I just saw this video for the first time. It captures the flyby I did when delivering the first SR-71 to NASA Dryden at Edwards AFB, CA in Feb of 1990. I suspected that the folks on the ground had gotten everything they had hoped for from it, and this video confirms that for me. It was a real treat to see it today. Thanks to Jeff Decker for bringing it to my attention.
Hard to believe the lead designer of this absolutely _stunning_ piece of airborne art was also the designer of the fabulous Lockheed P-38 Lightning! It's a similar story for the Avril Vulcan Bomber, who's lead designer was the guy behind the Lancaster Bomber. If you placed these two gentleman's earlier aircraft right alongside their late works, you would _never_ guess the they had the same designer!! It's just amazing how rapidly things progressed from wooden airframe to super-sonic and delta-winged space-age looking aircraft!
Eveyone is missing the fact that Bill Dana is in this video. At 0:49. He was a test pilot of the X-15 project. He was later, in this video, Chief Engineer and Chief Pilot of the Dryden Research Facility. He's distinguished far beyond being called "test pilot." He is known as a research pilot.
Man when those afterburners lit, that's when you gotta say Kelly Johnson was a rare breed This airplane is a century ahead of it's time, and to think that slide rulers were used in making it and no CAD aid whatsoever,,,,, but still gives you goosebumps when you watch it's videos. What a creation.
Sexiest thing to fly that was designed and built well before my 51 year old arse was brought into the world... What an amazing machine! Sure wish there was some variable that could have been applied to free up the pilot to break at least Mach 1 in a flyby.. Not exactly sure if the 71 could seriously 'bang out' MACH 2 plus speeds near ground level, but I think a full on pass before the last were retired would be absolutely fitting... Thanks for the video! (Kinda funny when we get old enough, and have recorded stuff as far back as BETA video camera (personal) where you had to sling the recording device, which was connected by umbilical to the camera itself.. This was recorded later, but most people born post yr 2k... They don't have the slightest.. Very Thankful for footage like this..
I lived in the flight path of Beale AFB when I was growing up and saw the Blackbird fly over many times. Also got to go to an airshow on base in the mid-80s..seeing it up close and feeling the power was unforgettable!
The first time I saw this aircraft was in the 1985 movie D.A.R.Y.L. I did not know the significance of the plane back then other than it looked cool. As i got older i realized how special it is. Even today looking at it from the front its just a vicious looking plane.
Terry, THANK YOU for your service to our country! Yes, your flyby shook up everybody, even the old timers! I've updated my description to include you. Upon hearing the PA warning, I dropped what I was working on and ran to the equipment trailer to rent a camera, ran back to the ramp to video your flybys and a couple touch-n-goes, and later on, the SR idling on the ramp, surrounded by conscientious ground crews. Years later, I still had to "detour" through the hangar to check on the Blackbird!
A co-worker I have today said he was about 10 years old when they flew the SR-71 to the USAF museum in Dayton, OH. He said they all gathered at the museum to see its arrival and they had radio coms broadcast over the PA for all to hear. The SR-71 was coming from Southern California. The crew radioed "wheel's up" and 30 minutes later it was flying over the museum. Think about that.
I remember that. They got airborne and said hell why not and throttled up full on and they broke a world record bringing her home. People that saw it said it didn't look real going that fast,lol... Still my favorite of all aircraft always....that had to have been the ride of a lifetime,that day. I also had a friend on an air flight and they pulled up next to the plane to say hello,then throttled up and sped off. He said it was one of the most surreal moments he ever experienced,seeing it go like like a bullet when it left.
Quite impossible. The SR71 Blackbird could reach a maximum speed of 2200 mph, and Dayton in 2000 miles distant from Southern California. As the Bird reached its maximum speed after taking off, is quite improbable it reached Dayton so quickly. I think it reached the museum like one hour later, or, if your coworker told you it was over the museum 30 minutes later after taking off, it took off not from Southern California
@@LAOSmnagiva809 the real speed of the sr-71 is still not known, for all we know it could've been mach 4 and above at full throttle. Maybye the plane got there in 40 minutes and his coworker just said 30.. who knows
@@theairaccumulator7144 During the test flights in 64, they got it up to mach 3.4. Test pilot of that flight, Gililand I think, said it wasn't even full throttle, and he backed off at that point because he didn't know how much the plane could actually take. One pilot claims to have hit mach 3.5 with, as he put it, 2 inches of throttle left. I would believe mach 4 was possible, assuming the plane didn't melt in the process.
