EdM Loc: FN30JS

well, satalites, but the real reason was $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Unbelievably costly to operate and support... It was launched and just made it to 30K feet where it hadda be refueled.. THERE WERE WORLDWIDE tankers stationed whos job was to do nothing but refuel that aircraft... it worked fine, but $$$$$$$$$$$$. Ed

agillot

there is one up in the air on a post at san diego aerospace museum .

sr71 Loc: In Col. Juan Seguin Land

Yep!! That and political/& EGO reasons due to the brass wanted more shiner toys to play with. Satellites while being very good can't change their orbits very well. You can't beat an aircraft for timely intel.

EdM Loc: FN30JS

there are articles written by x-drivers, varing from un-believable to funny. my favorite was the one of the cessna driver who asked for a speed, check,"95 onthe gnd", followed by a fighter ,same question (tweaking the cessna), "450 on the gnd", followed by the 71, same question,"1750 on the gnd"... and silence on the freq....
...... and over running the refueling location by a mere 250 miles!!!

the quality of those drivers was off the wall

oldgeezer3 Loc: SoCal

One flew from March AFB in Calif. to Wash. D.C. in 57 min. in 1990, (?). I worked @ March at the time, but am not certain of the year.

EdM Loc: FN30JS

yeh, that was (about) the cancellation year.. believe that after that flight, it never flew again..

BBurns Loc: South Bay, California

Here is an enclosed Word doc. They are some stories by a retired pilot friend who was one of the fortunate few to fly the Blackbird.
A little long but certainly a first hand experience.
Reading this is like sitting in the cockpit of this spaceship.

What a fantastic group of Engineers at the Lockheed SkunkWorks!!!

The SkunkWorks site is now a shopping center, right in the heart of Burbank, California.

Attached file:
(Download)

346pak Loc: Texas

The SR71, or code name Oxcart, was the coolest and baddest aircraft ever invented. Still my all time favorite. What other aircraft takes 2 states to turn around??

EdM Loc: FN30JS

the job had other codenames... twas black until aug 1985, then my companys' newsletter had a foto of it on the front cover and a notice inside "hey the 1912 job was the sr-71 and we had it since the '60's. an igot an interoffice saying I wuz ADMIN DEBREFED AND TO SHUT UP AS JOB W NOT COMPLETELY DECLASFIED....

denoferth Loc: Portsmouth, NH

When I was in the weather squadron at Kadena AB, Okinawa our mission was to provide support for Black Bird operations with upper air measurements (my job) and weather satellite photos. The Black Bird people used both to determine if the area over the target was clear of clouds and climatic conditions were conducive for safe flight operations. Both determined if the mission was a go or not. They kept the bird in an underground hanger out of sight where it was refueled and serviced. When ready the engines were started and it taxied up the ramp, immediately took off and headed out over the ocean toward a cloud it would pop up into. That was supposed to hide its ultimate course from prying eyes. It all seems so sophomoric now. We were actually briefed not to draw attention to it by looking up when it passed over even though it was the loudest plane on the field with the most distinctive sound signature. The ALL-BLACK SR-71 (WITH THE RAY-TYPE NOSE) attracted so much attention from the Japanese news photographers crowding against the perimeter fence the Air Force concocted a cover story that was published in the local Ryuku Island newspaper. The AF flew in a GRAY YF-12A (WITH THE POINTY INTERCEPTOR NOSE CONE), according to local legend at the time piloted by Daryl Greenamyer. This obviously different colored plane with the obviously different front end arrived over the field and did a couple of tight turns in full afterburner. Watching that delta shape staying within the field boundary making enough noise to shake the ground was great and was probably heard all over the island. That demonstration was supposed to convince everyone the YF-12A was assigned at Kadena AB to “provide air protection for the Ryuku Islands”. The article was published in the local paper but I don’t know if anyone actually believed it.

J.R.Newton Loc: Saint Bernice, Indiana

I was in the USAF ('73-'77). This was my favorite aircraft and I continually read up on it. There is a book on Area 51 where the plane was tested. Employees knew when the Russian satellites were overhead so they pulled the plane back into the hanger for secrecy. A few weeks later a Russian intelligence officer was having dinner with a CIA official and drew an outline of the plane on a napkin and asked what we were up to. It turned out that the desert sun was heating up the run way. Where the plane had been sitting, the runway was cooler.
As for the speed, it was said that during a test flight it flew 100 miles into Chinese airspace, took 100 miles to turn around and another 100 miles to fly out (300 miles total) before China picked it up on radar.

topcat Loc: Alameda, CA

One great plane.

346pak Loc: Texas

:thumbup: