5 ms·

I know Mach 3 is fast, but it still is amazing flying California to Russia and back in 10.5 hours.

by barney54 11y ago

huhtenberg 11y ago
> and back That's what makes the actual difference :)
sswezey 11y ago
You can fly from California to Russia and back in less than 10.5 hours today, it's not that far from Alaska.
- obsurveyor 11y ago
  The difference is they were flying the long way, across the Atlantic, not the short way over the Bering Sea.
  - mikeash 11y ago
    Here's the direct route: http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=BAB-MMK http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=BAB-MMK According to the article they passed south of Greenland, so they took a somewhat longer path. I assume that's because it helped them reach the tankers, or kept them within range of emergency landing spots or potential rescue forces.
- beamatronic 11y ago
  Heck if you stand in just the right place, I've heard you can even see Russia from Alaska.
Symbiote 11y ago
Can anyone explain why were they going from California? It seems to make the mission much more complicated. Why not somewhere in North East USA, or even the UK (as they ended up doing anyway)?
- vermontdevil 11y ago
  Support base - all the logistics were out there including Lockheed contractors.
- mikeash 11y ago
  When you have missions all over the world and an aircraft that exists in small numbers and requires extreme expertise and specialized equipment, it can be easier to just fly them on long missions rather than re-base them. For an even more extreme example, the B-2's home base is in Missouri. It has flown bombing missions into Serbia, Afghanistan, and Iraq directly out of its home base. Since it's not nearly as fast as an SR-71, these missions take a long time. The longest one took nearly two days. Fortunately for the pilots, it's a bit more comfortable than the SR-71 as well, with no space suits, and facilities for bathroom breaks and hot meals.
  - czinck 11y ago
    Hey, the SR-71 had a way to make hot meals, if you count heating a sandwich up using the cockpit windows as a hot meal.
    - wereHamster 11y ago
      Difficult to get that sandwich into your mouth through the space helmet.
      - mikeash 11y ago
        Technically, I said nothing about eating them.
pwg 11y ago
The SR-71 that is on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space facility at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles airport outside of Washington DC set an intercontinental speed record on its last flight (the flight it took to become a museum piece): "On its last flight, March 6, 1990, Lt. Col. Ed Yielding and Lt. Col. Joseph Vida set a speed record by flying from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in 1 hour, 4 minutes, and 20 seconds, averaging 3,418 kilometers (2,124 miles) per hour. At the flight's conclusion, they landed at Washington-Dulles International Airport and turned the airplane over to the Smithsonian." (http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=nasm_A19920072000 http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=na...) And rumors at the time were that it could have made the USA crossing significantly faster, but the military did not want to reveal the 'true' top speed of the aircraft.

I know Mach 3 is fast, but it still is amazing flying California to Russia and back in 10.5 hours.

huhtenberg 11y ago

> and back That's what makes the actual difference :)

sswezey 11y ago

You can fly from California to Russia and back in less than 10.5 hours today, it's not that far from Alaska.

obsurveyor 11y ago
The difference is they were flying the long way, across the Atlantic, not the short way over the Bering Sea.
- mikeash 11y ago
  Here's the direct route: http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=BAB-MMK http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=BAB-MMK According to the article they passed south of Greenland, so they took a somewhat longer path. I assume that's because it helped them reach the tankers, or kept them within range of emergency landing spots or potential rescue forces.
beamatronic 11y ago
Heck if you stand in just the right place, I've heard you can even see Russia from Alaska.

Symbiote 11y ago

Can anyone explain why were they going from California? It seems to make the mission much more complicated. Why not somewhere in North East USA, or even the UK (as they ended up doing anyway)?

vermontdevil 11y ago
Support base - all the logistics were out there including Lockheed contractors.
mikeash 11y ago
When you have missions all over the world and an aircraft that exists in small numbers and requires extreme expertise and specialized equipment, it can be easier to just fly them on long missions rather than re-base them. For an even more extreme example, the B-2's home base is in Missouri. It has flown bombing missions into Serbia, Afghanistan, and Iraq directly out of its home base. Since it's not nearly as fast as an SR-71, these missions take a long time. The longest one took nearly two days. Fortunately for the pilots, it's a bit more comfortable than the SR-71 as well, with no space suits, and facilities for bathroom breaks and hot meals.
- czinck 11y ago
  Hey, the SR-71 had a way to make hot meals, if you count heating a sandwich up using the cockpit windows as a hot meal.
  - wereHamster 11y ago
    Difficult to get that sandwich into your mouth through the space helmet.
    - mikeash 11y ago
      Technically, I said nothing about eating them.

pwg 11y ago

The SR-71 that is on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space facility at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles airport outside of Washington DC set an intercontinental speed record on its last flight (the flight it took to become a museum piece): "On its last flight, March 6, 1990, Lt. Col. Ed Yielding and Lt. Col. Joseph Vida set a speed record by flying from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in 1 hour, 4 minutes, and 20 seconds, averaging 3,418 kilometers (2,124 miles) per hour. At the flight's conclusion, they landed at Washington-Dulles International Airport and turned the airplane over to the Smithsonian." (http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=nasm_A19920072000 http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=na...) And rumors at the time were that it could have made the USA crossing significantly faster, but the military did not want to reveal the 'true' top speed of the aircraft.