Rare SR71 Photos

[jhirsh5280]

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/rare-high-definition-photos-of-the-sr-71-blackbird-1670184930

There is a picture in the link with the SR71 flying over the Burbank airport in Burbank California. I grew up in Burbank just down the street from the Lockheed Skunk Works were the SR71 and many other top secret planes were conceived and built. The SR71 has always been one of my favorite aircraft and for good reason.

Its crazy to think that this plane was first flown almost 40 years ago!

Very cool stuff.

[sniper7]

Awesome airplane!

Google Ekronoplan as well.

[OtterbatHellcat]

Pretty neato.

[kidicarus13]

My favorite plane.

[The Norseman]

There is one in the flesh at the Udvár-Hazy Air and Space Museum near Dulles International in Virginia. Super cool museum if you're into aviation and space exploration.

[brutal]

The only remaining M-21, the CIA version of the YF-12 interceptor with the launchable drone on top, in the Boeing Museum of Flight in Seattle.

The first one was lost in a drone launch accident and the program cancelled.

http://www.flyingnut.com/photos/seattleMuseumFlight/Museum_Flight_Blackbird_M21.jpg

I'm not a huge aviation buff, but this place is a must see if you're in the area.

You can tour the inside of a Concorde, and the old Air Force One (VC-137B) that flew Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon.

There's lots of new stuff there now since I last visited so the next time we go so the kids in tacoma, we're going to hit this again.

[KS63]

The only remaining M-21, the CIA version of the YF-12 interceptor with the launchable drone on top, in the Boeing Museum of Flight in Seattle.

The first one was lost in a drone launch accident and the program cancelled.

http://www.flyingnut.com/photos/seattleMuseumFlight/Museum_Flight_Blackbird_M21.jpg

I'm not a huge aviation buff, but this place is a must see if you're in the area.

You can tour the inside of a Concorde, and the old Air Force One (VC-137B) that flew Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon.

There's lots of new stuff there now since I last visited so the next time we go so the kids in tacoma, we're going to hit this again.

Been to this museum. Behind the Blackbird is some scaffolding that has a recreation of the cockpit that you can sit in. It's a big plane, but the pilots workspace seemed very cramped. I think this is the same museum that has Boeing's original Red Barn hangar.

[HoneyBadger]

Really cool! Thanks for sharing.

[blackford76]

Very cool aircraft. Doesn't NASA still operate one? Or am I thinking of something else.

[blackford76]

Nevermind, NASA parked theirs in '97.

[Firehaus]

Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, KS also has one.

http://aeroseums.com/blog/2012/11/09/kansas-cosmosphere-and-space-center/


Sent from my iPhone

[Hoser]

I have seen a couple at Dryden over the years since they were mothballed. Last time I remember seeing one was maybe 2008 or 2009. Not sure if they were still airworthy.

[rbeau30]

I was stationed at Beale from 1999 - 2003. There are some real cool pictures of the SR-71 in the offices all over there.

Getting a ride in a U-2 Chase Car was one of my most awesome experiences.

[RMAC757]

They shot over a thousand missiles at that beauty and never touched it.

[tim-adams]

if you get out to Omaha, the SAC museum has one hanging from the ceiling pointing toward the front door.. its quite awesome

[Ridge]

I grew up in Palmdale. I remember, on the outskirts of town, a small concrete pad poured at an intersection (about the size of a standard home property) that had two SR-71s, the D-21 drone and some other artifacts. Could just walk on there and look. I think it spawned my love for aviation...

http://i.imgur.com/CbRPU2b.jpg

[Duman]

It's a work of art....

[mtnrider]

I was stationed at Beale from 1999 - 2003. There are some real cool pictures of the SR-71 in the offices all over there.

Getting a ride in a U-2 Chase Car was one of my most awesome experiences.

I'll have to dig through my old photos. I've got a few of it coming out of the hanger and from the chase car. Very cool indeed!

[Bailey Guns]

Its crazy to think that this plane was first flown almost 40 years ago!



Try almost 53 years! The original A-12 first flew in 04/1962. The tandem-seat SR-71 first flew in '64...50 years ago last month. Awesome airplane and there's not much that can touch it even today.

I had the privilege of supporting SR-71 missions in a remote sort of way from Japan in the early 80s. Here's a few photos my wife took on a refueling mission while she was stationed at RAF Mildenhall in 1983:


http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt337/baileyguns/SR-71_zps4f364aa0.jpg

[theGinsue]

Not sure how valid it is, but I always believed it:
I remember talking with an airborne refueler who said the SR-71 had to slow down to near its stall speed and the refueling aircraft (KC-135?) had to fly balls to the wall just to refuel one of those birds.