Thanks for the comments and kind remarks. The bird is actually mine, and after seeing several insightful comments and questions below, thoughts I’d answer a few of them. By the way, great job shooting the video… always a difficult task, and nice work on the editing too! The plane is 1/8th scale, and weighs 86 lbs on takeoff with 72 lbs of total thrust. It carries 2.6 gallons of jet fuel, and will burn 2 gallons of that in 8 minutes of flying. It’s a scratch built project that took 9.5 years from start to the first public flight. The first pass in the video, which was a high speed pass was doing right around 170 mph. The next gear down pass, which is supposed to be the slow pass is around 100 mph. Normally, I fly the plane at full size airports, and use 1200-1500 feet of runway. The location of the competition here, is a 730 foot runway, plus trees and powerlines to contend with 1000 feet from the ends of the runway. I had done a practice flight the Tuesday before, and had a friend down by the power lines, on a cell phone, and I learned that I was skimming over them by just 20 feet, a quarter of a mile away… very narrow margin. So on this flight, I was a bit over cautious, and clearing them by too much, and a bit ‘high and hot’ on the touch and go, and landing. The proper approach for this plane, at this site, is to be skimming the trees, 20-30 feet above them, then try to gauge the point you’re clear, and dropping on in… a technique that is a bit hard on the nerves. You just can’t just drop the nose too aggressively…it just picks speed back up again. The plane by design has no flaps or speed brakes to slow it up. It was built to do one thing… go fast and do it in a straight line. The challenge for the contest, was that many of the maneuvers were needing large swings in the throttle, and on a widely separated twin, if the engines are not dead on together, it can have a large impact. (By the way, the afterburner lighting has no bearing to the engine thrust, although I do have the AB lights separated a bit, as real birds seldom have the AB’s kick in exactly the same.) As an example, on the touch-n-go, once the wheels are down, I need to go to up to 50% throttle and hold it for 3 seconds, then slowly advance it, so they stay in sycn. Makes for a challenge of patience, when the runway is clipping by quickly. It is gyro stabilized in yaw and roll. One thing to bear in mind, I’m normally flying it at the higher speed ranges, and the competitive elements here have slower speeds.. slow pass, touch-n-go, overshoot, coupled with 15-20 mph dead crosswinds, with trees all over, and skimming out over them frequently, with the wind and turbulence over their tops. Someone made a remark on the pilot size…. You’re not wrong, but for such a big bird, the cockpit is very close quarters on the full size. I found these great pilots with the correct David Clark suits and all, and had to make them work, even if they are a little big. Cockpits are tedious enough to do, and the thought of having to hand make the spacesuits, was too much for me holding onto my marbles. If you’ve curious to see the full depth of the project, just google for “Lance’s Jet Page”. The plane fly’s great, and I’m thrilled how the project has turned out. Lastly, I’m asked all the time about the cost… my standard reply: “I’ve never answered that for fear of it getting back to my wife…”
Lance, thanks so much for chiming in, that helps greatly! I've pinned this comment to the top, so it'll show up as the first comment for anyone watching the vid on UA-cam. Fantastic build and flying with this airplane and congratulations on the well deserved win! It was great meeting you at the event.
Congrats. Based on the books by Richard Graham and others, you've made an authentic model of the SR-71, complete with it's flight characteristics, adverse yaw and all. Maximum load was +1.5G, and turns at speed were limited to 45 degrees of bank. One "hand-flown" attempt at a turn at speed resulted ATC in AZ telling the crew they were leaving the state. The SR-71 accidentally overflew Mexico! If the aircraft is redesigned for a load limit of +3G, the aircraft can do >45 degree turns at speed. I wonder what the radar cross section is. ;)
Edit: This was a quote from Brian Shul “As a former SR-71 pilot, and a professional keynote speaker, the question I’m most often asked is ‘How fast would that SR-71 fly?’ I can be assured of hearing that question several times at any event I attend. It’s an interesting question, given the aircraft’s proclivity for speed, but there really isn’t one number to give, as the jet would always give you a little more speed if you wanted it to. It was common to see 35 miles a minute. Because we flew a programmed Mach number on most missions, and never wanted to harm the plane in any way, we never let it run out to any limits of temperature or speed.. Thus, each SR-71 pilot had his own individual ‘high’ speed that he saw at some point on some mission. I saw mine over Libya when Khadafy fired two missiles my way, and max power was in order. Let’s just say that the plane truly loved speed and effortlessly took us to Mach numbers we hadn’t previously seen. So it was with great surprise, when at the end of one of my presentations, someone asked, ‘What was the slowest you ever flew the Blackbird?’ This was a first. After giving it some thought, I was reminded of a story that I had never shared before, and I relayed the following. I was flying the SR-71 out of RAF Mildenhall, England, with my back-seater, Walt Watson; we were returning from a mission over Europe and the Iron Curtain when we received a radio transmission from home base. As we scooted across Denmark in three minutes, we learned that a small RAF base in the English countryside had requested an SR-71 fly-past. The air cadet commander there was a former Blackbird pilot, and thought it would be a motivating moment for the young lads to see the mighty SR-71 perform a low approach. No problem, we were happy to do it. After a quick aerial refuelling over the North Sea, we proceeded to find the small airfield. Walter had a myriad of sophisticated navigation equipment in the back seat, and began to vector me toward the field. Descending to subsonic speeds, we found ourselves over a densely wooded area in a slight haze. Like most former WWII British airfields, the one we were looking for had a small tower and little surrounding infrastructure. Walter told me we were close and that I should be able to see the field, but I saw nothing. Nothing but trees as far as I could see in the haze. We got a little lower, and I pulled the throttles back from 325 knots we were at. With the gear up, anything under 275 was just uncomfortable. Walt said we were practically over the field-yet; there was nothing in my windscreen. I banked the jet and started a gentle circling maneuver in hopes of picking up anything that looked like a field. Meanwhile, below, the cadet commander had taken the cadets up on the catwalk of the tower in order to get a prime view of the fly-past. It was a quiet, still day with no wind and partial gray overcast. Walter continued to give me indications that the field should be below us but in the overcast and haze, I couldn’t see it. The longer we continued to peer out the window and circle, the slower we got. With our power back, the awaiting cadets heard nothing. I must have had good instructors in my flying career, as something told me I better cross-check the gauges. As I noticed the airspeed indicator slide below 160 knots, my heart stopped and my adrenalin-filled left hand pushed two throttles full forward. At this point we weren’t really flying, but were falling in a slight bank. Just at the moment that both afterburners lit with a thunderous roar of flame (and what a joyous feeling that was) the aircraft fell into full view of the shocked observers on the tower. Shattering the still quiet of that morning, they now had 107 feet of fire-breathing titanium in their face as the plane levelled and accelerated, in full burner, on the tower side of the infield, closer than expected, maintaining what could only be described as some sort of ultimate knife-edge pass. Quickly reaching the field boundary, we proceeded back to Mildenhall without incident. We didn’t say a word for those next 14 minutes. After landing, our commander greeted us, and we were both certain he was reaching for our wings. Instead, he heartily shook our hands and said the commander had told him it was the greatest SR-71 fly-past he had ever seen, especially how we had surprised them with such a precise maneuver that could only be described as breathtaking. He said that some of the cadet’s hats were blown off and the sight of the plan form of the plane in full afterburner dropping right in front of them was unbelievable. Walt and I both understood the concept of ‘breathtaking’ very well that morning and sheepishly replied that they were just excited to see our low approach. As we retired to the equipment room to change from space suits to flight suits, we just sat there-we hadn’t spoken a word since ‘the pass.’ Finally, Walter looked at me and said, ‘One hundred fifty-six knots. What did you see?’ Trying to find my voice, I stammered, ‘One hundred fifty-two.’ We sat in silence for a moment. Then Walt said, ‘Don’t ever do that to me again!’ And I never did. A year later, Walter and I were having lunch in the Mildenhall Officer’s club, and overheard an officer talking to some cadets about an SR-71 fly-past that he had seen one day. Of course, by now the story included kids falling off the tower and screaming as the heat of the jet singed their eyebrows. Noticing our HABU patches, as we stood there with lunch trays in our hands, he asked us to verify to the cadets that such a thing had occurred. Walt just shook his head and said, ‘It was probably just a routine low approach; they’re pretty impressive in that plane.’ Impressive indeed.”