I'm proud to say my father was a welder at Lockheed in the late 1950's into the mid 1960's. I'm 65 now and I remember how excited he was to be working on The SR71. We lived in Manhattan Beach when I was born but he continued working there after we moved to Chula Vista, California. He'd come home on the weekends. RIP Dad! (Lucio R. Blanco)
Awesome , Im 63 and my dad worked at Lockheed Marietta Ga. from 1963 to 1990 or so. He worked on all the C5s ever built and C130s, C141s, Jet Stars. I still have some awards and things he got when he retired , also some of that time we were in Palmdale Ca. he worked on the L1011 . they could have known each other . RIP Dad
I saw the Blackbird in the Canadian National Exhibition airshow, in Toronto several years ago. Less than an hour after that, they announced it was already in California!
Heh yeah I thought the same.. Apparently(From what I've read), it always happened that way, where one would light before the other.. One of the many quirks of the HABU :)
The SR-71 is my favorite aircraft. Maybe not as heavily armed as the Eagle but it's gonna sneak up on them MiGs real quiet like and shoot them with its camera. My neighbor is an old F-4 Phantom pilot. He saw a little action in Vietnam. I keep telling him to write a book. He had his share of close calls and narrow escapes from MiGs. These are my 3 favorite aviation books: - Her Majesty's Top Gun by Sharkey Ward - A Reluctant Warrior by Kenneth Volker - Great Fighter Jets of the Galaxy 1 by Tim Gibson
Incredible how the afterburner kicks in with a explosion and long flame! I think the burner needs also chemical ignition like the core engine burners. Great flyby and a beauty of all time. Now i need to build a 1/48 scale model kit...
I keep coming back to this video! Absoulutely amazing. As kid I just loved the Blackbird. And this video perfectly captures the reheat being engaged! Absolute magic. Saw the A12 (single seat CIA variant) on a trip to New York and was amazing
I was lucky enough to see (if you want to call it that) one take off when I was in Air Force....absolutely amazing and nothing else shook the ground like this plane! It was at a Nato base in Goosebay Canada, they shut down base when this landed to refuel. Taxi'd out without lights surrounded by SPs then fired the beast of engines up...one blue flame then a second one followed by ground shaking until pilots released brakes, landing lights finally came on then this took off like a rocket as soon as was airborne pulled back on stick and straight up into clouds. Ground was shaking like earthquake, this was 1988 and I will never forget that experience!
Awesome vid! I was at Edwards from 99-02 in the Air Force. Got to see the SR's last flight too. Working that flight line out there is like being 10 years into the future.
Thanks for the compliment. Edwards is an awesome base. I think that this was the first and last time that I used a camcorder at work. Everyone kept telling me "Here comes Security... here comes Security!"
Robert Banister yup, it has to do that to cool down and slow down. Coming in too heavy also was considered risky since the SR71s lost mostly crashed from failure during landing.
Don't know where you got your info from but it is BS. The last SR to crash was due to a compressor blade failure, the one before that crashed while trying to land in heavy crosswinds at Kadena AB, Okinawa. If it had occurred in the U.S. it would have been repaired. They would do a go-around sometimes, not always. No need to cool it down before it landed. BTW I had just shy of 15 years working hydraulics on the SR, 10 of those was at Det-1 9th SRW, Kadena AB, Okinawa Japan.+-
I saw it at Naha AB, Okinawa in 1968. It dipped below a low cloud layer, flew down the runway then climbed back up into the clouds. I knew what it was and was stunned to see one flying .
