Hi guys! I am a retired Air Force, Electronic Intelligence Analyst, ELINT. I was assigned to Det 4, 9th SRW at RAF Mildenhall UK, from 1982 - 86. It was my job to process, analyze, and report ELINT data collected during the mission. I was also responsible for providing pre - post mission briefings to the aircrew. Including Brian Shulz, mentioned in this video. There were so many interesting events during that time period. Although it was probably one of the most demanding of my assignments, It was one of my favorites.
The most insane thing to me was that in 1945, jets were BARELY making it off the ground. We still had many planes made of wood for God's sake... Cut to 7 years later, and the US is developing the U2, to fly at the edge of space... Cut to a few years later, they started designing and building this thing. The speed at which advancements came was actually incredible.
absolutely and with recent advances in AI these things will come even faster not only in aeronautics but every other tech field it's all a little unsettling to me personally⚛
Humans in 1945 could build insane aircraft. I assume by jets you mean passenger planes but there were definitely large bombers in 1945. Look at what the Germans did with the Me 262 in 1944, it could just about reach Mach 1. The tech for the Blackbird was developed astonishingly fast yes, but people were doing crazy shit in the world of aeronautics long before that
I grew up right during/after slide rules waned. I was taught how to use one and still have an old one in my box to show the apprentices. Knowing how to use one before I took calculus helped immensely. I actually understood what logarithms were actually doing, and the rules surrounding them.
Was able to see the SR71 at Beale AFB years ago. Incredible plane. At the time, my friend had a Cessna. We were flying out of Truckee, CA. one day. The air traffic controller contacted us and instructed us to clear the airspace immediately. We were over Donner Pass. Found out later the SR71 was over Missouri at the same time. If you get the chance, watch the videos of Brian Shul (SR71 pilot). Amazing man, amazing plane. RIP Brian Shul.
It took off, nearly empty and gushing jp-7 out the back end. It immediately goes for mid-air refueling, from a tanker. I watched one get refueled in air while in the tanker. There are several pictures online of sr-71s being refueled in the air. Check em out.
The SR-71 Blackbird IS IN SCIENCE-FICTION MOVIES LOL. It is the signature jet used by the X-Men in the X-MEN and DEADPOOL movies, or a modified version of it. It is also referenced by Tony Stark in the first IRON MAN movie on his test flight with the Mk. 2 suit before he paints the suit red and yellow. You can see the HUD display a computerized silhouette of it. "Hey Jarvis. Pull up the SR-71." "Sir, the record for winged altitude flight is 85,000 feet." " Records were meant to be broken."
It was a UFO also. It was one of the plane that were being tested when rumors about area 51 started. There were hundreds of thousands of UFO sightings that recount a spear like object racing across the nights sky that coincide with Blackbird testing.
Kelly Johnson - head of LockHeeds Advanced Projects Division ( The Skunk Works ) was probably one of the greatest engeineers of modern times. The Skunk Works were responsible for a large number of planes and other technological developements. The SR-71's did use very early { Stealth } technologies that were capable for the time. The overall design was a part of the [ Stealth ] that was a part of the BlackBirds - in the paint that was applied to the SR-71's contained millions of tiny iron-balls. The purpose of the iron-balls were to absorb radar engergy that was used to detect the SR-71's. So the amount of radar waves that were rerurned to the radar that was emmiting it was less then that was sent out. The design also deflected radar waves upward in various directions to also reduce the amount of radar returned to the source.
Went to the air museum at Hill AFB in Utah. There they had the infamous SR-71 on display, with some info of the records known. Some stuff is STILL classified! Neat look at a plane years ahead of its time.
I think the thing that I find the most mind boggling is that if the government admits the speed and heights that we hear about, then what is it truly capable of that we don’t know about?
I was obsessed with this plane as a kid for a time. Slick model on a stand (actual metal parts, not plastic), posters everywhere, books. Annoyed the shit out of other kids in school talking about it incessantly.
Speaking of James May, he did a program for the BBC titled "James May at the edge of space", where he flew to the top of the atmosphere on a U2, courtesy of the American military. There are 10 min. cuts of this on RUclips (for example, "James May rides in a U2 spy plane [HQ]"), that you may like reacting to.
I just finished reading a book about this aircraft. On some missions the crews would watch the sun rise in the west or set in the east, sometimes multiple times. It flew faster than the Earth’s rotation so would outrun the sunset or sunrise until it reduced speed and altitude for refuelling, then catch up to or race away from the sun again.The fuselage heating from friction required cockpit air conditioning as well as for some other systems. On one mission the air conditioning failed in the rear cockpit. It got so hot that the plastic covers on the manuals began to curl and melt. The crewman was protected by the pressure suit.
Loved watching these taxi out from there hangers and takeoff at Mildenhall where they parked our C-130s across from the hangers while we were TDY there in the 80s.
Mach 3.2 is roughly 2'193 mph. The heat generated at that speed was very high , so about 97% of each SR-71 was made of Titanium to offset the heat. Ironically all that Titanium came from one supllier - Russia.