I served in the Marine Corps from 1983 to 1986. My first deployment was in Okinawa Japan on MCAS FutenmaA. Close to this location is Kadema Air Force base during which the SR-71 was still active. Seeing your model fly looked and even sounded like the real thing. This is my favorite RC model I've ever seen. Thank you for sharing this amazing piece of artistry.
As someone who hasn't made models since childhood I can only express my admiration for the skill,ingenuity and patience that must have gone into creating this beauty.
Just visited the Museum of Flight in Seattle and saw the M-21 Blackbird and sat in the cockpit of the SR-71. What a thrill for this 62 year-old kid! This giant scale SR-71 is fantastic! The Blackbird has been my favorite plane since I was a young lad. It made a few passes at the Canadian National Exhibition Airshow in what must have been the late 70s or perhaps '80 or '81. I've never been so excited to see that beautiful and elegant shape and it brought back the thrill watching this video. I highly encourage the enthusiasts to visit the Museum of Flight and see these marvels in person. It was an experience to sit in the cockpit of a real SR-71 and tap the titanium and see how the engineers put these masterpieces together. One of the greatest achievements in the history of aviation. My hat is off to the brilliant engineers who brought this all together. And of course kudos to the builder of this giant scale flying model. Well done!
What i mean to say is that this model can stand alone without flying. The fact that it flies, and flies so realistically (and the sound) is what makes the whole package amazingly unique. I'm a fan of the SR-71 as well.
That’s an aircraft you don’t see modeled much, and this one is the best I’ve seen online, very true to scale. A 9 year labor, wow....just gorgeous! Excellent flight in those breezy crosswinds! Like to see more of this particular bird!
You have to remember the flight envelope that the plane was designed for, it's a near miracle that it can be done at all as an RC. Kudos to the builder/pilot.
Absolutely true. As a design, it doesn't lend itself well for model flying, but this one flew fantastic! This was the best flying SR-71 model I've seen, but it was also the largest by far.
If any of you you ever get a chance to go to a Top Gun event DO IT! Into RC or not the flying talent and build talent is truly remarkable! Lance Campbell that a masterpiece you built.
Yeah, Top Gun is a great event which really showcases some incredible scale building and flying. I had hoped to get back out there again this year, but wasn't able to make that happen. :(
When I worked at Lockheed I flew over Palmdale and looked down out of the cockpit and there was a SR 71 landing below me, it was one of the best memories of my life. What a beautiful aircraft the SR 71 was. I be too scared to fly RC on such an a work of art. Hats off to you, me I would crash your work.
@@tacticalbuttsex4669 , The A-10 is my #2 favorite Military Aircraft, I'm praying as well as thousands of Boots on the ground are that the A-10 isn't retired anytime soon.
The Blackbird has long been my favorite plane. I can't say enough about how impressed I am by this astonishing model. Lance Campbell is obviously a craftsman of genius with the patience and dedication of a Buddhist monk. I wish him many more years of happy modeling. Thanks to him and to the poster for the video.
Agreed. The aerodynamics on a scale version of such an extreme design must be very daunting to fly... I'm impressed that it's controllable at all. +50 point for the awesome pilot figures... though I think they're not quite proper scale. :D
@@KandiKlover The SR-71 has been given several nicknames, including "Blackbird" and "Habu". Since 1976, it has held the world record for the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft.Hmm not bad for us outdated out of touch americans. So pathetic third world country.
What a beautiful piece! My dad worked on the Habu during Vietnam and has told me bits here and there throughout my life. The most recent one I’m reminded of when I saw you go into the grass when an SR was coming in to land and the brakes burned up and it went off in the grass bending the gear up and belly sliding for a bit. He saw the smoke and ran over to see what was going on as he was to be changing the film from the mission. He then watched as there were bulldozers brought in and they buried the poor thing right there at the end of the runway. To his knowledge it’s still there today pushin up daisies. It’s amazing to realize that a plane of that caliber was so expensive to repair from an incident like that and the only course of action was to dig a hole and hide it there. The paneling and landing gear were just that hard to get right after a crash. Best wishes to you and your amazing plane and may your wife never find out how much it cost to build! Haha! I salute you.
Pomdimus Maximus beautiful plane not sure how long to build but 100s of thousands of hours no nothing takes that long you would be dead of old age just saying no big deal
The sound these larger RC planes make is amazing. Once you get away from the small ones, the engine/flight sounds are identical to the real thing.....only at a different scale.
Can't make up my mind which is most impressive, the skill to build it so realistically and with all the operating features such as opening canopies and retractable gear, the skills to fly it, or the patience and desire to build it so well! Masterful job sir, congratulations!