I was VERY VERY fortunate to of had the privilege and honor in 1991 and 1992 to get a personal and private one on one tour of tail number 844 SR 71 blackbird here at NASA Dryden Edwards AFB California. I was in the Air Force and had a friend over on the NASA end that was the crew chief on the blackbird. He took me in the closed hanger and i got to walk under it around it and touch every part of it . i was sooo excited. Like a kid . then a pilot came in the hanger and was talking to my friend about a flight later and came over to me and we talked i asked alot of ?s and he asked if he opened the cockpit if id like to sit in her i said YES !!! so i did and he got in the NAV seat and i in the pilot seat and he closed the canopy . oh my lord that was the highlight of my life to this day. Even beats all 5 space shuttle landings I've been up close and personal to. That evening my friend took me out to the end of taxi way B out on runway 22 to stand there and watch an evening afterburner take off of #844 !!! Well after she passed my nose was runny and tears pouring out my eyes and ears ringing 😂😂😂 but boy what a rush !! Now i know why all the NASA camera men and my friend had ear protection on 😂 what a beautiful aircraft she is .......ill never forget her or that day ...ever...ny first true love ...😁
We had two SR-71 at Mildenhall UK and it was wonderful to attend the yearly Air Fete. Before they retired them my sister and myself managed to arrange a private visit and we too were taken in to the hangar to view 17964. What a plane and what a day. Sadly no photos were permitted but memories made that will last a lifetime. Keep ya Mach High
Wow! There are just some aircraft that are so simply beautiful. (well, at least to me) The Messerschmitt ME 262 from Germany (please no political agenda replies). Great Britain's breathtaking RAF Supermarine Spitfire. America's gorgeous North American P-51 Mustang and the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirt, to name just a few that come to mind. But nothing so far built can take away from the absolute shocking beauty of the Blackbirds. IMHO.
I never had the privilege to hear one of these close up. I only heard them when they sonic boomed us from 80K feet lol. I wish I could've experienced that close up
I was stationed at Camp Foster Okinawa Aug 74-Sep75, I'd watch the SR-71 take off/land at Kadena AFB. We called it the "Habu" after the native snake on Okinawa.
I witnessed this arrival from an AF building nearby. I wondered about the flames as it passed over thinking it might have had a bad ab light, but it appears it was intentional. I don't know how the pilot was able to do that.
This is a complete guess and someone can correct me, but if it's like some other jets there is likely a detent in the throttle that keeps the aircraft from going full afterburner. Usually there's a little latch or button the pilot can squeeze to get the throttle fully forward. My guess is he waited until he was above the crowd to go full afterburner and the flames could have been the initial fuel injection, like how a car might backfire before starting up, or something to do with the engine's startup sequence. But that's just my best guess.
+deepfreezevideo Thanks for the compliment. I was in a "NO FLIGHTLINE PHOTOGRAPHY!" area and had to keep looking for the base security police who would confiscate the camera. There's more than a few seconds of viewable stuff if you look for it - legendary NASA test pilots, research scientists, engineers, a really famous B-52, etc.
I was gonna comment on the crappy camera handling, but... Hmmmm..... O.K., I'll give you a pass, if you were trying to keep your camera low key.... At least you got a good shot of the Blackbird igniting it's afterburners.
F104G826 Allow me to stand up tall and say "I have an Emmy award" and like they say in the real estate industry " Location Location Location" They also say "you don't owe some jack ass on youtube anything" Some day I will post my Kadena Habu video... as soon as I can find a 3/4 reel to reel player. Thank you for posting the non symmetrical afterburner thingy.
NASA was allowed to see the SR-71 up close and personal in their hanger around the time the Shuttle airframe had begun fabrication, long before this. My great uncle was Jack Branham and CIA SR was cancelled over what happened to my grandfather in 1963 in Reno/North Tahoe, and I do have my grandfathers mechanical drawing set.
Those were some serious flames, The manner in which the flames came out of the engine it was almost as if the burners were lit without a TEB shot. The 2 times a TEB shot are injected, when: A) throttle is moved from Off/On and b) when the throttle is raised and then pushed over and forward of the Military/Augmentor detent. The afterburner is then throttled with Maximum Power being full forward. I'm no expert when it comes to the J58 characteristics during afterburner engagement as viewed from directly overhead, but it sure seems to be very fuel rich prior to the Mach diamonds taking shape. I didn't notice any greenish flame during a/b startup, but that can be tough to spot even in the hangar when you are looking for it during engine spool up.. Maybe that's typical for in flight engagement like that. Great display regardless!
For the first time, I saw Shock Diamond in a video. This makes me want to cry, even if I'm not the CIA Richard Helms, "This isn't a Blackbird. It's a hell hammer!"
A P-38 updated becomes the SR-71. The Wright Flyer updated becomes the Burt Rutan Beech Starship. SALUTE ...... Mr. Kelly Johnson, Mr. Burt Rutan. " The more things change the more they remain the same."
TEB is used to light them up. I creates a green flame. Because the JP-7 is like trying to light engine oil on fire. So, the flames are from the first half of your question and you are right.
