14 ms·
The slowest SR-71 Blackbird fly-by
- HPsquared 5y agoI often think about life using aviation analogies. You need to have enough airspeed, for instance, to maintain lift: one must keep moving to survive. Don't stall your wing with too much angle of attack = don't bite off more than you can chew. Etc etc...
- sdoering 5y agoInteresting. Do you have more? Would love to hear.
- espenwa 5y agoI like the one about handling your priorities when under pressure: “Aviate, Navigate, Communicate” https://www.faa.gov/news/safety_briefing/2018/media/SE_Topic_18-07.pdf https://www.faa.gov/news/safety_briefing/2018/media/SE_Topic...
- yutyut 5y agoA few aviation idioms that come to mind. 1. "Stay ahead of the aircraft." i.e. anticipate and manage administrative (or tactical) minutiae to put yourself in the best possible position when the tempo increases. 2. "Aviate, aviate, aviate...then navigate and communicate" (already mentioned). This is commonly used during a crew brief prior to a flight, particularly when discussing emergency procedures. Focus on the most critical thing (EP immediate action items, keeping the bird aloft, not hitting lead or the ground) and when that's done, use your remaining bandwidth to complete the 'nice-to-have' items (e.g. keeping the flight on course, a MAYDAY call, or an advisory call to the flight/controller). I like to really emphasize the aviate portion during my briefs. Junior pilots have a tendency to try and do all three things simultaneously which can compound an already bad situation. "Waveoff's are free." If you see a landing going bad, don't hesitate to use a mulligan. *Free as in you won't be judged for choosing to 'go-around' but will be held accountable if you push a bad situation that you could have prevented through better judgement. Get-there-itis: Wanting to accomplish something (e.g. get to a cool destination or hit a time on target) so badly that you will accept unnecessary risk in order to achieve whatever you're trying to do. Many aviation (and life) mishaps are the indirect result of get-there-itis; most notably, accepting poor weather or an aircraft with maintenance issues. This is kind of fun and I could go on...
- quickthrower2 5y agoGet-there-itis can adversely affect code quality too!
- Diesel555 5y agoThere is nothing more worthless than runway behind you, altitude above you, and gas you already burned. Don't worry about what you don't have, worry about capitalizing on what you do have. And don't waste what you have.
- perl4ever 5y ago>one must keep moving to survive Sharks?
- ranger_danger 5y agoprobably anything with a heartbeat.
- samplatt 5y agoNo. Reef sharks have been observed resting on the sea floor, pumping water over their gills periodically by opening and closing their mouths.
- rossjudson 5y agoYou can read anything you want about the SR-71, but nothing compares to actually seeing it in person. It is my single favorite engineered object. It's in the Dulles Air and Space museum. Go see it, if you can. You won't regret it.
- aynyc 5y agoIt's also on the Intrepid. The first time I saw it in person, my brain didn't understand how it could fly. It's massive. It looks like a space shuttle rather than a jet.
- NikolaeVarius 5y agoThe aircraft on the Intrepid is not a SR-71 Blackbird, it is a A-12. They look similar, but are pretty different.
- aynyc 5y agoYou are right! I never knew about the A-12. They both are amazing machines!
- op00to 5y agoYou can get close enough to touch it. But you mustn’t touch.
- belter 5y agoSame with the Canopy, Ejection seat and Wing of the F-117 shot over Serbia. At the Belgrade Aviation Museum... ;-)
- simmo9000 5y agoThere is also one at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, UK, which you can get near enough to touch if no-one is looking. Super impressive machine close up.
- annexrichmond 5y ago
- badcircle 5y agolmfao. Badass.
- ISL 5y agoThese stories never disappoint, no matter how many times we read them....
- jcims 5y agoThat’s definitely true for me. I don’t exactly know why, probably in part because they remind me of my reckless youth, and then also just the unbridled pursuit of an extreme.
- macintux 5y agoSR-71 stories are legendary. Here's another classic from the same site: https://theaviationgeekclub.com/sr-71-blackbird-pilot-tells-story-behind-famed-ground-speed-check/ https://theaviationgeekclub.com/sr-71-blackbird-pilot-tells-...
- cperciva 5y agoMy favourite SR-71 story involves asking ATC for clearance for FL600. ATC gives clearance with some skepticism, since most planes can't climb that high... only to be informed that the SR-71 would be descending to FL600.
- TimMeade 5y agoHere is the pilot telling the story. I think it's the same pilot as top story as back seater is Walter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AyHH9G9et0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AyHH9G9et0
- TimMeade 5y agoAnother great story different pilot: Buzzing the tower. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTJYNq4GQAE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTJYNq4GQAE
- belter 5y ago"The Day the Swedish Air Force Saab 37 Viggen Saved the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27164816 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27164816
- macintux 5y agoThanks. Here's a text version: https://theaviationist.com/2018/11/29/that-time-a-crippled-sr-71-blackbird-was-intercepted-by-four-swedish-viggens-after-violating-swedens-airspace/ https://theaviationist.com/2018/11/29/that-time-a-crippled-s...