"There were a lot of things we couldn’t do in an SR-71, but we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe flying this plane. Intense, maybe. Even cerebral. But there was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment. It occurred when Walt and I were flying our final training sortie. We needed 100 hours in the jet to complete our training and attain Mission Ready status. Somewhere over Colorado we had passed the century mark. We had made the turn in Arizona and the jet was performing flawlessly. My gauges were wired in the front seat and we were starting to feel pretty good about ourselves, not only because we would soon be flying real missions but because we had gained a great deal of confidence in the plane in the past ten months. Ripping across the barren deserts 80,000 feet below us, I could already see the coast of California from the Arizona border. I was, finally, after many humbling months of simulators and study, ahead of the jet. I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for Walter in the back seat. There he was, with no really good view of the incredible sights before us, tasked with monitoring four different radios. This was good practice for him for when we began flying real missions, when a priority transmission from headquarters could be vital. It had been difficult, too, for me to relinquish control of the radios, as during my entire flying career I had controlled my own transmissions. But it was part of the division of duties in this plane and I had adjusted to it. I still insisted on talking on the radio while we were on the ground, however. Walt was so good at many things, but he couldn’t match my expertise at sounding smooth on the radios, a skill that had been honed sharply with years in fighter squadrons where the slightest radio miscue was grounds for beheading. He understood that and allowed me that luxury. Just to get a sense of what Walt had to contend with, I pulled the radio toggle switches and monitored the frequencies along with him. The predominant radio chatter was from Los Angeles Center, far below us, controlling daily traffic in their sector. While they had us on their scope (albeit briefly), we were in uncontrolled airspace and normally would not talk to them unless we needed to descend into their airspace. We listened as the shaky voice of a lone Cessna pilot asked Center for a readout of his ground speed. Center replied: November Charlie 175, I’m showing you at ninety knots on the ground. Now the thing to understand about Center controllers, was that whether they were talking to a rookie pilot in a Cessna, or to Air Force One, they always spoke in the exact same, calm, deep, professional, tone that made one feel important. I referred to it as the “ Houston Center voice.” I have always felt that after years of seeing documentaries on this country’s space program and listening to the calm and distinct voice of the Houston controllers, that all other controllers since then wanted to sound like that… and that they basically did. And it didn’t matter what sector of the country we would be flying in, it always seemed like the same guy was talking. Over the years that tone of voice had become somewhat of a comforting sound to pilots everywhere. Conversely, over the years, pilots always wanted to ensure that, when transmitting, they sounded like Chuck Yeager, or at least like John Wayne. Better to die than sound bad on the radios. Just moments after the Cessna’s inquiry, a Twin Beech piped up on frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his ground speed. Twin Beach, I have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed. Boy, I thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is dazzling his Cessna brethren. Then out of the blue, a navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock because he sounded very cool on the radios. Center, Dusty 52 ground speed check Before Center could reply, I’m thinking to myself, hey, Dusty 52 has a ground speed indicator in that million-dollar cockpit, so why is he asking Center for a readout? Then I got it, ol’ Dusty here is making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows what true speed is. He’s the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet. And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more distinct alliteration than emotion: Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 on the ground. And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what? As my hand instinctively reached for the mic button, I had to remind myself that Walt was in control of the radios. Still, I thought, it must be done - in mere seconds we’ll be out of the sector and the opportunity will be lost. That Hornet must die, and die now. I thought about all of our Sim training and how important it was that we developed well as a crew and knew that to jump in on the radios now would destroy the integrity of all that we had worked toward becoming. I was torn. Somewhere, 13 miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside his space helmet. Then, I heard it. The click of the mic button from the back seat. That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke: Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check? There was no hesitation, and the replay came as if was an everyday request. Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground. I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation, and you just knew he was smiling. But the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed the mic once again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like voice: Ah, Center, much thanks, We’re showing closer to nineteen hundred on the money. For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in the armor of the Houston Center voice, when L.A.came back with: Roger that Aspen, Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You boys have a good one. It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been flamed, all mortal airplanes on freq were forced to bow before the King of Speed, and more importantly, Walter and I had crossed the threshold of being a crew. A fine day’s work. We never heard another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast. For just one day, it truly was fun being the fastest guys out there."
I was 60th AMS out of Travis back around 1980. Did a couple TDY in Okinawa to support C5A's. At dusk, we would sit next to the runway in Kadena sipping rice beer and watching the Blackbirds do touch n goes not 20 feet away. When they reared back and hit afterburner, they seemed to just float for a second or two at 45° or so before screaming strait into the purple sky. The engines roared like no other aircraft and the ground rumbled enough to knock over your beer! We never got tired of watching those monsters. The baddest aircraft that ever existed by far. I was always jealous of the team supporting that program. This model RC absolutely nails it. Amazing work!
Awesome job Lance! When I was about 13 years old, my Father took me and a buddy to Beale Air Force Base in CA (near where we lived). My Father knew the commander of the base and we were treated to not only an introduction to an SR-71 crew AS they got suited up for a flight, but we also saw that thing take off. I'll never, ever forget what my Father did for me that day and my conversation with those pilots has stayed with me all these years. When that bird came out of the hanger, and just...kept...coming, I finally realize how big that plane was. I remember the pilots telling us that, at speed, if they wanted to do a 180 degree turn, they would have to start at San Francisco for example and would be at the apex of the turn over Reno, Nevada, some 190 miles away! They also told us of the flight where they saw the Sunrise twice (I later read that story as well in a magazine article)...Flying to the East coast, seeing the sunrise, then flying back to Beale, landing, and seeing the Sun rise again. What memories your video brought back...Thank you my friend.
I was in the USAF and did see these take off / disappear into the clouds immediately! I saw them in the early 70's Flying operationally. So yes, I appreciate the workmanship of this RC plane!
It's reminiscent to when they landed the airplane for the last time in Dayton for the USAF museum as they had to come low over some trees on the approach.
RC Geek, Your plane is awesome! I shared it on Facebook and told folks that if they had kids too young to have seen the real thing fly that they should hunt up your video and watch that! They would get a real good idea of what the real thing looked like! Good job!!
That's badass. Kadena AFB had the SR-71 and they were so amazing to watch on takeoff. Once they hit the air they fully thrusted at about 60 degree angle upward so fast they were out of sight in seconds Harry they had to be refueled directly after takeoff. I used to guard them and still have photos of them on the flight line
WOW. I love to build but I'm terrified to fly. My stuff is basic, how you build something so amazing then just throw it up there is beyond me. Respect! Looks amasing, amasing skills flying the Blackbird. Mind blowing.
gotta love these large scale jets.....especially the two biggest involvements in recreating an iconic aircraft like the sr-71....the builder....and the pilot.
Beautiful job! I was 18 years old when I got to Beale AFB CA and I wrenched on 972 from 82' to 86'. I will never forget the silhouette or the sound of her afterburners.
OMG........ watching those approaches I was nervous about it. But with the chute deployment you did a fantastic job!!!!!! GREAT flight all in all. Thanks for sharing this. It is inspirational to me. Well done!!!!!!
WOW! Even has a parachute to slow it down and still over shoots the runway by a few feet. Well done sir! Excellent representation of the most famous jet aircraft in aviation history!😁👍👍
One seriously tough job landing that beauty..... mad props(no pun) serious congrats and much thanks for the time and skill to build and show...... superior skills!!!!
Wow, Lance Campbell that is an incredible job of building and flying. The SR-71 has always been my favorite aircraft and watching some of that video I can imagine myself watching the real thing. The touch and go really surprised me. Fantastic jobs all round.
One of the most impressive models which I have ever seen. Such details which I always thought would be impossible to achieve at such a small scale, but this achieved it all. I like the flying but It seems to need some frontal area for those rudders to operate more effectively, as when they are applied, the aircraft skids a little forward before it starts biting at the turn. Perhaps that is the price one pays for going all out to be Radar, invisible. Congratulations to all who had anything to do with this impeccable model. Just brilliant in every manner and brave is the owner of such a plane to permit it to fly. I would just look at it . Congratulations once again.
I also think that since it was designed for flight at over Mach 3 that might also be a factor as well. Of course back then everything was done on slide rules which made virtually impossible to account for all variables.
I did one in much more small size. That was a glass fiber composite plane. It was fly but it was a very problematic airplane in that size. The length was 114 cm and 64 cm wingspan. If t would do it again i would do it minimum 2 times larger. ;-) This larger plane on the video is awsome. Congratulation for the builder.