To add, at the onset of the afterburners the A/F ratio is super rich, meaning the engines haven't spooled up fast enough to provide the right amount of oxygen for complete ignition. Hot fuel at or above the auto ignition temperature flows out the back, meets enough oxygen and creates a fireball. I have a high compression, high RPM Mustang that does the same; for a fraction of a second while upshifting it goes rich and the excess fuel passes into the exhaust, meets the right conditions and makes a loud "pop" out of the tailpipes.
Got to see her take off in the mist of the night right before dawn at edwards, was there on the shuttle recovery crew, the 71 left to intercept the Columbia over Hawaii as she re-entered the atmosphere. We later got to see some of the video and still shots amazing. Both aircraft
I just saw this video for the first time. It captures the flyby I did when delivering the first SR-71 to NASA Dryden at Edwards AFB, CA in Feb of 1990. I suspected that the folks on the ground had gotten everything they had hoped for from it, and this video confirms that for me. It was a real treat to see it today. Thanks to Jeff Decker for bringing it to my attention.
you piloted an sr-71??
Yes Maj.Pappas piloted the Habu in this video and the SR-71 in the video titled "Blackbird"..Major Pappas..thank you for your service
I am beyond jealous of your accomplishments. Anyone that gets to fly for the armed services truly "made it" no matter how far up the ladder they went
You, sir, are one of the best of the absolute best. Thank you for your service.
Holy moly
Such an old design aircraft yet still looks incredibly futuristic
Designed in the very early sixties but still looks like it's just flown in from the future, incredible plane.
Absolutely!
Hard to believe the lead designer of this absolutely _stunning_ piece of airborne art was also the designer of the fabulous Lockheed P-38 Lightning! It's a similar story for the Avril Vulcan Bomber, who's lead designer was the guy behind the Lancaster Bomber. If you placed these two gentleman's earlier aircraft right alongside their late works, you would _never_ guess the they had the same designer!! It's just amazing how rapidly things progressed from wooden airframe to super-sonic and delta-winged space-age looking aircraft!
"Avro" - A.V. Roe Company - looks like autocorrect bugs got ya :)
I will never forget the airshow and seeing the SR-71 fly by and a B-1 later on… I could of died that day totally satisfied
Eveyone is missing the fact that Bill Dana is in this video. At 0:49. He was a test pilot of the X-15 project. He was later, in this video, Chief Engineer and Chief Pilot of the Dryden Research Facility. He's distinguished far beyond being called "test pilot." He is known as a research pilot.
Yes thankfully someone nearby reminded us. Would have been a real shame to miss it @@jameskirk2579
finally a video that's not from a flight sim
Oh yeah. And somehow I got away with it!
Such a shame we'll never get to see these marvels flying again.
holy cow I was on top of bldg 4800 when this happened! thanks for posting this it brings back some good memories!
Were you with PRC?
Man when those afterburners lit, that's when you gotta say Kelly Johnson was a rare breed
This airplane is a century ahead of it's time, and to think that slide rulers were used in making it and no CAD aid whatsoever,,,,, but still gives you goosebumps when you watch it's videos. What a creation.
... ahead of its* time / watch its* videos (it's = it is)
Sexiest thing to fly that was designed and built well before my 51 year old arse was brought into the world... What an amazing machine! Sure wish there was some variable that could have been applied to free up the pilot to break at least Mach 1 in a flyby.. Not exactly sure if the 71 could seriously 'bang out' MACH 2 plus speeds near ground level, but I think a full on pass before the last were retired would be absolutely fitting... Thanks for the video! (Kinda funny when we get old enough, and have recorded stuff as far back as BETA video camera (personal) where you had to sling the recording device, which was connected by umbilical to the camera itself.. This was recorded later, but most people born post yr 2k... They don't have the slightest.. Very Thankful for footage like this..
Thank you for sharing this incredible footage!
The engineering of the J58 engine is completely remarkable. Well done USA
Damn when he hit the after burners I got all teary eyed. That was amazing!!
So did I I was on the roof, got a bit of fuel on me when fast eddie hit the afterburners. I really miss that stuff
I lived in the flight path of Beale AFB when I was growing up and saw the Blackbird fly over many times. Also got to go to an airshow on base in the mid-80s..seeing it up close and feeling the power was unforgettable!
