Blackbird fly, blackbird fly / Into the light of the dark black night

If you have not gone to the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field in Seattle, do so, and see the real thing. You can walk right under it. Not sure how many others are displayed around the country.

I read "MiG Pilot" years ago, about the guy who defected from the USSR by flying a MiG-25 Foxbat to Japan. As I recall he said they tried everything to bring down an SR-71 as it regularly cruised down the east coast of Siberia, but it always got away. They could see it on radar but they could not catch it. Did not boost morale, but did boost alcoholism to the point that the base often had few sober pilots available, and sometimes "few" was zero.

Posted by Ray Van Dune at August 19, 2013 9:14 AM

The Blackbird is a reminder of what we once were. We are now a mulatto in Mom Jeans on a nerd bicycle wearing a dork helmet.

Posted by Don Rodrigo at August 19, 2013 10:06 AM

A relative-by-marriage was the chief supervisor over the construction of the SR-71 and was given the honor of saluting the pilot as he taxied the plane on its inaugural flight. We've had some interesting conversations on the back nine.

Posted by twolaneflash at August 19, 2013 10:12 AM

The Blackbird pilot who set the Los Angeles to Washington DC speed record (64 minutes) visited my church in 2005. His name was Ed Yeilding (correct spelling). On the same flight he set three other records, one being 67 minutes coast-to-coast.

I posted about it in "The Fastest Jet Pilot Ever.

Posted by Donald Sensing at August 19, 2013 12:11 PM

They had one in the Wright-Pat museum in Dayton, and one up on a pylon outside the San Diego Air & Space museum.

Posted by leelu at August 19, 2013 12:27 PM

In the lead photo he's a little out of trim - left yaw. (Not that this old Connie driver could have done any better.)

Posted by BillH at August 19, 2013 2:36 PM

Barack Bird preening in the dead of night
Take your statist schemes and fly away
All this time
We have just been praying for the day of your demise

Posted by Callmelennie at August 19, 2013 4:20 PM

My mom worked on these back in the day

My short little mom.

Day-um she was a bad ass.

Posted by Lazlo at August 19, 2013 6:17 PM

I have Col. Ed Yeilding's signature here in my office on a Dru Blair artwork entitled "The Last Hot Flight".

Posted by snopercod at August 19, 2013 6:28 PM

really neat ... thanks for the heads up.

Posted by DeAnn at August 19, 2013 6:40 PM

For all you who love gummint space, let me, a real live rocket engineer, assure you, it ain't over. Don't buy the lie. Take a good long look at the guys at Space-X and it's peers. Yep the guv is ONE of its customers. And there is plenty of room for more. You want "the Right Stuff?" Open your eyes. I agree that the SR-71 was an accomplishment. If you know the facts, you'll see that the dream is far from over. Stop crying in your beer, and wake up.

Posted by RKV at August 19, 2013 8:09 PM

Last November, I stopped in at the Battleship Alabama complex at Biloxi, MS.

I'd been there before Hurricane Katrina, and wanted to see how things had held up from the storm.

The A-12 was still there, not in her previous stand, but nearer the BB, and undergoing more post-storm maintenance.

So, I pulled the folding chair out from the trunk of the car, sat it by the plane, and lit a fine cigar.

And, I contemplated that beautiful machine for the 90 min it took to enjoy the stogie. Walked around it slowly, twice.

You know the speech from Shakespere? The one Kenneth Brannaugh does, from Henry the whatever?

Yeah, sitting there, taking in that plane.

I held my manhood cheap, indeed.

Dudes that flew those things were studs, I tellya.

My squadron commander in the USAF was a former U-2 pilot. Pretty impressive guy.

He held the SR crews in awe, himself.

All I can tell you is this. Find a static display of an SR or Y-12, and do what I did. Just sit and soak it in.

You'll feel it. You'll surely feel it.

Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by Jim at August 19, 2013 11:04 PM

The SAC museum in Nebraska has an SR on display. I saw my first at Wright-Patterson USAF museum. There is also one at the Intrepid museum near NYC and Warner Robbins, GA.

Near Dallas Love Field, not DFW, they have an SR-71 Simulator with front and rear cockpits. Here's a youtube video explaining things http://youtu.be/tj9UwKQKE3A

There are a few good books on Kindle that detail operating, and flying the SR, including Flying the SR-71 Blackbird.

I believe the SR was the only operational US military aircraft with zero fatalities.

Posted by Scott M at August 20, 2013 12:12 AM

And once upon a time we had a space program, too. We put 12 men on the moon, and now we can't put a man in low earth orbit.

Our unilateral disarmament continues; welfare explodes; people are being forced into part-time jobs and losing their health insurance; the borders are open; and in Michigan teachers, a church and citizens are violently supporting a convicted child rapist.

America is finished as a society and a country. We need to move on to something else and leave the trash behind.