I was referring more to the need for high speed in a straight flight (in order to not stall), the full size SR-71 looked more 'slow' compared to the scale model, because the air density does not scale down (I hope that you understand my drift)
Not really. You can download the flight manual from the internet, read the emergency procedures, etc. If I recall correctly, somewhere in there it lists a never exceed speed of Mach 3.3.
The folks at Skunk Works would be proud!! Maybe if they see this they'll show ya the SR-72 and you can get a jump on building the bigger brother. Fantastic work!
What a wonderful reproduction of the most beautiful and exciting plane in the world! Such a great job of construction and flying in difficult circumstances. Well done, Lance Campbell!
WOW THAT IS A REMARKABLE BUILD, WISH MY STEP-DAD- COULD SEE THIS. HE PAST-AWAY IN 2012 & WORKED ON THIS BIRD WHEN HE WAS WITH LOCKHEED. HE ALWAYS TOLD ME THAT WORKING N & BUILDING THIS PLANE WAS BEST TIME OF HIS CAREER. DAM GOOD JOB ON THAT PLANE. IF HE WHERE STILL HERE I'D HAVE HIM AUTOGRAPH IT FOR 'YA.
RC builders have brass balls. If I had spent hundreds of hours making a huge scale replica, I wouldn't want to move it across the room, let alone fly it at high speed.
I was about to ask about the afterburner lighting but I read Lance Campbell's comment. Very realistic! Especially as they aren't synchronized. BTW I love the blackbird, coolest fighter of all time.
My uncle Fred from Germany, helped design the Blackbird in the 1960s when he worked at Lockheed in Southern California. They had Kelly Johnson to dinner several times. I was just a little kid but remember that.
He was a real interesting guy. During WW2 he was a wing designer at the underground Messerschmidt factory . Thats where he met my mom's sister as she was a lathe operator. Uncle Fred was a character. Always wore a three piece suit. Smoked Virginia cigars and only drove the top of the line Buicks. A brilliant man that couldnt hammer a nail in the wall. Also heres the best part. He never set foot into an aircraft. Knowing what he knew about flight, he knew the thin line between flying and falling to the ground. He would have loved this RC beauty.
Very impressive, I imagine lots of hours and a lot of money went in to making such an awesome (I’m British and very rarely describe something as awesome it’s got to be extremely special)
Cool! Actually saw the real thing fly into Mach AF base 30 something years ago. Craziest thing I've ever seen in the air. Model planes have come a long way.
I remember these monster in the 80s the Nicaraguan war, I was 15 years old and we only hear the sound when it breaks the sound barrier. El pájaro negro!!!!!
Thanks for the comments and kind remarks. The bird is actually mine, and after seeing several insightful comments and questions below, thoughts I’d answer a few of them. By the way, great job shooting the video… always a difficult task, and nice work on the editing too!
The plane is 1/8th scale, and weighs 86 lbs on takeoff with 72 lbs of total thrust. It carries 2.6 gallons of jet fuel, and will burn 2 gallons of that in 8 minutes of flying. It’s a scratch built project that took 9.5 years from start to the first public flight. The first pass in the video, which was a high speed pass was doing right around 170 mph. The next gear down pass, which is supposed to be the slow pass is around 100 mph. Normally, I fly the plane at full size airports, and use 1200-1500 feet of runway. The location of the competition here, is a 730 foot runway, plus trees and powerlines to contend with 1000 feet from the ends of the runway. I had done a practice flight the Tuesday before, and had a friend down by the power lines, on a cell phone, and I learned that I was skimming over them by just 20 feet, a quarter of a mile away… very narrow margin. So on this flight, I was a bit over cautious, and clearing them by too much, and a bit ‘high and hot’ on the touch and go, and landing. The proper approach for this plane, at this site, is to be skimming the trees, 20-30 feet above them, then try to gauge the point you’re clear, and dropping on in… a technique that is a bit hard on the nerves. You just can’t just drop the nose too aggressively…it just picks speed back up again. The plane by design has no flaps or speed brakes to slow it up. It was built to do one thing… go fast and do it in a straight line.
The challenge for the contest, was that many of the maneuvers were needing large swings in the throttle, and on a widely separated twin, if the engines are not dead on together, it can have a large impact. (By the way, the afterburner lighting has no bearing to the engine thrust, although I do have the AB lights separated a bit, as real birds seldom have the AB’s kick in exactly the same.) As an example, on the touch-n-go, once the wheels are down, I need to go to up to 50% throttle and hold it for 3 seconds, then slowly advance it, so they stay in sycn. Makes for a challenge of patience, when the runway is clipping by quickly. It is gyro stabilized in yaw and roll. One thing to bear in mind, I’m normally flying it at the higher speed ranges, and the competitive elements here have slower speeds.. slow pass, touch-n-go, overshoot, coupled with 15-20 mph dead crosswinds, with trees all over, and skimming out over them frequently, with the wind and turbulence over their tops.
Someone made a remark on the pilot size…. You’re not wrong, but for such a big bird, the cockpit is very close quarters on the full size. I found these great pilots with the correct David Clark suits and all, and had to make them work, even if they are a little big. Cockpits are tedious enough to do, and the thought of having to hand make the spacesuits, was too much for me holding onto my marbles.
If you’ve curious to see the full depth of the project, just google for “Lance’s Jet Page”. The plane fly’s great, and I’m thrilled how the project has turned out.
Lastly, I’m asked all the time about the cost… my standard reply: “I’ve never answered that for fear of it getting back to my wife…”
Lance, thanks so much for chiming in, that helps greatly! I've pinned this comment to the top, so it'll show up as the first comment for anyone watching the vid on UA-cam. Fantastic build and flying with this airplane and congratulations on the well deserved win! It was great meeting you at the event.
very nice sir, very nice.
dare you to put a pro go camera in the cockpit. LOL.
9.5 years for a bird like that? .. Did you execute this project all by yourself?
Lance Campbell just wonderful, this is technicalart.
Congrats. Based on the books by Richard Graham and others, you've made an authentic model of the SR-71, complete with it's flight characteristics, adverse yaw and all. Maximum load was +1.5G, and turns at speed were limited to 45 degrees of bank. One "hand-flown" attempt at a turn at speed resulted ATC in AZ telling the crew they were leaving the state. The SR-71 accidentally overflew Mexico! If the aircraft is redesigned for a load limit of +3G, the aircraft can do >45 degree turns at speed. I wonder what the radar cross section is. ;)
Edit: This was a quote from Brian Shul
“As a former SR-71 pilot, and a professional keynote speaker, the question I’m most often asked is ‘How fast would that SR-71 fly?’ I can be assured of hearing that question several times at any event I attend. It’s an interesting question, given the aircraft’s proclivity for speed, but there really isn’t one number to give, as the jet would always give you a little more speed if you wanted it to. It was common to see 35 miles a minute.