Btw, I met King Charles, then a prince. I shook his hand, when he visited my unit to see and get in the cockpit of the SR-71. He wanted to go for a ride in the back seat, but it was logistically difficult and expensive.
When we needed pictures of an inaccessible area on the quick, the SR-71 was the solution. On the quick was not in real time. Then satellites progressed to where we had the capability to task orbital assets and have results in real time, so the SR-71's mission went away. There's value in having the capability, but the very high price of delivering and maintaining that capability exceeds the value it can deliver, as decided by the people that make those value judgments. If you visit the US and are in DC, they have an SR-71 on static display at the Smithsonian at Dulles Airport (Udvar-Hazy Museum). Along with acres of other cool stuff, like a full size space shuttle.
Well, in all fairness mankind has only really been learning about the planet we live on, and the universe were in for the last thousand years, if there’s intelligent life out there that’s been around for 1 million years they very well could be flying here to study us. This is Sr71 blackbird was developed just a matter of 60 years or so after the Wright brothers very first flight. There are hundreds of thousands of stars out there and surely there Hass to be planets somewhere in all of that mix that has created life just like ours has and to me it would be much more shocking to know that there was no other life out there that we were the only little island of life in all of this vast expanse.
It's a spooky thing to see in person. I saw it on the deck of the Intrepid. I completely understand why people thought they saw an alien craft in the Nevada desert during tests. That along with the B-2 Spirit and the F-117. (I've also seen a B-2 do a dive towards the area where I was standing. You hear it, but you don't see anything. Then suddenly a giant black triangle just appears when it pulls up over you.)
When I was growing up in the 80s and 90s my parents would bring me and my brothers to the Warner robins air force museum, they had one sitting in there for years. The last time we went in the late 90s it was gone. I'm guessing it moved to another base/museum.
For some reason I was surprised at how small the SR 71 was when I saw it up close and personal. Just one thing that is too trippy. There are certain pictures of this jet that are taken from the front and elevated that makes it look like a black star ship Enterprise. If you look into it you can see what I am talking about. The bridge on the top of the rounded nose along with the nacelles behind on each side.
From what i know, this plane never had any sort of offensive weapon on it, and was not a bomber. that is the B-1 (bone) or the B-2 stealth bomber, or the B-52 of the past, but is still in use today because how many bomb it can hold basically. The Blackbird plane was just used for spying on other countries with photography that could zoom in real close. the Sr-71 was basically retired because satellites in space can do the job much safer and cheaper now.
I've seen two of them up close and both have a rough, black skin that looks like a child's paper mache project made out of black construction paper. They always leaked fuel by the gallon when on the ground or in the air because of the titanium skin that had pourous seams. From 50 feet away they look like a Star Wars project but up close they are clearly rough, hand-built, and not as pretty as their outline. This kind of innovation, state-of-the-science and simultaneously crude are hallmarks of the Skunk Works. Just do it and clean up the mess later.
The Concord ticket was $9,500.00 round trip early 1984 price. Held 100 passengers and had bucket seats (unfortunately was not as comfortable as flying on a 747 in first class and cost was about 1/3). You saved approximately 3 hour flying on the Concord JFK-LHR. Had the UK and France not subsidized the A/C it would never have been produced. Note Boeing in the 70s also planned to produce a SST aircraft however they realized that it would not be cost-effective so canceled the program. If I recall correctly they spent some 500 million on the research.
Like @troysteele3589 said they were built in the 60's. No computers only calculators and slide rules. It went from concept to service in twenty months. They had to create new technology to build it. Such as a way to shape and mold the titanium shell. The SR-71 sustained speed of Mach 2.5 heated the exterior over 300°C. Any other metal would have melted. Had to come up with a new type of fuel.
I was in the US Air Force and stationed at Kadena Air Base Okinawa Japan from 1981-1983. We would go out near the flightline around 12am midnight and watch it take off. The SR71 never took off during daylight hours.
Hi Michael 👋 I used to watch it take off from the flight line at Raf Mildenhall, in the UK. I will never forget the immense vibrations when they kicked in the afterburners during takeoffs. It felt like my heart was shaking 🫨
The B-2 bomber and that craft in production they showed at the end are NOT very agile at all. They produce so much lift that they're also very difficult to land. They might look like a UFO, but they certainly don't move like one.
I have a rough idea of what James May meant. I had a Kawasaki Z750S in 2007 that I once ran up to 150 mph for a short distance. I was in a 65-mph zone, so I slowed down to what I thought was about 65 or 70. I looked down and I was doing 100 still. I got down to 65 and felt like I could take a nap. You get so used to it that you're thinking and reacting at that higher speed.
