Fall from an SR-71

In 1966, an SR-71 "Blackbird" disintegrated at 78,000 feet. The pilot's first thought was "No one could live through what just happened. Therefore, I must be dead." The History Guy remembers a fall from an SR-71.
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The episode is intended for educational purposes. All events are portrayed in historical context.
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[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Several viewers have noted that the plane that refueled the SR-71 would have been a KC-135, not a KC-130. I apologize for the error.

[@jull1234]

A KC-135Q, even

[@adrianburgariu8896]

Kelly(Clarence) Johnson the SR-71 CHIEF designer, was a genius, my hero.Too sad that people like him don't live forever.

[@jerrybrenton6140]

Thank you.

[@4therush]

my stepfather worked on the kc-135s at march airforce base back then. Git to stand by a fuel leaking Goodyear tire having SR-71. Seeing her fly way one of the highlights of my life.

[@mhamma6560]

It was actually RS -- it became SR after someone's flub. I believe it was a POTUS.

[@christiangibbs1482]

"The rapid deceleration caused by colliding with the Earth." You definitely have a way with words, sir.

[@BogeyTheBear]

It's not the fall. It's the sudden stop.

[@CSSuser]

lol I was about to comment on that too.

[@davidboudreaux8127]

Yea it must be the last that goes through a bugs mind right before he hit a car’s windshield going 75 mph. Come to think about it, I don’t think a bugs brain is programmed or smart enough to understand what it is about to happen.

[@gdwnet]

It's also called lithobraking ;-)

[@donalddodson7365]

@@davidboudreaux8127 Sadly, neither are very many drivers' brains ... ;-) I wish I had a dollar for every collision victim I met as an EMT asking me "What happened?" I always felt like saying, "Beats me, bud. I was sound asleep when the call came in."

[@Miata822]

SR-71 is perhaps the most beautiful aircraft. Even today, so many decades later. it looks like the work of a science fiction artist.

[@Skywalker8562]

Damn thing leaked like a sieve until it got up and got hot and the thing sealed itself up. I hope the pilot/wizzo did not have to breathe outside air while taxing or until they had to be on oxygen. The fumes would have been noxious.

[@jasonbrown2169]

Wholeheartedly agree...any time I think about the 71 I think "I can't believe they designed that back in the 60s!"

[@Skywalker8562]

@@jasonbrown2169 Makes you wonder about what other things were invented in the late 50's and early 60's that have been continuously refined and made better. Remember, PAPER CLIP did not just bring us rocket scientists, but also jet engine and aircraft design wizards.

[@Rentta]

I wouldn't call it beautiful... i would call it menacing

[@MustangsTrainsMowers]

A friend of mine was in The Air Force in the late 80’s scheduling aircraft maintenance. He said the seals were made to be working best while at flight at top speed. Thus the seals would shrink when the aircraft was on the ground and cold and eventually all of the fluids would leak out. If sitting long enough all the seals would have to be replaced, fluids replaced and it would have to be taken up for a test flight. He said they had a huge building they would put aircraft in to get x-rays for cracks. One pilot cracked the frame of one which had to be taken out of service. He watched some pilots that would go vertical as soon as it was off the ground and break the sound barrier going straight up.

[@bryand7283]

In the 1980's I was a controller on board an E-3 AWACS talking to a Blackbird. He requested a 180 degree turn. I approved. It took him THREE STATES (OK, KS, NE) to make the turn at attitude!!!! Amazing!

[@theastuteangler]

amazing

[@weldonyoung1013]

Only 3 states. I've heard stories of that taking 3 countries. You must have encountered the SR71 when it was traveling rather 'slow'.

[@MsArjun1111]

Whoa

[@mrexists5400]

@@weldonyoung1013 i can definitely see that over europe

[@HalfdeadRider]

@@weldonyoung1013 Some countries are smaller than those states :)

[@carnacthemagnificent2498]

I was once on a business trip with a fellow who revealed over dinner that he had been an SR-71 pilot. Advice: If an old fellow tells you they flew SR-71s back in the day, buy him a beer and let him tell you some fascinating stories! That's no normal plane!

[@lololomo5484]

Most abnormal and extraordinary plane since Kitty Hawk. . .

[@richardsmith7104]

I have been into the Skunk Works several times. The inside doors have rotary locks, much like a bank vault door.

[@walterwaring3898]

No​@no yes

[@JH-ji6cj]

One of the few channels where you can actually LEARN by reading the comments section. Thanks to all.

[@DukeRaul]

And folks write in complete sentences using correct grammar.

[@Djerak3]

@@DukeRaul darntootn

[@markfryer9880]

@@DukeRaul Not to mention correct spelling. I swear after reading so many posts by people who manage to mangle the English language in every way possible with bad grammar and bad spelling it is a pleasure to read so many sensible comments. I also appreciate people for whom English is a second language who will write a carefully written comment and then apologise for their poor English. I am more than happy to commend those people who make such an effort and inform them that they are doing a good job and showing up some people who were taught English as their first language.

[@markfryer9880]

Sorry, but I got into a bit of a rant there.

[@DukeRaul]

@@markfryer9880 I fear for the life of the English language everyday. Thanks!

[@YeshuaDisciple916]

My grandfather was the Senior Master Sergeant that was the SAC's (Strategic Air Command) Crew Chief -head mechanic- of the SR-71, among other aircraft throughout his career. Stationed at Beale Air Force Base, CA, home of the SR-71, where I was raised. My grandparents raised me and when my grandpa passed away, March 18th, 2017, he left me everything, including all of the memorabilia from the 27 years he happily and proudly served our great nation in the USAF. Including a huge amount of stuff involving the SR-71 program. I even have some very large, very nice, signed and framed pencil drawings of the SR-71. I have the same of the Northrop B-2 Spirit. As I child, I sat in this plane, as well as the U2, B-2 and many others, numerous times. When I was really young, I would always ask the pilots to take me flying. Lol. 🤣 I'll be 41 in a couple weeks now, almost 2 years retired as a USAF Master Sargeant, and this was all 30 years ago now. This brings back a lot of memories.

[@RichTheEngineer]

Wow! What a great childhood you had. Thank you for your service. I won't call you sir, as you worked for a living.

[@davidm3maniac201]

Wow i envy you Rob. What a childhood you had m8. I can only imagine what that was like. Thanks for posting as i love anything like this. David UK Stay safe Rob

[@johnosbourn4312]

If you love the Habu so much, then I recommend you to get copies of the two Combat Aircraft series volumes on this beautiful plane, as well as getting copies of both the First Edition, and Second Edition of Squadron Signal's SR-71 Blackbird In Action books, along with the Walk Around about it, plus the Warbird Tech volume, also.

[@johnosbourn4312]

Oh, and one more thing: Thank you for your service.👍

[@Riox147]

I was USAF back in the mid 80's @ RAF Lakenheath. I was driving from Newmarket back to the base and saw one fly overhead. I happened to look through my moon roof just at the right moment! What a beautiful plane! I got to see it fly by at an airshow with only one engine! Truly AWESOME!

[@marklowe947]

Back in September 2013, I had the honor and privilege to have Bill Weaver sit in the jump seat of the Dornier 328 Jet that I was test flying for the State Dept. Hearing this story firsthand is something I will never forget! He was such a nice guy, and so humble.

[@elmowood1]

Today December 5 , 2019 I talked to Scott Weaver, Bills son who told me tomorrow is Bill's 91st birthday . Bill was still flying into his 80's. Scott plans to visit him in Carlsbad. Happy Birthday and God bless this great American. A proud salute from a former airman.

[@thanksfernuthin]

One of the many things that makes you proud to be a Zoomie.

[@josie4065]

I live near Carlsbad. What an amazing dude!

[@hoosierplowboy5299]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Bill!!! 👍🇺🇸

[@RememberKatrina2005]

Hi Elom! One is always an Airman. We simply move on to make space for othere.

[@Platyfurmany]

Every time I hear a story about the SR-71, I am reminded of the only experience I had watching this astonishing airplane fly by at extremely low altitude. Back in 1977, my family visited a cousin of mine who had been stationed at Edwards Air Force Base for some years. At the time, my cousin, Walt, was assigned to the B-1 program. At this particular time, he got permission to take me, a sixteen-year-old nerd, to the end of the main runway to watch the take-off and fly-by of the B-1A, I don't remember which one it was (there were 4 aircraft in the program) other than it was painted white. The Air Force was doing a photo-ops of the B-1 flying with, as best I can remember, an F-15 and an F-16. They each took off, looking very impressive. And while we were waiting for them to do a low-altitude fly-by for a bunch of cameramen waiting nearby, one of those magnificent beasts came barrelling down the runway and took off right above our heads in full afterburner. We were both shocked because we weren't expecting to see this rare sight. I remember most, not only the eardrum-shattering noise, but how the ground shook so much I thought I was experiencing my first California earthquake! Minutes later, the B-1 and its entourage came by for the first of its photo-ops looking beautiful, but the scene was anticlimactic; the Blackbird had, for me, forever stolen the show.