Because we flew a programmed Mach number on most missions, and never wanted to harm the plane in any way, we never let it run out to any limits of temperature or speed.. Thus, each SR-71 pilot had his own individual ‘high’ speed that he saw at some point on some mission. I saw mine over Libya when Khadafy fired two missiles my way, and max power was in order. Let’s just say that the plane truly loved speed and effortlessly took us to Mach numbers we hadn’t previously seen.
So it was with great surprise, when at the end of one of my presentations, someone asked, ‘What was the slowest you ever flew the Blackbird?’ This was a first. After giving it some thought, I was reminded of a story that I had never shared before, and I relayed the following.
I was flying the SR-71 out of RAF Mildenhall, England, with my back-seater, Walt Watson; we were returning from a mission over Europe and the Iron Curtain when we received a radio transmission from home base. As we scooted across Denmark in three minutes, we learned that a small RAF base in the English countryside had requested an SR-71 fly-past. The air cadet commander there was a former Blackbird pilot, and thought it would be a motivating moment for the young lads to see the mighty SR-71 perform a low approach. No problem, we were happy to do it. After a quick aerial refuelling over the North Sea, we proceeded to find the small airfield.
Walter had a myriad of sophisticated navigation equipment in the back seat, and began to vector me toward the field. Descending to subsonic speeds, we found ourselves over a densely wooded area in a slight haze. Like most former WWII British airfields, the one we were looking for had a small tower and little surrounding infrastructure. Walter told me we were close and that I should be able to see the field, but I saw nothing. Nothing but trees as far as I could see in the haze. We got a little lower, and I pulled the throttles back from 325 knots we were at. With the gear up, anything under 275 was just uncomfortable. Walt said we were practically over the field-yet; there was nothing in my windscreen. I banked the jet and started a gentle circling maneuver in hopes of picking up anything that looked like a field. Meanwhile, below, the cadet commander had taken the cadets up on the catwalk of the tower in order to get a prime view of the fly-past. It was a quiet, still day with no wind and partial gray overcast. Walter continued to give me indications that the field should be below us but in the overcast and haze, I couldn’t see it. The longer we continued to peer out the window and circle, the slower we got. With our power back, the awaiting cadets heard nothing. I must have had good instructors in my flying career, as something told me I better cross-check the gauges. As I noticed the airspeed indicator slide below 160 knots, my heart stopped and my adrenalin-filled left hand pushed two throttles full forward. At this point we weren’t really flying, but were falling in a slight bank. Just at the moment that both afterburners lit with a thunderous roar of flame (and what a joyous feeling that was) the aircraft fell into full view of the shocked observers on the tower. Shattering the still quiet of that morning, they now had 107 feet of fire-breathing titanium in their face as the plane levelled and accelerated, in full burner, on the tower side of the infield, closer than expected, maintaining what could only be described as some sort of ultimate knife-edge pass.
Quickly reaching the field boundary, we proceeded back to Mildenhall without incident. We didn’t say a word for those next 14 minutes. After landing, our commander greeted us, and we were both certain he was reaching for our wings. Instead, he heartily shook our hands and said the commander had told him it was the greatest SR-71 fly-past he had ever seen, especially how we had surprised them with such a precise maneuver that could only be described as breathtaking. He said that some of the cadet’s hats were blown off and the sight of the plan form of the plane in full afterburner dropping right in front of them was unbelievable. Walt and I both understood the concept of ‘breathtaking’ very well that morning and sheepishly replied that they were just excited to see our low approach.
As we retired to the equipment room to change from space suits to flight suits, we just sat there-we hadn’t spoken a word since ‘the pass.’ Finally, Walter looked at me and said, ‘One hundred fifty-six knots. What did you see?’ Trying to find my voice, I stammered, ‘One hundred fifty-two.’ We sat in silence for a moment. Then Walt said, ‘Don’t ever do that to me again!’ And I never did.
A year later, Walter and I were having lunch in the Mildenhall Officer’s club, and overheard an officer talking to some cadets about an SR-71 fly-past that he had seen one day. Of course, by now the story included kids falling off the tower and screaming as the heat of the jet singed their eyebrows. Noticing our HABU patches, as we stood there with lunch trays in our hands, he asked us to verify to the cadets that such a thing had occurred. Walt just shook his head and said, ‘It was probably just a routine low approach; they’re pretty impressive in that plane.’
Impressive indeed.”
Hey Phatwila! T h i s is a story. You made my day ... :-)
Phatwila,
Thanks for sharing that.....OUTSTANDING STORY about a unique experience.
Wow! That was just the cherry on top! Thank you sir!
A wonderful story indeed. Proud to have you guys on our team.
You sir are my Hero!!!!
I served in the Marine Corps from 1983 to 1986. My first deployment was in Okinawa Japan on MCAS FutenmaA. Close to this location is Kadema Air Force base during which the SR-71 was still active. Seeing your model fly looked and even sounded like the real thing. This is my favorite RC model I've ever seen. Thank you for sharing this amazing piece of artistry.
Thanks for watching and thank you for your service!
As someone who hasn't made models since childhood I can only express my admiration for the skill,ingenuity and patience that must have gone into creating this beauty.
Just visited the Museum of Flight in Seattle and saw the M-21 Blackbird and sat in the cockpit of the SR-71. What a thrill for this 62 year-old kid! This giant scale SR-71 is fantastic!
The Blackbird has been my favorite plane since I was a young lad. It made a few passes at the Canadian National Exhibition Airshow in what must have been the late 70s or perhaps '80 or '81. I've never been so excited to see that beautiful and elegant shape and it brought back the thrill watching this video.
I highly encourage the enthusiasts to visit the Museum of Flight and see these marvels in person. It was an experience to sit in the cockpit of a real SR-71 and tap the titanium and see how the engineers put these masterpieces together. One of the greatest achievements in the history of aviation. My hat is off to the brilliant engineers who brought this all together.
And of course kudos to the builder of this giant scale flying model. Well done!
What i mean to say is that this model can stand alone without flying. The fact that it flies, and flies so realistically (and the sound) is what makes the whole package amazingly unique. I'm a fan of the SR-71 as well.
That’s an aircraft you don’t see modeled much, and this one is the best I’ve seen online, very true to scale. A 9 year labor, wow....just gorgeous! Excellent flight in those breezy crosswinds! Like to see more of this particular bird!
Agreed, this was the best looking and flying SR-71 model I've seen to date. Just an amazing bird to behold!
You have to remember the flight envelope that the plane was designed for, it's a near miracle that it can be done at all as an RC. Kudos to the builder/pilot.
Absolutely true. As a design, it doesn't lend itself well for model flying, but this one flew fantastic! This was the best flying SR-71 model I've seen, but it was also the largest by far.
Being larger helps, but it's still amazing.
No it's not, it's just physics. Nothing miraculous or impossible about it.
@@KandiKlover Yes it is, it is just physics.
What do you guys mean? I don't get it.
This is impressive! I'm an armchair RC guy. I don't have the skill or money to do RC, but I love watching videos of other people's toys.
If any of you you ever get a chance to go to a Top Gun event DO IT! Into RC or not the flying talent and build talent is truly remarkable! Lance Campbell that a masterpiece you built.