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- NextHendrix 5y agoI've read this story a few times before but never found any photos of the event until this article.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- cehrlich 5y agoTo anyone who is interested in this stuff I would strongly recommend the book “Skunk Works” by Ben Rich. Full of interesting history about stealth planes, and a masterclass on how to run a ragtag company.
- geocrasher 5y agoYes. A wonderful read. So good I read it again!
- mmaunder 5y agoAlso Kelly Johnsons book “More than my share of it all”. Kelly designed the SR71 and U2 and brought them in on time and under budget.
- bicx 5y agoAs a side note, Kelly Johnson really did have more than his share of it all. Head of Skunk Works, during which he had 2 wives who died from health issues over the course of 20 years. As someone with a partner who had years of health problems, I have no idea how you run something like Skunk Works and care for someone at the same time.
- mixmastamyk 5y agoHe had a ranch in Agoura, near the SSFL, which might have had an impact on them.
- edge17 5y agoSSFL?
- mixmastamyk 5y agoNuclear meltdown covered up for decades.
- mmaunder 5y agoStick and Rudder is the best read out there if you want an intuitive pilots understanding of what happened here. It unpacks angle of attack from a pilots perspective rather than using engineer speak. At that speed the control surfaces of the Blackbird would have had very little effect which is incredibly scary as you’re approaching a stall low and slow. They’d need big deflections to keep her straight and it would have felt very mushy. It’s also worth noting that airflow from the engines don’t flow over control surfaces like some light aircraft which means they’d actually have had to gain airspeed before they’d stop mushing around, further delaying recovery. Although I’m guessing that happened pretty damn fast.
- FearlessNebula 5y agoWouldn’t a well trained pilot (like somebody learning on the SR71) be very familiar with what a slow airplane feels like? I’m shocked that a skilled pilot would have allowed that plane to get so dangerously slow.
- GekkePrutser 5y agoYeah it sounds like a tall tale. "Falling at a slight bank" sounds like ideal conditions for onset of a spin. Which a pilot would be very wary of when close to the ground because it means certain death. Also, would it be possible to fly level at such a speed in an SR71? And isn't there a HUD and vertical speed warner? On the other hand their expectation of being grounded sounds pretty accurate :) Oh well I never flew anything better than a Cessna 172 so don't take my word for it.
- imoverclocked 5y ago> isn't there a HUD and vertical speed warner? On a 1960's SR-71? Probably not [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird#/media/File:Lockheed_SR-71A_Blackbird,_National_Museum_of_the_United_States_Air_Force,_Wright-Patterson_Air_Force_Base,_near_Dayton,_Ohio,_USA,_cockpit,_forward_view.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird#/medi...
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- GauntletWizard 5y agoArchive: https://archive.md/vj1oF https://archive.md/vj1oF I'm not one to bother with archive snapshots, but this site is particularly infuriating with it's attempt to prevent text selection.
- cheschire 5y agoYes, I used ctrl-f to locate some text, and realized I couldn't click away to deselect. Super frustrating for weird people like me who like to highlight text as I read to help focus.
- breput 5y agoReader mode or add-ons like Absolute Enable Right Click & Copy (Firefox) puts these types of websites in their place...
- sdoering 5y agoIf anyone is interested in learning more about the history of the SR-71 and Skunk Works there is a great talk on YouTube [1]. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL3Yzjk5R4M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL3Yzjk5R4M
- leeoniya 5y agohere's one i like: https://www.otherhand.org/home-page/area-51-and-other-strange-places/bluefire-main/bluefire/the-hunt-for-928/ https://www.otherhand.org/home-page/area-51-and-other-strang...
- makach 5y agoVery interesting article. Did anyone else notice the website? If you try to select the text, either double-tap or right clicking brings up a indicator "web site protected"
- picture 5y agoJust turn off javascript if you want to copy and paste. It's a pretty hostile and anti user design.
- Epiphany21 5y agoI noticed this too since it disabled my ability middle click scroll and highlight lines while I read. It appears to be a very ham-handed approach to DRM that many websites are using these days. But, putting it into a text browser lets me copy/paste the whole article. So it's only punishing the legitimate reader using a regular browser with JS enabled, not the potential thief!
- duskwuff 5y ago"These days"? Hooking oncontextmenu and similar events to prevent copy/paste was a common technique in the 1990s and early 2000s. It's largely passed out of usage nowadays, as everyone's realized how ineffective it is.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- buryat 5y agoSR-71 speed check One time we were going fast a small plane got on the radio and said "how fast am i going" the tower said "you are going fast" and then a bigger plane got on the radio and said "haha i think i am going faster how fast am i going" and the tower said "you are going a little faster" and then a jet fighter was going really fast and talked like a really cool guy and said "hey there, I sound like a cool guy, tell me how fast I'm going" and the tower said "you are going very fast" but he sounded totally normal And then I wanted to say something but that was against the rules, and then the other guy in my plane said "hey tower, are we going fast" and the tower said "yes you are going like a million fast" and then the guy in my plane said "I think it's a million and one fast" and then the tower said "lol yeah ur plane is good" and then I said "did we just become best friends" and the other guy said "yes"
- 2-718-281-828 5y agolater his wife asked "did you go fast?2 and the guy said "oh yes, very fast!" the wife asked "like really really fast?" he answered "really really really fast!" and the children entered the kitchen asking "how fast did you go?" and daddy said "pretty fast" and ...
