# Tool Talk >  Guy visits all SR-71 Blackbird planes - photos

## Jon

This guy visited all SR-71 Blackbird planes. By kebbins.

Fullsize image: https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/h...1_fullsize.jpg


Fullsize image: https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/h...2_fullsize.jpg


Fullsize image: https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/h...3_fullsize.jpg



More: https://imgur.com/gallery/aB9oLJA

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baja (Oct 29, 2019),

greyhoundollie (Jan 23, 2020),

Rangi (Nov 4, 2019),

Seedtick (Oct 28, 2019)

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## Karl_H

Funny story by a SR-71 pilot - 5 minutes that you will replay for your friends!
https://digg.com/video/la-speed-check-blackbird-story

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greyhoundollie (Jan 23, 2020)

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## Crusty

I once picked up a crated military load at White Sands, then was given a schedule and route to explicitly follow to haul it to the Skunkworks in Cal. An unmentioned black Suburban with black tinted windows followed me the entire trip. One of the crates wasn't nailed all that good and a top corner gradually started working open and I was getting pretty nervous about it but I wasn't about to stop and take a look at it. When I arrived they directed me to a portion of the airbase apron to unload, right beside 4 SR-71's staged there for refurbishment. I was literally 50 yards from the closest one and I was impressed.

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greyhoundollie (Jan 23, 2020)

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## Toolmaker51

> I once picked up a crated military load at White Sands, then was given a schedule and route to explicitly follow to haul it to the Skunkworks in Cal. An unmentioned black Suburban with black tinted windows followed me the entire trip. One of the crates wasn't nailed all that good and a top corner gradually started working open and I was getting pretty nervous about it but I wasn't about to stop and take a look at it. When I arrived they directed me to a portion of the airbase apron to unload, right beside 4 SR-71's staged there for refurbishment. I was literally 50 yards from the closest one and I was impressed.



Sure was, but I could only see it with one eye, peeking out of the crate.

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greyhoundollie (Jan 23, 2020),

HobieDave (Mar 9, 2020)

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## Crusty

_I knew_ that not lookin' in that crate was the right thing to do.  :Cool:

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## capngeo

I saw the one on the Intrepid.... it was still outside on the flight deck and they didn’t have it roped off; you could walk right up and touch it.

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## DIYSwede

Story on how a group of Swedish fighter jocks managed several missile radarlocks on the "Baltic Express" SR-71 (doing 2.98M @ 70 500 ft) during the eighties:
https://theaviationgeekclub.com/vigg...h-3-spy-plane/

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Jon (Oct 29, 2019)

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## MIGuy

There is a NASA SR-71B at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo in Kalamazoo Michigan. It is the only B model in existence (notice the trainer cockpit). You can walk up and touch the aircraft. It is eerily displayed with very dim, reddish lighting and it looks pretty sinister. The Air Zoo is a great aircraft museum and well worth the visit, especially if you take an extra few hours to visit the nearby Gilmore Car Museum, which hosts an outstanding collection. 
If you see both in the same visit, your testosterone level will double!  :Big Grin:

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greyhoundollie (Jan 23, 2020),

Jon (Oct 29, 2019),

Rangi (Jan 15, 2020)

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## Duke_of_URL

I got to support some "activities" at Edwards AFB many years back and met the last SR-71 pilots (retired USAF) who by then were working for NASA flying the last two SR's. They were rated in both U-2 and SR-71... talk about both ends of the spectrum! I also got to know one of the last Skunkworks Electricians who traveled all over the world supporting the aircraft during its active life. He said that NASA cherry picked the two best tails that were ever built, and he knew them all. He went on to say that if there was any reason the aircraft couldn't fly its mission it would be because of an electrical problem. The mechanical systems, including the fuel transfer system, were elegantly simple and nearly failure proof. A big part of electrical problems was damage from the intense heat experienced in flight. It would bake the wires making them extremely brittle. Touching a bundle would break some. Fixing one would break 3 more, and on it went. He said it was so bad that the Electricians had to fuel the aircraft and de-fuel it to fix the almost certain electrical problems. Mechanical techs were never needed for launch. The U.S. base in England was cold, wet, and getting JP-7 fuel all over yourself wasn't pleasant either.
I've studied the SR-71 for the Engineering marvel that it was. There's not a bump or crease on that aircraft without some purpose. There's only one "Off The Shelf" component on that aircraft, but everything else was developed from scratch, from the tires to the windshields. Of course the Inlet Spikes to prevent supersonic shockwaves causing "unstarts" did have to be developed. It is the only aircraft to fly its entire mission in afterburner. It leaked fuel on the ground, due to its expansion joints never having a sealant developed that could stand the heat. The windshield is solid quartz. The techniques for working Titanium had to be pioneered by the Skunkworks, as it broke every drill bit or tool used on it. Each piece of fuselage of each aircraft was kept on 3x5 cards in the event a replacement part was ever needed - no two were ever the same. The Titanium used throughout the airframe had to be obtained from the one place with copious amounts of the stuff and no ready market at the time... the Soviet Union (Russia), using various CIA "front companies" all around the world. The space suits worn by the crew were used on the early Shuttle Missions. There are so many amazing things about that aircraft and it's capabilities are still shrouded in secrecy after all these years. What was the OTS component? The Pratt J-58 engines developed for a never finished Navy P6M SeaMaster.