Yeah, Top Gun is a great event which really showcases some incredible scale building and flying. I had hoped to get back out there again this year, but wasn't able to make that happen. :(
When I worked at Lockheed I flew over Palmdale and looked down out of the cockpit and there was a SR 71 landing below me, it was one of the best memories of my life. What a beautiful aircraft the SR 71 was. I be too scared to fly RC on such an a work of art. Hats off to you, me I would crash your work.
I lived about 20 mi.nw of Beale A.F.B. until I was 20 only the black bird twice in flight.And never forgotten it.
I was out jetskiing one summer day and i had an a10 fly over me then went inverted sure it isnt a black bird but i love all jets just the same...
@@tacticalbuttsex4669 ,
The A-10 is my #2 favorite Military Aircraft, I'm praying as well as thousands of Boots on the ground are that the A-10 isn't retired anytime soon.
The Blackbird has long been my favorite plane. I can't say enough about how impressed I am by this astonishing model. Lance Campbell is obviously a craftsman of genius with the patience and dedication of a Buddhist monk. I wish him many more years of happy modeling. Thanks to him and to the poster for the video.
I'm not sure what's more impressive - the model or being able to fly it and more importantly bring it home again.
Agreed. The aerodynamics on a scale version of such an extreme design must be very daunting to fly... I'm impressed that it's controllable at all.
+50 point for the awesome pilot figures... though I think they're not quite proper scale. :D
Lol outdated out of touch americans. So pathetic third world country. People fly faster RC jets than this in Hong Kong.
@@KandiKlover The SR-71 has been given several nicknames, including "Blackbird" and "Habu". Since 1976, it has held the world record for the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft.Hmm not bad for us outdated out of touch americans. So pathetic third world country.
@stoeger 2 d
Sooar rokit
This is a 1/8 scale model and still looks fast enough to break Mach speed!
Incredible flying skill and great model! Congratulations!
What a beautiful piece! My dad worked on the Habu during Vietnam and has told me bits here and there throughout my life. The most recent one I’m reminded of when I saw you go into the grass when an SR was coming in to land and the brakes burned up and it went off in the grass bending the gear up and belly sliding for a bit. He saw the smoke and ran over to see what was going on as he was to be changing the film from the mission. He then watched as there were bulldozers brought in and they buried the poor thing right there at the end of the runway. To his knowledge it’s still there today pushin up daisies. It’s amazing to realize that a plane of that caliber was so expensive to repair from an incident like that and the only course of action was to dig a hole and hide it there. The paneling and landing gear were just that hard to get right after a crash. Best wishes to you and your amazing plane and may your wife never find out how much it cost to build! Haha! I salute you.
I thought if the plane was totalled, they could try to recycle the metal.
@@davidho2977,
The CIA paid some big bucks to Russia for the Titanium.
Incredible! I don't want to think about the hundred or thousands of hours he must have toiled on that plane. It's a labor of love, and he nailed it!
Pomdimus Maximus beautiful plane not sure how long to build but 100s of thousands of hours no nothing takes that long you would be dead of old age just saying no big deal
Allen re-read his comment: he said "hundreds OR thousands" of hours, not hundreds of thousands..
August issue of AMA magazine says it took 9 years.
9 years.
I would bet you he lives in the garage, and his wife is pissed off!
The sound these larger RC planes make is amazing. Once you get away from the small ones, the engine/flight
sounds are identical to the real thing.....only at a different scale.
I agree with you. The engine size and installation plays a big part of that.
Can't make up my mind which is most impressive, the skill to build it so realistically and with all the operating features such as opening canopies and retractable gear, the skills to fly it, or the patience and desire to build it so well! Masterful job sir, congratulations!
Thanks for watching!
"There were a lot of things we couldn’t do in an SR-71, but we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe flying this plane. Intense, maybe. Even cerebral. But there was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment.
It occurred when Walt and I were flying our final training sortie. We needed 100 hours in the jet to complete our training and attain Mission Ready status. Somewhere over Colorado we had passed the century mark. We had made the turn in Arizona and the jet was performing flawlessly. My gauges were wired in the front seat and we were starting to feel pretty good about ourselves, not only because we would soon be flying real missions but because we had gained a great deal of confidence in the plane in the past ten months. Ripping across the barren deserts 80,000 feet below us, I could already see the coast of California from the Arizona border. I was, finally, after many humbling months of simulators and study, ahead of the jet. I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for Walter in the back seat. There he was, with no really good view of the incredible sights before us, tasked with monitoring four different radios. This was good practice for him for when we began flying real missions, when a priority transmission from headquarters could be vital. It had been difficult, too, for me to relinquish control of the radios, as during my entire flying career I had controlled my own transmissions. But it was part of the division of duties in this plane and I had adjusted to it. I still insisted on talking on the radio while we were on the ground, however. Walt was so good at many things, but he couldn’t match my expertise at sounding smooth on the radios, a skill that had been honed sharply with years in fighter squadrons where the slightest radio miscue was grounds for beheading. He understood that and allowed me that luxury. Just to get a sense of what Walt had to contend with, I pulled the radio toggle switches and monitored the frequencies along with him. The predominant radio chatter was from Los Angeles Center, far below us, controlling daily traffic in their sector. While they had us on their scope (albeit briefly), we were in uncontrolled airspace and normally would not talk to them unless we needed to descend into their airspace. We listened as the shaky voice of a lone Cessna pilot asked Center for a readout of his ground speed. Center replied: November Charlie 175, I’m showing you at ninety knots on the ground. Now the thing to understand about Center controllers, was that whether they were talking to a rookie pilot in a Cessna, or to Air Force One, they always spoke in the exact same, calm, deep, professional, tone that made one feel important. I referred to it as the “ Houston Center voice.” I have always felt that after years of seeing documentaries on this country’s space program and listening to the calm and distinct voice of the Houston controllers, that all other controllers since then wanted to sound like that… and that they basically did. And it didn’t matter what sector of the country we would be flying in, it always seemed like the same guy was talking. Over the years that tone of voice had become somewhat of a comforting sound to pilots everywhere. Conversely, over the years, pilots always wanted to ensure that, when transmitting, they sounded like Chuck Yeager, or at least like John Wayne. Better to die than sound bad on the radios.
Just moments after the Cessna’s inquiry, a Twin Beech piped up on frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his ground speed. Twin Beach, I have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed. Boy, I thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is dazzling his Cessna brethren. Then out of the blue, a navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock because he sounded very cool on the radios. Center, Dusty 52 ground speed check Before Center could reply, I’m thinking to myself, hey, Dusty 52 has a ground speed indicator in that million-dollar cockpit, so why is he asking Center for a readout? Then I got it, ol’ Dusty here is making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows what true speed is. He’s the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet. And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more distinct alliteration than emotion: Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 on the ground. And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what? As my hand instinctively reached for the mic button, I had to remind myself that Walt was in control of the radios. Still, I thought, it must be done - in mere seconds we’ll be out of the sector and the opportunity will be lost. That Hornet must die, and die now. I thought about all of our Sim training and how important it was that we developed well as a crew and knew that to jump in on the radios now would destroy the integrity of all that we had worked toward becoming. I was torn. Somewhere, 13 miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside his space helmet. Then, I heard it. The click of the mic button from the back seat. That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke: Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check? There was no hesitation, and the replay came as if was an everyday request. Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground. I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation, and you just knew he was smiling. But the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed the mic once again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like voice: Ah, Center, much thanks, We’re showing closer to nineteen hundred on the money. For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in the armor of the Houston Center voice, when L.A.came back with: Roger that Aspen, Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You boys have a good one.