[@werwolf1257]

Edward Cabaniss Wow!

[@simondavies699]

I personally would be more excited to see an F16 before they were even in service! Black birds cool but seeing an F16 as a kid which is brand new and hasn't been in service yet is what I'd be excited about! Awesome story really cool to get to experience that

[@chuckfults9256]

I remember there sonic booms when they flew out of Los Alamitos sometimes back when i lived in Buena Park back in the 70's walking to high school! Always wondered where the booms came from? I found out when I was much older!

[@tolfan4438]

Great story you're lucky to have it

[@Skywalker8562]

At Tinker AFB, when the B1s took off, the General Motors plant just outside the South end of the field would have all of the car alarms go off. That things engines, each one, was four times the size of a F-15 engine, and when they went to military power and you saw the after burner at night, with the diamonds in the flame, those were "shock diamonds."

[@moguaiato5583]

I was told a similar story by a SR pilot once. He was flying in undisclosed airspace as airline traffic was request various altitude changes. When he decided to request an altitude change to the ATC. He requested to fly at 60k ft. The ATC answered back with if you can fly at 60k ft.bthen be my guest. He then replied back with "now decending 60k feet". Sounds like these guys had a blast screwing with other people when flying.

[@danhammond9066]

HAHA! Nice, But that is because airspace above 60k ft. is uncontrolled. So when ever a SR71 descends to an altitude at or below 60k ft. they have to contact ATC for a clearance into that controlled airspace.

[@MrKfq269]

That's awesome.

[@gospyro]

I hadn't heard that one!!

[@monkeybusiness63]

I was talking to a ATC in Minot. Said SR71 repair landing hurried into hanger. When repaired. On tarmac radioed tower Request for unlimited accent. Tower granted as they watched the plane went virtually straight up off radar.

[@MartinMCade]

I heard a similar story once but ended with "Leaving flight level 1200 (120000 feet) for flight level 800"

[@BDATKISON]

I was fortunate enough to be at Edwards Air force Base for a fly-over in the early 1990's. The Blackbird flew about 200-300 ft above the Comm building that we were on top of for the viewing, it was incredible. Roof shaking, super loud, super fast, the pilot hit the afterburner after he passed us. Never seen a plane faster than that, once in a lifetime event.

[@lololomo5484]

Saw an SR-71 in the distance in the California Outback. Rubbed my eyes.

[@Vikingwerk]

I've read this account before, which also included the following anecdote from his first flight after the accident: Two weeks after the accident, I was back in an SR-71, flying the first sortie on a brand-new bird at Lockheed's Palmdale, Calif., assembly and test facility. It was my first flight since the accident, so a flight test engineer in the back seat was probably a little apprehensive about my state of mind and confidence. As we roared down the runway and lifted off, I heard an anxious voice over the intercom. "Bill! Bill! Are you there?" "Yeah, George. What's the matter?" "Thank God! I thought you might have left." The rear cockpit of the SR-71 has no forward visibility--only a small window on each side--and George couldn't see me. A big red light on the master-warning panel in the rear cockpit had illuminated just as we rotated, stating, "Pilot Ejected." Fortunately, the cause was a misadjusted microswitch, not my departure.

[@janetmiller2160]

🤣 I had a magazine photo of a Blackbird over my bed. Thought it very "sharp" looking.

[@dwoodman26]

That cracked me up! 😂

[@Arch3an]

That is both terrifying to imagine, but also kinda hilarious. XD

[@olcraigsen]

What would we do without levity. Thank you gentlemen God bless the United States of America.

[@kimosabbe50]

Thanks for sharing that :)

[@richardfay8298]

In about 1970 I was in the Air Force, automatic tracking radar, normally tracking B-52s for low level simulated bomb runs. One day we a got "special" plane code name Wild Weasel, he told us the incoming azimuth and said "see if you can track me", we chuckled thinking we could track anything. When he appeared on the horizon we locked on, our 6ft. dish on the roof nearly tore itself off the roof it flipped so hard, we were stunned ! We told him to come around and do low slow flyby so we could see him, he said this thing won't go slow but I'll do my best. We saw the incoming dot on the horizon but could not turn our heads fast enough to follow and actually "see" him. It was like a paranormal experience, we were shocked to the core. We concluded it had to be the SR-71.

[@arthurmiller9434]

Thank you for your comment. I am traveling to the UK in May and just added the imperial War Museum to my itinerary.

[@AudieHolland]

Now I have never seen an SR-71 in real life but from what anyone can see on the existing video and photo footage, it *can* fly slow easily. At least as slow as a K-135 Stratotanker. And that one doesn't fly so fast that you would lose sight of it while turning your head.

[@AudieHolland]

@Pierre LeDouche My apologies if you couldn't understand what I was actually posting: an SR-71 *can* fly rather *slowly.* Any kid knows it can fly extremely fast.

[@AudieHolland]

@Pierre LeDouche Well, yeah that's how conversation goes. OP mentions that the Blackbird wouldn't fly slow enough to even see it (think about it, how would it take-off and even land if it couldn't slow down to a common speed?). Anyway, if you had not directed your reply straight at me, I wouldn't have responded that way. "LeDouche" really?

[@KBS117]

@Pierre LeDouche ...yeah, and they lost 2 planes, trying to launch those high speed missiles from aircraft. They abandoned the plan... Rockets were used instead.

[@randydrake8108]

As a Marine headed for Vietnam in 1970 our DI addressed the company of Marines in the chartered airline as we approached Clark Air Base in the Philippines: "Put your cameras away! We will be approaching a classified aircraft upon landing. Anyone taking a picture will spend the next twenty years in Leavenworth !!! " We landed in the middle of the day and fortunately I had a window seat. We pulled up right next to a Black Bird and it sat just outside my window. Try to imagine my AWE. You can't. We were all astounded at the SR-71. It was an incredible morale booster to know we had an aircraft like that.

[@joan9569]

Randy Drake: My uncle was a guard at Leavenworth during WWII. He had flat feet, so he was a guard. :)

[@circleofsorrow4583]

Just as I am amazed that such an aircraft existed ten years before my birth, I'm amazed that you were fighting in a conflict in Vietnam just ten years before my birth. Glad you made it back.

[@TheMcdrewb]

So cool...

[@djonpow]

.....and I was the guy who would....politely..of course...put you on your face if you got too close....ahh good times!....chuckle

[@edpettit6563]

The Blackbird is almost unbelievable today. I can't imagine what you were thinking in 1970.

[@gregrunyon2858]

The brain child of one of the most brilliant aviation designers of all time, Kelly Johnson.

[@richarddavis5542]

Kelly Johnson's biggest contribution came from his Project Management principals. Yes, he was a great designer but the SR71 was a contribution of many great designers.

[@markmitchell457]

And done with a slide rule, not a computer.

[@FIREBRAND38]

Well, he did have help.

[@sarge420]

This bird was flying in 1959. Mach 4.4.

[@jesseterrell1462]

​+Ben Rich

[@markkrauklis8294]

In 1985 I went to the Tucson, AZ Air Show based out of Davis-Monthan AFB. The SR-71 was the star of the show. The Blackbird pilot was on a loudspeaker and narrated his flight to Phoenix and back. Less than 10 minutes after departing Tucson, the pilot said he had spotted Phoenix (100 miles away) and was starting his turn to come back to Tucson. He landed back at Tucson 10 minutes later. After landing and parking we aviation buffs were allowed to get an up-close look at the roped off plane. We were told not to touch the plane because it was hot to the touch! STILL the most beautiful flying machine I have ever seen!!! 🤩😍🥰🥰🥰

[@patrickjones6400]

“Die from the rapid deceleration experienced by colliding with the Earth.” A slight understatement. (Another bit of history well told.)

[@johndoe1909]

In the sane league as a rid, rapid unplanned dissassembly which is used about exploding rockets.

[@bobjohnson9820]

It ain't the fall that kills you, its the sudden stop...

[@kingtigertank72]

yup....sounds much better than ....Splattering on the ground upon impact

[@rance-medicineman8583]

Gravity is not always our friend

[@gregdolecki8530]

Had to laugh at that delivery

[@petergauthier8165]

I was a Technician on the SR-71A Simulator from 1980-1983. I was able to meet several SR-71 pilots and acted as an unfamiliar voice for Radio calls and as the Precision Approach Radar(PAR) operator, when we simulated bad weather(IFR) approaches. One pilot, gave me, and others at the simulator, a ride in a T-38 Talon in, appreciation for our service.

