Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird - Jeremy Clarkson - "Speed"
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- A short clip about SR-71 from JC's "Speed" TV series. It's from episode number 5 and was orginally aired on 8th July 2001.
The Lockheed SR-71 was an advanced, long-range, Mach 3 strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Lockheed A-12 and YF-12A aircraft by the Lockheed Skunk Works. The SR-71 was unofficially named the Blackbird, and called the Habu by its crews. Clarence "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many of the design's innovative concepts. A defensive feature of the aircraft was its high speed and operating altitude, whereby, if a surface-to-air missile launch were detected, standard evasive action was simply to accelerate. The SR-71 line was in service from 1964 to 1998, with 12 of the 32 aircraft being destroyed in accidents, though none were lost to enemy action.
![James May Rides in a U2 Spy Plane [HQ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/w-COlil4tos/mqdefault.jpg)
Almost unbelievable that the most sophisticated plane ever created was designed using mostly rulers and physical calculations, no 3D rendering, no computers to help with design, just some very bright guys, some pens and LOTS of paper
It's not actually that sophisticated... just extremely quick. Don't get me wrong, it's a stunning piece of engineering, but It's what you get you focus the entire design on just one directive... make it fast. Mechanically, it's actually pretty simple...
Even though computers could not render drawings back than, they still played a important role in the design process.
@@simongeard4824 It rides its own sound wave at cruising speed
Next to the Manhatten Project, the Kelly Johnson led Skunk Works has some of the most impressive technological feats out there. They were the very definition of "pioneers"
@@janofb how do you know he doesn't understand the mathematics involved?
Ten years and it was operating in total secrecy. Imagine what's out there now, just flying around up there.
+SuperWolffe Drones. We know about that.
Satellites
look up the pulse jet
Clarkson was "embellishing" somewhat. The SR's predecessor, the A-12 first flew in 1962, President Johnson announced its existence in I think 1965, and Revell had a model kit of it in 1967.
Lol what? There were 12 A-12's built and they flew over 5000 flight hours.
"Protected by the laws of physics". Brilliant.
yep, i'm tired of hearing or reading "defying the laws of physics/gravity" too.
👍🏻
A completely erroneous statement. It's a plane, and any plance can be brought down. Yougosalvia brought down a B1.
Nautilus1972
B1s were comparatively slow AF
Neg Ative at its altitude, it’s fucking fast. Take it back
One of the crowning achievements of Skunk Works. Truly a great time in aviation history.
The SR-71 is "the" crown jewel of Kelly Johnson. A brilliant engineer, before his time.
They've got one at the Duxford aircraft museum here in the UK - sits along side a B52 and a B17 . It's probably one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.
They are both “Fortresses”
I saw it and it was majestic
Richmond International Airport has an example.
There is/was one on The Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum, NYC, alongside a Concorde SST. The best photographs of this beautiful shape don't compare with the sudden awareness you have for what you're looking at.
wow really? three of my favorites!
I would have never thought in my life that I would hear Jeremy Clarkson talking about a plane in a way that only a true aviator could.
God bless Jeremy Clarkson
Even non-aviation enthusiasts love the sr71 and with Jeremys love of speed this makes total sense
@@c0ldyloxproductions324 Yeah. In the event that I ever meet Jeremy, James, and/or Richard, I'm probably gonna ask them what their favorite aircraft is
@@JetFalcon710 i think Jeremy's favorite is the Spitfire
@@okbutwhocares English Electric Lightning is his favorite, he had one in his garden.
It is a little surprising to see him talking about anything but a fast sports/muscle car. Given this a very fast unique plane though it does seem a little up his alley.
At 3:10 where Jeremy says "Like you could hurt it ,but that was the great thing about this plane because of course you couldn't" followed by the guitar music I just find it really epic for some reason.
Gave me chills fr
Epic solo for an epic airplane.
That's Jeremy Clarkson for you. He is epic.
"This thing can go anywhere it wants, with total impunity." It’s a damn powerful statement. Man died in Fourth of July. What a natural tribute to a fully natural hero. I wish they hadn’t got the name wrong of this man.
It's wrong though. There is a reason why the SR 71 was flying exclusively close to Soviet territory, and not actually over Soviet airspace. The US thought that the Soviets might have the means to shoot the plane down if it flies close enough over - so they didn't risk it. They didn't want to repeat the same mistake as with the U2.
@@mephistoxd2627 No one knows where this plane went for the first 10 years of its existence. No further reply.
