King of the skies

[Trevor Bjorklund]

For any of you who like airplanes especially the SR-71:
http://www.econrates.com/reality/schul.html

[in no way do I endorse this guy's other stuff/agenda, I just like the story!!!]

[Kevin Hendrick]

Great story -- 'preciate the link! Sounds like they were lucky there wasn't an orbiting Shuttle passing overhead at the time ("OV-103, I show you at fifteen thousand four hundred knots on the ground") ...

[Tubajug]

That is good! Thanks for sharing! We've got an SR-71 on display at the Strategic Air and Space Museum near my home.

Funny thing is, it was originally designated the RS-71, but the president that "unveiled" it (I forget who it was now), accidentally said SR, so instead of embarrassing him, they changed the designation.

[Rick F]

That is good! Thanks for sharing! We've got an SR-71 on display at the Strategic Air and Space Museum near my home.

Funny thing is, it was originally designated the RS-71, but the president that "unveiled" it (I forget who it was now), accidentally said SR, so instead of embarrassing him, they changed the designation.

Actually that was an incorrect story by the press at the time. Gen. LeMay preferred — and lobbied for — the SR label for 'Strategic Recon'.

Air Force Chief of Staff General Curtis LeMay preferred the SR (Strategic Reconnaissance) designation and wanted the RS-71 to be named SR-71. Before the July speech, LeMay lobbied to modify Johnson's speech to read SR-71 instead of RS-71. The media transcript given to the press at the time still had the earlier RS-71 designation in places, creating the story that the president had misread the aircraft's designation.

When I was stationed at England AFB, Alexandria, LA in 1967, I was in the control tower when an SR-71 had to land there with an emergency engine problem. I had never seen it before, but one of the controllers knew its nomenclature. They couldn't get it in the hanger soon enough as it was still classified and were afraid the press would see it. On another day, in the radar control room, a controller asked a known SR-71 on the radar scope to, "Say altitude?" (this was before they had mode 'C' which gives that information automatically). The pilot's reply was, "I'm higher than anything else you got". Very impressive bird.

[Tubajug]

Thanks for the clarification!

It really makes me wonder if they've got anything else nowadays that can outdo the Blackbird that we just don't know about. That thing was simply amazing with all the records it broke/holds.