[@rrobins9857]

I would give all that I own to ride in t-38👍👍👍

[@Lnino-sd3kf]

It is indeed a great historical honor on your behalf sir. I salute you.

[@Logan_ismyname]

Wow so did you do air traffic control for a living or was your PAR work more in support of the SR-71 program? I’m an Air Traffic Controller myself and I’ve been a qualified PAR instructor for a few years now.

[@lololomo5484]

Don't forget to wear a SR-71 baseball cap. Then all the dillweeds will thank you for your service.

[@petergauthier8165]

@@Logan_ismyname I did all of my work on the simulator. I will remember it for the rest of my life.

[@roadtomanitoba9753]

"Blackbird" is one of the most beautiful and marvelous things humanity ever build.

[@davidswanson5669]

The head-on view looking straight at the face of the plane is the most impressive and majestic view of its intimidating presence.

[@hauntedhose]

@@davidswanson5669oh really ….

[@Redmenace96]

Good YT comment! That is about how I feel. It is just the most beautiful tool ever made by humans. The Pyramids ain't shit.

[@georgej.dorner3262]

I was stationed at Beale AFB in 1968-1969. A memorable sight was a Blackbird recovering at dusk. It was glowing red against a gray horizon.

[@julius_the_python]

What a mind-blowing image that must have been. Thank you for putting that in my head.

[@brianlanders8028]

I was stationed at Shaw AFB in 1985-1986, in 1985 I watched an SR-71 land, he flew from Templhoff AFB to Shaw AFB , the jet was so hot you could feel the heat from 300 ft. away. They brought a crane out of the hanger to get the pilot out of the plane, because it was so hot, and the flight suits that he was wearing was fully inflated. I'm just lucky I got to see that, because it was my day off at the time.

[@mailmeabhilash]

Who ever designed the flight suit, deserves massive respect.

[@willmartin6263]

The cabin was pressurized to simulate 27,000 ft. altitude. At that pressure, you could move around in the suit (pressurized to simulate sea level) fairly easily, but when explosive decompression exposes the outside of the suit to 80,000 ft. altitude, the suit inflates like the Pillsbury Dough Boy, which is probably what broke his seat belt, and what protected his body from the shock of breaking the seat belt. Also, there were two oxygen bottles; one mounted on the suit and one mounted on the ejection seat. He lost the one on the seat, and got enough oxygen from the other one to compensate for the venting tube where the other one had been. The suits were filled with 100% oxygen, so he's lucky there wasn't a fire.

[@IAlwaysWantedToTryThat]

Fun fact: ILC Dover made the high-altitude suits for NASA and the AF for decades. They were a subsidiary of Playtex, the company best known for ladies underwear.

[@tomcline5631]

@@IAlwaysWantedToTryThat I was gonna say,a bra manufacturer!

[@VetteguyC6]

Suit supplied by the lowest bidder that met specs.

[@RogerBarraud]

@@IAlwaysWantedToTryThat Cool Story, Bra! :-)

[@larrykeene4733]

"Center of gravity aft of specs" I know there is a saying in the Radio Controlled world that "A nose heavy plane flies poorly, a tail heavy plane flies ONCE."

[@fatedc6053]

They try to match center of gravity with center of lift

[@willmartin6263]

Too nose heavy, you can't take off. Not a problem, unless you run out of runway. Too tail heavy, you can't recover from a stall. The center of gravity needs to be IN FRONT OF the center of lift, so a stall makes the nose drop, fixing the bad angle of attack.

[@lw216316]

I was going to comment the same thing. So I gave a thumb up instead. I've flown rc planes that were tail heavy and it gets ugly real fast. Its the sort of thing that happens usually on a maiden flight. It usually crashes or gets fixed before another flight. What is it like to fly ? Imagine you stand on top of a basketball and try to balance.... no wait, imagine you place a basketball on top of another basket ball and you stand on top of the 2 basketballs and try to balance …. its something like that. If you manage to get down low and make a landing approach the fun has just started. On a normal landing you are pulling the stick back as you flare the aircraft to bleed off speed before touch down. When the aircraft is tail heavy it is already pulling the nose up and you have to go against your training and instinct and push the stick forward (pushing the nose down) in order to land. When (if) you land this plane you are not in Kansas anymore. With rc planes you make your trim adjustment during the maiden flight. Its bad enough if your plane is pulling left or right (aileron trim needed) or flying sideways (rudder trim needed) but if you add tail heavy (elevator trim needed) to that to fight the tail heavy problem ….. well, its like having a boxing match with a swarm of bees.

[@RogerBarraud]

Aft of *specs*... NOT aft of COP... :-/

[@robertgoss4842]

I concur. You know what they say: It's not the fall that kills you. It's the sudden stop at the bottom.

[@jimh4375]

10:50 "Given the planes speed he couldn't be sure what state he would land in" Just let than soak in.

[@Iskelderon]

Ever seen drawings of the turn radius of that beast at full burn? Simply insane!

[@tomcline5631]

@@2lanerider That's hilarious!!! Is a pile of goo a solid?

[@MrDino1953]

Your states are all pretty small.

[@vbscript2]

@Me Smith 2,300 mph is very fast, but it will definitely not get you from London to LA in 7 minutes. More like 2 hours and 20 minutes, which is still incredibly fast and bested only by spacecraft. (Unless you're talking about London, California, in which case it actually probably could do that in 7 minutes.) The SR-71 holds the speed record for fastest time from LA to Washington, D.C., a flight which it completed in 64 minutes and 20 seconds.

[@scottcol23]

@@vbscript2 I cannot comprehend going from pacific to Atlantic Oceans in a hour. It would not register mentally that it was 5pm in LA when I left was in air for 60min but now its 9pm in DC... Or going the other way... Leave DC at 5pm land in LA and it is 3pm.

[@ryanreedgibson]

When I was a boy my class took a field trip to Tucson. I got to walk up and touch the SR71 and was hooked since. What a great story and it's horrible about the co-pilot but surprising anyone survived!

[@RoadRunnerLaser]

I've heard the "SR71 speed-check" story told by the pilot who was flying it at the time. It still makes me chuckle. He goes into far greater detail and build-up than you did in your short synopsis, of course... and it wasn't the pilot who asked for the speedcheck, either. It was his "rear-seat" - It's definitely a story well worth hearing the way he tells it.

[@michaeltempsch5282]

m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnLceXtvfJ6YqpI And Maury Rosenberg on buzzing the tower m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/roWtioGnaayEd6c

[@markgreul2654]

RoadRunnerLaser ...yeah, my instruments show it’s closer to 2000 👍🏻

[@yoopernow]

Yeah, he said it was the first time he knew that they were a real crew, thinking perfectly alike...

[@kathleenirish]

Brian Shul

[@clarkhardesty2145]

I've read that the pilot/rear seat came back with we show a bit closer to 2,000

[@Ar-kx4hp]

Yesterday I went to the Imperial War Museum in Duxford England. They have a special display hanger for U.S. military aircraft. Every icon from the sky is in there; the B17, the Mustang, a B29. A beaten up Huey from Vietnam, A10, a Tomcat and an insanely huge B52. It’s funny seeing a B29 and a B17 both parked under the left wing of a B52. But you walk around under the B52 and just stop dead in your tracks. There it is....just sitting there... the SR71. It is hard to describe seeing one in the flesh. It’s almost as though it has length and width, but has resisted any attempt to have height. Where it has some to make room for the engines, it snaps shut again into 2 dimensions as soon as possible. It is bucket list stuff to run a finger tip under the vast wing. How does that bizarre radar and light absorbing surface feel? Honestly it feels like it has the texture of chocolate that could never melt.

[@dleland71]

I know what you mean! I saw (and touched) my SR-71 at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon last year. An experience I will never forget. They even had one of it's engines out and on display. I carefully ran my fingers over it thinking of it's great power deeds. Their top speed, is it still classified?

[@badhabit90]

i, too , have seen and touched the SR71 at Evergreen...and also its drone....ohhhhh....sounds weird, but it does feel fake to the touch and we sound like a bunch of crazies that touched something that we shouldnt have....hmmm, weird, the CIA is at my door..be right back.

[@raymondfallon7429]

Back in 72 - 74 I used to watch them take off and land at Kadena AFB in Okinawa. Beautiful plane - take-off was coolest - takes off like a semi normal jet fighter then voom... like warp speed in a SciFi movie - just straight up and gone. Nice slow landing speed. Neat stuff.

[@sevenmile]

@@dleland71y SR-71 flyby story... I stood on an overpass and saw the fuselage as it traveled up the I-5 towards Mac. Impressive huh?

