[Halgr]

Thanks.....for the good read EL....

;-)

I used to drive a cessna.....LOL

[saint]

Awesome!

I've never read or listened to a story from a sled pilot that I didn't enjoy. This one made my day.

[Fast Moving Angel]

Good story. Speaking as a former Piper driver, I would have been thoroughly humbled ;-)

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Great story, great post.

[True Republican Patriot]

FANTASTIC! MIND BOGGLING!!! Let Zero try that:-)

[wita]

A thousand more KTS could be had quite easily when necessary,

The platform is parked and languishing in museums. There are those who say it is needed now even more than in the past, but the past is truly past.

[jimtorr]

I spent a year working in the communications center for the maint. depot for the SR-71, and I heard some amazing stories. Check flights could be very short and very fast, such as take-off, climb to 70,000 feet, reach mach 3 speed and land again, all in 30 minutes.

The best example of sheer speed I’ve heard, though, was from the speed run for the record time from New York to London. ATC in the UK described the radar return across the North Sea as a streak, rather than the normal blip.

[hiredhand]

I spent my entire active duty career trying to AVOID aircraft... lotta good it did me! You’ve got to read the article linked up above. It’s a short, but very good read. :-)

[JoeProBono]

[WilliamofCarmichael]

That's the plane that the liberals claim took G.H.W. Bush to Paris to cement the hostages deal with Iranian Islamist revolutionaries, then immediately back to Washington.

Excusing himself from the dinner party Bush was whisked to the airport but he had to jump out at 80,000 feet upon return, land on the restaurant's roof and return to the dinner party explaining that he took so long because he had to use an upstairs restroom. It had to be true an anonymous source said so.

[Jeffrey_D.]

Great story! I don’t doubt it for a minute...lol.

Thought some of you might enjoy this ride on Father’s Day:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=610_1244577346

Turn it up!

[Atlas Sneezed]

Fun story.

I have heard it delivered in person in a speech by a former Blackbird pilot.

[krogers58]

That’s not a plane, its a missile with seats attached :)

[Young Werther]

I was stationed at Perrin AFB in Sherman Texas on the border with Oklahoma. It was the 6th busiest airport in the world in the late 60s and it had an FAA enroute traffic control facility. I was the base crypto custodian and a neighbor who worked at this radar facility asked me to come visit 'cause a big aircraft control and warning exercise was scheduled. He suggested that I come around 2:00PM 'cause a blackbird was makeing a high speed run east to west across northern Oklahoma.

I arrived alittle early and was seated next to him and was intent on seeing this blip on his radar scope.

Right at 2:00 a blip appeared just west of Arkansas and entering Oklahoma. With the next sweep of the radar wave the blip was now in the middle of Oklahoma and on the next sweep it was exiting Oklahoma.

He had a simple calculator on his radar scope and he estimated the speed at 2300 mph. He checked with the officer manning the heigth finder and the blip was above 120,000 feet! His documentation was reported, stored and marked Top Secret! He said that since I was the Base Top Secret Control Officer he wouldn't have to kill me, but I would have to buy him a beer at the club!

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Honk Honk to the flying seamen?

[fso301]

I flew an Aeronca Champ and never thought about asking for a ground speed check. I was just happy to see me gaining on vehicles below.

[3niner]

The SR-71 was an amazing plane, and we keep hearing that this aircraft, built in the early '60s, was the fastest the Air Force ever had. Does anyone really believe that the Air Force would have retired its fastest plane, regardless of what a pain it was to operate it?

Sure satellites are higher and faster, but there are things a plane can do that no satellite can. Aurora, or something like it, must exist.

[gigster]

I know this isn’t a big deal compared with actual Fighter-Jocks or Sled-Drivers, but recently I worked for a private jet charter company up here in N. Michigan.
We had a Cessna CJ2.
I was extremely fortunate to fly right seat, frequently.
On a flight to Florida one evening, we were at FL410, watching the commercial airliners passing 10,000 ft. beneath us.
On a flight from Dupage, Il. to Home we had a 98kt. tailwind, giving us a 498kt. SOG.
That was cooking.

[Daffynition]

Happy Father’s Day SG .... here’s a story for you!

[ASOC]

lol

thanks for posting