The first time I saw this aircraft was in the 1985 movie D.A.R.Y.L. I did not know the significance of the plane back then other than it looked cool. As i got older i realized how special it is. Even today looking at it from the front its just a vicious looking plane.
Terry, THANK YOU for your service to our country! Yes, your flyby shook up everybody, even the old timers! I've updated my description to include you. Upon hearing the PA warning, I dropped what I was working on and ran to the equipment trailer to rent a camera, ran back to the ramp to video your flybys and a couple touch-n-goes, and later on, the SR idling on the ramp, surrounded by conscientious ground crews. Years later, I still had to "detour" through the hangar to check on the Blackbird!
"That hit so many of my resonant frequencies!"
Love me some nerd humor.
I was lucky enough to see that bird fly many times back in the 80s.
A co-worker I have today said he was about 10 years old when they flew the SR-71 to the USAF museum in Dayton, OH. He said they all gathered at the museum to see its arrival and they had radio coms broadcast over the PA for all to hear. The SR-71 was coming from Southern California. The crew radioed "wheel's up" and 30 minutes later it was flying over the museum. Think about that.
I remember that.
They got airborne and said hell why not and throttled up full on and they broke a world record bringing her home.
People that saw it said it didn't look real going that fast,lol...
Still my favorite of all aircraft always....that had to have been the ride of a lifetime,that day.
I also had a friend on an air flight and they pulled up next to the plane to say hello,then throttled up and sped off.
He said it was one of the most surreal moments he ever experienced,seeing it go like like a bullet when it left.
Quite impossible. The SR71 Blackbird could reach a maximum speed of 2200 mph, and Dayton in 2000 miles distant from Southern California. As the Bird reached its maximum speed after taking off, is quite improbable it reached Dayton so quickly.
I think it reached the museum like one hour later, or, if your coworker told you it was over the museum 30 minutes later after taking off, it took off not from Southern California
I remember the sonic boom it generated from that final flight leaving SoCal . . .
@@LAOSmnagiva809 the real speed of the sr-71 is still not known, for all we know it could've been mach 4 and above at full throttle. Maybye the plane got there in 40 minutes and his coworker just said 30.. who knows
@@theairaccumulator7144 During the test flights in 64, they got it up to mach 3.4. Test pilot of that flight, Gililand I think, said it wasn't even full throttle, and he backed off at that point because he didn't know how much the plane could actually take. One pilot claims to have hit mach 3.5 with, as he put it, 2 inches of throttle left. I would believe mach 4 was possible, assuming the plane didn't melt in the process.
Now in my sixties, the SR71 was built round the time I was born, Even though it is no longer flying, it remains my very favourite air plane!
I'm proud to say my father was a welder at Lockheed in the late 1950's into the mid 1960's.
I'm 65 now and I remember how excited he was to be working on The SR71.
We lived in Manhattan Beach when I was born but he continued working there after we moved to Chula Vista, California.
He'd come home on the weekends. RIP Dad!
(Lucio R. Blanco)
Awesome , Im 63 and my dad worked at Lockheed Marietta Ga. from 1963 to 1990 or so. He worked on all the C5s ever built and C130s, C141s, Jet Stars. I still have some awards and things he got when he retired , also some of that time we were in Palmdale Ca. he worked on the L1011 . they could have known each other . RIP Dad
@@shoe3727 Priceless! 😇
Flames… then shock diamonds… brilliant piece of machinery…
I guess I always took these sights for granted living in NorCal very near Beale AFB...
Lucky you!
I saw the Blackbird in the Canadian National Exhibition airshow, in Toronto several years ago. Less than an hour after that, they announced it was already in California!
That uneven afterburner cut in must be a hell of a kick.
Heh yeah I thought the same.. Apparently(From what I've read), it always happened that way, where one would light before the other.. One of the many quirks of the HABU :)
The SR-71 is my favorite aircraft. Maybe not as heavily armed as the Eagle but it's gonna sneak up on them MiGs real quiet like and shoot them with its camera.
My neighbor is an old F-4 Phantom pilot. He saw a little action in Vietnam. I keep telling him to write a book. He had his share of close calls and narrow escapes from MiGs.
These are my 3 favorite aviation books:
- Her Majesty's Top Gun by Sharkey Ward
- A Reluctant Warrior by Kenneth Volker
- Great Fighter Jets of the Galaxy 1 by Tim Gibson
My Father worked on the design for these. I still have his drafting board, the machine, and his old slide rule. A piece of history.
