After you read the text click on one of the links at the end - sit back and enjoy !
I have seen this one before - and possibly you have too -- but at this
particular time when our country desperately needs a shot of
patriotism...this should bring the goose bumps of national pride to all of
us and the hope that patriotism is not a thing of the past.
In 1968 (1967?) an SR-71 Spy Plane made an emergency landing at Grand
Forks AFB (ND) and was "parked" between two B-52 hangers close to the N/S
road that ran parallel to the base runway. The aircraft was completely
visible to anyone using the road. Immediately after landing, GFAFB
security established machine gun "nests" close to the plane. The two man
crew could not exit the plane until a C-130 arrived from Edwards AFB with
the ground support equipment and aircraft technicians to evacuate the crew
and "fix" whatever the problem(s) were. Of course, everyone on the base
came to see the 71 and security had to control traffic. After the "fixes"
were accomplished (two days?), the SR-71 exited the base heading north. A
few minutes later it returned at a very low altitude at tremendous speed
in a fly by. It was awesome and was probably witnessed by about everyone
on the base.
Eye candy for people who like airplanes:
Grab your beverage and relax for a few minutes of awesome beauty. The
SR-71 was the creation of Kelly Johnson of the Lockheed Skunk Works,the
Air Force and President Eisenhower. It was envisioned in the '50s, first
flew in the early '60s, retired in the '80s, briefly brought back in the
'90s.
In all, 13 units of the single seat A-12 were built, and 32 of the Pilot +
Recon two seat SR-71 units were built. Five A-12 were lost, one is stored.
Twelve two seaters were lost. The remaining 27 are on display around the
USA . The closest is at Atwater , the old Castle AFB museum at Merced with
50 other classic warplanes. You probably have a better opportunity of
viewing the one in San Diego . Ask me and I'll tell you where the others
are. NY, OR, OH, DC, etc. I can find most answers to most questions. Just
ask. Start with the 2000+ mph, the 80,000 feet + altitude. More if you
wish.
So enjoy. One more thing. The author of the captions to the picture in
this video made one misstatement, due to his youth. The U-2 Recon
aircraft was created in 1955, flew operationally in 1956. Kelly thought
the USSR would shoot it down in 18 months. Lucky for us, it flew until
Gary Powers was downed on 1 May 1960. But Kelly Johnson already had the
go-ahead from President Eisenhower for the A-12. It first flew in 1962,
JFK kept the manufacture of it active. No one told LBJ, because everyone
knew that he would spill the beans. He wasn't told until the week after
JFK left us. And sure enough, that conceited ass hole Johnson gave out the
secret in a matter of weeks.
Anyhow, the most interesting, most exciting five years of my life was
spent in the program, as a KC-135 refueling pilot. Where the Blackbird
went, we went. You will see several refueling's in the following clip.
Enjoy.
Click here to view the slide show:
<http://www.greatdanepromilitary.com/SR-71/index.htm>
http://www.greatdanepromilitary.com/SR-71/index.htm _____
