SR-71 Blackbird story... Inspiring!

[woblynne]

Re: SR-71 Blackbird story... Inspiring!

What a fantastic story, I've always loved that plane.
Mark

[Markus Kleis]

Re: SR-71 Blackbird story... Inspiring!

An interesting story about the SR-71. The SR stands for Surveillance-Reconnaissance. I used to work for Northrop Grumman many years ago as a nondestructive testing technician for the B2 Stealth Bomber program. One of the engineers whom I worked with had formerly been a Lockheed engineer who worked on the SR-71 from it's design inception through it's rollout and flight testing back in the late 60's.

This engineer told me a great story about the SR-71 Blackbird. The original designation for the SR-71 was actually the RS-71 (Reconnaissance-Surveillance). During Lockheed's first flight ceremonies for the Blackbird, President Lyndon Baines Johnson addressed the Lockheed team and mistakenly referred to the RS-71 as the SR-71. Not once, but every single time he referenced the Blackbird throughout his speech. Lockheed officials discreetly and permanently changed the aircraft's designation from RS-71 to SR-71, lest they embarrass the President of the United States.

Cool story, and I think it worked out for the better. SR-71 sounds better

[Hemin8r]

Re: SR-71 Blackbird story... Inspiring!

That is an amazing story. Felt like I was right there minus the mach speed. I'm always proud especially when reading stories and experiences like this one. Thanks for posting it.

[ClearlyCoated]

Re: SR-71 Blackbird story... Inspiring!

Cool story, and I think it worked out for the better. SR-71 sounds better

And because it's a cool sports performance package offered on many Dodges!

[corsad]

Re: SR-71 Blackbird story... Inspiring!

lovely mood you got me in...

[john m.]

Re: SR-71 Blackbird story... Inspiring!

To all you guys who like this you should also check out Operation Red Flag which has some cool parts, and for an amazing Naval Avaition documentary check out Speed and Angels. You can find bot on youtube and they are so amazing!

[Robby144]

Re: SR-71 Blackbird story... Inspiring!

A very well written and wonderful story! A beautiful read as well as a beautiful aircraft. Thank you so much for posting this!

[ClearlyCoated]

Re: SR-71 Blackbird story... Inspiring!

Wow! amazing story! Its stories like this and talking to old pilots and love for avaition that make me want to fly in the air force! thank you so much for sharing this!! Wish i could experience 3.5 mach

You would love my daily commute. I work on North Island Naval Base in San Diego. To get to the building I work in, I have to cross the flight line that separates the maintenance deck from the repair hangars. There is always an assortment of Navy, Marines, and sometimes Air Force and Coast Guard aircraft taxiing between the 2 locations. Stopping your car at the 4 way intersection to give the right-of-way to a primer gray fighter jet is always awesome. Late last year I was stopped at the intersection for an F-18E recon Hornet (2 seater) that crossed in front of me. The RIO (radio intercept officer, or the back-seater) was bopping his head like he was listening to music. As they passed in front of us, the RIO gave us a quick two-fingered (boy scout) type salute. On the flight deck today, there was an assortment of carrier based fighters (Intruders, Hornets, Harriers, and a few Tigersharks) parked on the tarmac. Pretty cool.

[john m.]

Re: SR-71 Blackbird story... Inspiring!

You would love my daily commute. I work on North Island Naval Base in San Diego. To get to the building I work in, I have to cross the flight line that separates the maintenance deck from the repair hangars. There is always an assortment of Navy, Marines, and sometimes Air Force and Coast Guard aircraft taxiing between the 2 locations. Stopping your car at the 4 way intersection to give the right-of-way to a primer gray fighter jet is always awesome. Late last year I was stopped at the intersection for an F-18E recon Hornet (2 seater) that crossed in front of me. The RIO (radio intercept officer, or the back-seater) was bopping his head like he was listening to music. As they passed in front of us, the RIO gave us a quick two-fingered (boy scout) type salute. On the flight deck today, there was an assortment of carrier based fighters (Intruders, Hornets, Harriers, and a few Tigersharks) parked on the tarmac. Pretty cool.

Wow! you are one lucky guy to have a commute like that Ive only been around jets twice, once was actually up close to a F-16 and the other was at a distance but at a Thunderbirds show, where they had some F-15 eagles and some older war planes as well, even had a Corsair! If i had an area like that i would be at that intersection all Day

[Zeta Detail]

Re: SR-71 Blackbird story... Inspiring!

To all you guys who like this you should also check out Operation Red Flag which has some cool parts, and for an amazing Naval Avaition documentary check out Speed and Angels. You can find bot on youtube and they are so amazing!

Great videos, John M. Definitely worth watching.

[02zx9r]

Re: SR-71 Blackbird story... Inspiring!

very nice article