I recently moved to Washington State USA and went to the aerospace museum and a town called McMinnville. Middle of nowhere small town atmosphere and because I hate people That went during COVID at 11:00 on a Tuesday.... Just me and some 1/2 dozen world war II vets volunteering. I broke a few rules... I touched the airplane and That was instantly confused. Doesn't feel like anything my fingers have ever touched. Not metallic. Not like wood. Doesnt feel like glass. Maybe like a smooth rock.... Actually that's the best way to describe it. Very unusual After I realized I didn't hear any noise from touching it curiosity took me another step further and punched it just to see if it made a noise.....zero acoustic return. Just me wishing I didn't just do that cause it hurt but The damn thing made zero noise Punching an SR-71 for science is a bad look so I decided I better buggie before I got in trouble...But it was an interesting and unusual experience. Also cool. Probably stay away from punching it but I would highly recommend finding an exhibit and checking it out It's pretty wicked.
I think of it this way. the sr71 was built in the 50s, the average person would have seen that and thought it was a ufo. I think all the ufo sightings are just future tech that will be normal in 30 years.
One of the big reasons the Concord stopped flying was due to noise regulations. Sonic Booms piss off the pensioners. I grew up in California and in my childhood fondly remember the excitement when a military jet would come streaking across the sky and the subsequent boom. Now the only time I get to hear a sonic boom is when a Space X booster lands back at Vandenberg SFB.
pretty sure most everything brian shul said was called into question by his superiors and all the other sr71 pilots, he's the only pilot who got kicked out of the sr71 program
There’s a lot missing about this aircraft. For instance how a lot of the material: titanium that was needed was sourced from USSR. Would be worth checking out the specifics.
There’s a good chance its position as the fastest air breathing jet is going to be passed on relatively soon because of efforts like quarterhorse/dark horse, project mayhem, and the (potential) SR-72. But it may remain the fastest *manned* air breathing jet of all time. Even if that record is the passed on, the fact that it remained the fastest jet in the world for so long is a monument to the talent of its creators.
The material use to build the SR-71 was not available in the U.S. so the CIA got it from the USSR and shipped to the US thinking it was being used to make pizza ovens. If they only new.
Also the amount of disrespect the black bird pilots did to Russians & anyone trying to shoot them down is astounding. Like, imagine challenging someone to a race & they pull away from you while you're in the highest gear
I can't remember if it said they actually have it or it's planned but I think they said they have it but the next generation of this and it has super sonic missiles on it super crazy cool looking.
At ad misleading as it is not the fastest manned aircraft. It is however the fastest jet engine aircraft. As for the Aurora, it is said to utilize what is known as scramjet.
It is the fastest air-breathing jet aircraft ever, NOT the fastest manned aircraft ever. That title is held by the rocket powered X-15, which hit a top speed of 4520 mph/7274.235 kph.
The sr-71 holds the title of the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft, the x-15 is a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft so it holds the title in that category not the same category as the sr-71. The categories just make the records a confusing mess and idk why the guy said fastest manned aircraft.
Also reached an altitude of over 100,000 feet in that flight and the highest altitude reached by it was on a different flight at 67.1 mi (108.0 km) which is over 354,000 feet up!
'so I guess these were retired due to stealth, what's the bomber called', no, no and nooooooooooo. They were retired because satellites could perform the ISR (Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) missions just as well, and provide real-time information, AND not risk a pilot.
Very cool guys! I like your content and style, been watching you for a while. I think I know who Schultz mentioned. In Flagrant, he mentioned how he went to dinner with Joe Rogan and Bob Lazaar. The day before Lazaar was doing Research Rogans podcast. So that's my guess. 😁😎✌️
Mach 3,5 is roughly > 4.300 km/h aka stupidly fast! Ah you figured it out already! This plane is 60 years old and still looks like from a futuristic movie and is unreached in terms of speed... what a masterpiece!🤘
When it was flying Cuba missions, from Beale AFB in California. On the return leg of mission, it was programmed to start its turn some where in Texas, or else it would over shoot the home base. That's pretty fast....
The description Fastest Aircraft in not really accurate. The X15 is the Fastest Manned Aircraft Mach 6.70 but air launched and Rocket Powered. Saying that the Space Shuttle was Mach 25 on reentry and technically an unpowered Aircraft at that point. The SR71 is the fastest conventional Jet Aircraft Mach 3+ but the MIG-31 technically is Mach 3.2+ but the fastest confirmed speed is Mach 2.83. The SR71 is still a massive achievement for early 60s technology and one of my favourite Aircraft saw it flying many times from Detachment 4 of the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk UK.
It's coming. You're about to see stuff in the next few year's. But it ain't the Black Knight(The real one), it's unmanned, and is for real. But I'm just G.I. Joe. What do I know 😏 Impressive for it's time 100% The SR-71. *And there's more than 1 "Style/Model"
One SR-71 did New York to London in 1 hour, 55 minutes. That is an hour faster than a $12,000 London to New York Concorde ticket. An hour quicker and since the SR-71 cost $200,000 an hour, that's a good half million dollar ticket for the one lucky pilot. It is rumored that one of the two person versions (pilot plus one lucky passenger) flew top diplomats and perhaps even George Bush Sr. on secret diplomatic missions. "No, I've been here in the office these last four hours...how could I possibly have gone to X 20 hours away?".