You are so lucky! If he had been my dad I would have forced him to give me private lectures ;)
Incredible how the afterburner kicks in with a explosion and long flame! I think the burner needs also chemical ignition like the core engine burners. Great flyby and a beauty of all time. Now i need to build a 1/48 scale model kit...
Apparently it did, everytime they lit the afterburner,,,,, TEB counter lessened by 1
... an* explosion
1:21 damn that backfires tho when he starts the afterburner
It's likely triethylborane from the igniters.
I keep coming back to this video! Absoulutely amazing. As kid I just loved the Blackbird. And this video perfectly captures the reheat being engaged! Absolute magic. Saw the A12 (single seat CIA variant) on a trip to New York and was amazing
easily the coolest fly by in existence....
What I wouldn’t give to see one of these birds fly again !!
Yes!!! - it was the only time in my life that an airplane re-arranged my DNA.
I was lucky enough to see (if you want to call it that) one take off when I was in Air Force....absolutely amazing and nothing else shook the ground like this plane! It was at a Nato base in Goosebay Canada, they shut down base when this landed to refuel. Taxi'd out without lights surrounded by SPs then fired the beast of engines up...one blue flame then a second one followed by ground shaking until pilots released brakes, landing lights finally came on then this took off like a rocket as soon as was airborne pulled back on stick and straight up into clouds. Ground was shaking like earthquake, this was 1988 and I will never forget that experience!
Saw similar at USAF Alconbury in Cambridgeshire, England back in 86.
Must have been an awesome sight!
Did it come in to refuel you said? They refuel it in the air I thought because it's too heavy to take off full of fuel.
@@AdriaanVerburg True about not taking off with much fuel.
The growl off this thing as it approaches is amazing at around 1min 16 it's like an earie storm.
imagine how pumped the engineers that designed it felt when they saw it first fly....incredible engineers
Unbelievable fly by. Those teb shots! Oh man I wish I could see this happening
Awesome vid! I was at Edwards from 99-02 in the Air Force. Got to see the SR's last flight too. Working that flight line out there is like being 10 years into the future.
Thanks for the compliment. Edwards is an awesome base. I think that this was the first and last time that I used a camcorder at work. Everyone kept telling me "Here comes Security... here comes Security!"
F104G826
In hindsight it was worth it!
One thing's for sure, the US can build some sexy aircraft!
In 1977, I use to see it land in Okinawa at Kadena. It would circle the island 3 times prior to landing
Robert Banister yup, it has to do that to cool down and slow down. Coming in too heavy also was considered risky since the SR71s lost mostly crashed from failure during landing.
Don't know where you got your info from but it is BS. The last SR to crash was due to a compressor blade failure, the one before that crashed while trying to land in heavy crosswinds at Kadena AB, Okinawa. If it had occurred in the U.S. it would have been repaired.
They would do a go-around sometimes, not always. No need to cool it down before it landed.
BTW I had just shy of 15 years working hydraulics on the SR, 10 of those was at Det-1 9th SRW, Kadena AB, Okinawa Japan.+-
I saw it at Naha AB, Okinawa in 1968. It dipped below a low cloud layer, flew down the runway then climbed back up into the clouds. I knew what it was and was stunned to see one flying .
The blackbird arrived, and the crowd went absolutely bananas...
I was VERY VERY fortunate to of had the privilege and honor in 1991 and 1992 to get a personal and private one on one tour of tail number 844 SR 71 blackbird here at NASA Dryden Edwards AFB California. I was in the Air Force and had a friend over on the NASA end that was the crew chief on the blackbird. He took me in the closed hanger and i got to walk under it around it and touch every part of it . i was sooo excited. Like a kid . then a pilot came in the hanger and was talking to my friend about a flight later and came over to me and we talked i asked alot of ?s and he asked if he opened the cockpit if id like to sit in her i said YES !!! so i did and he got in the NAV seat and i in the pilot seat and he closed the canopy . oh my lord that was the highlight of my life to this day. Even beats all 5 space shuttle landings I've been up close and personal to. That evening my friend took me out to the end of taxi way B out on runway 22 to stand there and watch an evening afterburner take off of #844 !!! Well after she passed my nose was runny and tears pouring out my eyes and ears ringing 😂😂😂 but boy what a rush !! Now i know why all the NASA camera men and my friend had ear protection on 😂 what a beautiful aircraft she is .......ill never forget her or that day ...ever...ny first true love ...😁
We had two SR-71 at Mildenhall UK and it was wonderful to attend the yearly Air Fete. Before they retired them my sister and myself managed to arrange a private visit and we too were taken in to the hangar to view 17964. What a plane and what a day. Sadly no photos were permitted but memories made that will last a lifetime. Keep ya Mach High
starts at 0:59 ends at 1:38
Wow! There are just some aircraft that are so simply beautiful. (well, at least to me) The Messerschmitt ME 262 from Germany (please no political agenda replies). Great Britain's breathtaking RAF Supermarine Spitfire. America's gorgeous North American P-51 Mustang and the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirt, to name just a few that come to mind. But nothing so far built can take away from the absolute shocking beauty of the Blackbirds. IMHO.
