The story behind the Blackbird’s moniker, the “Lead Sled”
A few people nicknamed the SR-71 the “Lead Sled” after pilot Jerry O’Malley and RSO Ed Payne, on their second Blackbird combat sortie over Vietnam in 1968, dropped 60,000 feet…
A few people nicknamed the SR-71 the “Lead Sled” after pilot Jerry O’Malley and RSO Ed Payne, on their second Blackbird combat sortie over Vietnam in 1968, dropped 60,000 feet…
If KC-135Qs were unavailable, ordinary Stratotankers could be used to refuel the SR-71 Blackbird Mach 3+ spy plane. If it weren’t for air refueling, the SR-71’s range would be relatively…
The first aircraft to use its own fuel for hydraulic fluid was the SR-71 Blackbird and it was called the fuel hydraulic system The legendary SR-71 Blackbird Mach 3+ spy…
‘Tony LeVier [the test pilot who flew the first flight of the U-2] was sitting at Bob Gilliland’s bar when we arrived. The story of how the U-2 was named…
By 1962, Kelly Johnson had done at least a few studies on using the A-12 as a carrier for a QF-104 Starfighter The A-12 was the result of the military’s…
‘My RSO had given him “the bird” with his middle finger: I lit the afterburners and left that Mirage standing still. Two minutes later, we were crossing the Channel,’ Lt.…
The SR-71’s engineering was so advanced that new tools had to be created in order to build the Blackbird The SR-71 Blackbird collected intelligence in some of the world’s most…
‘I watched in amazement as the Vc circle [on the radar display], which told us the relative closing velocity of the target, started rapidly winding up far higher than I…
‘One of the real highlights of flying above Mach 3 and above 80,000 feet is nobody is up there with you,’ David Peters, former SR-71 Blackbird pilot The SR-71 Blackbird…
The SR-71 Blackbird pilot Brian Shul on May 20, 2023, in Reno, Nevada, unexpectedly passed away at the age of 75 due to a cardiac arrest At the age of…