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Story from an SR-71 pilot

Man, This is great!

One day, high above Arizona, we were monitoring the radio traffic of all the mortal airplanes below us. First, a Cessna pilot asked the air traffic controllers to check his ground speed. 'Ninety knots,' ATC replied. A twin Bonanza soon made the same request. 'One-twenty on the ground,' was the reply. To our surprise, a navy F-18 came over the radio with a ground speed check. I knew exactly what he was doing. Of course, he had a ground speed indicator in his cockpit, but he wanted to let all the bug-smashers in the valley know what real speed was 'Dusty 52, we show you at 525 on the ground,' ATC responded. The situation was too ripe. I heard the click of Walter's mike button in the rear seat. In his most innocent voice, Walter startled the controller by asking for a ground speed check from 81,000 feet, clearly above controlled airspace. In a cool, professional voice, the controller replied, 'Aspen 20, I show you at 1,742 knots on the ground.' We did not hear another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast.
Click to expand...
 
As inconceivable as it may sound, I once discarded the plane. Literally. My first encounter with the SR-71 came when I was 10 years old in the form of molded black plastic in a Revell kit. Cementing together the long fuselage parts proved tricky, and my finished product looked less than menacing. Glue,oozing from the seams, discolored the black plastic. It seemed ungainly alongside the fighter planes in my collection, and I threw it away.

...

In 1962, the first Blackbird successfully flew, and in 1966, the same year I graduated from high school, the Air Force began flying operational SR-71 missions....
Click to expand...

BS
 
Originally posted by: TehMac
Yeah the first Maiden Flight of the SR-71 was in 1964.

Or am I confused?
Click to expand...

The first Blackbird wasn't the SR-71 as we know it today, it was the A-12.
 
Originally posted by: WingZero94
Man, This is great!

One day, high above Arizona, we were monitoring the radio traffic of all the mortal airplanes below us. First, a Cessna pilot asked the air traffic controllers to check his ground speed. 'Ninety knots,' ATC replied. A twin Bonanza soon made the same request. 'One-twenty on the ground,' was the reply. To our surprise, a navy F-18 came over the radio with a ground speed check. I knew exactly what he was doing. Of course, he had a ground speed indicator in his cockpit, but he wanted to let all the bug-smashers in the valley know what real speed was 'Dusty 52, we show you at 525 on the ground,' ATC responded. The situation was too ripe. I heard the click of Walter's mike button in the rear seat. In his most innocent voice, Walter startled the controller by asking for a ground speed check from 81,000 feet, clearly above controlled airspace. In a cool, professional voice, the controller replied, 'Aspen 20, I show you at 1,742 knots on the ground.' We did not hear another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

While funny, the story hardly sounds believable. Sounds like chain email material.
 
It does smell like BS, but the guy who wrote that article has also written a book about the SR-71 and has done public speaking engagements. If he were a fraud, I think it would have been exposed by now.
 
Originally posted by: 91TTZ
Originally posted by: TehMac
Yeah the first Maiden Flight of the SR-71 was in 1964.

Or am I confused?
Click to expand...

The first Blackbird wasn't the SR-71 as we know it today, it was the A-12.
Click to expand...

Ah, that explains it I guess.
 
Originally posted by: 91TTZ
Originally posted by: WingZero94
Man, This is great!

One day, high above Arizona, we were monitoring the radio traffic of all the mortal airplanes below us. First, a Cessna pilot asked the air traffic controllers to check his ground speed. 'Ninety knots,' ATC replied. A twin Bonanza soon made the same request. 'One-twenty on the ground,' was the reply. To our surprise, a navy F-18 came over the radio with a ground speed check. I knew exactly what he was doing. Of course, he had a ground speed indicator in his cockpit, but he wanted to let all the bug-smashers in the valley know what real speed was 'Dusty 52, we show you at 525 on the ground,' ATC responded. The situation was too ripe. I heard the click of Walter's mike button in the rear seat. In his most innocent voice, Walter startled the controller by asking for a ground speed check from 81,000 feet, clearly above controlled airspace. In a cool, professional voice, the controller replied, 'Aspen 20, I show you at 1,742 knots on the ground.' We did not hear another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

While funny, the story hardly sounds believable. Sounds like chain email material.
Click to expand...

that is pretty funny though 😛
 
Originally posted by: 91TTZ
Originally posted by: WingZero94
Man, This is great!