[@josephgalarneau7177]

And then see a FW-109 or P-51 parked under the wing of a B-17 !!

[@carygrant8796]

I had a student that had been an engineer at Edwards and when it came time for his cross country sortie he wished to go back to Edwards. It was max range for the the T-37 from Willie, but we made it. His girl friend was a secretary at Palmdale in the B-1 plant and her boss gave us the tour of the facility and we climbed all over ships 14, 15, and 16 in various forms of assembly. As we were talking he said he had worked on producing parts for the SR-71 and said what made it so expensive to keep flying, was every replacement part had to be hand made. While a part might have been manufactured to strict specifications, time and multiple heat cooling cycles soon made every part unique to that aircraft. If they manufactured the replacement part per the design specs it wouldn’t fit. Every part was a custom job. As we were leaving he pointed over to a big hangar on the other side of the ramp that said Northrop, “They’re building something classified over there!”. Found out years later it was the follow on to the B-1. Lot’s of history in the California high desert!

[@lw216316]

To die in a chopper crash on the way to a hospital after surviving an SR-71 breakup would be bad. To die from a fall off an antelope while riding it to the hospital after surviving an SR-71 breakup would make me laugh and cry at the same time !

[@EneriGiilaan]

This speed check story as told by the pilot himself, Brian Shul, is really entertaining - worth checking out. One small correction to this video - every plane has an *air speed* indicator. The planes were asking for their *ground speeds*.

[@poppaluv]

why is his book going for $1k?!

[@ateamfan42]

@@poppaluv Out of print, sadly. Limited supply + moderate demand = crazy high prices.

[@RalstigRacing]

I'm normally not a fan of stealing books, but you can easily find a PDF scanned copy online.

[@ateamfan42]

@@RalstigRacing "Stealing" is probably too harsh a word in the case where the publisher has decided not to print the book. No one is "stealing" sales from them. If they decided to print more copies, the existing demand demonstrates that many people would want to buy one.

[@korbindallis]

You can search Brian's video it's very entertaining

[@kansascityshuffle8526]

The rapid deceleration caused by colliding with the earth. Nice 👍

[@itsjohndell]

Yeah, I liked that too. And oldy but a goody!

[@ttystikkrocks1042]

Known as 'lithic braking', it's generally to be avoided whenever possible.

[@markleyg]

It's not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop.

[@andytaylor1588]

@e causey I fell down once. It hurt for awhile.

[@u2mister17]

Differential Speed Kills.

[@gonzomuse]

Finally!! In all my years I've never been able to ascertain why this location was called "Skunkworks" and you just drop it in casually as little bonus fact. Thank you!

[@zeroelus]

If you want a bit more information on that, I'd really recommend you read Ben Rich's book "Skunk Works". Mr. Rich was one of Kelly Johnson's key engineers and would later lead the Skunk Works after Johnson's retirement, eventually leading the F-117 Nighthawk project. A great book if you're interested in this subject.

[@DCFusor]

@@zeroelus I'd always heard it was from Lil Abner, a once popular comic in the papers, referring to their moonshine still.

[@phast1]

Chas Stack I think both are correct

[@upperleftcoastchelseafan7718]

Really, you couldn't just Google it?

[@gonzomuse]

@@upperleftcoastchelseafan7718 Had I ever wondered about it with access to a computer and nothing else to do then yes of course I could have. It must be nice to have enough spare time to answer every single question you've ever had.

[@drerikson9110]

As a young airmen stationed at RAF Mildenhall, I distinctly remember each time the Blackbird took off all the civilian cars along the flight-line path would pull over to watch. What a beautiful plane. Thank you

[@robbiepaulmusic]

I was "next door" at RAF Lakenheath and could always hear the blackbird when it took off, even tho we were a few miles away. I'll always remember the first time I saw one "in person" at The '81 Mildenhall airshow. On the tarmac, engine intakes and outlets covered up, roped off with 3 armed USAF SP's inside the ropes. There were even a couple SR-71 pilots there to talk to visitors! Fast forward to 1997 - the Edwards AFB airshow marking the 50th anniversary of Yeager breaking the sound barrier. Yes, he was there, flying his P51, Glamorous Glennis, and flew again, an F-15 Eagle at mach 1 over the base at 30,000 ft., giving the audience a nice demonstration of a sonic boom. We got to see the blackbird take off and do a low altiude fly-by earlier, but then they annouced that it was going to do a fly-by at 80,000 ft and mach 3. The only way we could see it, was they were going to dump some fuel. Suddenly, there was a skinny white line being drawn overhead for a fraction of a second. That thing was MOVING!! One the most impressive sights in my life! By the time we heard the sonuc boom, they were over San Francisco.

[@dg2545]

A lot of the SR71 infrastructure is still there. The tie down at the blast fence at spot 25, the barns (now fixed wing supply and 95th). The old RAF era hangar on the corner on the north side (opposite spy corner) got demolished, but I think I got pictures of the SR71 imprint in the floor.

[@danbardos3498]

Those test pilots had BALLS OF STEEL. R.I.P. Jim.

[@billludolph1696]

Actually the test pilots had balls made of titanium

[@danbardos3498]

@@billludolph1696 True 😂😂😂

[@4jungsters]

Dan Bardos Did you know Jim Zwayer? He was my uncle. I was 8 years old when he died but I always remembered what a kind man he was. I have never been prouder than when I saw the SR71 for the first time after it had been declassified (not sure if that’s the right term) doing a fly over at an air show.

[@danbardos3498]

@@4jungsters No no... I'm way too young. Just a fan.

[@danbardos3498]

You should be proud. Cheers.

[@brucer81]

That was truly one of your finest "The History Guy" episodes. I was a FAA air traffic controller back in the late 70's and the Blackbird's altitude capabilities were classified "Top Secret" and altitudes were never broadcast or spoken over the frequencies just translated into code words that we referenced from a concealed chart above the sector radar position when a mission was planned to transit our area (not that any other aircraft could possibly conflict with the SR-71's extreme altitude capabilities). It was just a matter of secrecy. It always amazed me to see the track of the SR-71 on digitized radar when we would dial in more tracking history which would appear like chevrons or hash marks behind the primary radar return. Where a typical commercial airliner might take several minutes to transit the sector the SR-71, because of its extreme speed, would literally leap across the radar as it updated five times a minute or every 12 seconds. What an amazing aircraft. Proudly, no other nation on earth was capable, then or now, of conceiving, engineering and building such an aircraft. And it was all done by slide rule!!! Kelly Johnson was truly a genius and visionary. Thank you.

[@russellk.bonney8534]

Beautiful plane but nope it wasn't invincible or faster, which is why they stopped making it. The Mig 25 could keep up with it and even pass it unloaded and even with a missile loaded it could position itself in front and wait for the SR 71 to come alomg or get ready to chase it down and put a missile up it's arse. The Mig 31 was slower but with it's ground breaking radars and long range missiles the SR 71 would have been toast. Both Mig 25 and 31's have achievd radar lock on SR 71s and if they had have entered Soviet airspace they would have been unable to avoid the R33 missiles. The US failed to turn the SR 71 into a stable YF12A interceptor so it was also scrapped. The Mig31 has a loaded service ceiling of over 25,000m (classified) and can shoot down targets to 28,000m (SR71 25,900m). The flight specs were both in the same ball park but only one was loaded for bear.

[@supreme2544]

Russell K. Bonney dude your so wrong lmfao. No fighter goes that high in altitude. Go back to reading more

[@supreme2544]

Russell K. Bonney SR-71 was up to 80,000 ft, no where near a fighter jet.

[@russellk.bonney8534]

@@supreme2544 Look at THE FLIGHT RECORDS FOR MIG25 at Wikipedia... MIG25 115,000 feet and weep.

[@russellk.bonney8534]

@@supreme2544 Didn't you read the comments below the video? An SR71 disintegrated at 78000 feet. Butthurt much?

[@stevengraham7216]

i think the most amazing thing about the SR-71 is; the most complex aircraft (known) ever designed was done using sliderules.

[@benjaminmcintosh857]

I certainly wouldn't consider this the most complex aircraft to be designed, modern airliners are likely more complicated. I do agree that it's amazing that they designed by hand though

[@vladcrow4225]

Tupoloev and Mikoyan bureau's have to disagree with it...

[@hitman3039]

@@vladcrow4225 How many SR-71's did examples of the aircraft bureaus you mentioned shoot down?

[@vladcrow4225]

@@hitman3039 MiG-25\31 is similar in flight characteristics.