It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been flamed, all mortal airplanes on freq were forced to bow before the King of Speed, and more importantly, Walter and I had crossed the threshold of being a crew. A fine day’s work. We never heard another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast. For just one day, it truly was fun being the fastest guys out there."
That's such a great story! It's always just as good every time I read it.
That is a fantastic story!!!!!
I was 60th AMS out of Travis back around 1980. Did a couple TDY in Okinawa to support C5A's. At dusk, we would sit next to the runway in Kadena sipping rice beer and watching the Blackbirds do touch n goes not 20 feet away. When they reared back and hit afterburner, they seemed to just float for a second or two at 45° or so before screaming strait into the purple sky. The engines roared like no other aircraft and the ground rumbled enough to knock over your beer! We never got tired of watching those monsters. The baddest aircraft that ever existed by far. I was always jealous of the team supporting that program. This model RC absolutely nails it. Amazing work!
"It was so realistic the soviet union tried to intercept it"
...and failed. :D
Love it :)
intecepted it because it doesnt fly as fast a a real blackbird
Up untill about a decade ago nothing could catch it at it's cruising altitude.
Yeah I think I saw a Snowbird fly by..they were protecting the cargo
The parachute at the end was the cherry on the cake. Beautiful plane.
Awesome job Lance! When I was about 13 years old, my Father took me and a buddy to Beale Air Force Base in CA (near where we lived). My Father knew the commander of the base and we were treated to not only an introduction to an SR-71 crew AS they got suited up for a flight, but we also saw that thing take off. I'll never, ever forget what my Father did for me that day and my conversation with those pilots has stayed with me all these years. When that bird came out of the hanger, and just...kept...coming, I finally realize how big that plane was.
I remember the pilots telling us that, at speed, if they wanted to do a 180 degree turn, they would have to start at San Francisco for example and would be at the apex of the turn over Reno, Nevada, some 190 miles away! They also told us of the flight where they saw the Sunrise twice (I later read that story as well in a magazine article)...Flying to the East coast, seeing the sunrise, then flying back to Beale, landing, and seeing the Sun rise again.
What memories your video brought back...Thank you my friend.
I was in the USAF and did see these take off / disappear into the clouds immediately! I saw them in the early 70's
Flying operationally. So yes, I appreciate the workmanship of this RC plane!
Awesome!!
Even now, to look at this airplane it looks ahead of its time.
This beautiful plane, a living legend of what was the cold war, I remember seeing it in 1971, as a child and I will never forget a beautiful plane
Thumb up fantastic Rc SR-71
Thanks for watching! :)
Incredible, just incredible. The only thing wrong is it can't go supersonic! Fabulous detail. Thanks for sharing.
Right?! Thanks for watching!
I love seeing the air plane's shadow fall over the trees on the inbound approaches. E.
It's reminiscent to when they landed the airplane for the last time in Dayton for the USAF museum as they had to come low over some trees on the approach.
I seen this remarkable jet fly for it's last time at a Edwards air force air show when I was a kid.im 39 now...my favorite jet in the world...
Awesome! I have very vivid memories of seeing the sr-71 fly as a kid too. Such an amazing jet!
This is the coolest model plane ever. What a feat, the sounds, speed of the fastest airplane ever built. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
I like this
RC Enthusiasts: Hey look it's the SR 71 Blackbird
Soviet Union: ahh shit radar's jammed again
sr 71 fast, mig 31 pls nerf
Soviets could never build anything like it, unless they stole the blueprints.
😐
The Blackbird - Most beautiful aircraft in history!
#truestory
RC Geek, Your plane is awesome! I shared it on Facebook and told folks that if they had kids too young to have seen the real thing fly that they should hunt up your video and watch that! They would get a real good idea of what the real thing looked like! Good job!!
Thanks for the kind words, but I can’t take credit for building or flying this beaut. Only for filming it at the competition it was entered. 😊
That's badass. Kadena AFB had the SR-71 and they were so amazing to watch on takeoff. Once they hit the air they fully thrusted at about 60 degree angle upward so fast they were out of sight in seconds Harry they had to be refueled directly after takeoff. I used to guard them and still have photos of them on the flight line
It’s beautiful. You are a true master of your craft. Amazing. Love the engine sound on low passes.
WOW. I love to build but I'm terrified to fly. My stuff is basic, how you build something so amazing then just throw it up there is beyond me. Respect! Looks amasing, amasing skills flying the Blackbird. Mind blowing.
Wow that was FANTASTIC! Gorgeous plane, afterburner effect, sound, piloting and filming. Bravo!!!
gotta love these large scale jets.....especially the two biggest involvements in recreating an iconic aircraft like the sr-71....the builder....and the pilot.
Beautiful job!
I was 18 years old when I got to Beale AFB CA and I wrenched on 972 from 82' to 86'.
I will never forget the silhouette or the sound of her afterburners.
awesome!
Now you need a scale KC 10 tanker to do mid air fueling.
What can you say about perfection. Fantastic SR71.
OMG........ watching those approaches I was nervous about it. But with the chute deployment you did a fantastic job!!!!!! GREAT flight all in all. Thanks for sharing this. It is inspirational to me. Well done!!!!!!
Most rc pilots would not have the nerve to fly this model, especially if the pilot had built it. Bravo on the flight!
WOW! Even has a parachute to slow it down and still over shoots the runway by a few feet. Well done sir! Excellent representation of the most famous jet aircraft in aviation history!😁👍👍
Thanks for watching! :)
One seriously tough job landing that beauty..... mad props(no pun) serious congrats and much thanks for the time and skill to build and show...... superior skills!!!!
Wow, Lance Campbell that is an incredible job of building and flying. The SR-71 has always been my favorite aircraft and watching some of that video I can imagine myself watching the real thing. The touch and go really surprised me. Fantastic jobs all round.
One of the most impressive models which I have ever seen. Such details which I always thought would be impossible to achieve at such a small scale, but this achieved it all.
I like the flying but It seems to need some frontal area for those rudders to operate more effectively, as when they are applied, the aircraft skids a little forward before it starts biting at the turn. Perhaps that is the price one pays for going all out to be Radar, invisible. Congratulations to all who had anything to do with this impeccable model. Just brilliant in every manner and brave is the owner of such a plane to permit it to fly. I would just look at it . Congratulations once again.
I also think that since it was designed for flight at over Mach 3 that might also be a factor as well. Of course back then everything was done on slide rules which made virtually impossible to account for all variables.
I did one in much more small size. That was a glass fiber composite plane. It was fly but it was a very problematic airplane in that size. The length was 114 cm and 64 cm wingspan. If t would do it again i would do it minimum 2 times larger. ;-) This larger plane on the video is awsome. Congratulation for the builder.
