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A good one (although some may dislike it): On the way back from a mission to the middle east, they ended up flying over France, even though France had refused

A good one (although some may dislike it): On the way back from a mission to the middle east, they ended up flying over France, even though France had refused them clearance. They were flying low and slow (relative terms obviously), and the pilot looked to his left and saw a French Mirage just off his left wing. The Mirage pilot called over and requested their diplomatic clearance code. The SR-71 pilot told the Mirage to hold on. The reconnaissance systems officer (RCO, the other guy in the plane) then informed the pilot that the code had been transmitted and they went back up to full speed and left the Mirage quickly behind. The code that the RCO transmitted? The middle finger.

mixmastamyk 9y ago
How does a middle finger get transmitted? Had ascii art handy?
- mikeokner 9y ago
  Morse code of ASCII art I think
- strictnein 9y ago
  They were within visible distance, so he just used his hand up against the window. The plane really was right off the wing. Think Top Gun, with less inversion.
- jonah 9y ago
  If they were that close, out the window.
- eesmith 9y ago
  That story is from Ben Rich's book "Skunk Works". https://hipandthigh.wordpress.com/2013/03/18/blackbird/ https://hipandthigh.wordpress.com/2013/03/18/blackbird/ describes it as "Lt. Colonel William Burk Jr., who shares about a particular mission he flew over Lebanon back in 82." That link also has the full account, ending "What he had given him was “the bird” with his middle finger" - that is, it was not sent by radio signals but by visual light to the Mark I eyeball of the Mirage pilot.
  - aladoc99 9y ago
    digital signalling
    - jacobush 9y ago
      Ahem - digit signalling.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
badosu 9y ago
America, f\\k yeah! ... Sarcasm aside, wouldn't this be a severe case of violation of sovereignity? I find it hard to believe such a stupid act could have been performed without making news or retaliations. (By stupid act I mean entering unpermitted airspace, the pilot's actions are irrelevant)
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- SllX 9y ago
  I have never served in the military, but I like to believe I live in a world in which military commanders are often stuck in a position of having to manage a load of testosterone-fueled lads out doing crazy shit that has the potential to be a "diplomatic incident" and are thus, sympathetic to the commanders in other countries that are often stuck dealing with the same type of lads. So when a French commander calls up an American commander about some crap their lads pulled flying by in an SR-71 the other day, they're able to sort it out like adults, maybe the American commander relays that he will give his lads whatever the military equivalent of a stern talking to is and they'll both have a laugh, maybe make arrangements for a beer and it doesn't escalate into anything for the masses to waste their limited attention bandwidth on. Now it's entirely possible I don't live in such a world, but to believe otherwise would simply leave me scared shitless in a corner.
  - autokad 9y ago
    i heard a story were a group of rookies in a jeep lost their bearings in the fog, and plowed through a barb wire barricade and got their jeep stuck in some sort of ravine on the wrong side of Germany. the other side, instead of shooting or arresting them, they helped them get the jeep out. they laughed at them and made fun of them, but they still helped
- ethbro 9y ago
  Before intelligence needs could be solved by satellite imagery, violating airspace for military purposes wasn't exactly rare. Everyone largely agreed it wasn't in anyone's best interest to talk about it publicly though.
autokad 9y ago
has anyone been in the airforce in the late 70s? My dad died on active duty in the airforce, and I heard second hand stories and was wondering how common they were. in particular, he said they kept notes on everyone and turned them in (not sure to whom), in order to prevent russian espianage. For example, if you saw someone order something from a vending machine, it was up to you to write down who, what item they selected, etc. presumably these were checked for patterns.
godelmachine 9y ago
Nice one!! Did he transmit the middle finger in Morse code or what?

mixmastamyk 9y ago

How does a middle finger get transmitted? Had ascii art handy?

mikeokner 9y ago
Morse code of ASCII art I think
strictnein 9y ago
They were within visible distance, so he just used his hand up against the window. The plane really was right off the wing. Think Top Gun, with less inversion.
jonah 9y ago
If they were that close, out the window.
eesmith 9y ago
That story is from Ben Rich's book "Skunk Works". https://hipandthigh.wordpress.com/2013/03/18/blackbird/ https://hipandthigh.wordpress.com/2013/03/18/blackbird/ describes it as "Lt. Colonel William Burk Jr., who shares about a particular mission he flew over Lebanon back in 82." That link also has the full account, ending "What he had given him was “the bird” with his middle finger" - that is, it was not sent by radio signals but by visual light to the Mark I eyeball of the Mirage pilot.
- aladoc99 9y ago
  digital signalling
  - jacobush 9y ago
    Ahem - digit signalling.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

badosu 9y ago

America, f\\k yeah! ... Sarcasm aside, wouldn't this be a severe case of violation of sovereignity? I find it hard to believe such a stupid act could have been performed without making news or retaliations. (By stupid act I mean entering unpermitted airspace, the pilot's actions are irrelevant)

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
SllX 9y ago
I have never served in the military, but I like to believe I live in a world in which military commanders are often stuck in a position of having to manage a load of testosterone-fueled lads out doing crazy shit that has the potential to be a "diplomatic incident" and are thus, sympathetic to the commanders in other countries that are often stuck dealing with the same type of lads. So when a French commander calls up an American commander about some crap their lads pulled flying by in an SR-71 the other day, they're able to sort it out like adults, maybe the American commander relays that he will give his lads whatever the military equivalent of a stern talking to is and they'll both have a laugh, maybe make arrangements for a beer and it doesn't escalate into anything for the masses to waste their limited attention bandwidth on. Now it's entirely possible I don't live in such a world, but to believe otherwise would simply leave me scared shitless in a corner.
- autokad 9y ago
  i heard a story were a group of rookies in a jeep lost their bearings in the fog, and plowed through a barb wire barricade and got their jeep stuck in some sort of ravine on the wrong side of Germany. the other side, instead of shooting or arresting them, they helped them get the jeep out. they laughed at them and made fun of them, but they still helped
ethbro 9y ago
Before intelligence needs could be solved by satellite imagery, violating airspace for military purposes wasn't exactly rare. Everyone largely agreed it wasn't in anyone's best interest to talk about it publicly though.

autokad 9y ago

has anyone been in the airforce in the late 70s? My dad died on active duty in the airforce, and I heard second hand stories and was wondering how common they were. in particular, he said they kept notes on everyone and turned them in (not sure to whom), in order to prevent russian espianage. For example, if you saw someone order something from a vending machine, it was up to you to write down who, what item they selected, etc. presumably these were checked for patterns.

godelmachine 9y ago

Nice one!! Did he transmit the middle finger in Morse code or what?