THAT is the most awesome thing you will EVER SEE!! I feel I was blessed to be stationed on Okinawa when they were flying!! The WHOLE island stopped to see that show!! When those big j58's lit those afterburners you could feel your soul shake!! The absolute GREATEST jet plane ever built!! If you are A plane nut to see a Blackbird takeoff in real LIFE is like you have no more purpose in life cause you've seen it ALL! You have witnessed the greatest Bird to ever fly leave it's nest!And I've seen it over 30 times and I STILL get goosebumps looking at THIS!!!😎 nothing like it!!!!
My god when those fires light in the back of those engines it makes a guy smile with envy just thinking about the fury that is being unleashed. What a ride that must be.
@@florida1716 Well I have news for you, Lockheed did make/build 3 Blackbirds that carried missiles,lockheed wanted to make a intercepter out of 3 of them,they were called the,YF-12A.V.ery expensive to build,still flew at mach 3 at high altitude.
@@nynthworld4152 The actual "rocket ride" missions were the 2 unrefueled sorties flown out of Kadena over Korea. Each mission was only 53 minutes long. And the crews competed for the best time to climb records. Winning time was 14 minutes from wheelstop to Mach 3.2 at 80,000 feet.
I was an Aircraft dispatcher at Kadena and always put the flight plan for the SR-71, it was short and sweet, direct direct to above 60k feet, that was it until it would come back, where is went who knows, can only guess. I would go out on the flight line to see it take off, about a 25 foot flame from the engines out the back, and the power it had, wow, this is back in 1967. One last note, no other aircraft was allowed to land or take off, when the SR-71, was ready to go.
Was TDY to Okinawa in 1985 for Team Spirit from Charleston AFB. I had the pleasure of seeing a SR-71 RTB at night, it was the loudest aircraft ever, really cool
"2 engines with a plane attaching them together" really sums up this beast. So far ahead of its time. Great video. I've never seen one fly in person. This is as close as I'll ever get. What a masterpiece.
Can you imagine being the pilot at the controls of that beast?The sheer power at your command would of been exhilarating to say the least.The SR-71 is to this day the most beautiful yet menacing jet I have ever seen.Thanks for the footage.
That is one plane that I never got tired of seeing it take off, making a low pass, or watch it fly. One place I lived was an area I could see it at night flying higher than any other plane, and it would be across the sky so fast. One time my GF said it was a satellite, I just smiled and told her to wait. When the sonic boom hit it would seem like it shook the ground. I had the honor to be able to speak to the pilot of an A-12, the one at the site in Mobile AL. We chatted for quite a while, he was very gracious with his time. IMHO the greatest plane ever built, designed on paper with slide rules. Thank you for posting!
Was there in Sept of 84 with VA-105 (A-7s out of Cecil Field Fl. Loved sitting on the flight line watching them taxi pass then take off (night ones were awesome). Never imagined finding a video here from the same time we were there. Thank you for sharing.
Cool stuff, I would love to see the Blackbird fly again, so many people would, shout out to all the people who made this program work, I did get see this awesome plane fly when I was young. 9 or 10 years old. the engine sound and speed of the aircraft, quite frankly it scared the crap out me, the sound is what jolts a persons system, I will never forget it, an awesome plane. thanks for sharing the video. I do wish that the Blackbird could come back for an airshow.
@@darreloutland4604 thank you, you're right, only Servicemen and women stationed there have seen the SR-71 aka The Hubu, take off and land. So very cool. Semper Fi
@@usmc-veteran73-77 Alrite Marine!!😎 I was ARMY! We brought all the fuel for the US military on the rock! From mogas to the Jp7 that fueled that bad ASS bird!!!😁😎
Richard Lucero hi Richard...my father was the medical director at Lockheed, Burbank and worked closely on the human factors part of the program. He may even have known your father.
Saw the Habu over our house on a nearly daily basis on approach to Kadena. We'd just left Oki five weeks before this footage was taken. Thanks for uploading!
I was at Kadena 1971 -72. It was still very classified. Watched it take off and land many times. Absolutely no pictures were allowed. Risk arrest and confiscation of equipment. Yes, the ground shook. I had the chance of seeing one at the air museum Tucson, AZ. Sorry, but it was a bucket list moment. Yes, I took pictures.
I was at the 603rd MASSQ Military Airlift Command. Came over from Strategic Air Command in Grand Forks North Dakota, in Feb 1971. A nice change. Cold to Hot. Left for discharge in Aug 1972.