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greyhoundollie (Jan 24, 2020),

mlochala (Aug 17, 2020),

Rangi (Jan 15, 2020)

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## threesixesinarow

> Story on how a group of Swedish fighter jocks managed several missile radarlocks on the "Baltic Express" SR-71 (doing 2.98M @ 70 500 ft) during the eighties:
> https://theaviationgeekclub.com/vigg...h-3-spy-plane/



This, too!

https://www.popularmechanics.com/mil...-71-blackbird/

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Jon (Oct 29, 2019)

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## Toolmaker51

> _I knew_ that not lookin' in that crate was the right thing to do.



And I had my pointy index finger at the ready; case you did. . .

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## Duke_of_URL

Very interesting explanation of cockpit operation by a former SR-71 pilot.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/fli...orks-17441312/

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## MIGuy

To be around those aircraft or to know anyone who flew, built or maintained them is pretty damn cool. The SR-71 is without a doubt the most amazing example of American aircraft ingenuity. I've read several books on Kelly Johnson and the Skunkworks team. To be able to design and build that beautiful, high-speed bird without the aid of any kind of modern computer is simply mind-boggling! What those engineers accomplished using slide rules and 'smarts' is truly incredible. There will be successors that will fly higher and faster, but I don't believe that their accomplishment can ever equal what went into the Blackbird!

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## mklotz

It's important to note that the U2 and SR-71 were the product of a skunkworks development atmosphere. This work climate was characterized by a high degree of autonomy and unhampered by bureaucracy. Briefly, the engineers were "set loose" and allowed to develop not what management wanted but rather what would work for the problem to hand.

It's even more important to note how seldom the lesson of the success of the skunkworks has been adopted in other businesses.

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Rangi (Nov 4, 2019),

Toolmaker51 (Nov 1, 2019)

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## Jon

> Assembly line of the SR-71 Blackbird at Skunk Works.



Fullsize image: https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/h...s_fullsize.jpg

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baja (Oct 31, 2019),

freddo4 (Oct 30, 2019),

greyhoundollie (Oct 31, 2019),

high-side (Oct 31, 2019),

Miloslav (Oct 30, 2019),

Rangi (Nov 8, 2019),

Seedtick (Oct 30, 2019),

Toolmaker51 (Nov 1, 2019)

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## Crusty

> And I had my pointy index finger at the ready; case you did. . .



Reminds me of the story about the guy walking past the looney bin and he could hear people in the yard shouting "Twelve, twelve, twelve ..." over and over. Curious, he looked into a knothole in the fence to see what was going on and someone immediately poked him in the eye with a finger and all the people in the yard began chanting "Thirteen, thirteen, thirteen ...".

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baja (Oct 31, 2019),

high-side (Oct 31, 2019),

Toolmaker51 (Nov 1, 2019)

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## bruce.desertrat

Well, to be fair, by the time the skunkworks was established, Kelly Johnson had a very well established track record https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_..._contributions 

Famously 3M lets (or used to, at least) engineers have unsupervised 'play time' to work on projects; and it's paid off for them, too, witness the Post-It.

A co-worker (ex Air Force Master Sgt) worked in the field with the SR-71s in the Vietnam era, they used to fly in and out of the base he was stationed at (IIRC it was the Phillipines, or it may have been Thailand.) They were too hot to work on for about for hours after landing.