[@steveburton5825]

@@vladcrow4225 Oh come off it... so they could go nearly as fast in a 22 second spurt... so what? The MIG's can only go past Mach 2.83 by destroying their engines and airframes and then couldn't maintain level flight at anything like the 80,000 feet of the SR-71 so had to resort to zoom climbs and falling out of the sky because they couldn't maintain enough indicated airspeed to prevent stalling. The SR-71 could cruise at 80,000 feet at Mach 3.2 for hours. The SR-71 had well over 1,000 recorded missile shots fired at it and they never lost a single one to them. It was outrunning SAMs that flew at Mach 6/7 because the missiles had to climb to 80,000 feet (16 miles) vertically and what ever distance horizontally just to get to the area code of the SR-71. The only way a MIG could get near it was to be in swarms that were vectored into it's path and wait for the SR-71 to get to them. Even then if the SR-71 did a turn just as the MIG's were beginning their run, the MIG's wouldn't have a chance. The SR-71 flew preplanned (and pre-flown) routes so it wasn't hard to figure out where they would be in a Cold War situation... in a hot war, there would be no such advantage. The other thing that isn't often mentioned is that the SR-71 was a very stealthy design. While it was a big airplane with a fairly flat bottom which made it a good radar target from underneath, to catch it, the missiles had to get to altitude and chase it and from the stern, it is very stealthy. Many missiles shot at it missed because they lost radar lock.

[@piqone1]

My Dad helped redesign part of the engine early in his career at Pratt. Awesome machine.

[@lololomo5484]

What a dad, and a feather in your family's cap. SR71 fans form almost as big a following as Star Trek fans. One is fiction, but the SR-71 is fact. . .

[@andyharman3022]

I have literally spent hours in the Air Force Museum studying the J58. To say it is awesome is pale understatement.

[@dougball328]

As a retired aerospace engineer, it is nice to watch videos where the narrator actually knows what they are talking about. So many times there are glaring error that make you wonder if anything in the video is true. You, sir, do your homework. And I just assumed you 'swallowed' the '5' on the KC-135 line.

[@mattdombrowski8435]

Unfortunately I found one of those. the blackbird isn't black for stealth reasons, it's black for heat radiation reasons. As I'm sure you're aware as a retired engineer, any object that can absorb a lot of heat can also radiate a lot of heat. Given the extreme conditions of the aircraft's operating environment, skunk works was trying every trick in the book to avoid cooking the pilot.

[@jjkusaf]

The SR-71 is, IMO, the finest looking man-made object to ever take to the air. "107 feet of fire-breathing titanium" as Major Shul once described it.

[@lololomo5484]

What a beauty. Simultaneously our nation's secret weapon and model for future Sci-Fi creators.

[@Ronimyles]

GREAT STORY! I worked with Weaver in the mid '70's at Beale (I was in the PSD unit - we took care of the suits and hooked the pilots up to the plane), and heard this story (though not in this amount of detail). I've retold it over the years, but had begun to doubt my memory until hearing this! Thank you for validating my memory! One thing we were always told was that the computers that flew the plane were necessary because somewhere around Mach 3 the plane was moving too fast for human reflexes to compensate and that this incident was what caused them to be put in the plane. Back then, you were NOT allowed to take pictures of the cockpit!

[@podaly]

I got to see both the U2 and SR71 as a jet eng flt line mechanic in the 70s at RAF Mildenhall. Very impressive. Very lucky pilot!

[@bigblue6917]

Your description of the pilot being buffeted about in the cockpit and striking his head reminded me about the incident which brought about the death of the test pilot Geoffrey de Havillend jr while flying the de Havillend DH 108, an aircraft similar to the Me 163 in shape but with a jet engine. While flying the aircraft he experienced buffeting and then the aircraft broke up in midair. The body of de Havillend was found and the parachute had not been opened. He also had a broken neck. It is thought that because of his height, well over six feet tall, he had struck his head on the top of the canopy and was either killed immediately or had been knocked unconscious before sustaining his fatal injury. He had been wearing the old fashioned leather flying helmet which gave very limited protection. Interestingly not long after this incident the de Havillend company received a package from America. A box with two of the new helmets which were being issued to the US Army Air Force. Apparently test pilots in the US had heard about the death of Geoffrey de Havillend jr and had sent the new helmets in order to help the other test pilots. An act of kindness which, I am sure, was much appreciated.

[@lololomo5484]

Flying at Mach 3 (2000 mph) turbulence can cause such shocks as would decapitate a pilot. Death-blow shocks can be suffered by flyers at those speeds. Weaver just lucky the rather mild shaking was survivable.

[@billthebax5578]

A shout out to ret Major Dan House, he bailed out of one. He's my coach in senior softball here at grassvalley ca. A humble man and a good guy.

[@rajgill7576]

Respect. My neighbor worked at Lockheed in the 70s and has the most amazing stories

[@Beer-can_full_of_toes]

Utterly fantastic telling of this amazing story. My dad worked on the blackbird in the 60s with the film for that majestic camera. He told me about the day he was getting a haircut at Beale when 61-17977 (an A blackbird) overran runway 14 and finished its landing on the belly. It was so expensive time consuming and I suppose time sensitive to move let alone repair the composite panels and gear that they decided to bring out bull dozers and burry her in place. To this day it’s still there minus the forward cockpit and nose portion which was dug up and now sits in some museum in Seattle where people can actually climb in it. Took me years to find all of that info after dad just told me he saw it and that it was buried. I asked him if he wanted to take a trip to see and sit in it as I think it would be super cool to be in the seat of the fastest manned air breather ever and he just said “why would I want yo go that far to do that? I’ve already sat in several.” He’s had a pretty lucky career with aircraft.

[@MusashiSush1]

When I was kid a great Uncle in the family came over with some super 8 footage of SR-71's taking off and landing, in one reel the pilot had to land the aircraft with the left engine suffering some kind of malfunction and had flames shooting out the side of the airframe through a hole that had melted through the outer skin. These pilots were truly the best of the best.

[@crf80fdarkdays]

Would love to see that footage

[@thebonesaw..4634]

The thing I love the most about your channel is that, you never really know what you're going to get... but you know it's going to be a doozy once you get it.

[@n7565j]

Superb Video Sir!!! I was lucky enough to spend a little time with a sled driver (Col. Richard Graham and wife, salt of the earth people) down at Sun n Fun in 2003 at Lakeland Fl. He had given a lecture and afterwards was selling and signing books. As I was the last in line we spent about a 1/2 hour chewing the fat. I had been to a National Guard base in Mn, (b4 9-11) and they had an SR on display, he knew exactly which aircraft I was speaking of and even knew the tail number! I got him to sign his books, and I've now collected 6 of his books, all signed... Doesn't mean a thing to anyone else, but it sure means the world to me :-) History Remembered... By Me ;-)

[@Jackalski57]

He relates that story in a lecture he gave talking about how he was paired with a newby. He was wondering how they'd get along. That is, until the co-pilot piped in with the request for a speed check. He mentioned that he knew at that moment they'd get along well!

[@christopherlynch3314]

Rapid deceleration, caused by "impact with the Earth". Classic.

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

*"Rapid Unplanned Disassembly".*

[@rdfox76]

Lithobraking!

[@GoSlash27]

I see the KSP contingent is out in force tonight :D

[@hybridwolf66]

I am not scared of heights, it is the sudden stop at the bottom that worries me...

[@kevintucker3354]

Matter of fact military lingo...

[@SlipShodBob]

Thank you I truly wish we had someone like yourself teaching history when I was at school as you make it personable and interesting instead of just writing facts and dates from the blackboard and copying passages from a book. I have also been enjoying listening to your podcasts as I'm working. Thank you.

[@Annie.747]

Seriously in love with the blackbird. The engineering blows it out of the water. It’s a joy to watch them active

[@0jonr]

Thanks! My wife and another first grade teacher joined the Civil Air Patrol which allowed them to fly in military aircraft. A KC-135 refueled had taken off from McConnel AFB and refueled an SR-71 somewhere around Topeka, KS. She and her coworker were able to lie beside the crew member guiding the boom and watch the process. The KC-35 then went on to circumnavigate Kansas, crossing the edges of Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, and Oklahoma before returning to Topeka to drop them of then returning to McConnell.

[@scotennis609]

I worked very near NASA Ames, in the mid to late 80's. Saw the Blackbird many times and lots of "other weird stuff" as well. Thank you for the video.

[@robson6285]

We also have noted that we can watch this without Ad after ad, so that makes the story a great bit better to enjoy watching it! Great are these stories indeed!

[@lololomo5484]

The interruptions are only a minor nuisance with the History Guy, who is intent on building a large, loyal body of fans. Good on him and his impressive crew.

[@jimburig7064]

Just to put things into perspective, 1,993 knots is 2,293.5 miles per hour, folks.

[@k7jeb]

And that's 3363 feet/second. A 300 Win Mag 165-grain bullet leaves the rifle barrel at 3260 fps.