Posted by bob sykes at August 20, 2013 4:00 AM

The USS Alabama is in Mobile, not Biloxi. That being said, when my ship was conducting Naval Gun Fire Support missions off the coast of Beirut, our air detector/trackers would have a contact at 80,000 feet for about three or four seconds. That night, we would get new intel for our next fire support mission. We figured it was a Blackbird or a satellite flying real low.

Posted by jdgjtr at August 20, 2013 5:14 AM

Here's a YouTube video interviewing SR-71 Pilot Maury Rosenberg. Lots of good detail.

http://youtu.be/RSOaKaFIgAs

Posted by Scott M at August 20, 2013 12:23 PM

Remember when the United States of America used to stand for something? Our enemies do, and they know what it stands for now.

Posted by StephenB at August 20, 2013 2:26 PM

Our enemies also know we have whole warehouses full of nuclear bombs being dismantled so the Russians will like us. They also know our largest and most important city was attacked on Sept 11 and our "cowboy" began a furious campaign of nation-building and Vietnam-era military tail chasing.

The fact there is even one living mammal in Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia is to the everlasting shame of a once great country. Can you imagine what kind of attack on America it will take for the farking bastages in DC to actually wage a war? I wish to hell UA93 had reached its target. Maybe if more of those DC phucks had come face to face with evil they would do more than adjust future outcomes by 3-4%. There will be a nuclear war with the goat molesters. The only question is which side gets the first hit. Even our 'best' General came up with the plan to have US soldiers walking in the streets of Crapistan to make friends. Eff that noise.

"Curtis LeMay please pick up the red courtesy phone. Paging General Curtis LeMay. Please pick up the red courtesy phone."

Posted by Scott M at August 21, 2013 12:46 AM

The Blackbird was yet another manifestation of the genius and can-do attitude of the 1950's USA. Even getting the plane from the Burbank SkunkWorks to Area 51 in Nevada was an exercise in ingenuity, as documented at

Posted by William1 at August 21, 2013 1:35 PM

The Blackbird was yet another manifestation of the genius and can-do attitude of the 1950's USA. Even getting the plane from the Burbank SkunkWorks to Area 51 in Nevada was an exercise in ingenuity, as documented at http://www.roadrunnersinternationale.com/transporting_the_a-12.html


Sorry for the repost.

Posted by William1 at August 21, 2013 1:38 PM

http://www.roadrunnersinternationale.com/transporting_the_a-12.html

Posted by William1 at August 21, 2013 1:41 PM

for what it's worth: I have flown in Gen. Curtis LeMay's B-25. Because I was a photographer, they let me crawl through the tunnel underneath the cockpit to the glassed nose. I didn't want to get out, but they insisted.

Posted by DHH at August 21, 2013 2:53 PM

Sheesh. Not Gen. Curtis LeMay. I meant Hap Arnold's B-25. Never mind. My bad. DHH

Posted by DHH at August 21, 2013 3:16 PM

DHH, you're not the only one misposting a wrong word here.

Biloxi, strike that. Make it Mobile, of course.

See, I was punch drunk after a long day's work. Or, bourbon.

Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX


P.S. enjoyed a couple good conversations with a few retirees from the various branches, while I was enjoying that fine seegar. We concurred that the BB, the SR, and much else that was on display there, were indeed artifacts from an era superior to this.

Posted by Jim at August 21, 2013 8:11 PM

OI was based at Kadena in Okinawa in the early 80's, about the same tima as KAL 007 was shot down. Kadena was a Fighter base with F-15s but had a detachment of SR-71s and the KC-135s to refuel them (I was a SAC 135 pilot). The Sr-71s would come back from a mission and having spare fuel would proceed to beat up the traffic pattern like the F-15s. Those big planes were pretty darn maneuverable as well as fast.

Posted by Chris Barber at August 22, 2013 2:23 PM

OI was based at Kadena in Okinawa in the early 80's, about the same tima as KAL 007 was shot down. Kadena was a Fighter base with F-15s but had a detachment of SR-71s and the KC-135s to refuel them (I was a SAC 135 pilot). The Sr-71s would come back from a mission and having spare fuel would proceed to beat up the traffic pattern like the F-15s. Those big planes were pretty darn maneuverable as well as fast.

Posted by Chris Barber at August 22, 2013 2:23 PM

OI was based at Kadena in Okinawa in the early 80's, about the same tima as KAL 007 was shot down. Kadena was a Fighter base with F-15s but had a detachment of SR-71s and the KC-135s to refuel them (I was a SAC 135 pilot). The Sr-71s would come back from a mission and having spare fuel would proceed to beat up the traffic pattern like the F-15s. Those big planes were pretty darn maneuverable as well as fast.

Posted by Chris Barber at August 22, 2013 2:23 PM

They've got one of these beauties at the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, MI...one of the best places in our state to visit.

Posted by Bob at August 22, 2013 3:20 PM