How the U-2 got its name
‘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…
‘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…
No story on the SR-71 would be complete without an understanding and appreciation of just how valuable the KC-135Q model tankers and their crews were to the successful and safe…
‘“Beautiful, beautiful, come back and do another one,” the tower controller said,’ Maury Rosenberg, SR-71 Blackbird pilot The Lockheed A-12 and YF-12A aircraft served as the foundation for the development…
Members of the SR-71 Blackbird crew have reported that on occasion, they came down in search of a tanker, not so much because they were running out of gas but…