One day, high above Arizona, we were monitoring the radio traffic of all the mortal airplanes below us. First, a Cessna pilot asked the air traffic controllers to check his ground speed. 'Ninety knots,' ATC replied. A twin Bonanza soon made the same request. 'One-twenty on the ground,' was the reply. To our surprise, a navy F-18 came over the radio with a ground speed check. I knew exactly what he was doing. Of course, he had a ground speed indicator in his cockpit, but he wanted to let all the bug-smashers in the valley know what real speed was 'Dusty 52, we show you at 525 on the ground,' ATC responded. The situation was too ripe. I heard the click of Walter's mike button in the rear seat. In his most innocent voice, Walter startled the controller by asking for a ground speed check from 81,000 feet, clearly above controlled airspace. In a cool, professional voice, the controller replied, 'Aspen 20, I show you at 1,742 knots on the ground.' We did not hear another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

While funny, the story hardly sounds believable. Sounds like chain email material.
Click to expand...
If you knew the pilots I know, you would find it plausible.
Pilots are a competitive lot. in general.

 
Originally posted by: mugs
It does smell like BS, but the guy who wrote that article has also written a book about the SR-71 and has done public speaking engagements. If he were a fraud, I think it would have been exposed by now.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying that Brian Shul didn't fly the plane, I'm saying He didn't write that piece.
 
Originally posted by: WingZero94
Man, This is great!

One day, high above Arizona, we were monitoring the radio traffic of all the mortal airplanes below us. First, a Cessna pilot asked the air traffic controllers to check his ground speed. 'Ninety knots,' ATC replied. A twin Bonanza soon made the same request. 'One-twenty on the ground,' was the reply. To our surprise, a navy F-18 came over the radio with a ground speed check. I knew exactly what he was doing. Of course, he had a ground speed indicator in his cockpit, but he wanted to let all the bug-smashers in the valley know what real speed was 'Dusty 52, we show you at 525 on the ground,' ATC responded. The situation was too ripe. I heard the click of Walter's mike button in the rear seat. In his most innocent voice, Walter startled the controller by asking for a ground speed check from 81,000 feet, clearly above controlled airspace. In a cool, professional voice, the controller replied, 'Aspen 20, I show you at 1,742 knots on the ground.' We did not hear another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Here's the full story. A short, but excellent read in my opinion.

The Fastest Guys Out There
 
Originally posted by: TehMac
Yeah the first Maiden Flight of the SR-71 was in 1964.

Or am I confused?
Click to expand...

The specific quote was operational missions. The SR-71 first flew in 1964 but didn't achieve operational status with Air Force until 1966.

Although the predecessor A-12 first flew in 1962, the first flight of an SR-71 took place on 22 December 1964, at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. The first SR-71 to enter service was delivered to the 4200th (later, 9th) Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base, California, in January 1966. The United States Air Force Strategic Air Command had SR-71 Blackbirds in service from 1966 through 1991.

The SR-71 and A-12 are two slightly different aircraft. The A-12 is a single seater originally created for the CIA. The SR-71 is a two-seater modification of the A-12 created for the Air Force. While similar they are different.

GB
 
The plane was flying a mile every 1.6 seconds, well above our Mach 3.2 limit. It was the fastest we would ever fly. I pulled the throttles to idle just south of Sicily, but we still overran the refueling tanker awaiting us over Gibraltar.
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Wait, that is 60/1.6 = 37.5mpm * 60 min = 2250mph. Mach 1 is 761 mph, they were doing Mach 2.95. I think 2.95 is < 3.2.
 
1 mile a minute is 60 mph. (60 times 1)

60 divided by 1.6 is 37.5 miles per minute.

60 times 37.5 is 2250 mph.

At 80,000 feet the speed of sound is 660 mph, so they were going Mach 3.4.
 
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