# SR-71 stories, written by Blackbird pilots



## Pauly (Mar 8, 2009)

Most of these are from the book "Sled Driver":









> "For years, SR-71 crews were told to eat a high protein, low residue meal prior to flight. As more was learned about nutrition, people realized that a continued diet of steak and eggs might not be the healthiest over a long period of time. Even so, the PSD diner still carried a pretty good steak and eggs right up until the end of the SR-71 program. Other menu items were available, and each crewmember learned, sometimes the hard way, what to eat and what not to eat prior to high altitude flights. Anyone who has hiked in high mountain terrain has learned that as the air pressure decreases around us, the evolved gasses inside our bodies expand. I relearned this basic lesson when, on one of my early training flights in the Sled, I ate the big ham and cheese omelet. I did this only once in my entire SR-71 tour. Passing through 52,000 feet that day, I thought I was going to give birth in the cockpit. Walt heard some grunting and groaning on the intercom and asked me if I was OK. I told him I was alright, although I felt like I was going to explode. When relief finally did come, I learned just how self-contained those air tight space suits were. With a relieved stomach, albeit tearing eyes, I pushed the jet boldly to higher altitudes. After that memorable experience, I found that a peanut butter sandwich worked fine for me, and I usually had that before flying."





> "In April 1986, following an attack on American soldiers in a Berlin disco, President Reagan ordered the bombing of Muammar Qaddafis terrorist camps in Libya. My duty was to fly over Libya and take photos recording the damage our F-111s had inflicted. Qaddafi had established a line of death, a territorial marking across the Gulf of Sidra, swearing to shoot down any intruder that crossed the boundary. On the morning of April 15, I rocketed past the line at 2,125 mph."





> "I was piloting the SR-71 spy plane, the worlds fastest jet, accompanied by Maj. Walter Watson, the aircrafts reconnaissance systems officer (RSO). We had crossed into Libya and were approaching our final turn over the bleak desert landscape when Walter informed me that he was receiving missile launch signals. I quickly increased our speed, calculating the time it would take for the weapons-most likely SA-2 and SA-4 surface-to-air missiles capable of Mach 5-to reach our altitude. I estimated that we could beat the rocket-powered missiles to the turn and stayed our course, betting our lives on the planes performance.
> 
> After several agonizingly long seconds, we made the turn and blasted toward the Mediterranean. You might want to pull it back, Walter suggested. It was then that I noticed I still had the throttles full forward. The plane was flying a mile every 1.6 seconds, well above our Mach 3.2 limit. It was the fastest we would ever fly. I pulled the throttles to idle just south of Sicily, but we still overran the refueling tanker awaiting us over Gibraltar."





> "There were a lot of things we couldnt do in an SR-71, but we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe flying this plane. Intense, maybe. Even cerebral. But there was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment. It occurred when Walt and I were flying our final training sortie. We needed 100 hours in the jet to complete our training and attain Mission Ready status. Somewhere over Colorado we had passed the century mark. We had made the turn in Arizona and the jet was performing flawlessly. My gauges were wired in the front seat and we were starting to feel pretty good about ourselves, not only because we would soon be flying real missions but because we had gained a great deal of confidence in the plan in the past ten months. Ripping across the barren deserts 80,000 feet below us, I could already see the coast of California from the Arizona border. I was, finally, after many humbling months of simulators and study, ahead of the jet. I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for Walter in the back seat. There he was, with no really good view of the incredible sights before us, tasked with monitoring four different radios. This was good practice for him for when we began flying real missions, when a priority transmission from headquarters could be vital. It had been difficult, too, for me to relinquish control of the radios, as during my entire flying career I had controlled my own transmissions. But it was part of the division of duties in this plane and I had adjusted to it. I still insisted on talking on the radio while were on the ground, however. Walt was so good at many things, but he couldnt match my expertise at sounding smooth on the radios, a skill that had been honed sharply with years in fighter squadrons where the slightest radio miscue was grounds for beheading. He understood that and allowed me that luxury. Just to get a sense of what Walt had to contend with, I pulled the radio toggle switches and monitored the frequencies along with him. The predominant radio chatter was from Los Angeles Center, far below us, controlling daily traffic in their sector. While they had us on their scope (albeit briefly), we were in uncontrolled airspace and normally would not talk to them unless we needed to descend into their airspace.
> 
> We listened as the shaky voice of a lone Cessna pilot asked Center for a readout of his ground speed. Center replied:
> 
> ...





> "Few aviators ever got the chance to fly the SR-71. In over twenty years of service a total of only 314 Air Force aviators flew the Blackbird. (In the same time period over 6,000 Air Force aviators flew the F-4 Phantom II.) I was one of only 152 Air Force pilots to fly the SR-71 during its lifetime.
> 
> To more fully understand the concept of Mach 3, imagine the speed of a bullet coming from a high powered hunting rifle. It is travelling at 3100 feet per second as it leaves the muzzle. The Sled would cruise easily at 3200 feet per second, with plenty of power to spare."