[@markfryer9880]

@@k7jeb So faster than the proverbial Speeding Bullet.

[@spankyhappy2767]

So Superman was really killed when an SR-71 made a splat mark out of him on the nosecone? Sucks to be the second fastest in the skies.

[@Mp57navy]

how many donuts per day are 2300 miles per hour

[@jamesstewart6236]

@@Mp57navy Ask the pilots in the Mig 25/31s

[@scsands]

Attended UC Davis in the 80’s and my roommate was from Marysville, CA, south of Beale AFB. Spending the night at his parents house after a glorious day of duck hunting in the rice fields of his families business, at about a little after 2:00am, I was awoke by a thunderous roar like no other. Growing up in San Diego, I was familiar with jet noise living by Miramar then NAS (now a Marine base), but never had I been rocked by that thunderous of a jet noise. Of course all lights came on and I was soon explained to by my friend’s Dad with a chuckle, that while rare, a SR 71 had missed it’s approach and was thundering around for another pass. The next year I attended the AIR Show at Beale and saw the Thunderbirds (to compare the Blue Angels I had seen so many times in SD), and a SR 71 was on static display with a pilot standing by for PR. I relayed the story of my nighttime awaking a year later, and the pilot just smiled and said that he never misses his approach. Incredible machine and hats off to those that designed it, built it and of course flew it.

[@kurtb8474]

I live in Marysville and grew up in the neighboring town of Yuba City. As a kid in the 60s, I remember that roaring sound was frequent. When heard it, we knew what it was.

[@kurtbilinski1723]

I worked near Miramar airbase and can relate. One day after their annual airshow, a B1 took off with full afterburner, apparently just for fun. I had not ever before nor since experienced something like that, being two miles away and not being able to hear the person yelling right next to me. The best analogy might be a top-fuel dragster. I imagine that was much like what you experienced.

[@lololomo5484]

Marysville was the remote "California Outback" location I referred to earlier in these comments. I didn't want to give away govenrnment secrets. But every so often, I could see the SR-71 over my back fence in Marysville. That plane gives you goose bumps. And makes you proud to be an American.

[@BlueTrane2028]

One of the men my dad worked with as a firefighter had been a mechanic in the Air Force working on the Blackbirds. Just found that out yesterday, we spoke at length about his time with the jets. Very cool.

[@sr71norm]

Great segment! I worked on the SR-71 (DAFICS) when I was in the AF stationed at Beale AFB. I never got tired of that aircraft! It was always a thrill to work it. Thanks for the memories!

[@mickd894]

I was a Bat Caver when DAFICS was deployed. 9 AMS. At RAF Mildenhall I was on a post flight when the crew got out looking super pissed. An Instrument tech said 13 unstarts.

[@shannonschmidt177]

Grew up by that Base and saw a lot of cool stuff in the air....

[@chuckpippin8415]

I grew up in Yuba City, so I can remember seeing the SR-71 many, many times as it made its approach to Beale AFB...once with the starboard engine fully engulfed in flame as it flew right over my high school at lunchtime. Quite a sight. I also had the great pleasure to fly with then Major Pat Halloran in his1936 Globe Swift personal aircraft. He wouldn't / couldn't tell me just how fast the Blackbird could fly, but from what he hinted at left no doubt that when the throttles are opened up...there is just a hole in the sky where the 71 used to be... Truly faster than the proverbial speeding bullet.

[@KremitDeFrog]

RIP Mr Zwayer.. thank you for your help in developing this bird..

[@PhantomMarquis]

As a grade-schooler, I learned about the Blackbird in '87-later in life, a simple Internet search could have dispelled my misapprehension, but I had no idea that insane technology had been around so early.

[@sarahdierflinger1387]

I grew up in the the Antelope Valley, and loved watching that bird fly by. The sonic booms always brought a smile to my face. Watching it land always brought a crowd. My Dad worked at Lockheed. I believe I had heard that the SR-71 always got refueled shortly after take off because the fuel system leaked until it was up in the air.

[@karlchilders5420]

That isn't why they refueled after takeoff - the takeoff speeds were higher and put too much stress on the tires with higher fuel loads. It was easier and safer to take off with less fuel then refuel after takeoff.

[@lectrichobo6478]

@@karlchilders5420 See it regularly with most military heavy's.

[@karlchilders5420]

@@lectrichobo6478 No, you actually don't. Most planes, even the "heavy" ones don't have a high enough takeoff speed that makes it a problem. Even the C-5, which can take off at nearly 1 million lbs MTOW, can depart with full fuel.

[@landonedwards7504]

I don't know how much of the total fuel capacity was used prior to takeoff. But due to the enormous heat generated in flight, none of the seams in the metal were fully closed while on the ground. The titanium skin was designed to expand and "seam tight" at about Mach 1.5. Consequently fuel leaked like a sieve while the plane was on the runway. An Army buddy (we were both Intel) who had been stationed at Shemya, Alaska, and who was fortunate enough to be able to watch some SR-71 takeoffs, said JP-7 would literally flow out of the wing tanks while the plane was towed from its hangar. In those days, an errant cigarette butt would have killed dozens.

[@karlchilders5420]

@@landonedwards7504 an errant cigarette would do *nothing*. Throwing a fuckin FLAMETHROWER on JP-7 does *nothing* to ignite it. That is why they used Tri-ethyl borene to ignite the JP-7 fuel (made special for this jet and 2 other jets...). They also made JP-6 for the XB-70 Valkyrie. Lots of special fuels back then. Anyway, the plane wasn't "designed" to expand - expansion was simply accounted for because of the properties of Titanium under intense, continuous heat. Metallurgy on the titanium revealed that the jets actually got better as they aged in terms of metallic skin strength. They did leak profusely, because they could not come up with a sealant for the gaps and seams all over the jet. There was so much leaking (it was dripping, not "flowing" btw.. They had measurable rates they would monitor and drop pans were placed under the jets to (a) attempt a basic form of environmental protection and (b) estimate how much fuel is being lost over time. It's fascinating all the things they did with the Titanium. They had to make an entire set of tooling and dies just for basic maintenance, well after production tooling was accounted for. They learned how to properly forge, bend, cut, weld, and drill the metal without causing corrosion or imperfections due to various metals coming into contact with the Titanium.

[@tomgooch1422]

There's an SR-71 on display outside the California Science Center in Los Angeles. When we visit, I always take 30 minutes or so alone just looking at it and walking around it. It never fails to inspire and amaze me, looks like it could have just arrived from the Andromeda galaxy.

[@michaelclark9762]

That's actually the sole two-seat A-12 trainer, known as the "Titanium Goose".

[@a-a-ronbrowser1486]

How could anyone dislike these stories??? absolutely amazing! I wish they were longer.

[@Noitisnt-ns7mo]

"Mikey hates everything." kzbin.info/www/bejne/eX20YX-QiNN9fKc / I hate one thing, "Life".

[@markreynolds7343]

On vacation once, we stopped at Mobile, Alabama to tour the USS Alabama. Quite an impressive ship. After the tour we went to the small aircraft museum they have there. Walking down the rows of planes I could see the flat black nose of a plane. Thinking it was a stealth fighter I headed directly for it. SURPRISE. It was a SR 71. I was amazed. I just stared in awe of such a fabulous aircraft. It was truly amazing.

[@michaelclark9762]

The one at Battleship Park is an A-12, the SR-71's predecessor.

[@TeddyBear651946]

My greatest wish is that I could have had a teacher like you when I was young. This "History Short" was absolutely great.

[@ronevans3479]

Great content...I knowBrian Shul personally. He worked out at my health club....Brian is one of the nicest humble guys I’ve met. Brian gave me a signed “Sled Driver” book. I feel blessed and humbled to have met him....

[@paulduda7367]

I'm an Air Force Vet and this plane is far-and-away my favorite aircraft of all time...it will exhaust your supply of superlatives!!

[@ReApEr.-_-.]

My girlfriend's dad was a mechanic on the sr

[@BlankBrain]

I had a supervisor in the late '70s who had been a supervisor in the Lockheed titanium shop. He had a story about repairing cracked titanium panels. The panel would be inspected and a pencil was used to circle the cracks so they could be welded. After a while, it was noticed that more cracks appeared around repaired cracks. It turned out that at high temperatures, the carbon from the pencil lines reacted with the titanium and made it brittle. Once they started using markers without carbon, the cracks stopped happening.

[@dark14life]

Having had the privilege to sit in the cockpit of one of these beauties, I can safely say that HOLY CRAP THE PILOTS WERE INCREDIBLE. To kiss the edge of space in such a craft is truly a marvel of human engineering.

[@VLove-CFII]

I think they wear astronaut wings.

[@SinkyYT]

It makes you wonder what sort of stuff is being worked on now when these things were built in the 60's.