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greyhoundollie (Oct 31, 2019),

Toolmaker51 (Nov 1, 2019)

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## greyhoundollie

SR 71 lived at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa in Vietnam days. Interesting that the local Okinawa residents called the SR 71 "The Habu" (snake) There was a point off the base that looked down on part of the runway. Locals would park there to take pictures of the SR71. Someone posted a sign there that said "Habu lookout point"

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## bruce.desertrat

Then it was Okinawa where my friend was. He's got some old video from the hangar area and flight line that he;s shown me, I see if I can snag a copy...

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greyhoundollie (Oct 31, 2019),

Stripedkrijn@gmail.com (Nov 2, 2019)

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## greyhoundollie

I would be interested in seeing his picks. I haven't been to Okinawa in 35-40 years. My wife is Thai and seems Thailand is only place I go to overseas now. ....That isn't a complaint though

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## Crusty

SR-71s were nearly the fastest non-experimental aircraft ever made. The CIA's single seat A-12's were the fastest.

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## Jon

An SR-71 Blackbird is towed to the Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins, Georgia. 1990.

Fullsize image: https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/h...t_fullsize.jpg

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baja (Nov 4, 2019),

high-side (Nov 5, 2019),

Miloslav (Nov 1, 2019),

Rangi (Jan 15, 2020)

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## Jon

SR-71 Blackbird J58 engine tour. 4:49 video:

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high-side (Nov 5, 2019),

Rangi (Nov 4, 2019),

will52100 (Nov 9, 2019)

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## marksbug

I have a sr71 almost parked in my back yard... about 3 miles down the road at the armament musseem at Eglin afb hear in fl. it is 1 of a kind, not just like the others. but still the same. a sr 71 was based at kadena for long tyme. it was still there in 76 when we left there to come hear the hurlburt afb about 10 miles down the road the other way. dad flew the black birds and retired out of hurlburt. I saw the sr 71 (HABU)almost daily on Okinawa when it took off and later landed from it's missions. totaly awesome sight!!! dam I miss those days. but I still have fighters flying directly over head daily as eglin is now a big training base for the F35 vertickle take off fighter's(and more). those sucker's are getting good work out's!!! my hearing is almost gone now but I can still hear them and feel them too.the sound of freedom.

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Toolmaker51 (Nov 5, 2019)

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## Jon

There was only ever one fatal Blackbird flight accident. An SR-71 disintegrated at 79,000 feet and the two crew bailed out. Jim Zwyer was killed; Bill Weaver lived. Here's Weaver:



3:03 video. Some hokey re-enactment scenes, but you do get to see Weaver talk:




More: When his SR-71 Disintegrated, This Pilot Free Fell From Space & Lived to Tell About It | CHUCKYEAGER.ORG

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baja (Nov 7, 2019),

high-side (Nov 7, 2019),

Quinton 357 (Nov 6, 2019),

Rangi (Nov 8, 2019),

rlm98253 (Nov 6, 2019)

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## bruce.desertrat

That's a _"never pay for another beer in your life"_ kinda story. I read an account (probably the same one, since it sounds very familiar) in Air&Space Magazine a few years ago, in the special issue that the video was about.

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## Duke_of_URL

There was another accident which resulted in the death of a crew member. That was when an A-12 converted to an M-21 variant was launching the D-21 Reconnaissance Drone from its position between the two vertical surfaces. As soon as the D-21 fired its ramjet motor and was released, it encountered the pressure wave surrounding the M-21 causing instability then collision, breaking the M-21 in half. Both Pilot and Launch Control Officer survived ejection and landed safely, but the LCO drowned at sea 150 miles out. Some really good information at this website: Loss of M

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baja (Nov 7, 2019),

Jon (Nov 6, 2019),

Rangi (Nov 8, 2019)

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## Jon

Good call Duke_of_URL. I found some footage of the accident. 3:48:

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high-side (Nov 9, 2019),

Rangi (Jan 13, 2020)

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## marksbug

crap Im old, that was so long ago....and yet I can still remember almost being able to reach up and touch it as it mad it's slow turn
over camp Courtney 10 meter swiming pool tower we were always jumping of of. so close you could see the pilot oh so clear and yes the plane was about 90 degrees in the turns that seems to last for ever. about a year lator I was living on kadena afb and watching it take off....straight up. I wish dad would of got me a ride......but he wasent that kind of dad.....1 thing he did teach me was ..how not to be a dad. his loss was my gain in the end. I have 2 awesome daughters, 1 a dr. and 1 a diplomat , now learning Albanian for her up coming assignment in kosovo for 2 years. yes Im very proud of them.

