Orion
Pacific South West
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Thinking about secrets, I think it was on this forum a few weeks ago there were some links concerning either the SR 71 or the U 2. There were some reminisces of one of the pilots who had flown over the Falkland Islands during the UK/Argentinian war in the early 80s.
I followed this action very closely at the time and have read everything I could find since then. However this is the first time I ever read that the US had planes in the area.
Could this have an oops!
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KeninAZ
Prescott, AZ
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Joined: 06/22/2002
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We are everywhere.
Fact of the matter is lots of surveillance is done today by cameras from satellites.
Newer technology you know.
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RES1749
Bremerton, WA
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The only time I've seen this awesome machine was way back in 1980 when I was stationed in Diego Garcia Navy Support Facility, Indian Ocean. It probably had an emergency because there was no advance notice that it will land. I was working at the Air Cargo Ops by the air facility when all a sudden, we saw this Blackbird on the runway then taxiing to one of our enclosed storage building. Security was not as tight then as it is now so, no big deal. But the awesome sight was seeing it leave the runway the next day, straight up then GONE!!! Pretty awesome sight!
RES
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ol Bombero-JC
USA
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TOP SECRET . . . now available to YOU !!
Read the book "Skunk Works" by Ben R. Rich.
Ben was the guy who was in head of the Skunk Works after Kelly Johnson retired, and risked it all to go ahead with the StealthFighter.
Under Johnson, he was a major player in the U-2 and SR-71.
Stuff like; The SR-71 was proposed and being put on drawing boards in 1958!
There were also carrier based U-2's - and foreign pilots flying U-2s.
Great reading. Besides his own narrative of events, a page or two of comments from the (former) CIA director, USAF Generals, Pilots, etc. are inserted at the appropriate places.
Dazzling (previously top secret) info!
Ex: When Lockheed had only done the wood mock-up of the Stealth fighter, it was so "invisible" on the USAF radar test site, some AF brass wouldn't believe the results. So they sent an eminent MIT professor to do some independent tests.
He arrived at Lockheed with an assortment of ball bearings in his briefcase. Golf ball size - down to 1/8th of an inch in diameter.
Glue a ball bearing onto the nose of the fighter, zap it with radar - and see if the plane had a lower cross-section than the ball bearings.
If the fighter in the background measured brighter than the ball in the foreground, then the ball could not be measured at all. Ben Rich was worried - 'cause nothing could measure less than an 1/8th of an inch ball bearing.
Passed easily - including the 1/8th of an inch ball bearing!
Disclaimer:
If parts of this are appear missing - the Mods have moved it to stealth mode!
~
JC
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FOREVER FREE
Manchester, TN
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I work for the company that designed and built the engines for this fabulous plane. One of the most awesome sights was to watch it running at night on the test stand and see the sonic rings coming out of the nozzle. If you stood too close for any lenghth of time you could feel your heart skipping a beat and feel pressure in your chest. It was and still is an amazing engine and an engineering marvel just as the plane itself is. Thank you Dandie for the post.
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Eldave
Lugoff, South Carolina,USA
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As a machinist at Beale AFB in the late 1980's we performed major maintenance on the SR-71.
This thread brings back a lot of memories. Here are a few:
-Man that thing leaks major fuel, hangar was one big drip pan
-The start carts with twin Chev 454's are awesome as they spool that engine up
-Siezed titanium bolts are VERY stubborn to remove
-The engine runs, as mentioned above, are something I will never forget
- We used to go at night with foam earplugs (inside), ear defenders (outside)and a towel to wrap around your head, man they were loud, and the afterburner flame was amazing
-NAS Diego Garcia mentioned above....when I went there TDY there was a hangar there that was the same one (MISSING?) from Beale. Same building number and all.
-I always enjoyed watching the SR leave the T-38 trainers in dust.
Memories...Thanks.
D
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kingairta
Marietta, Ga
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Black bird was designed to leak like a siv on the ground because the tempratures the skin obtains at mach 3 causes such expansion the plane would self destruct.
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Eldave
Lugoff, South Carolina,USA
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I recall now that you mention it. Also reminds me of the painstaking process of replacing the intake bypass door seals.
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AndyLyyc
Calgary
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KeninAZ wrote:We are everywhere.
Fact of the matter is lots of surveillance is done today by cameras from satellites.
Newer technology you know.
There is that - however don't forget - you always know when those satellites are going to be passing overhead... Manned surveillance may never again be what it once was - but nothing will ever completely replace having an aircraft (especially stealth) stationed over a target...
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Grey Mountain
On the rez somewhere in Indian Country
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Spent a career in manned reconnaissance vehicles. Although technological advances have changed the intelligence world drastically, the manned platforms are still around and will be for many years to come.
GM
* This post was
edited 06/24/09 09:12pm by Grey Mountain *
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