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[–] • 1 pt

Were there any female SR-71 pilots? Narrator says, "he or she can open the aft bypass doors" (about 5:10)

[–] [deleted] • 1 pt

Every SR-71 crew flew with the same pilot and reconnaissance operator, or mission operator, or something like that, I forget what the rear seat was called. They were an elite bunch. Only 32 were ever built. These things flew at 85,000 feet at mach 3.3 and the margin for error for the pilots was very thin. Aside from having to keep a steady speed and altitude, at supersonic speeds an engine could "unstart" sending the plane into an extreme turn and they would have to regain control and restart the engine. The SR-71 actually had ejections seats and one pilot did bail out at mach three at 85,000 feet. At that altitude the pressure was low so he wasn't ripped apart. Pilots wore a pressure suit like a space suit since they were at the edge of space and the aircraft wasn't pressurised. It took about seven minutes for the pilot who bailed out to reach the ground.

https://youtu.be/nRyIGTkcmII

[–] • 1 pt

Yanks thought they were invisible until Australians saw them on our new radar system and called to ask what the aircraft was. It was an "oh shit" moment. Instantaneously obsolete.

[–] • 0 pt

Then came the F-117... Gotta hand it to Skunk Works. Problem, solution.

[–] • 1 pt

In 1971 I was stationed in Okinawa, about 12 miles from Kadena AFB. Most mornings a couple hours before sunrise we could hear the SR-71 taking off. In the early 2000s i worked a contractor in South Korea, our apt was 5 miles from Osan AFB and we could hear the U-2 taking off.

[–] • 1 pt

The Blackbird still seems like a piece of alien technology even if the cockpit is only filled with analog controls. Mind if I ask how in "awe" were you at the sight of one of those? I mean that especially considering that the general level of tech in 1971 was vastly lower in comparison to the SR-71 that even today remains untouchable.

[–] • 0 pt

From 1999 to 2003 I work for a company that made and supported a system on the U-2. I was on-site support at couple of Air Force bases overseas. I was surprized the first time I looked in the cockpit, the yoke was pulleys and wires to control the flaps and rudder. Because the pilot wore a pressurized suit with bulky gloves all the switches were big toggle switches and large knobs. Looked like the original style from when it was first built in the mid-50s. They are still flying.

[–] • 1 pt

Absolutely. There are now videos online (and manuals) for the sr-71 interface. I saw one in a museum and it's sobering taking a peek at the cockpit and thinking they were doing mach 3 in that thing with what I imagine is basically hydraulics as their basic interface.

[–] • 0 pt

I have seen this so many times. This was built using paper and slide rules about 20 years after ww2 which ONLY had propeller driven fighters and only the very first rocket technology appearing just towards the end of the war.

Jet engines and beyond that the ramjet is mind blowing to me because the faster they get the fewer parts they have and the greater their propulsion efficiency. The only barrier to the technology is material sciences having to deal with those temperatures, pressures, stresses and friction.