This was stuff being made in the late 50s to early 70s, imagine what they have been making since then with all of those Trillions the US has been dumping into this stuff for a few decades now. Those video of flying objects that are able to travel at tens of thansands of miles an hour that make turns that would be pushing 10 to 20Gs. New unmanned drone aircraft powered by new population systems or just nuclear powered, and because there's no human to worry about the limit is now what the mertials it is made out of can withstand and not the pilot.
The stealth planes like the B1-Bomber, the ones that look a boomerang or flying wing, are "fly by wire." Instead of cables connected directly to the pilot's controls, his controls are connected to a computer system tbat is able to handle the actual flying. The "flying wing" design is unstable in itself. I'm sure there are others here that can explain it better. Thanks guys. Cheers!
What is amazing to me is that back in 1944, the Horten Ho 229 made its first flight. I wonder if the engineers from Lockheed Skunkworks looked at this old technology, specifically the airframe, and improved upon it.
I think the Tic-Tac shaped objects are definitely some sort of drone the triangular shaped object that everybody always sees with the little three lights been seen on aircraft carriers and at Wright-Patterson all of these things look like planes that we already that we know about now that's R71 to stealth bomber the first one so on and so forth the generation after that United Kingdom all of these Allied Nations that's where you see him in there always at the Air Force bases or close by
SR-72 is supposedly already flying here and there. The "White Bat" is definitely already flying as it has been spotted and photographed three times now since 2021
A lot of these stealth aircraft and drones do not handle well at all. They lack the inherent stability of traditional plane designs so they need to use computers to stabilise them as a human couldn't do it well or fast enough. Even the manned ones are heavily controlled and stabilised by computers. After you have added all that computer stabilisation they then fly well enough, but they still arent really meant for fast manouvers, they are long range bombers or recon aircraft. If you look at the stealth fighters they have, they are more stable but they arent as efficiently stealthy as the dedicated bombers, meaning the much larger bombers have the same radar cross section of the smaller fighters. These planes and drones are a good example of how sensors and software can compensate for suboptimal hardware, the plane mechanically is optimal for stealth but it is really suboptimal for stability to the point a human couldn't fly it without assistance, so the computer system and sensors need to compensate for that lack of stability.
We Americans 🇺🇸 should give Ukraine 🇺🇦 some of our SR71 black bird aircraft I’m sure we still have a few in storage that can still fly and operate just fine.
You should watch “the L.A. Speed Check” story… It is told by a former SR71 pilot… It is hysterical.
They did it a while ago
Hi guys! I am a retired Air Force, Electronic Intelligence Analyst, ELINT. I was assigned to Det 4, 9th SRW at RAF Mildenhall UK, from 1982 - 86. It was my job to process, analyze, and report ELINT data collected during the mission. I was also responsible for providing pre - post mission briefings to the aircrew. Including Brian Shulz, mentioned in this video. There were so many interesting events during that time period. Although it was probably one of the most demanding of my assignments, It was one of my favorites.
Thank you for sharing! ❤
@John.Christopher I'm happy to share!
@@abmqathat's awesome bro thanks for your service!!
Isn't Brian Shulz (or Shul), the pilot from the "speed check" story?
The most insane thing to me was that in 1945, jets were BARELY making it off the ground. We still had many planes made of wood for God's sake... Cut to 7 years later, and the US is developing the U2, to fly at the edge of space... Cut to a few years later, they started designing and building this thing. The speed at which advancements came was actually incredible.
absolutely and with recent advances in AI these things will come even faster not only in aeronautics but every other tech field it's all a little unsettling to me personally⚛
Always gets me wondering how & where will humanity will end up
Humans in 1945 could build insane aircraft. I assume by jets you mean passenger planes but there were definitely large bombers in 1945. Look at what the Germans did with the Me 262 in 1944, it could just about reach Mach 1. The tech for the Blackbird was developed astonishingly fast yes, but people were doing crazy shit in the world of aeronautics long before that
@@mumford5111 By jets, I mean jets... Jet engines. The first jet engine powered aircraft was barely making it's way off the tarmac in 1945.
@@1x1nDone Oh like a turbine engine, gotcha. Yeah that probably took some time to get right
The SR-71 was designed and built in the 1960's with sliderules before the computers became popular. It has speed records still not matched today. 🇺🇲
The math involved to use the stars along with the rest of the navigation system is incredibly for that time. They were using slide rulers.
I grew up right during/after slide rules waned. I was taught how to use one and still have an old one in my box to show the apprentices. Knowing how to use one before I took calculus helped immensely. I actually understood what logarithms were actually doing, and the rules surrounding them.
Was able to see the SR71 at Beale AFB years ago. Incredible plane. At the time, my friend had a Cessna. We were flying out of Truckee, CA. one day. The air traffic controller contacted us and instructed us to clear the airspace immediately. We were over Donner Pass. Found out later the SR71 was over Missouri at the same time. If you get the chance, watch the videos of Brian Shul (SR71 pilot). Amazing man, amazing plane. RIP Brian Shul.