Thanks alot for shart apart of history of a machine that was made in secret without computer it still hold world records to this after out of service for 3 decades
The Rusty Pilot. Iwas ion 0kinawa in 71-72. I have seen many Black birds take off. Within 100 yards from flight line. I worked for. MAC Military Airlift Command. 603rd MASS
NY to London in 64 min Climbs at 3000 feet per second Within seconds it reaches the edge of space Never carried weapons to defend itself The only defense it had is speed Outrun missives shot at it It’s the mighty SR71
I was stationed at kadena Air Force Base just prior to this filming and I must say this film gives it no justice. The SR-71 Blackbird was so awesome to watch take off and I have the honor to watch take off from the rear and watch it disappear in seconds at a very steep angle upward. The plane had to be refueled after takeoff. Do some research it was the most remarkable aircraft in American military history
Yeah I watch this and all I can think about is the amount of fuel being consumed just with taxi and takeoff. Looking at the airframe I'm like where do they put the friggn fuel at??? It looks like it barely holds any fuel at all!
@@BijahD She holds over 12,000 gallons weighing approx. 80,000 pounds. though during most missions the 71 will launch with a 1/2 a fuel load to air with tire/landing gear wear.
Used to watch these birds fly out of RAF Mildenhall when they were based there. What with the F-111 based at Lakenheath too, it was a plane spotters wet dream.
I remember being in the SR-71 SOF doing a runway sweep. Then setting waiting for the take off clearance. Take off was at 2200 and watching the HABU take off was just something to kill time. Watched the HABU take off at many FOLs. I wish I could do it all over again.
Like all other A-12/M-21/YF-12A and SR-71A/B/C, afterburner engagement is offset by a few milliseconds. The starboard(right) a/b is the first to light, followed by the port(left) J58. The angle, lighting and focus are all contributing to the appearance of simultaneous engagement of the J58 afterburners. The afterburners of the J58 have such a high fuel flow that it is less stressful on the associate main propulsion system to have each engines a/b ignited in a staggered fashion. It's exactly the same reason why each of the 3 Space Shuttles RS-25 main engines and the 4 RS-25 main engines that SLS uses both have a 120 millisecond space between the ignition of each engine. It reduces the stress on the MPS.
I could tell when it was going up by the sound of the engines! Because when the afterburners kick in..theres a kinda in pitched whine..before the Beast is unleashed!!! If you ever get to hear a F22 throttling it engines on landing....that kinda whistling sound it makes?! Is VERY close to the sound. So by the time it cleared the treetops you had a chance to stop what you were doin' to watch it til it shut down the burners!! What a sight!!
Damn, when the TEB hits the burners that thing is OFF. Only plane ever made that spends most of it's time in burner, unless it' s refueling or trying to descend.
During the last few minutes of refueling from the tanker, the 71 became so heavy with fuel that even with the tanker at almost full speed, the SR71 would approach its stalling speed. To counteract this, the pilot would stroke minimum afterburner on a single J58 engine, and use the other "dry" non afterburning engine to control forward speed via that engines throttle and be able to match the tankers speed. While that single J58 is only at minimum burner, the a/b is engaged during that last phase of refueling
Magnificent piece of engineering. The most legendary plane ever. Really wished the USAF kept at least 1 or 2 flying (for airshows and other stuff of course, and not actual recon missions).
@@enderst81 that was one fast and loud jet taking off. We were privileged to see it take off and land. Semper Fi from an old Marine Sergeant and greetings from Charleston West Virginia
@@usmc-veteran73-77 It was something else for sure. At dusk was best. Could always hear it getting ready then everyone would pile out of the barracks to watch and then kick on those burners. Landing was also interesting, watching them circle the island a few times.
Video editing software readily available now for cheap like Adobe Premiere Elements can correct much of the shake making the first part barely watchable. This video is certainly worth fixing, I mean when will you ever get the chance to see this amazing bird shoot down a runway? Never!
Did you work any of the SAR missions for the missing CIA A-12 pilot in mid 1968? Since you worked egress, how long did you guys wait following engine shutdown before the canopies were opened?
Kinda morbid the Cold War conflict pushed for the design and manufacture of this almost syfy like spy plane still futuristic by 2022 standards. The U.S -Russia conflict was so intense we had to develop a plane that could fly at the boundary of space and read a newspaper from the ground.
The Blackbird is simply still the most awe inspiring flying machine ANY nation has ever built. P.S. the same nation is still building awesome flying machines of other designs! I feel a little jealous I am not part of that nation so I put in some investment into one of their industries. I would not invest in authoritarian countries!
2 engines with a plane atach to them, about 320000 hp im told, it sounds to mutch, thrust is more difficult to understand. it still is my favorite plane miles ahead of its time
Not too much. The RS25 engine that powered the Space Shuttle produced 375,000 pouuds thrust off the pad, roughly converted to 12,000,000 hp, each times 3, or 4 for the new Space Launch System.
Thanks for watching Ace recon fighter pilot LABonte air mobility command patriot wing, ahhh 34 year combat veteran and flight demonstration fighter pilot.
If there showing us this in 84 they must have technology that is 10X more advanced and probably have technology that can fly straight to the moon and back with anti gravity technology
imagine getting along in concorde at 60,000 ft and 1550 mph and an SR 71 slides past at about 700 mph faster and climbing to another 25,000 ft higher..whoa..