weekend trip. Maybe I'll be able to park my custom rv next to the elvis jet there someday?

OMG! Green with envy over you Jimmy! SR71 is THE best plane ever made. I would love to sit in there

Woo, Evergreen Wings and Waves! Glad to see them getting some recognition. I've been there many times. (Took a troop of Girl Scouts from Atlanta there.) They do need to trim down the speedbumps into the parking lot though.

That stand on helicopter is the most dangerous thing I have ever seen. Props to those who flew it, I wonder if any survived?

Lol the ending though that was hilarious 🤣

That airplane that was in the farmers field is an F5D Skylancer, they made 4 of them, it was a follow on to the F4D Skyray. I have always wanted to go see the Spruce Goose. You are thinking of the 337 Mixmaster Jimmy. Actually it is the Skymaster. Ahhh, Jimmy the F-85 was an Oldsmobile, that is an F-86H. They did make two XF-85 Goblins though. I'm jealous, to get to sit in the cockpit of an SR-71 would be really cool.

I was stationed in Warner Robins, GA back in 1969, USAF. I was an acft mechanic on the grave shift. It was dawn and we were all caught up and sitting in front of the plane, when we saw what we thought were two fighters coming in next to each other-really close. We went into the c-141, opened the top hatch and got on top of the plane for a better look. WTF. It taxied over to the SAC hangar. When the flight line supervisor came by in the truck we asked him what kind of plane it was. He answered "What plane" The weird one that they put in the SAC hangar "What plane" We were all excited and tried to explain it to him, "What plane" Little light going off in my brain, oh, one of those planes. It had some kind of emergency and had to land at our base but they didn't have any emergency vehicles on the runway

My wife and I got to walk thru the Spruce Goose when it was in Long Beach..and spent the night on the Queen Mary docked next door.. Good Times!

Ok, i am officially jealous , sitting in the sr71. Super cool 😎

Probably the greatest 13 minutes of film in history. Submit this to the academy.

I have loved that beast of a jet since I was a child!

Good job! That was fun.

That little biplane is a Baby Great Lakes, designed by Barney Oldfield. It was advertised as as having champagne performance on a beer budget. Great fun and aerobatic! Friend of mine had one and stored it my hanger.

That spruce goose is crazy. makes me want to watch the aviator again

Amazing feildtrip !!

Sitting in that SR71… epic!

Such an awesome adventure. Only a bit of click bait. lol Great video, Jimmy. Thanks for sharing. Can't wait for the next one.

I remember in 2000 or 2001 my aviation explorer scout troop took a trip to johnson space center and we saw that x38 as they were working on on it. Too cool.

I finally found where someone posted about the Cessna 337 Skymaster. The Cessna 336 Skymaster was the fixed gear unit, until Cessna figured out the retract mechanism to create the 337. Primarily, Cessna used the retract system from a C-210 Centurion, with a few 'modifications'. 🙂

Sitting in the SR-71 I would of Said "Clear on 1?"

Thanks Jimmy nice tour

I just love these silly video's. Thank you. That little sr71 just made me laugh..... Love it.

McMinville?! Awesome, this is my back yard and I love that place.