In the late 70's one of my neighbors was a retired Blackbird pilot. He held one of the transcontinental speed records.
The SR-71 was a flying gas tank; so much of it was the fuel it needed.
It took off, nearly empty and gushing jp-7 out the back end. It immediately goes for mid-air refueling, from a tanker. I watched one get refueled in air while in the tanker. There are several pictures online of sr-71s being refueled in the air. Check em out.
The SR-71 Blackbird IS IN SCIENCE-FICTION MOVIES LOL. It is the signature jet used by the X-Men in the X-MEN and DEADPOOL movies, or a modified version of it. It is also referenced by Tony Stark in the first IRON MAN movie on his test flight with the Mk. 2 suit before he paints the suit red and yellow. You can see the HUD display a computerized silhouette of it. "Hey Jarvis. Pull up the SR-71." "Sir, the record for winged altitude flight is 85,000 feet." " Records were meant to be broken."
It was a UFO also. It was one of the plane that were being tested when rumors about area 51 started. There were hundreds of thousands of UFO sightings that recount a spear like object racing across the nights sky that coincide with Blackbird testing.
The LA Speed Story is about a 71, and the pilot that flew it rolls the story. Fantastic
they did, ruclips.net/video/txI6ikQANf4/видео.html
Kelly Johnson - head of LockHeeds Advanced Projects Division ( The Skunk Works ) was probably one of the greatest engeineers of modern times. The Skunk Works were responsible for a large number of planes and other technological developements. The SR-71's did use very early { Stealth } technologies that were capable for the time. The overall design was a part of the [ Stealth ] that was a part of the BlackBirds - in the paint that was applied to the SR-71's contained millions of tiny iron-balls. The purpose of the iron-balls were to absorb radar engergy that was used to detect the SR-71's. So the amount of radar waves that were rerurned to the radar that was emmiting it was less then that was sent out. The design also deflected radar waves upward in various directions to also reduce the amount of radar returned to the source.
Went to the air museum at Hill AFB in Utah. There they had the infamous SR-71 on display, with some info
of the records known. Some stuff is STILL classified! Neat look at a plane years ahead of its time.
I think the thing that I find the most mind boggling is that if the government admits the speed and heights that we hear about, then what is it truly capable of that we don’t know about?
I was obsessed with this plane as a kid for a time. Slick model on a stand (actual metal parts, not plastic), posters everywhere, books. Annoyed the shit out of other kids in school talking about it incessantly.
Speaking of James May, he did a program for the BBC titled "James May at the edge of space", where he flew to the top of the atmosphere on a U2, courtesy of the American military. There are 10 min. cuts of this on RUclips (for example, "James May rides in a U2 spy plane [HQ]"), that you may like reacting to.
I just finished reading a book about this aircraft. On some missions the crews would watch the sun rise in the west or set in the east, sometimes multiple times. It flew faster than the Earth’s rotation so would outrun the sunset or sunrise until it reduced speed and altitude for refuelling, then catch up to or race away from the sun again.The fuselage heating from friction required cockpit air conditioning as well as for some other systems. On one mission the air conditioning failed in the rear cockpit. It got so hot that the plastic covers on the manuals began to curl and melt. The crewman was protected by the pressure suit.
Loved watching these taxi out from there hangers and takeoff at Mildenhall where they parked our C-130s across from the hangers while we were TDY there in the 80s.
Mach 3.2 is roughly 2'193 mph. The heat generated at that speed was very high , so about 97% of each SR-71 was made of Titanium to offset the heat. Ironically all that Titanium came from one supllier - Russia.
Current stealth planes have the radar cross-section of a Bumblebee.........
Judging by the thumbnail pic, OB Mike got REALLY EXCITED by watching this one. 😉 It must have been really enjoyable for him. 😉
so cool think it was originally called RS-71 but president lyndon johnson called it SR-71 and it stuck⚛
I have a SR71 oil painting that has been in the family since at least the 70s from Okinawa, Japan
Btw, I met King Charles, then a prince. I shook his hand, when he visited my unit to see and get in the cockpit of the SR-71. He wanted to go for a ride in the back seat, but it was logistically difficult and expensive.
Watched them take off at night in Okinawa in the 80s. Awesome.
that joke from Daz went under the radar. "B-52 - Shack"
When we needed pictures of an inaccessible area on the quick, the SR-71 was the solution. On the quick was not in real time. Then satellites progressed to where we had the capability to task orbital assets and have results in real time, so the SR-71's mission went away. There's value in having the capability, but the very high price of delivering and maintaining that capability exceeds the value it can deliver, as decided by the people that make those value judgments. If you visit the US and are in DC, they have an SR-71 on static display at the Smithsonian at Dulles Airport (Udvar-Hazy Museum). Along with acres of other cool stuff, like a full size space shuttle.
Back in intel school we got to look at one of the huge optical sensors the Blackbird is equipped with. Beautiful tbh
I’m Nebraska we have the Stratcom museum and they have one of these hanging from the ceiling right as you walk in.