@@hasanshishir1133 it's declassified now you oonga boonga, why do you think they had the info for this show, including a test pilot to interview? "No further reply." LOL
@@auscaliber1 You are so stupid
Kelly Johnson and Ben Rich maybe the two most brilliant engineers to have lived on the planet to this day. Hard to believe Johnson first started designing the A12 in 1958
The spike inlet system harnessing the shockwave, that idea alone was pure genius
A missile can't hit you if you are faster than the missile itself...
The missle know where it is and where it’s going to go, but it just can’t reach it.
And now thanks to hypersonic missiles that’s not true and this plane is useless.
This is a common thing to be honest. Lot of early supersonics have records of out running missiles fired from slower aircraft.
@@bh8671 honestly by the time spy satellites were established this became obsolete imo
@@bh8671 no it’s not! It still makes a dope poster
After all these years, she is still the sexiest piece of tech.. In the world!
+TheBunniMonster 50s to 70s tech was much ambitious, people had lofty goals those days, thanks to cold war.
+TheBunniMonster IKR EVEN MORE THAN THE F 16!!!
+TheBunniMonster this is what makes pilots cum
indeed
Marco Want No comparison to the “Blackbird”.
I love the Concord but nah.
Only Jeremy Clarkson can turn a machine into a living organism
2019, the Blackbird is still the most exotic, jaw dropping, futuristic and beautiful aircraft ever made.
.. That the public know about.
@@williammactavish3913 ....True, who knows what’s been built that we have yet to see?
Still is
@@jimd385 Satellites
British concorde the best plane ever designed no spacesuits needed here at 60000 feet
Before my dad died he told me he knew about it the late 50's, he worked on part of it but wasn't allowed to tell me what. Apparently different people had worked on only one part or section and nobody was allowed the complete plan. I showed him a picture of it when I was young and told him about the new super secret jet and he just chuckled and said he worked on it before I was born. A very patriotic man, he loved this country and it's sad what it has become.
Even by today's standards, the blackbird still looks alien
Some stuff made in the past still looks futuristic today. This, the B-2 Spirit, and the F-117 Nighthawk are good examples of that ;v;
@@JetFalcon710 one of the best examples is absolutely the xb-70 that thing is so beautiful but still very futuristic even for today's standards.
I want to see one irl like i did for the concorde so badly it whould be the accomplishment of my dream of when i was a child
@@africanosuinternwt6305 Good news: the XB-70 you're looking for is in Dayton, Ohio, at the National Museum of the USAF
@@JetFalcon710 bad news i live in europe
@@africanosuinternwt6305 Oonf. Can't quite help you out there then, sorry
I bought an SR71 on the deep Web but it hasn't arrived yet I am starting to think I was tricked
You have to fly at 90,000 feet up in air to receive it from the pilot. Talk to your dealer again.
The deep web is the best i bought a private jet for £400
It’s already been and gone. You clearly were not looking at the right fraction of a second. Pay again and pay attention this time.
@@Dave5843-d9m I guess he was too HIGH in the SKY .... lololol
you would not have heard it arriving!
this is the only plane in the world, that in order to save fuel, needs to go faster!!!!!!!!!!
+Jack Rea I think most jets are more efficient at high altitude/speed BUT this one certainly takes the cake (and some cookies and a batch of brownies while we're at it). :)
+laserfloyd yum
Concorde?
Jack Rea you are correct. "Crusing" speed was mach 3.2!!! "Cruising." The engineers who designed this plane, but specifically the engines, we're absolute geniouses. It makes you wonder why the engine technology hasn't been more exploited with other aircraft.
I think its pretty obvious. they would have to design a passenger plane to be the same way as the SR-71, as well as make everyone wear a space suit. and building an SR-71 wasn't cheap. imagine what building a passenger plane with the same structure of the SR-71 and todays technology would cost.
over a half a century since it was conceived, and its still the most amazing machine ever made by man
well...after playstation
james bond uhmm no!! This airplane is just better than a fucking Playstation.
james bond That's funny! Because saying that Playstation is better than the blackbird is like saying that porno is better than sex... (If you haven't tried sex cuz u are bussy with your playstation, thrust me, it's not).
But still funny as hell!
I'd say the Saturn V and the LHC are more amazing. But this is certainly the most amazing plane ever made.