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Rangi (Jan 13, 2020),

Seedtick (Nov 12, 2019)

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## Jon

Lockheed Martin SR-72 concept, rumored to be flying by 2025.




More:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_SR-72

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Rangi (Jan 13, 2020)

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## Jon

When you order an SR-71 Blackbird plane from Amazon.com:

Fullsize image: https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/h...x_fullsize.jpg

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baja (Mar 10, 2020),

dubbby (Mar 9, 2020),

greyhoundollie (Mar 9, 2020),

high-side (Mar 9, 2020),

Rangi (Mar 9, 2020),

Scotsman Hosie (Mar 15, 2020)

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## greyhoundollie

Hummmm.... really cant tell these crates pertain to SR 71 can you? This could be a travelling carnival and the crates contain a huge load of stuffed animals.

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## McDesign

Clearly, it's bait for really big porch pirates.

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high-side (Mar 9, 2020),

Scotsman Hosie (Mar 15, 2020)

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## IntheGroove

That area does look like it's near Palmdale...

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## Duke_of_URL

The second, smaller crate probably houses the D-21 Drone. Would like to know the back story on this transportation.

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## Karl_H

Did they include an allen wrench?

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Scotsman Hosie (Mar 15, 2020)

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## suther51

Try googling sr-71 in box (Google images)

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Jon (Mar 10, 2020),

Scotsman Hosie (Mar 15, 2020)

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## Rattlerjake

Looks like something shipped from Transylvania!

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Scotsman Hosie (Mar 15, 2020)

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## IntheGroove

> Looks like something shipped from Transylvania!



It does look like a toe pincher...

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## PDXsparky

Here's the one in the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson. It's definitely worth a visit if you're in that part of the US. Plus it's the only way to tour the Air Force bone yard next door.



and near by is another favorite.

 

with the gun the plane was built to carry next to it on the right.

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Jon (Apr 25, 2020)

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## marksbug

the box pic says it's from amazon...built there or can i buy it from amazon? I better use prime for free shipping. this sure will save me time and hassle flying comertial around the world.

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## Jon

Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE) refueling during first flight.

Fullsize image: https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/h...g_fullsize.jpg




More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear...-71_Experiment

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baja (Aug 11, 2020),

high-side (Aug 11, 2020),

Rangi (Aug 10, 2020),

Scotsman Hosie (Aug 11, 2020),

Toolmaker51 (Aug 10, 2020)

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## IntheGroove

It was quite the engineering feat to get one of those to fly fast and the other to fly slow...


My grandfather was the lead "problem solver" at Skunk Works in the early 1960's...

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## Toolmaker51

Planes, ships, cars, buildings, dams, bridges, machines, tools..."we've" made uber-cool stuff over the years, no?

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## marksbug

YES WE HAVE. WE ALSO MADE THE VEGA AND PINTO....

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## Toolmaker51

> YES WE HAVE. WE ALSO MADE THE VEGA AND PINTO....



Uhmmm, marksbug is right. At least the Vega was a experiment in metallurgy and out of the box thinking during gas crisis. Certainly there was one that made fans, sponsors & owner William Tyler Jenkins not so Grumpy.
The Pinto; not so well.

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## Jon

The only SR-71 C model Blackbird to be manufactured, known as "The Bastard". A hybrid between the rear fuselage of the YF-12A and a functional engine mock up of a SR-71A forward fuselage built for static testing.

Fullsize image: https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/h...d_fullsize.jpg





Your browser does not support the video tag.



More: https://aerospaceutah.org/museum/our...71c-blackbird/

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Duke_of_URL (Apr 21, 2021),

Rangi (Apr 29, 2021)

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## marksbug

so where are they all if he visited them all....I dont see the one down the street from me....he musta missed it. he needs to list/show all the tail numbers or else they could all just be the same one. :Head Scratch:  the one down the street is also a 1 only sr 71...one off...go figure

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## lest21

Here's a website with the background on the shipping route from Burbank to Area 51. Transporting the CIA A-12 Blackbird

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marksbug (Apr 21, 2021)

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## Duke_of_URL

A bit of SR-71 Trivia - the only "off the shelf" component on the SR was the Engine. The engines were developed for a Navy Mach 2 fighter that never went into production. Aerospace Legend, Kelly Johnson knew there were a bunch of them sitting in a warehouse and grabbed them. Of course the Inlet Spikes were a development item which is the "magic sauce" for the SR's performance.

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## marksbug

theirs lotsa sauce on that sucker!!!

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## tlnixon

Awesome piece of military history!

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