Well, in all fairness mankind has only really been learning about the planet we live on, and the universe were in for the last thousand years, if there’s intelligent life out there that’s been around for 1 million years they very well could be flying here to study us. This is Sr71 blackbird was developed just a matter of 60 years or so after the Wright brothers very first flight. There are hundreds of thousands of stars out there and surely there Hass to be planets somewhere in all of that mix that has created life just like ours has and to me it would be much more shocking to know that there was no other life out there that we were the only little island of life in all of this vast expanse.
It's a spooky thing to see in person. I saw it on the deck of the Intrepid. I completely understand why people thought they saw an alien craft in the Nevada desert during tests. That along with the B-2 Spirit and the F-117.
(I've also seen a B-2 do a dive towards the area where I was standing. You hear it, but you don't see anything. Then suddenly a giant black triangle just appears when it pulls up over you.)
When I was growing up in the 80s and 90s my parents would bring me and my brothers to the Warner robins air force museum, they had one sitting in there for years. The last time we went in the late 90s it was gone. I'm guessing it moved to another base/museum.
For some reason I was surprised at how small the SR 71 was when I saw it up close and personal. Just one thing that is too trippy. There are certain pictures of this jet that are taken from the front and elevated that makes it look like a black star ship Enterprise. If you look into it you can see what I am talking about. The bridge on the top of the rounded nose along with the nacelles behind on each side.
From what i know, this plane never had any sort of offensive weapon on it, and was not a bomber. that is the B-1 (bone) or the B-2 stealth bomber, or the B-52 of the past, but is still in use today because how many bomb it can hold basically. The Blackbird plane was just used for spying on other countries with photography that could zoom in real close. the Sr-71 was basically retired because satellites in space can do the job much safer and cheaper now.
In Fiscal '23, the US Department of Defense had a total budget of $1.77 trillion. Same year's total education budget was 15% of that ($270 billion).
I've seen two of them up close and both have a rough, black skin that looks like a child's paper mache project made out of black construction paper. They always leaked fuel by the gallon when on the ground or in the air because of the titanium skin that had pourous seams. From 50 feet away they look like a Star Wars project but up close they are clearly rough, hand-built, and not as pretty as their outline. This kind of innovation, state-of-the-science and simultaneously crude are hallmarks of the Skunk Works. Just do it and clean up the mess later.
because of the materials it leaked while in low alt, when up 60+ ft it EXPANDED and stopped leaking.
The Concord ticket was $9,500.00 round trip early 1984 price. Held 100 passengers and had bucket seats (unfortunately was not as comfortable as flying on a 747 in first class and cost was about 1/3). You saved approximately 3 hour flying on the Concord JFK-LHR. Had the UK and France not subsidized the A/C it would never have been produced. Note Boeing in the 70s also planned to produce a SST aircraft however they realized that it would not be cost-effective so canceled the program. If I recall correctly they spent some 500 million on the research.
Calling Mach 3.5 as "not dad" at 6:05 *is a very gross understatement*
Like @troysteele3589 said they were built in the 60's. No computers only calculators and slide rules. It went from concept to service in twenty months. They had to create new technology to build it. Such as a way to shape and mold the titanium shell. The SR-71 sustained speed of Mach 2.5 heated the exterior over 300°C. Any other metal would have melted. Had to come up with a new type of fuel.
4:47 Shul also said the plane was still accelerating when he pulled back on the throttle.
He also lied about that
I live a couple miles away from the Pima Air and Space Museum.. and they have an SR-71A on display.
the f117 nighthawk and b-2 are still my favs
I was in the US Air Force and stationed at Kadena Air Base Okinawa Japan from 1981-1983. We would go out near the flightline around 12am midnight and watch it take off. The SR71 never took off during daylight hours.
Hi Michael 👋 I used to watch it take off from the flight line at Raf Mildenhall, in the UK. I will never forget the immense vibrations when they kicked in the afterburners during takeoffs. It felt like my heart was shaking 🫨
The B-2 bomber and that craft in production they showed at the end are NOT very agile at all. They produce so much lift that they're also very difficult to land. They might look like a UFO, but they certainly don't move like one.
I thought the B-2 Spirit was the successor but I think its actually a bomber not a spy plane. Great video!
RQ180 Global Hawk stealt drone has been operational for some time. There are pictures of it over California and the Philippines.
I have a rough idea of what James May meant. I had a Kawasaki Z750S in 2007 that I once ran up to 150 mph for a short distance. I was in a 65-mph zone, so I slowed down to what I thought was about 65 or 70. I looked down and I was doing 100 still. I got down to 65 and felt like I could take a nap. You get so used to it that you're thinking and reacting at that higher speed.
The stealth bomber you're thinking of is the B-2 Spirit🙂
I recently moved to Washington State USA and went to the aerospace museum and a town called McMinnville. Middle of nowhere small town atmosphere and because I hate people That went during COVID at 11:00 on a Tuesday.... Just me and some 1/2 dozen world war II vets volunteering. I broke a few rules...
I touched the airplane and That was instantly confused. Doesn't feel like anything my fingers have ever touched. Not metallic. Not like wood. Doesnt feel like glass. Maybe like a smooth rock.... Actually that's the best way to describe it. Very unusual
After I realized I didn't hear any noise from touching it curiosity took me another step further and punched it just to see if it made a noise.....zero acoustic return. Just me wishing I didn't just do that cause it hurt but The damn thing made zero noise Punching an SR-71 for science is a bad look so I decided I better buggie before I got in trouble...But it was an interesting and unusual experience. Also cool. Probably stay away from punching it but I would highly recommend finding an exhibit and checking it out It's pretty wicked.
Have some fun. Pull up SR-71 does fly by a tower. Also speed check.
You all should come to the National Museum of the USAF in Dayton, Ohio.
I think of it this way. the sr71 was built in the 50s, the average person would have seen that and thought it was a ufo. I think all the ufo sightings are just future tech that will be normal in 30 years.
One of the big reasons the Concord stopped flying was due to noise regulations. Sonic Booms piss off the pensioners. I grew up in California and in my childhood fondly remember the excitement when a military jet would come streaking across the sky and the subsequent boom. Now the only time I get to hear a sonic boom is when a Space X booster lands back at Vandenberg SFB.
The military conducted sonic boom tests over Oklahoma City in 1964. The tests were canceled part way through due to building damage from the tests.
Take a ride on out to Edwards A.F.B. They still make the "Booms".
pretty sure most everything brian shul said was called into question by his superiors and all the other sr71 pilots, he's the only pilot who got kicked out of the sr71 program
There’s a lot missing about this aircraft. For instance how a lot of the material: titanium that was needed was sourced from USSR. Would be worth checking out the specifics.
correct! The USSR actually sold tons of titanium to the USA!
There’s a good chance its position as the fastest air breathing jet is going to be passed on relatively soon because of efforts like quarterhorse/dark horse, project mayhem, and the (potential) SR-72. But it may remain the fastest *manned* air breathing jet of all time. Even if that record is the passed on, the fact that it remained the fastest jet in the world for so long is a monument to the talent of its creators.
rest easy UK we have your back
The material use to build the SR-71 was not available in the U.S. so the CIA got it from the USSR and shipped to the US thinking it was being used to make pizza ovens. If they only new.
Also the amount of disrespect the black bird pilots did to Russians & anyone trying to shoot them down is astounding. Like, imagine challenging someone to a race & they pull away from you while you're in the highest gear
Congratulations office blokes this is your 6th video on the SR-71 😂
The CIA also had an identical miniature drone made called the Lockheed M-21/D-21 & it did enter service for a short time.
sr71 top speed 2200 mph top speed recorded. American X-15 4520 mph top speed recorded
as mr freeze would say stay cool bird boy
You guys should react the story of an SR-71 "buzzing the tower"
Hey, I was a 202 at RAF shake sans from 1972 to 1976
This plane was made before computers as well!
As admirable as the B-52 is, it’s still just an old fashioned non-stealth bomber. Kinda like an advanced jet propelled B-29.
I can't remember if it said they actually have it or it's planned but I think they said they have it but the next generation of this and it has super sonic missiles on it super crazy cool looking.
Did they just gloss over 5 Taiwan U2's being shot down over West Taiwan?
At ad misleading as it is not the fastest manned aircraft. It is however the fastest jet engine aircraft. As for the Aurora, it is said to utilize what is known as scramjet.
It is the fastest air-breathing jet aircraft ever, NOT the fastest manned aircraft ever. That title is held by the rocket powered X-15, which hit a top speed of 4520 mph/7274.235 kph.
The sr-71 holds the title of the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft, the x-15 is a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft so it holds the title in that category not the same category as the sr-71. The categories just make the records a confusing mess and idk why the guy said fastest manned aircraft.
Also reached an altitude of over 100,000 feet in that flight and the highest altitude reached by it was on a different flight at 67.1 mi (108.0 km) which is over 354,000 feet up!
You need to watch the video Top 7 Rotary Cannons of the US Military.
Mach one is the speed of sound, so mach 3.5 is 3 and a half times the speed of sound! If it crashed, would you see it before you heard it?
'so I guess these were retired due to stealth, what's the bomber called', no, no and nooooooooooo. They were retired because satellites could perform the ISR (Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) missions just as well, and provide real-time information, AND not risk a pilot.
You should really check out "The Insane Engineering of the SR-71 Blackbird" by Real Engineering.
I refueled this bird twice at RAF Mildenhall. The Chinese and the Russians had/have nothing to compare.
Thank you for your service. I’m a paratrooper. Think my static line would hold lol? Obviously joking
Very cool guys! I like your content and style, been watching you for a while.
I think I know who Schultz mentioned. In Flagrant, he mentioned how he went to dinner with Joe Rogan and Bob Lazaar. The day before Lazaar was doing Research Rogans podcast. So that's my guess. 😁😎✌️
Mach 3,5 is roughly > 4.300 km/h aka stupidly fast! Ah you figured it out already! This plane is 60 years old and still looks like from a futuristic movie and is unreached in terms of speed... what a masterpiece!🤘
When it was flying Cuba missions, from Beale AFB in California. On the return leg of mission, it was programmed to start its turn some where in Texas, or else it would over shoot the home base. That's pretty fast....
The description Fastest Aircraft in not really accurate.
The X15 is the Fastest Manned Aircraft Mach 6.70 but air launched and Rocket Powered.
Saying that the Space Shuttle was Mach 25 on reentry and technically an unpowered Aircraft at that point.
The SR71 is the fastest conventional Jet Aircraft Mach 3+ but the MIG-31 technically is Mach 3.2+ but the fastest confirmed speed is Mach 2.83.
The SR71 is still a massive achievement for early 60s technology and one of my favourite Aircraft saw it flying many times from Detachment 4 of the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk UK.
Have you guys reacted to the navy pilots chasing the tic tac ufo? I couldn’t find it anywhere you should probably check it out
We have one in our museum here at Hill AFB. Give me a shout if you ever find yourself here
At Mach 3 you could cross the USA in 90 minutes
It's coming. You're about to see stuff in the next few year's. But it ain't the Black Knight(The real one), it's unmanned, and is for real. But I'm just G.I. Joe. What do I know 😏 Impressive for it's time 100% The SR-71. *And there's more than 1 "Style/Model"
3.5 mach = 3.5X the speed of sound
If you're ever in Michigan you can visit the Air zoo in Kalamazoo and see the only existing SR-71b, I think it was the training model
One SR-71 did New York to London in 1 hour, 55 minutes. That is an hour faster than a $12,000 London to New York Concorde ticket. An hour quicker and since the SR-71 cost $200,000 an hour, that's a good half million dollar ticket for the one lucky pilot. It is rumored that one of the two person versions (pilot plus one lucky passenger) flew top diplomats and perhaps even George Bush Sr. on secret diplomatic missions. "No, I've been here in the office these last four hours...how could I possibly have gone to X 20 hours away?".
My grandfathers brother flew on concorde a bunch back in the day.
This was stuff being made in the late 50s to early 70s, imagine what they have been making since then with all of those Trillions the US has been dumping into this stuff for a few decades now. Those video of flying objects that are able to travel at tens of thansands of miles an hour that make turns that would be pushing 10 to 20Gs. New unmanned drone aircraft powered by new population systems or just nuclear powered, and because there's no human to worry about the limit is now what the mertials it is made out of can withstand and not the pilot.
The stealth planes like the B1-Bomber, the ones that look a boomerang or flying wing, are "fly by wire." Instead of cables connected directly to the pilot's controls, his controls are connected to a computer system tbat is able to handle the actual flying. The "flying wing" design is unstable in itself. I'm sure there are others here that can explain it better. Thanks guys. Cheers!
You're talking about the B-2 Spirit not the B1
edit: The B1 was not a Stealth plane nor was it a Flying Wing type plane
@@JimmyjoebobIII Thanks. 👍
And how about reacting to the fat electrician vids? Trust me, y'all are in for a treat
No Dave, the russians and the chinese don't have the same smdh.
What is amazing to me is that back in 1944, the Horten Ho 229 made its first flight. I wonder if the engineers from Lockheed Skunkworks looked at this old technology, specifically the airframe, and improved upon it.
Right around 2'600 mph.
First UFO sighting was in 1650
I think the Tic-Tac shaped objects are definitely some sort of drone the triangular shaped object that everybody always sees with the little three lights been seen on aircraft carriers and at Wright-Patterson all of these things look like planes that we already that we know about now that's R71 to stealth bomber the first one so on and so forth the generation after that United Kingdom all of these Allied Nations that's where you see him in there always at the Air Force bases or close by
Are those custom red solo cups?
SR-72 is supposedly already flying here and there. The "White Bat" is definitely already flying as it has been spotted and photographed three times now since 2021
Arch angel its prototype was faster but classified
A lot of these stealth aircraft and drones do not handle well at all. They lack the inherent stability of traditional plane designs so they need to use computers to stabilise them as a human couldn't do it well or fast enough. Even the manned ones are heavily controlled and stabilised by computers. After you have added all that computer stabilisation they then fly well enough, but they still arent really meant for fast manouvers, they are long range bombers or recon aircraft. If you look at the stealth fighters they have, they are more stable but they arent as efficiently stealthy as the dedicated bombers, meaning the much larger bombers have the same radar cross section of the smaller fighters.
These planes and drones are a good example of how sensors and software can compensate for suboptimal hardware, the plane mechanically is optimal for stealth but it is really suboptimal for stability to the point a human couldn't fly it without assistance, so the computer system and sensors need to compensate for that lack of stability.
The military stopped flying them. The CIA is still flying them
We Americans 🇺🇸 should give Ukraine 🇺🇦 some of our SR71 black bird aircraft I’m sure we still have a few in storage that can still fly and operate just fine.
Wouldn't be particularly useful to them
XB70
Its not the fastest plane...its the second ocean gate 😒😒😒😏