> "Because of the higher latitude of England, winter days were very short. In my Air Force career, I had not done much flying at the higher latitudes and did not realize how intriguing it might be. As Walt and I took off from Mildenhall early on one cold January day, I had no idea that I was about to witness some of the most interesting sights in my twenty years of flying. In the cold dense air at our low field elevation, the Sled did not just takeoff but literally leapt from the runway.
> 
> Our route took us far to the north that day, as we would be looking at some Soviet missile sites that housed a new type of mobile SAM. Additionally we would be updating positions of Soviet submarines.
> 
> ...



Cool stuff.


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## -K4G- (Mar 8, 2009)

That was cool. Drag at high altitudes?


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## lobee (Mar 8, 2009)

-K4G- said:


> Drag at high altitudes


What is Cher on a skydiving trip?


On-topic: those were pretty cool stories.


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## HighGain510 (Mar 9, 2009)

The SR-71 is still to this day such a killer piece.


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## Randy (Mar 9, 2009)

GASing for one of these


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## darren (Mar 9, 2009)

That's just amazing. I should pick up that book... i'm a bit of an aerospace nerd.

Seeing an SR-71 in the flesh at the new Udvar-Hazy aerospace museum of the Smithsonian was one of my highlights of working on a project in the Dulles, VA area a few years ago. Reading the history of the aircraft and learning that the particular Blackbird in the Smithsonian set a new speed record on its way to the museum was just amazing. The fact that these aircraft were designed and built in the 1950s and still continued to be the fastest aircraft anywhere is mind-blowing. And they're just so... sexy!


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## jymellis (Mar 9, 2009)

hey, i have that book also! that became my favorite aero when "cobra" from g.i.joe got them back in the 80s lol.


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## MrRedRaider (Mar 23, 2009)

I remember reading some snippets from this book a while back, just mind blowing and definitely inspiring to read. Id like to get this book for my dad.. but read it a few times before I hand it over


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## DavyH (Mar 24, 2009)

Coolest. Aircraft. Ever.

Thanks Pauly - great stories.


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## Azyiu (Apr 4, 2009)

Read those quotes, and they seem very interesting already! I might just pick this book up! Thanks


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## vampiregenocide (Apr 11, 2009)

Thats hardcore lol


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## auxioluck (Apr 13, 2009)

The SR-71 is still my favorite plane to this day. An unreal piece of machinery.


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## bulb (Apr 13, 2009)

wow! i need to get this book!
haha and yes i agree, this isnt helping with my sr-71 gas, may have to sell some blackmachines and engls to raise the funds teehee.

but seriously, i love planes, always have! for the longest time (before i was 14 and got into music) i thought i was going to be a test pilot or something! oh and they have an sr71 on display over at the air and space museum in the udvar-hazy hangar, its fucking HUGE, but absolutely beautifoo!


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## darren (Apr 13, 2009)

bulb said:


> wow! i need to get this book!
> haha and yes i agree, this isnt helping with my sr-71 gas, may have to sell some blackmachines and engls to raise the funds teehee.
> 
> but seriously, i love planes, always have! for the longest time (before i was 14 and got into music) i thought i was going to be a test pilot or something! oh and they have an sr71 on display over at the air and space museum in the udvar-hazy hangar, its fucking HUGE, but absolutely beautifoo!



I couldn't stop taking pictures of it when i was there a few years ago. It really is a stunning piece of machinery. I was actually surprised at how small it was... it's very long, but it's quite low to the ground and the whole front part where the cockpit is looks quite small.


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## Koshchei (Apr 13, 2009)

The SR-71 was just a totally incredible piece of machinery.


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## TheSixthWheel (Apr 14, 2009)

Those short anecdotes were really interesting and amusing. Thanks dude, that sounds like a book I must get a hold of.


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## darren (Apr 14, 2009)

Apparently, this book only gets produced in very limited numbers by the author, and it's very hard to come by!


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## TheSixthWheel (Apr 14, 2009)

darren said:


> Apparently, this book only gets produced in very limited numbers by the author, and it's very hard to come by!



Oh fantastic. That sounds like the worst possible way for the publisher to sell copies, making the whole exercise financially pointless for all involved.


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## Drew (Apr 14, 2009)

I was still really surprised when they decomissioned that thing, as there still isn't anything in the air that can compete.


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## D-EJ915 (Apr 14, 2009)

Drew said:


> I was still really surprised when they decomissioned that thing, as there still isn't anything in the air that can compete.


I guess you could say that, technology has advanced and satellites are much, much better now so there is no reason for it to fly now except for shits and giggles lol.


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## Mr. S (Apr 14, 2009)

There's one sitting in my villages airfield, sexy beast


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