Man that thing sounds like absolutely nothing else
That was some mean machine, I don't think people actually knew how fast it went 3000 MPH +.
You mean 2000 MPH+.
afterburners were insane
That would be like a religious experience for me if I was there.
I never had the privilege to hear one of these close up. I only heard them when they sonic boomed us from 80K feet lol. I wish I could've experienced that close up
I saw the SR-71's at Beale A.F.B. while I was stationed there.
Here in UK Raf alconbury sr 71, was amazing ❤
The most beautiful thing man ever made.
That and Racquel Welch..
I was stationed at Camp Foster Okinawa Aug 74-Sep75, I'd watch the SR-71 take off/land at Kadena AFB. We called it the "Habu" after the native snake on Okinawa.
The best views were had from on top of Habu Hill at the end of the main runway..good times......
Wonderful 😃 miss being on the airbase to hear all these beauty’s coming in and out.
... all these beauties* ...
Nice AB kick-in just at the right moment. Thanks for the video.
80's hair, man I miss those days I love it.
I fabricated the GPS radome cover for 844 between the cockpits!!!!! The little bump!!!
That's interesting! Must have had critical materials requirement. Did you work at Dryden?
I witnessed this arrival from an AF building nearby. I wondered about the flames as it passed over thinking it might have had a bad ab light, but it appears it was intentional. I don't know how the pilot was able to do that.
This is a complete guess and someone can correct me, but if it's like some other jets there is likely a detent in the throttle that keeps the aircraft from going full afterburner. Usually there's a little latch or button the pilot can squeeze to get the throttle fully forward. My guess is he waited until he was above the crowd to go full afterburner and the flames could have been the initial fuel injection, like how a car might backfire before starting up, or something to do with the engine's startup sequence. But that's just my best guess.
Just brilliant thanks from England 🇬🇧
Brilliant sound!! The two streaks of reheat flame were an added bonus.
The SR-71 is arguably the greatest airplane ever made. It's sad there is so little footage of actual flying.
Well, they dont like low, slow flying. That planes a thoroughbred. It wants to be up high in the atmosphere at 4 digit speeds.
Can't see much because the camera is being used like a firehose but thanks for a few seconds of viewable stuff.
+deepfreezevideo Thanks for the compliment. I was in a "NO FLIGHTLINE PHOTOGRAPHY!" area and had to keep looking for the base security police who would confiscate the camera. There's more than a few seconds of viewable stuff if you look for it - legendary NASA test pilots, research scientists, engineers, a really famous B-52, etc.
I was gonna comment on the crappy camera handling, but... Hmmmm..... O.K., I'll give you a pass, if you were trying to keep your camera low key.... At least you got a good shot of the Blackbird igniting it's afterburners.
they did not let ppl take pictures of that plane back then.he was right about that!
F104G826 great video. Don't care about the camera moving. Excellent capture of one of the rarest machines on this planet
F104G826 Allow me to stand up tall and say "I have an Emmy award" and like they say in the real estate industry " Location Location Location" They also say "you don't owe some jack ass on youtube anything" Some day I will post my Kadena Habu video... as soon as I can find a 3/4 reel to reel player. Thank you for posting the non symmetrical afterburner thingy.
1:19 the best thing your Human body can Comprehend
sound of freedom!!
good while it lasted
The most amazing aircraft
NASA was allowed to see the SR-71 up close and personal in their hanger around the time the Shuttle airframe had begun fabrication, long before this. My great uncle was Jack Branham and CIA SR was cancelled over what happened to my grandfather in 1963 in Reno/North Tahoe, and I do have my grandfathers mechanical drawing set.
What happened to him? Tried googling it but all I get are obituaries for ruel branham
clay collins 1996, went peacefully while doing what he loved best: Fishing
So confused, you say the program was cancelled after what happened to your grandfather in 1963
And everyone was just instantly smiling
Go visit the museum in Seattle and you can sit in one.
Shit. That's beautiful. I love this plane.
The sound @1:19, amazing!
You have to hear it live to believe it.
I have.
BRING IT BACK !
this!
Cant, gotta keep those sprayplanes going ..
They have no purpose anymore. A Sattelite can do the same job now.
They is an organization known as cobra with their own version of that plane called a night Raven have you ever heard of it?
Also fun seeing an F-104 sitting on the ground!
Were the flames starting to come out the back from a TEB shot? Lighting the afterburners?
Those were some serious flames, The manner in which the flames came out of the engine it was almost as if the burners were lit without a TEB shot. The 2 times a TEB shot are injected, when: A) throttle is moved from Off/On and b) when the throttle is raised and then pushed over and forward of the Military/Augmentor detent. The afterburner is then throttled with Maximum Power being full forward. I'm no expert when it comes to the J58 characteristics during afterburner engagement as viewed from directly overhead, but it sure seems to be very fuel rich prior to the Mach diamonds taking shape. I didn't notice any greenish flame during a/b startup, but that can be tough to spot even in the hangar when you are looking for it during engine spool up.. Maybe that's typical for in flight engagement like that. Great display regardless!
I know this is an old vid but check out the new vid elsewhere of a fully flying MODEL of SR71. Its stunning.
(hey you) set my soul on fire
Burning burning desire.
You would have loved the sound of the start carts reving up the J58 engines, too. It sounded like a drag race on the flight line!
For the first time, I saw Shock Diamond in a video. This makes me want to cry, even if I'm not the CIA Richard Helms, "This isn't a Blackbird. It's a hell hammer!"
How cool is that? Never seen an A/B lightoff in flight.
I want one!
A P-38 updated becomes the
SR-71.
The Wright Flyer updated
becomes the Burt Rutan
Beech Starship.
SALUTE ......
Mr. Kelly Johnson,
Mr. Burt Rutan.
" The more things change
the more they remain the
same."
Wow, you can totally see the shock diamonds at 1:24!
The more diamonds the better the engine! I think I counted a max of 14 out of all the pics ive seen on the web :)
The shock diamond is the ring in the AB right? not sure what that is.
Best footage on Utube
Upon lighting the afterburners, what caused the large flames? Was it excess JP7 and the TEB setting it off?
TEB is used to light them up. I creates a green flame. Because the JP-7 is like trying to light engine oil on fire.
So, the flames are from the first half of your question and you are right.
To add, at the onset of the afterburners the A/F ratio is super rich, meaning the engines haven't spooled up fast enough to provide the right amount of oxygen for complete ignition. Hot fuel at or above the auto ignition temperature flows out the back, meets enough oxygen and creates a fireball. I have a high compression, high RPM Mustang that does the same; for a fraction of a second while upshifting it goes rich and the excess fuel passes into the exhaust, meets the right conditions and makes a loud "pop" out of the tailpipes.
The engines do not "spool up" anymore. They're at full military power when AB is selected.
Love how some dufus is always there with the "Been there done that" attitude.
Greatest aircraft ever (that's unclassified)
still the coolest plane ever built.
And not a single computer used.. only a brain and a slide ruler
They used early computers to design and test this.
those powerplants could be used on a freakin oceanliner
would have loved to be working as a security guard over hte usa at a airbase in the 80s or 90s and see this fly over.
at 0:22 SR-71 pilot Richard Graham?
There is no other aircraft in the history of flight that has caused such a ripple in the pond more than this craft.
Great video and even greater airplane. And only an engineer would describe that as hitting several of their resonant frequencies 😆 LOL. Love it
Amazing video!
How come you were so high, Terry?
The ULTIMATE flyby.
What a beast 🏴🏴
Nice video. Hope you have now bought a tripod .
Got to see her take off in the mist of the night right before dawn at edwards, was there on the shuttle recovery crew, the 71 left to intercept the Columbia over Hawaii as she re-entered the atmosphere. We later got to see some of the video and still shots amazing. Both aircraft
What a machine !