- serf 5y agoyou know how some people have a talent for story-telling, painting vivid landscapes and heroic deeds with words and prose? you have a talent for story-telling, but sort of from the opposite end of the spectrum; you sucked all of the heroism and bravado out of the story without actually misrepresenting any of the facets of it. nice work.
- perl4ever 5y agoSome people, which includes me, think this parody captures the cringeworthy-ness of the original. It always sounded so fake to me. Even if someone proved it did happen. That's not because I don't think pointy planes are cool! I went to a school with an F-104 lawn ornament.
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- ocdtrekkie 5y agoSo I've heard other great stories from this book before, and I was curious how much it cost to actually get the book. The book in it's latest incarnation is $295. What on earth?
- FearlessNebula 5y agoIt’s out of print so 3rd party sellers put it up for a ton of money on Amazon
- ocdtrekkie 5y agoWell, there's that, I see Amazon listings up near $500. But the official website for the book leads to a fresh and current commemorative printing that... rather than opening the book up to the masses again, is $300 a book.
- cyberferret 5y agoA friend gave me a copy of Brian Shul's book (where this story came from) decades ago, and it is pretty much my most favourite coffee table book I've ever owned. I believe it went out of print, and I remember seeing copies on eBay for around $3000 at one stage, but I believe they were talking about doing a reprint, so there goes my retirement plan! :)
- samstave 5y agoA while back the SR71 ops (flight?) manual was posted to HN... There was a particular comment which I think was on like page 69 or so... "Do not attempt any turns above 70,000 feet; drop to 70,000 feet first then do your turn with a turn radi of ~2miles.... Do not fly above 90,000 feet without prior authorization" --- Or some-such... so the thing was known to fly over 90K feet - but you needed approval to do so... Nine-teen SIXTY WHAT?
- chasd00 5y agoThey did crazy shit in those days. I saw a mock-up of the lunar lander once. I wouldn’t have ridden in that thing to the end of my street but those guys strapped in and went to the moon!
- fnord77 5y agoI find these stories hard to believe. An expensive top secret spy plane that is hard to fly, requires boatloads of fuel and maintenance allowed to make a detour for a joy ride flyby?
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- yellow_postit 5y agoTurns out pilots and the whole chain is still full of humans who at times like “cool” stuff.
- Diesel555 5y agoThis is true. You also can't discount advocating for your product. If you want funding you have to show it off at times. Per the original argument the demonstration teams wouldn't exist. They serve no military purpose if you forget about recruiting and promotion.
- fnord77 5y agoif he crashed or damaged that plane, lots of people would lose their jobs. sounds like he was at the knife's edge of the stall speed.
- rrss 5y agoJohnson publicly announced the SR-71 in 1964, so the plane wasn’t top secret at the time (in the mid 1970s). New York Times story about the announcement: https://archive.md/oFO9J https://archive.md/oFO9J
- samplatt 5y agoJust one of the more minor ways the military-industrial complex is able to waste stupefying amounts of money.
- warner25 5y agoAs a (recent) former military pilot, I think your intuition is generally correct for the modern era. Our planned routes and maneuvers and flight conditions were all annotated on a formal risk assessment which had to be briefed and approved by the appropriate command authority before we completed any other steps of the pre-flight routine. And crews did not deviate from that plan. Getting briefed and approved for something very different over the radio while in-flight, especially with sketchy weather conditions, probably would not happen. With that said, I've read several books about military aviation in the Vietnam era, and I compiled a long list of things that would "never happen" today. The difference shows up in the number of fatal mishaps over the years. The US Army lost more helicopters in Vietnam than it has today in its entire fleet.
- jl2718 5y agoMy cadet trainee became a 71 pilot. That thing is a work of scientific art. Here’s another fun flyby story: http://www.usafa68.org/History/ch5.htm http://www.usafa68.org/History/ch5.htm
- aorth 5y agoExcellent story and stunning pictures. Side note: I randomly tried highlighting some text and right clicking on the website—I guess a lot of people do that while reading—and was annoyed at the "you're not allowed to view source" messages. I downloaded the entire site using wget and I'm going to do what I want with the pictures and content, thank you very much. For personal use of course. Jesus...
- retzkek 5y agoAnyone else notice that in the picture of the model at the bottom of the article, the stand says "Lockheed YF-12 Wikipedia Blackbird"? Likewise if you click through to the airmodels.net product page... bad copy and paste?