3 ms·
There is at least one documented survival at the insane speed of Mach 3: https://theaviationgeekclub.com/bailing-out-at-mach-3-the-incredible-story-of-bill-weav
by endymi0n 3y ago
There is at least one documented survival at the insane speed of Mach 3: https://theaviationgeekclub.com/bailing-out-at-mach-3-the-incredible-story-of-bill-weaver-the-first-pilot-to-eject-from-an-sr-71-blackbird/ https://theaviationgeekclub.com/bailing-out-at-mach-3-the-in...
- eszed 3y agoHere's Weaver's own account: http://www.chuckyeager.org/news/sr-71-disintegrated-pilot-free-fell-space-lived-tell/ http://www.chuckyeager.org/news/sr-71-disintegrated-pilot-fr... I love the serendipitous detail of what happened on his next flight, though I'm sure it was not so amusing when it happened.
- dotancohen 3y agoWell, his _next_ flight was to see the body of Jim. But yes, the next Habu flight started off interesting.
- eszed 3y agoLol! I up-voted you (seriously, I did) because this is close to the platonic ideal of a HN comment: egregious pedantry, plus a nerd-flex. For those out of the loop on the nerd-flex, "Habu" was an unofficial, insidery nickname for the SR-71. It's the name of a venomous snake from somewhere with an SR-71 base (was it Okinawa? I think it was Okinawa), that the locals applied to the plane, because it (like the snake) was black and dangerous-looking.