Starship 13/14

I wish to be able to claim to have witnessed both the first man on the moon and the first man on Mars in my lifetime. Would we be considered pre multi-planetary?:unsure:
 
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I can't ever get enough of watching rockets and airplanes. We were lucky enough to park about 3 miles outside of the spaceport in Truth or Consequences NM and watch a rocket launch. Man, I can't describe how crazy it was to watch that thing disappear from sight in seconds. They go so fast!
 
Vecman said:
I can't ever get enough of watching rockets and airplanes.
They go so fast!
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An aircraft that splits the difference (one we all know well!) 'twixt the two categoricals, the fastest ever air-breathing jet, the SR-71 acheived 3.5 Mach on numerous occasions.

(yes, there are "those people" who will say, "yeah! and how much faster they ain't tellin' us!" - ok, Roger Bravo. Whatever)

You mention speed. One SR-71 pilot one particular flight was fumbling through his Jeppesen but was going so fast he always felt one or two pages behind, leading him to remark,

"You've NEVER been lost 'til you're lost at Mach 3" :ROFLMAO: 🏁
 
Apples said:
An aircraft that splits the difference (one we all know well!) 'twixt the two categoricals, the fastest ever air-breathing jet, the SR-71 acheived 3.5 Mach on numerous occasions.

(yes, there are "those people" who will say, "yeah! and how much faster they ain't tellin' us!" - ok, Roger Bravo. Whatever)

You mention speed. One SR-71 pilot one particular flight was fumbling through his Jeppesen but was going so fast he always felt one or two pages behind, leading him to remark,

"You've NEVER been lost 'til you're lost at Mach 3" :ROFLMAO: 🏁
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Had a retired SR-71 pilot that went to church with me. Told me lots of stories, but you could tell there were things he still couldn't tell me. And he did confirm with a wink that it definitely went faster than the published speed. That plane is amazing. My father met a pilot as well at some base somewhere in the Dakotas. No idea why he was invited, but they got to watch it take off. So cool
 
Nice!

*Opinion Warning* - go easy on me!

As far as the plane's ultimate speed, whatever it was wasn't much more than Mach 3.5... why? because it takes unusually cold and quiet high atmospheric conditions (where it is already very cold and quiet) simply to achieve that figure. Even higher speeds are just exponentially more difficult.

And it takes fuel. Lots and lots of fuel.

/my opinon, based on anecdotal evidence
 
The most famous anecdote involves an SR-71 pilot requesting a ground speed check from Air Traffic Control (ATC) after hearing smaller aircraft and an F-18 do the same. The controller reportedly replied, "Aspen 20, I show you at 1,942 knots" (or similar high figures like 1,982), followed by silence on the frequency, implying the other pilots were stunned by the Blackbird's speed.

A related humorous story involves an SR-71 at 80,000 feet requesting clearance to descend to 60,000 feet. The ATC controller, thinking the pilot was joking or unaware of airspace limits, derisively replied, "If you think you can make it up to 60,000ft, you are cleared," only to realize the joke when the pilot responded, "Roger, descending to 60,000ft."
 
Brian Shul used to tell the first story, but the second is equally humorous!

Hee
 
I remember seeing (and hearing) the SR-71 land at Dulles airport in the early 90’s. Its final flight broke several records as it flew coast to coast in about an hour. Crazy!
 
The Evil Twin said:
I remember seeing (and hearing) the SR-71 land at Dulles airport in the early 90’s. Its final flight broke several records as it flew coast to coast in about an hour. Crazy!
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actual max speed has not been declassified.

not official but there are reports of mach 3.5+

awesome

next crazy
satellite & photo technology making them obsolete
 
Godzilla/Tremornator said:
satellite & photo technology making them obsolete
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I seem to always be alert for any SR-71 tales.

I have in storage SOMEWHERE a Los Angeles Times newspaper (remember newspapers?) front page from the very early 1990s w/ two interesting front page stories.

[I pulled this one right out of the rack before breakfast one morning at my local eatery back then - this was some very fresh news]

One was the repeal of the 55 MPH national speed limit law (great news for automotive performance gearheads)

The other! was the calling back into service of several SR-71s to photograph the Bosnian War crisis, since "the enemy" (whichever side that was at the time) had become keen on satellite trajectories and predicted accurately the satellites' time of flyover.

The SR-71 was brought back because it could come in from any angle and at any time, using again it's sheer speed and it's mission altitudes as it's only defenses.
 
I grew up with a father who was an aeronautical engineer in the 60-70's.

He worked skunk works development for a long time. Including the SR71
Ive been lucky. I saw Apollo 8, 11 and 13 launch from VIP seating. The roll out of the first Boeing 747 (he was on the first public flight)

Had lunch with Chuck Yeager, Neil Armstrong and Bob Hoover.

Good friends with Dick Ruttan for years.


He also owned a Kawasaki Dealership in the 70's so I got to hang with the big boys in MX and desert racing at the time. Got a ride with Ivan Stewart in an old class 8 truck...

I may be old but ive had some good memories.
 
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