[@SocialContractActual]

Sept 20th is when a few dorks are going to try and find out by running into area 51 lol

[@renegadedragon9393]

The technology of the military is 20 years in advance of the technology that is released to the general public! They have the funds, the equipment and the high IQ personnel to get anything their minds are set on!

[@renegadedragon9393]

@@SocialContractActual Good luck with that plan, they better bring their own body bags! Thats a Top Secret Military Installation, The guards are trained professional soldiers! They don't carry rubber bullets! There's no tolerance for intruders! They 'll get one warning only! Then everything will go side ways!

[@itsjohndell]

@@renegadedragon9393 It's 45 miles over open desert from the outer wire to the inner fence itself. But they won't get more than a mile inside that outer wire. There are humvee' with Machine guns and at the base itself Apache choppers and A-10's. 10 minutes flying time from Nellis AFB and 20 from Edwards are F-15 and F-16s. The Base defense plan is prepared for armored attack from hostile powers. Nobody will get killed, a few bursts over their heads might be fired. And then they all go to Federal Prison. Nevada law stops at the outer wire. And all for nothing. No aliens.

[@renegadedragon9393]

@@itsjohndell The millenials are a nut job....they have no respect for authorities, the media and the Democrats taught them that! It's all fun and games to them until you go upside their heads! Years ago it was a different story on the installations i guarded, you got 2 verbal warnings , and a m16 pointed at you cocked and ready!

[@basicdata]

My father during the last half of 1972 at Kadena AFB Okinawa,Japan just as night fell took me to watch the maiden voyage of the fastest known plane at that time take off towards the South China Sea. He called it the Haboo an SR-71. I was fairly young and the Aircraft was as dark as Coal an ominous scary looking plane. I called that my date with Dad. A visual surely planted in my memory perhaps harder to describe than experience. I like this very informative video and to remember such an exotic fleeting moment in time. Thank-You!

[@Osoyoos48]

I was with the 376SW in the 80's and saw a lot of night take-offs of the SR-71 and it is most impressive. As a note, the correct spelling is Habu. Those of us who worked on or supported the KC-135's all called it that. I still have my Habu patch given to my by one of their maintainers.

[@basicdata]

@Osoyoos48 Cool! Habu Thanks!

[@elenthora442]

Yes!!!! The Habu!

[@bennylofgren3208]

Great story and I'm sure a cherished memory. I don't want to detract from it, but one minor detail though: it couldn't have been the "maiden voyage" of any SR-71. They were of course all test flown before being delivered (under their own power with a ferry flight) to the Air Force.

[@AlanHirschenhoferII]

I lived across the street from Haboo Canyon in Naha for several years from 62 to 67, didn't get to see my first Black Bird until 85 at Travis AFB. Loved Okinawa...

[@clintcannon1902]

"Center, we're indicating a bit closer to two thousand."

[@donc9751]

Great story! As soon as I heard you start telling the LA SPEED CHECK story I knew this was going to be great. Although different from the story itself. I had heard this story watching Brian Shul tell it in a KZbin video during one of his speaking engagements and it is one of my all time favorite stories! I had to share it with my uncle, who had gotten me interested in aviation when I was a young boy in the way 60s, and shared this with him before he passed away recently and he enjoyed it as much as I did. The story itself of the falling blackbird was very well told by you and I really enjoy listening to all of your historical stories about past events, you have a fantastic way of telling them, you deserve to have your own show on tv!!! Thanks and I look forward to more!

[@Milkybar3320011]

History at school was never this interesting, thank you for the many hours of insight and well selected history choices.

[@lololomo5484]

History at school was JUST as interesting. Didn't have the History Guy is all. Can't blame history for that.

[@jasonallison5121]

I've listened to a couple of your stories. You share the same "dramatisism" as the late Paul Harvey. It is nice to hear that again

[@zaineridling]

Paul Harvey, what a weird joke he was for 50 years of yelling headlines on the radio of what today we label as clickbait. 🙄

[@jasonallison5121]

@@zaineridling 50 years says something. I don't think we'll see another success like that

[@Rhaspun]

@@zaineridling He was a good pitchman in his day.

[@robinkuruda5249]

Yes it is!!!

[@lololomo5484]

Paul Harvey was always a fun radio listen. Good day.

[@kurtbilinski1723]

Back in the 1980s, the local Miramar airbase was practicing for its upcoming airshow. One day I was sitting at a red light in a convertible, and heard an odd-sounding jet approaching. I looked straight up and it seemed like only about 500 feet above was an SR-71 doing a slow turn. I was completely stunned because I didn't realize that it was attending the show, and to see one that close up from below was something I'll never forget. And yes, it was trailing a small stream of jet fuel :) Just amazing.

[@erictaylor5462]

I wonder if the SR-71 ever photographed the mines where it came from.

[@ronaldbrown9638]

Awesome outlook

[@lawrencel3188]

The SR-71 never overflew the USSR under orders of the President, side looking outside of border was however allowed.

[@brt-jn7kg]

That's the best part about the SR-71 is that it's made of Russian titanium during the Cold war so it's the ultimate middle finger to those commie bastards!

[@colormedubious4747]

Titanium-ception!

[@erniestang7053]

David miorgan you are right about the tools being destroyed

[@leemccallum4981]

Another add to the SR71 story is 3 of them doing a 6 sonic booms over the Hanoi Hilton in the early 70's. Love that craft...

[@orangelion03]

Excellent presentation. Well researched. So glad I got to see the SR-71 fly several times...low pass at NAS Pt Mugu with burners lit, trailing shock diamonds and climbing out over the coast. Attended a presentation by Mr Weaver back in the 90s; the man is a legend. Sort of a personal connection to the A-12/SR-71...the man that helped my father immigrate to the US in 1963 was the lead wind-tunnel model maker for Lockheed from the 40s until his retirement in the late 70s. Worked directly for Johnson on U-2 and Blackbirds and many other programs. He passed away in the late 80s, and my brother and I drink a toast to Mr. P every year on the anniversary of our arrival in the USA.

[@chadparsons50]

I grew up on Canadian airforce base Goose Bay. Local legend says that a SR-71 had an engine fail around Greenland, and had to make an emergency landing at Goose Bay in the early 1970s. At that time it was an American base, sold to Canada in 1976. Story goes that the hanger was guarded with shoot to kill orders, but small town secrets are hard to keep. The extreme issues presented by an engine failure as explained by THG make my local story make more sense to me.

[@nshilling2866]

About 25 years ago, I was traveling on a state highway in eastern Arizona, and saw a SR71 traveling at about 3000 feet parallel to the road, what an awesome sight.

[@mrfriz4091]

Obviously flying IFR (I follow roads, rivers and railways)

[@jensenhealey907efi]

SR-71 is the absolute MOST awesome and impressive vehicle designed by man. I cannot image being able to build anything like this ever again.

[@chocolatte6157]

Agreed

[@psikogeek]

Aurora

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

X-37b

[@izzyplusplusplus1004]

I agree. Too much red tape, beauracracy, prototype construction costs, etc, etc.

[@kirkc9643]

Saturn V

[@chonconnor6144]

Saw one of these at an Air Museum in Utah, the museum had an amazing collection but the SR-71 blew them all out of the water. It looked like a spaceship and it was almost unbelievable that it could have been designed and build nearly 70 years ago.

[@wesleydeegan208]

1981 I was in Okinawa and we were delayed on the tarmac because the Blackbird was taking off. We stood along the fence to watch. It took off and was about a mile away when it banked to the left. This aligned all the thrust to where we were standing on the fence. By this time the plane was quite a bit away but we were all thrown from the fence by the thrust. Seconds later it was gone from view.

[@EricBlackmonGuitar]

Amazing story.

[@seanriopel3132]

You should hear the actual pilot tell the story

[@davidelliott5843]

Brian Shul’s book is hard to find. US printed first editions are now well over $1000.

[@BB-oj9uy]

You forgot the second part to the introductory story. The Cessna requested to go up to 20K feet, so did the others - asking to increase their altitude to whatever their top ceiling was and wanting to show how high they could climb, except for the Blackbird. It requested clearance to 80K feet. LA asked Aspen 30 why they wanted to go up to 80K. The Bird responded, no, to come DOWN to 80K feet. It was cleared.

[@BB-oj9uy]

IIRC, the pilot just wanted to prove a point. I know it's uncontrolled above 60K. Just because it's uncontrolled doesn't mean one is prohibited from asking control for permission. I was in the USAF during Desert Storm.

[@BB-oj9uy]

Both parts are at least 30 or so years old. It was old when I first came across them back in the early '90's.

[@Markle2k]

That isn't a version a pilot would tell. Flight above 12500 requires oxygen, above 18000, an IFR flight plan.

