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Correct, people keep repeating this story - it's false. I know controllers who have actually controlled the U2 and SR71 and they've explained why it's not true

by kitteh 6y ago

Correct, people keep repeating this story - it's false. I know controllers who have actually controlled the U2 and SR71 and they've explained why it's not true (they don't use the same freq, etc.). Also Brian Shul (the originator of this anecdote) and his RSO were the only SR71 crew removed from the program. There is a reason for that.

ultrarunner 6y ago
Would you mind explaining the reason? His Wikipedia page [0] doesn't mention anything, although it does mention the story with four citations. One explicitly states "Though they didn’t really control us, they did monitor our movement across their scope." [1] Off topic, but be sure to run Javascript on theaviationgeekclub.com or else the code that breaks your clipboard will fail to run. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Shul https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Shul [1] https://theaviationgeekclub.com/sr-71-blackbird-pilot-tells-story-behind-famed-ground-speed-check/ https://theaviationgeekclub.com/sr-71-blackbird-pilot-tells-...
- dkersten 6y ago
  This is what I was able to dig up: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/267042-brian-shul-and-the-sr-71/ http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/267042-...
jki275 6y ago
The SR-71's top speed is still classified to this day, partly because they probably still don't know what it was, because nobody ever got one there. Shul's plane was cruising probably far below max speed (the number wasn't 1942, I don't remember exactly what he said it was). As to "not using the same freq", military aircraft have radios with knobs that turn. They can certainly monitor and talk on civilian frequencies if they see fit to do so, and they fly in and out of civilian airports regularly on ferry flights (not the SR-71 obviously, but I know for a fact F-18s do all the time, because I used to stand duty at a command that owned a bunch of them and we had to file reports on what airport they were at). If they can't talk on civilian frequencies, how would that work? And they fly through civilian ATC owned airspace, they absolutely have to talk to civilian ATC. As to Shul being removed from the program, have never heard that -- I'm not likely to take the word of some random on the internet about it.
- kitteh 6y ago
  They used UHF to talk to ATC. Related post: https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/archive/index.php/t-56350.html https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/archive/index.php/t-56350...

by kitteh 6y ago

ultrarunner 6y ago

Would you mind explaining the reason? His Wikipedia page [0] doesn't mention anything, although it does mention the story with four citations. One explicitly states "Though they didn’t really control us, they did monitor our movement across their scope." [1] Off topic, but be sure to run Javascript on theaviationgeekclub.com or else the code that breaks your clipboard will fail to run. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Shul https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Shul [1] https://theaviationgeekclub.com/sr-71-blackbird-pilot-tells-story-behind-famed-ground-speed-check/ https://theaviationgeekclub.com/sr-71-blackbird-pilot-tells-...

dkersten 6y ago
This is what I was able to dig up: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/267042-brian-shul-and-the-sr-71/ http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/267042-...

jki275 6y ago

The SR-71's top speed is still classified to this day, partly because they probably still don't know what it was, because nobody ever got one there. Shul's plane was cruising probably far below max speed (the number wasn't 1942, I don't remember exactly what he said it was). As to "not using the same freq", military aircraft have radios with knobs that turn. They can certainly monitor and talk on civilian frequencies if they see fit to do so, and they fly in and out of civilian airports regularly on ferry flights (not the SR-71 obviously, but I know for a fact F-18s do all the time, because I used to stand duty at a command that owned a bunch of them and we had to file reports on what airport they were at). If they can't talk on civilian frequencies, how would that work? And they fly through civilian ATC owned airspace, they absolutely have to talk to civilian ATC. As to Shul being removed from the program, have never heard that -- I'm not likely to take the word of some random on the internet about it.

kitteh 6y ago
They used UHF to talk to ATC. Related post: https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/archive/index.php/t-56350.html https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/archive/index.php/t-56350...