Viktor Molnár such high speed designs don't scale down well.
There is a reason subsonic planes like the B-52 are easier to fly in a small scale
I was referring more to the need for high speed in a straight flight (in order to not stall), the full size SR-71 looked more 'slow' compared to the scale model, because the air density does not scale down
(I hope that you understand my drift)
Inspiring. This RC Model brought memories of a by gone era. By the way, the top velocity of the SR 71 is still top secret.
Not really. You can download the flight manual from the internet, read the emergency procedures, etc. If I recall correctly, somewhere in there it lists a never exceed speed of Mach 3.3.
-Son, I have a proyect I want you to help me with
+What is it dad?
-The sum of all miracles
The folks at Skunk Works would be proud!!
Maybe if they see this they'll show ya the SR-72 and you can get a jump on building the bigger brother.
Fantastic work!
You can tell that thing as Built For Speed! She gets a little wobbly at low speeds!
What a wonderful reproduction of the most beautiful and exciting plane in the world! Such a great job of construction and flying in difficult circumstances.
Well done, Lance Campbell!
WOW THAT IS A REMARKABLE BUILD, WISH MY STEP-DAD- COULD SEE THIS. HE PAST-AWAY IN 2012 & WORKED ON THIS BIRD WHEN HE WAS WITH LOCKHEED. HE ALWAYS TOLD ME THAT WORKING N & BUILDING THIS PLANE WAS BEST TIME OF HIS CAREER. DAM GOOD JOB ON THAT PLANE. IF HE WHERE STILL HERE I'D HAVE HIM AUTOGRAPH IT FOR 'YA.
Unbelievable. You couldn't have chosen a more beautiful aircraft.
Speechless!!! That is some incredible work...both the model and the ability to fly it so skillfully!!
Impressive. The landing was beautiful.
Conditions were tough at the event too, agreed he'd did a fantastic job!
@@Thercgeek b.v
B
Wasn't that the person flying it saying "stop stop stop stop slow down" at the end? Seems like there was some problem trying to land it.
What a great plane the SR 71 was!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You did it justice! Looked like you had a engine out after you did that touch and go.
Thanks for watching!
That aircraft has got to be the closest thing to a real Firefox. Great engendering. Mark 3. Fantastic model of the TSR 71 blackbird.
Captivating & impressive machine build and control of flight.
The detail was incredible. The parachute was a nice touch. Just like the real thing.
What a great craftsmanship, I'm sure it was hard to obtain that titanium to build your model 😆😆
"Be Quick, Be Quiet, Be On Time"
Clarence Kelly Johnson R.I.P.
Great landings, you don't see to many pilots fly a twin jet turbine Black Bird and make it look so easy:)
that is true!
RC builders have brass balls. If I had spent hundreds of hours making a huge scale replica, I wouldn't want to move it across the room, let alone fly it at high speed.
I am astounded. The modeling and the flying were superb.
I think Kelly Johnson would have been proud to watch your SR-71 fly.
He’d be saying “how cute” 🤣
@@farticlesofconflatulation I'm thinking you've never hung around with very many engineers.
Fabulous! Excellent piloting too with that tricky approach and short runway.
Perfectly built and flies like an original.
I was about to ask about the afterburner lighting but I read Lance Campbell's comment. Very realistic! Especially as they aren't synchronized. BTW I love the blackbird, coolest fighter of all time.
At one time they considered making an interceptor version but it could never have been considered a fighter...
Very Impressive BUILD and GREAT FLYING!!!!
Out Standing!
Very impressed...superb flight show....even the parachute deploy on landing...10/10....
My uncle Fred from Germany, helped design the Blackbird in the 1960s when he worked at Lockheed in Southern California. They had Kelly Johnson to dinner several times. I was just a little kid but remember that.
Dude, that’s so cool! Your uncle is my hero!
He was a real interesting guy. During WW2 he was a wing designer at the underground Messerschmidt factory . Thats where he met my mom's sister as she was a lathe operator. Uncle Fred was a character. Always wore a three piece suit. Smoked Virginia cigars and only drove the top of the line Buicks. A brilliant man that couldnt hammer a nail in the wall. Also heres the best part. He never set foot into an aircraft. Knowing what he knew about flight, he knew the thin line between flying and falling to the ground. He would have loved this RC beauty.
Besides going off the run-way on landing a extremely well built air craft. One of THE best ever. Nice job.
You even got the astronaut like pilot helmets correct!! Great job
Down votes must be daffed. This flight was bad ass on video. What a model. Thanks.
Yea, how could anyone dislike this video. Absolutely beautiful.
@@justmycomments It could be Russians or Chinese, or even those Americans who hate our country.
@@Pussilover56 при чем тут страна, если модель летает как говно. Даже на полосу сесть не смог нормально, в траву улетел.
*Daft. The irony. Oh, Mr USA, I understand, now...
Navi da guerra
Impressive jet, great flight 👍👍
Thanks for watching!
DIGITAL RC to
the SR-71Blackbird was at least 30 years before it's time. Amazing RC!
DIGITAL RC hujjjnnnn
DIGITAL RC flight love impressive cool jet fly down happy...
I wanted to be a SR-71 pilot but I was too tall, had less than perfect vision, and asthma. This would be the next best thing. Such a cool model.
Hands down best build yet. I bet roger noble is proud.
Fantastic! The SR-71 is THE most beautiful plane EVER built!
WOW. I'm so jealous. Amazing craftsmanship.
Very impressive, I imagine lots of hours and a lot of money went in to making such an awesome (I’m British and very rarely describe something as awesome it’s got to be extremely special)
Lance mentioned that this project was a culmination of efforts spanning over 9 years. Truly a labor of love!
This is the most bad ass model to have ever graced the skies!
Mr. Campbell, trust me, I followed you all those years. Congratulations.
Cool! Actually saw the real thing fly into Mach AF base 30 something years ago. Craziest thing I've ever seen in the air. Model planes have come a long way.
Awesome! I remember seeing the SR-71 fly at the Beale AFB air show when I was a kid. I can still remember it vividly.
That was just awesome! I'm into RC submarines but that was just beautiful. To build it and pilot it would be such a accomplishment. Well done@
That is ALMOST as cool as the real thing. wow! well done!
Just amazing build I couldn't even build or fly a kite well done sir for sharing your hobby and interested 😁
That is an absolutely gorgeous build from scratch
When you realize that US's RC planes are more advanced than most countries Air Forces.
Okay, that gave me a pretty good laugh.
America first！
The ugly truth !
Perfection! The most beautiful airplane of the world!
That and the Seabee.
Great Pilot. I love the SR-71. Very cool.
I remember these monster in the 80s the Nicaraguan war, I was 15 years old and we only hear the sound when it breaks the sound barrier. El pájaro negro!!!!!
Back in 1975 my GI Joe would have loved that!
Absolutely awesome!!!!!
I agree! Thanks for watching!
Awesome!!! Great job!
Well that's like the coolest rc thing that there is
I agree! Thanks for watching!
I am autobot jetfire ( amazing very detailed kudos sir ) 👏
Brilliant Lance. Beyond impressive. Well done