[@steveevans4093]

Never heard that side of the story BB. Can't see a Cessna or Twin Beech using all the fuel, time and O2 to climb to absolute ceiling just to prove a point to others on the frequency. Seems silly, but I may be wrong.

[@ZenZaBill]

Don't think you're wrong, Steve. I have never heard of the altitude aspect to the "LA Speed Check" story by Brian Shul, and there are many examples of him giving it to be found online. So I call BS on that "altitude clearance" thing, BB. Taking a Cessna or Piper up to 20,000 isn't very good on the fuel usage, and I doubt either could get that high, unless it was a twin, you have onboard O2, etc. Doubtful that the SR would "request" clearance to 80,000 as ATC does not talk to you if you're above 60,000 -- you're outside of controlled commercial airspace, a place airliners do not go, so you are probably military and not their concern. When a military aircraft is traversing commercial airspace, then you get noticed and talked to.

[@bigblue6917]

I do know about this accident but your narration of the incident is well worth hearing. You are the Charles Dickens of history. The twenty years after WW2 saw some remarkable leaps in aviation technologies, many of which are still regarded as cutting edge. The way the flow of air into the SR71's engines and similarly that air intakes for the Concorde controlled the air into those engines are examples of that. And the wing shapes for both the British bombers the Vulcan and the Victor to name but a few. And all without the aid of modern computers. Truly remarkable. I understand that the U2 had to be flown at a set speed within a range of just 10 knots. Considering the length of many of the flights that is a remarkable feat of airmanship.

[@detritus1976]

Not sure about the width of the speed band, but I do know that at it's operating altitude the difference between stall speed and the speed at which the wings would be ripped off by aerodynamic forces, was tiny.

[@richdouglas2311]

As a retired Air Force officer who served during the Cold War, I'm proud of our accomplishments in deterring the USSR all those decades. The SR-71 is a shining example of our efforts to carry out that deterrence, and this video is a tribute to that aircraft.

[@rodanone4895]

the sr71 was a sign of our clear superiority. the gap was always in our favor. we stole more nazis. thank you for your service.

[@annettesherman3731]

Was so glad when they sent my dad to learn and work on that engine for 6 weeks. Spent 4 years at Edwards AFB (64-68)

[@MyILoveMinecraft]

Jesus that helicopter pilot must have been a mad lad to Flying so hard that he can scare that guy

[@billthebax5578]

Hey he was a cowboy!

[@ristube3319]

Too?

[@chevyon37s]

never go full Pony surprised that little helicopter could even lift the two sets of massive balls it was carrying that day

[@bloodmoongrizzlythefirst6492]

question is was it speed or the RPM's of the engine??

[@RespectableRSYt]

@@bloodmoongrizzlythefirst6492most likely speed. Helicopters rpm dosen't fluctuate all that much they increase speed by turning the propellers to take bigger bites of the air.

[@alfredterrence6112]

In my opinion, it's still the most beautiful plane ever constructed !

[@TheOzthewiz]

As much as I like the SR71, I PERSONALLY, think the Concorde is THE most beautiful plane.

[@alexcawthorne811]

Yeah I'm afraid Concorde the "white swan" makes the SR-71 look like an ugly duckling

[@Inazuma68]

Agree and No. 2 is the XB70

[@paulgibbons2320]

F16 is still the sexiest plane on the block.

[@ctbadcop15]

How could anyone give this guy a thumbs down? He is interesting and gets knowledge that you would never know out to the masses!

[@julius_the_python]

The people that thumbs-down these videos are the same people getting lip fillers and watching the Kardashians. Classless fools who know nothing.

[@AtticusDragon]

You really are one of the most respectable history personalities on KZbin and it's a genuine joy to watch your videos. I avoided history like the plague most my life, but this format (infotainment) has made me realize I actually love history. Storytelling is the most basic function of human culture, and you sir are a compelling storyteller. Thanks for all the great content!

[@megatronVS]

It's a damn shame Zwayer didn't make it. At least his family was able to recover his body.

[@DrWoodyII]

Great story, thank you for sharing. It is interesting to note that during the cold war, the USSR produced the world supply of titanium. The US secretly acquired Ruskie titanium through third-country purchases to build the SR-71, its line of nuclear submarines, and other projects. Thank you, Russia. As an aerospace engineer in the '70s-'90s, I worked on, among other programs, the manufacturing side of the B-2 Bomber. Back then, it was top secret and we could not discuss any part of the program with anyone outside of our immediate team. The B-2 main bulkhead that housed the crew cabin was machine cut from one very large, solid block of titanium. It was very expensive and was very problematic. In the middle of a cut, it would sometimes crack for no apparent reason requiring the entire piece to be scrapped. Even more important, titanium shavings are a significant fire hazard and, when heated in air, become an explosion hazard. Water and carbon dioxide will not extinguish a titanium fire. Now retired, watching this SR-71 story brings back many pleasant memories of those really interesting days spent working on projects representing the leading edge of technology. Again, thank you.

[@Alexagrigorieff]

The fire hazard was not because of titanuim. It was because the alloy also had magnesium.

[@DrWoodyII]

Alexagrigorieff: Not so, young one.

[@pirate0jimmy]

Fine powdered metals can be exiting.

[@frequentlycynical642]

Despite my fascination with the Blackbird for decades, I never heard that story. I lived in LA when the last BB flew across the US to Washington, setting a new record. The plane went way out to sea, u-turned, and kicked it. I heard that beautiful double sonic boom. Last September I visited the USS Alabama in Mobile. And there, it was, an SR-71. Be still my beating heart. I touched it. No more bucket list.

[@jamesedmond3351]

Barksdale AFB, in Shreveport, La. has an SR-71. Barksdale Global Power Museum.

[@richardmourdock2719]

"the rapid deceleration caused by colliding with the earth".... Good one H.G. That would be one way to say it. Sudden impact might be another. Great stuff, as always.

[@Genesis1313]

Another great history lesson from the History Guy. I learned two things from this lesson. First I learned that the O2 system for the flight suit, had to have far exceeded any design requirements. The second thing I learned, is origin of the phase, "TIGHT PUCKER SITUATION". I therefore make the following motion; I nominate the History Guy to take his God given talent to national TV, whereas the History Guy is to replace the Discovery Channel's most FAKE program, "The Alaskan Bush People", with "History That Deserves To Be Remembered". America and the world also deserves wholesome. educational, trusted programming. Do I hear a second?

[@pythongunner]

Second

[@milantrcka121]

third

[@chevychase3103]

Make it so!

[@rhunefader9428]

Hell yes

[@superdupergrover9857]

Fourth

[@danjones1608]

One clarification, while the pressure is low enough that blood would boil at body temperature at high altitude, the skin and blood vessels do a good job of keeping blood pressurized, even in a hard vacuum. Only blood exposed via an injury would boil. You might get a mild case of the bends though.

[@AllisterCaine]

Great to see someboddy knows that stuff. each of our cells can keep some pressure. it is not very good for us, but we can survive vacuum for some time.

[@emilychb6621]

@@AllisterCaine Yup, the thing that kills you in vacuum is that our lungs can't magically pump oxygen from low pressure (i.e. the vacuum) into the body, the blood. So every breathe you take would remove oxygen from your bloodstream instead of replenishing it. Even the 'cold' of the vacuum would harm you. As temperature only works on physical matter. Same way that sitting in a 100°C Sauna doesn't kill you, but jumping into a boiling pool of water does. The vacuum simply doesn't have any particles that could rob your bodies heat, so the only energy that is lost is through black body radiation, the tiny amounts of radiation everything gives off depending on its temperature, which FLiR cameras use to detect people and animals at night. So no boiling, only suffocation. (Within seconds)

[@stijnvandamme76]

@@emilychb6621 you can't breathe vacuum, you can't even maintain the air in your lungs and exhale is unavoidable causing lungs to collapse, you pass out in seconds.

[@emilychb6621]

@@stijnvandamme76 The vacuum was just the extreme. There's still air at the limit, so I would call the breathing movement a 'breathe'. Either way, oxygen just leaves the blood stream because there's a partial pressure differential in the wrong direction.

[@Punnikin1969]

To be fair, ejecting from a plane at that speed, whether voluntary or not, doesn't ensure that your blood would still be contained in skin or blood vessels, so the threat of boiling blood is still very real.

[@garymurphy6980]

I think you'll find that "The Skunk Works" comes from the L'il Abner comic strip. If anyone is old enough to remember.

[@jaesbow]

Al Capp spelled it “Skonk Works”

[@negativeindustrial]

I’m pretty sure anyone old enough to remember reading lil Abner has been dead for a very long time.

[@Thomasnmi]

@@negativeindustrial not all of us. :)