***** The Pyramids aren't even built of any sort of conducting material. As a powerplant? You win the loony of the day award. The STS is a overcomplicated project that failed all goals, the B2 is overplriced, but actually rather intresting, the Internet is rather simple, HAARP is just an assload of antennae, CERN is an institution, the ISS has since been trumped by the LHC IMO, the A-12/SR-71 has an amazing engine, but the F-1 is amazing-er.
The Pyramids of Giza are made of Limestone and used to have a Marble tip. If they can be used as a power plant, they are a really, really shitty one that couldn't power an LED.
0:46...ABSOLUTE Goosebumps!..Even after 50 years...This video of LM’s legendary SR 71 is enough to take your breath away and make the hairs on the back of the neck stand up!
The Situation.. 'You where over the Atlantic' On the Radio' Tell you Pushing Mach 3'...wenn he go for Throttle up.... Really Goosebumps 👍
Top Gear cinematographers are the bar to all tv presenters to aspire to
Not a JC fan but this segment may have changed my mind. I am a recently retired multi degreed Engineer with Lockheed Martin and though I never worked on the SR-71, I had the privilege of meeting Kelly Johnson in my early days when he was already officially retired but still was on site at Palmdale for consulting. Mr. Johnson was a Brilliant Engineer and he always seemed to take great pleasure in talking to the Jr. Engineers in those days...though I heard from some old timers that he was somewhat less pleasant to work with during his career days.
JC is fantastic when presenting historical programmes. Check out ‘The Greatest Raid’ and ‘Winning the VC’. Clarkson’s passion just radiates from the screen.
Damn you too cool for the millenials! 💯
Check out also Clarkson's programme making the case for Brunel as the Greatest Briton (or whatever the series was called). Churchill won, obviously, but if I recall correctly Clarkson got Brunel into second place.
@@mrjohn.whereyoufrom My thoughts exactly.
The SR-71 is an amazing testament to human potential.
I went to Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, AZ once and they had a Blackbird there.
The signs said "Do Not Touch."
It was a do or die moment. Here i was, faced with my childhood dream and so close i could see the rivets and how they were unevenly colored. I could see the patina on the steel of the landing gear. I could see the cracks in the rubber and the chipped and faded paint in the landing bay. The camera windows closed off.
I threw a leg over the rail and placed my hand, momentarily, on the underside of her wing. I felt the cold titanium and the ridges and how sharp they were. I had a lump in my throat and breathed in and said "Thank You" to the plane.
I got back over the rail and looked at my hand and saw the impression. Those faded by the end of the day but the memory and how i felt, will never leave my heart.
Spitzer Impact i have seen that one when i was in america back in 2005 and have sat in a cockpit of one in a museum in Seattle ,same year
At the national air and space museum in D.C. the SR71 is basically the first front and center exhibit of the museum, unless that was just my childhood tunnel vision. I've been wanting to go back for years, and when I do I'm gonna gaze in awe for a questionable amount of time then continue on with my tour. At the end I'm going to do what I've been planning for years and that's exactly what you did.
Peter Lucey
Sat in that one too! Gives you visions...
@@peterlucey8282 I saw my first ever blackbird in Duxford air museum and my grandpa used to fly for duxford in the 68th meteor Squadron so I got to see the sr-71 a lot
You, sir, are a poet
Retro type documentaries, low resolution videos, Clarkson with the SR-71 and James May on the U-2 … admiring the legends from that era long before I was born. This is fantastic!
We can all thank Kelly Johnson for this little piece of kit.
Skunkworks 👌
I had the privilege of having a grandfather who worked on the Saturn V, the SR-71, as well as the F-117. I also have a great uncle who headed the F-117 project for it's future support and near it's end. Aeronautics is in my family history and I'm so proud of my family's accomplishments, even more so that future generations will appreciate it. They may not be flying anymore, but the aviation community still holds them as a legacy and a staple. This brings me to tears.
I remember the first time I saw a SR-71 (the oldest surviving in the world 61-7951). I actually got goosebumps seeing it's amazing lines and stealth black paintwork shining in my eyes. Sure enough, the fuel tanks were still leaking and they had pails under the spots where the leaks were occurring.
A SR-71 is still here, in Michigan's Air Zoo, in mint condition. It's an absolutely beautiful plane, but sadly isn't flown anymore, just resting in the Air Zoo. The first time I ever saw it was at that Air Zoo, and i've been fascinated by it ever since.
Something this perfect, if no longer needed, deserves to still fly on the merit of it's own absolution.
No matter who made it, what it flew for and for whatever good it accomplished.
Who would pay for that?
@@tenkloosterherman we the people, the taxpayers and government of America. Rather them spend it on keeping a piece of history alive like this than the endless failed projects they waste our taxes on.
@@funny3scene As with a aircraft, it's components are lifed, you use it you kill it.
Unless you're up for building a whole new one, the only way to preserve it is to not fly.
@@funny3scene no I'm sorry, but we the people have newer things that need money. These are perfect for museums at this point. They lived a long hard fast life.. but I'm sure you'd reconsider if you saw the cost it would take to build a new one and fly it JUST for display.
You have to love the Lockheed's Skunkworks for this plane. I was designed with no computers. Thanks Kelly Johnson, well done.
This is not a plane, this is "a religious experience" (Quoting one of the pilots), it's the stuff dreams are made off, it's proof that some of the best weapons don't drop bombs or shoot bullets, it's the pinnacle of aviation of the 20th century, it's impunity in the air, it's like been watched by God and there's nothing you can do about it, it's elegance and sexiness at +Mach 3.
This is the BLACKBIRD.
(Thanks for the vid).
I agree with everything you said, except the Blackbird is not a weapon.
@@Q8_BoRashed The Blackbird is a stealth weapon. A tool that can be used to defeat an enemy by undermining their effectiveness, locations and intelligence. Anything that a military deploys against it's opposition is in effect a type of weapon or action intended to gain an advantage within a battle. Also, as the OP stated, it was a *quote from the pilot of an SR-71* - If the very pilot who serves for the USAF who flew those aircraft says it's a weapon then it's cased closed, *it is a weapon* .
Edit: Yep, of course I'm going to be wrong if the argument is going to be completely subjective on one side. All I see is "LALALALALA"
@@saltservice4024 No matter how much you try to justify it to yourself and no matter how much nonsense you are able to use to help your cause, the Blackbird is not a weapon. You can disagree, but you'd still be wrong.
@@Q8_BoRashed lol stop lying m8
actually it's pretty boreing to fly and is hard to do a mission on that suit, the best thing is the braggin' rights...
This plane is a work of art without even knowing it's history.
Been fascinated with the beautiful Blackbird since I was a kid, read several books on it. It still gives me goosebumps! I think there's still a need for it.
For anyone who want to learn more about the development of the SR-71, the book/audiobook "Skunkworks" is fantastic. It is the memoirs of Ben Rich, the man in charge of the experimental division of Lockheed Martin during the SR-71's development. It also talks about the F117 and U2. Highly recommended
Have read, can support this statement
My god are the Sr-71 and A-12 magnificent planes
It's been made more than half a century ago, and is already retired. It's still one of the most strangely futuristic and incredible looking machines ever made. It's one thing to think of a crazy design or technology. But to actually make it, that's bonkers. Literally everything about this plane is incredible. It didn't innovate one thing, it changed everything. No detail or part is ordinary. Nothing was just made with "that'll do" in mind. This was an airplane where budget was virtually no object. They had the task, and they had to complete it. Chances are, nothing like this will ever happen again. Such massive breakthrough all in one plane. Even modern military jet programs with massive budgets have to compromise on something.
I had one take off at March Airforce base and fly over my car in 1970, when I was driving to the base. It was a spectacular sight, what a beautiful plane!
Probably the most beautiful piece of man-made machinery ever created
SR-71... J-Class yachts... Spitfire... some of the most beautiful things ever made by man.
I've heard all the Blackbird facts before. I just wanted to hear Clarkson saying them!
He looks so young.
Literally why I clicked on this
The song is "The Gift of Flight" by Clem Clempson in case you were wondering like me.
I actually started tearing up watching this. Just incredible.
They built this thing with slide rules and pencils. To this day it still can't get shot down.
+Petrolhead had over 1000 missiles shot at it and none ever got close
+Petrolhead you really think ANY missile today could take this plane down? There is technology to "lock on" to this plane with enough advance notice to get those missiles up to over 80 thousand feet before this plane is long gone? I am wholly unaware of this technology. Could you please give me a specific reference so that I can see and learn about it? Because I had NO CLUE that existed. What is it called? Who developed it? Who actively uses it? Thank you. Whag a wonderful piece of technology this gorgeous plane is!
ProjectsBlack thanks for the heads-up! Will do. Have a great weekend. -Todd
+ProjectsBlack Russians talk a lot and not show anything, that's just how they roll. Guys at USAF regularly roll on the floor laughing when they hear another claim about Russian radars, satellites and stealth planes just like you laugh when you hear North Korea's claims about superweapons and cures for cancer they developed. The thing about Blackbird and its like is that they not only fly extremely fast but also very high. The missile doesn't just have to chase the plane from behind, it has to get up to what, 25-35 kilometers high. That's a lot of distance which you have to travel vertically. Of course, a smart missile will fly diagonally to the point where it should meet its target, but that's still a lot.
No missile in the world can start from the ground with Blackbird in detection range and chase it down. The reason it can be shot down is that countries use systems that use multiple locations. One station will detect Blackbird and send the information to a station it will be flying over so that at the right moment the missile can be launched to intercept it. There is just one problem: Planes and missiles can turn. A simple course change will make all the effort meaningless.
It can still be shot down, of course. But it's not as easy as you say.
ProjectsBlack Well if that's true it's a nice detection system, but it also means it picks up clouds, birds, all kinds of signal distortions and quite likely even some astronomical phenomena. And honestly, a passive radar detector isn't much use if you're dealing with a spy plane that doesn't give one shit about radars :D If the Americans didn't have satellites and made something like a stealthy Blackbird 2.0 (which I am 100% sure there are more or less secret plans of just in case), flying at 35km passive radars wouldn't pick it up because hello it doesn't emit radar and whatever monitors distortions would pick it up like a little bird. Swallows exist, you know.
“You’re protected by the laws of physics” has to be the most badass line ever.
Damn... Right 🤘
By far the single most beautiful aircraft *_EVER_* to be designed, built and flown across the skies...
I've touched/seen one in person.It's surreal.You're literally speechless in front of one(Evergreen museum,McMinville Oregon)
I've seen one as well. It's a spiritual experience
I saw the one in NYC
When I was stationed at Huntville, Al they had one there and I had an opportunity to sit in it. Damn it was amazing... I still talk about it to this day and my experience in 92...
I saw one of these in person, it was absolutely spectacular.
There are incredible planes. Then there's the SR-71. Completely in a class of its own🔥
The most impressive thing that I've seen leave the ground was when I stood from 15 miles away and watched a military rocket launched from Cape Canaveral just before sunrise in 2009. The second most impressive thing I've seen leave the ground was an SR-71 taking off at dusk after an air show at an air force base in the late 1980s.
I remember being at RAF Fairford in the early 80s as a kid to see the airshow. I had posters of the SR-71 on my wall like Jeremy but up until that airshow i had never seen it in the flesh. It was parked on an apron with the other static display aircraft but somehow on its own. All windows and the engines were all covered with red panelling as what went on with it was still pretty secret, and it was guarded by the USAF, but i was in awe of that machine, even at 7 or 8 years old. It was folklore, legendary, seen by only a lucky few civilians. I am now 48 and i am still in awe of this beautiful creation. It does make me wonder what else is out there that we haven't seen yet.
I witnessed a low-level full afterburner pass of an SR71 at the age of 8.
Still to this day the loudest and most visceral thing I've ever experienced.👌👌👌
The legendary Phoenix missile system carried by the F-14 Tomcat was originally designed for use on the SR-71 aircraft. Great video of one of the all-time most beautiful airplanes ever built. Thanks!
God that AIM-54 is a monster. Kinda bummed it never had an operational kill
@@AlphaHumphrey usa service. The Iranian airforce got quite a bit of use from them.
Thank God the creators of this are on our side , just a thing of Beauty !
Watching 'anything' SR-71 is addictive.
A completely honest love of aircraft expressed so articulately with that trademark human touch. How much do we miss Top Gear?
I came to Castle Air Museum in Atwater, California.
They have all my favorite fighters and other combat aircraft: F-4, F-14, F-15, F-100, F-101, F-102, F-104, F-105, F-106, F-111, B-29, B-52. But most of all, standing in the front of the Museum, an SR-71 Black Bird. That day was a highlight of my life.
Turbo ram jet = POOOOOWWWWWWEEEEERRRRR!
Speeeeeeddddd!!!!
Concorde is the most amazing civil aviation plane and the SR71 is the most amazing millitary plane. I LOVE THE SR71.
You're not alone, I think that the Blackbird is the most beautiful technical thing ever build
It is definitely up there with the very best!!
me too
Amen to that.
Yes and the Xb70 Valkyrie is the most beautiful!
This plane has a lot of what Clarkson likes to say: "SPEED AND POWER!"
This is one of the most passionate videos about an airplane I've ever seen
My great grandfather Eugene served in the Air Force as a aeronautical engineer and referred at the rank of SMSgt. I cannot forget the hours we spent assembling all the model aircraft he got to design and work on, Including the SR-71 that he spent years on in the military.
That last statement hit me hard in the ribs......damn you satellites!!!
I miss this hell of an aircraft..😭😭
The sr-71 is my favorite, ive always loved it since I was a kid I've always drawn it in many ways, armored versions cargo plane versions, tons of different designs of it
Got to stand in the majesty of the SR-71A at the USAF museum @ Wright Patterson.
My uncle worked on SR-71 when it was at USAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, UK. When SR-71 went back to the USA he went back with it and worked for NASA at Edwards Air Force base. A beautiful plane much missed
I think what astounds me most about this incredible machine is that it was created by a bunch of nerdy guys with slide rules. No cutting edge computers with AutoCAD or whatever, just some very creative, very smart people. And on top of that, it's still the fastest thing in the air today. Unbelievable.
Name of the song is Clem Clempson - Gift of Flight 🤙🏻 Solid 80s tune
You're a legend! Thank you 🙏
I've looking for that song for years now.
You sir are a legend. Thank you!
A solid 80's tune from 1992 XD
Even the best "Mile-High Club" sex dose not even compare to the epic power and majesty of this Aircraft.
When I become president This will be Air Force One.
James walker Best AF1 EVER.
President OG Tupac leader of the new world-"surface to air missiles? Outrun that shit mah nigga"
Vice Pesident Chief Keef- *Deez bitches love...AFTERBURNER*
Ironically, the staff of the skunk works had higher clearances than the president when working on this airplane.
BenRoth that is because the president was still just an itch in his daddys african ass when this plane was developed.
Honestly it would be a dream to work at skunk works
James walker You can't be any worse than Trump and Hillary. I'll vote for you.
SR-71, B2 Spirit and the F-117 even today look out of time. I guess that is why the SR-71 and B2 both were inspirations for ILM for some of the Naboo ships in the Prequels Trilogy for Star Wars.
20 years from the end of WW2 to this… the rate of progression in the early jet age was mental.
at 1800 mph goes a mile every 2 seconds, cant really picture that.
1:09 "I mean, this thing once got from New York to London in 114 minutes"
(with a 10 minute in air refueling, because the plane started in California and weather was less than optimal in the UK, not allowing required fuel reserves)
@HVAC Quality Assurance If you listen to interviews from blackbird pilots they mention a couple times that this baby made well over 2,000 at altitude, so the fact that it can casually cruise at 1600 crazy
"The laws of physics prevent you from being shot down". Awesome
There is a rumor it was supposed to be called the RS-71 but Lyndon B. Johnson misread it and called it the SR-71. This led to Lockheed engineers having to redraft more than 20,000 blueprints to change the designation.
This thing was conceived more than 50 years ago with no CAD, and yet it's still the most beautiful, incredible piece of aviation engineering ever made. It looks foreign, even alien even by today's standard, like a spaceship instead of a plane, the kind ET would come in. The pilots flying it were truly invincible, no matter what the enemy throw at them it would not hit.
It would be FKN amazing to walk in an quiet, empty hangar on a night with the pilot or alone & seeing this monster just sitting there! It just looks intimidating on the ground
Back in 1989 I had one of my buyers rent a SR-71 for a static display for the day. We had it towed from Lockheed Site 10 to Northrop Site 4 at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale. $1380 for the day, what a bargain. We were doing a FOD awareness day. Foreign Objeçt Damage. Try to top this story for cool. I have seen it fly at least a dozen times, it a total beast. LA to Washington DC in 60 minutes. Great to be a small part of history.
My dad and a friend of his both worked on the SR-71 at Beale. They would sometimes mention one thing or the other about it when they were drinking beer and playing poker. Not much. Just an occasional clue. I surprised them both one night when I mentioned that it was made from titanium. They looked shocked and asked "How did you know that? That's classified." I had read it in some magazine, probably Popular Mechanics.
Welcome to the club of 1,000+ people who claim a friend / relative worked on the blackbird series.
Yeah, we all know you're bullshiting us.
I actually saw the plane at a considerable distance. I wouldn't have even known what it was except that my dad pointed it out to me one time while my folks were going shopping at the commissary. This was around 1968. I never saw one take off or land. My dad was stationed at Beale AFB from 1967 until he got out of the Air Force, in 1969.
Jebediah Kerman I dont think he is bullshitting tbh.
Most bullshitters don't know that Beale was the home base.
My dad worked on the original A-12 project...then when he retired he went into civil service and ended up in charge of supplies for the U2 and the SR-71 in 1972 from Robins AFB in Georgia.
A GREAT moment is walking into the Air & Space Museum - no, not the one on the Mall, the one located at Dulles - and upon finishing the climb up the entrance ramp, you are Face-To-Face with an SR-71 (and also there's the Space Shuttle Discovery right behind it!) You will be stunned if you know any of the story!
Wow you flew the first flight of the SR-71 almost one month after I was born, that is one fact I will not forget.
“if its so good why has it been pensioned off”
well remember it was 10yrs before anyone knew it existed, which means a better plane has been developed which we’ll learn about later.
Looks up the A-10 oxcart very similar to the SR-71 but faster. Used by the CIA
satellites..no fuel, better camera tech. geosynchonization (can stay over target indefinitely)
If its retired, why does it still have fuel? Think mcfly
@@vonn4017 Spy satellites are not geosynchronus, GPS satellites are. A geosynchronous orbit is 26,000 miles above Earth. No camera can reolve much that high up.
@@ajkendro3413 some sats are and you have no clue how good the US cameras are. thats the way the US govt wants it. you will never know what they know until 30 years later
Made with slide rule and 50s technology.
Doesn't have speedometer because it broke them all.........it does have an airspeed indicator though!!
"Permission to land?"
Air control: "Who said that?
They had one of these parked outside the USS Alabama Museum just behind ropes. You could walk right up to it. It is the most beautiful piece of machinery we've ever designed.
I remember going to the Virginia Aviation Museum with my grandfather when the Blackbird was freshly delivered. And it now resides at the Science Museum of Virginia, since its former home was decommissioned, where I visited it very recently. It felt like greeting an old friend.
Clarkson just made it even more awesome.
"The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. An advanced, long-range, strategic reconnaissance aircraft, capable of mach-3 and an altitude of eighty-five thousand feet."
"...You sure do seem to know a lot about it."
"DO YOU EVEN *READ* MY CHRISTMAS LIST?!"
And to imagine that it was designed by engineers sitting at drafting tables in a time when computers weren't available.
Incredible.
JC always did a very impressive commentary tht drew you into the topic discussed.
Got to sit in a static one at Mildenhall Air Fete during the 1980s. Probably the greatest aircraft I've been up close to.
Literally Faster Than A Speeding Bullet... 🤯
She's the Queen of Speed, the Lady in Black.
I studied hard
Worked day & night
Saved every penny
And finally..!!!!
Bought a model SR71 😁😁
To me this thing is as gorgeous as any Beethovenian symphony or Shakespearean sonnet.
The intellectual firepower that went into producing it just blows my mind.
Is there anywhere here in the UK one might be able to see it, does anyone know? Google isn't being very helpful.
According to wikipedia, there is one on display at the American Air Museum in Britain, Imperial War Museum Duxford in Cambridgeshire
Yep, American Air Museum at Duxford. Take a spare pair of underpants, I had a crisis when I saw this thing.
You can walk right up to her,.. touch her.. There's also a 'buff' INSIDE the same display hanger.. Also Do NOT Miss out in seeing the TSR.2 as well.
Four minutes? I would watch 4 hours of this.
What a marvellous documentary
does it come in convertble?
Yes, once you pull the lever of the ejection seat at Mach 3+
A bit windy, mind you. :D
@@virgulinoferreira3472 Ha Ha Ha! Bravo, your comment made my night. The convertible version is called the SR71-CU LA8TUR.
No sir but there is a two seater model!
Sr71 spyder
No but they did make a 2 seater!
It is about the best looking result of form and function.
I love that plane. Wrote my first book report on it at age 6 in 1985. Poster of it on my bedroom wall, alongside a Lamborghini Countach. Along came Cindy Crawford in 1993 when I was 14, and her poster went up, too. Explains why 66% of my orgasms now are to mechanical things -- thanks, Mr Clarkson! lmao
these documentaries by Clarkson were really good. they should bring them back
I got to be on a tour of an SR71 with an sr71 pilot at the Smithsonian in D.C. What an Incredible example of human engineering.