[HN Gopher] The slowest SR-71 Blackbird fly-by
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The slowest SR-71 Blackbird fly-by
Author : 11001100
Score : 155 points
Date : 2021-11-28 18:37 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (theaviationgeekclub.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (theaviationgeekclub.com)
| ISL wrote:
| These stories never disappoint, no matter how many times we read
| them....
| jcims wrote:
| That's definitely true for me. I don't exactly know why,
| probably in part because they remind me of my reckless youth,
| and then also just the unbridled pursuit of an extreme.
| macintux wrote:
| SR-71 stories are legendary. Here's another classic from the same
| site:
|
| https://theaviationgeekclub.com/sr-71-blackbird-pilot-tells-...
| trhway wrote:
| my friend served at a USSR air defense radar station near sea
| border and he describes SR-71 crossing his radar screen like a
| small frog leaping - i.e. it would move significantly while the
| radar antenna were making the full turn.
| belter wrote:
| "The Day the Swedish Air Force Saab 37 Viggen Saved the
| Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird"
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27164816
| macintux wrote:
| Thanks. Here's a text version:
| https://theaviationist.com/2018/11/29/that-time-a-
| crippled-s...
| bjornsing wrote:
| Here's a really crazy one:
| http://www.chuckyeager.org/news/sr-71-disintegrated-pilot-fr...
| cperciva wrote:
| My favourite SR-71 story involves asking ATC for clearance for
| FL600. ATC gives clearance with some skepticism, since most
| planes can't climb that high... only to be informed that the
| SR-71 would be _descending_ to FL600.
| TimMeade wrote:
| Here is the pilot telling the story. I think it's the same
| pilot as top story as back seater is Walter.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AyHH9G9et0
| TimMeade wrote:
| Another great story different pilot:
|
| Buzzing the tower.
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTJYNq4GQAE
| heldergg wrote:
| A more enjoyable version (transcript from the book):
|
| http://b.johnwurth.com/aspen-20/
| ranger_danger wrote:
| apparently some air traffic controllers disagree with this
| story being possible:
| https://old.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/fbt4rq/la_speed_che...
| tzs wrote:
| The dude on Reddit says:
|
| > They could hear ATC but not other aircraft, because
| civilian aircraft are on VHF frequencies, military on UHF,
| and anybody above 60,000 feet (like the SR-71's) were on a
| separate, center-wide UHF frequency so they wouldn't have to
| switch frequencies constantly. So the SR-71 and F-18 pilots
| couldn't have heard those other aircraft requesting
| groundspeed, or heard each other for that matter.
|
| The SR-71 had at least 5 radios, according to the flight
| manual [1].
|
| * COMNAV-50 UHF. It had two of these, one in the front
| cockpit and one in the aft cockpit.
|
| * AN/ARC-186(V). This one covers the civilian aircraft
| frequencies (and a bit more such as the 2 meter ham band).
|
| * 618-T HF. This covered AM and SSB on 2-30 MHz in 1 KHz
| increments.
|
| * AN/ARC-190(V). Another HF radio, covering 2-30 MHz in 100
| Hz increments.
|
| It was a _spy_ plane. Listening in on other aircraft and ATC
| would help it carry out its mission, so of course it is going
| to have plenty of radios.
|
| [1] https://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/manual/
| samstave wrote:
| A while back the SR71 ops (flight?) manual was posted to HN...
|
| There was a particular comment which I think was on like page 69
| or so...
|
| "Do not attempt any turns above 70,000 feet; drop to 70,000 feet
| first then do your turn with a turn radi of ~2miles....
|
| Do not fly above 90,000 feet without prior authorization"
|
| ---
|
| Or some-such... so the thing was known to fly over 90K feet - but
| you needed approval to do so...
|
| Nine-teen SIXTY WHAT?
| GauntletWizard wrote:
| Archive: https://archive.md/vj1oF
|
| I'm not one to bother with archive snapshots, but this site is
| particularly infuriating with it's attempt to prevent text
| selection.
| cheschire wrote:
| Yes, I used ctrl-f to locate some text, and realized I couldn't
| click away to deselect. Super frustrating for weird people like
| me who like to highlight text as I read to help focus.
| breput wrote:
| Reader mode or add-ons like Absolute Enable Right Click & Copy
| (Firefox) puts these types of websites in their place...
| badcircle wrote:
| lmfao. Badass.
| fnord77 wrote:
| I find these stories hard to believe. An expensive top secret spy
| plane that is hard to fly, requires boatloads of fuel and
| maintenance allowed to make a detour for a joy ride flyby?
| Cerium wrote:
| The world used to be a lot more fun.
| sdoering wrote:
| If anyone is interested in learning more about the history of the
| SR-71 and Skunk Works there is a great talk on YouTube [1].
|
| [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL3Yzjk5R4M
| NextHendrix wrote:
| I've read this story a few times before but never found any
| photos of the event until this article.
| [deleted]
| makach wrote:
| Very interesting article. Did anyone else notice the website? If
| you try to select the text, either double-tap or right clicking
| brings up a indicator "web site protected"
| picture wrote:
| Just turn off javascript if you want to copy and paste. It's a
| pretty hostile and anti user design.
| cehrlich wrote:
| To anyone who is interested in this stuff I would strongly
| recommend the book "Skunk Works" by Ben Rich. Full of interesting
| history about stealth planes, and a masterclass on how to run a
| ragtag company.
| geocrasher wrote:
| Yes. A wonderful read. So good I read it again!
| mmaunder wrote:
| Also Kelly Johnsons book "More than my share of it all". Kelly
| designed the SR71 and U2 and brought them in on time and under
| budget.
| bicx wrote:
| As a side note, Kelly Johnson really did have more than his
| share of it all. Head of Skunk Works, during which he had 2
| wives who died from health issues over the course of 20
| years. As someone with a partner who had years of health
| problems, I have no idea how you run something like Skunk
| Works and care for someone at the same time.
| mixmastamyk wrote:
| He had a ranch in Agoura, near the SSFL, which might have
| had an impact on them.
| edge17 wrote:
| SSFL?
| mixmastamyk wrote:
| Nuclear meltdown covered up for decades.
| late2part wrote:
| https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=SSFL
| mixmastamyk wrote:
| Also this documentary was made recently:
|
| https://www.inthedarkofthevalley.com/
| mmaunder wrote:
| Yeah that's right. He started a foundation to provide long
| term hospice care in a setting that would allow relatives
| to be with their loved ones for extended periods - based on
| his own experience. I'm not sure what happened to it -
| could not find with a quick Google. But it's mentioned at
| the end of his book.
| cyberferret wrote:
| A friend gave me a copy of Brian Shul's book (where this story
| came from) decades ago, and it is pretty much my most favourite
| coffee table book I've ever owned. I believe it went out of
| print, and I remember seeing copies on eBay for around $3000 at
| one stage, but I believe they were talking about doing a reprint,
| so there goes my retirement plan! :)
| HPsquared wrote:
| I often think about life using aviation analogies. You need to
| have enough airspeed, for instance, to maintain lift: one must
| keep moving to survive. Don't stall your wing with too much angle
| of attack = don't bite off more than you can chew. Etc etc...
| sdoering wrote:
| Interesting. Do you have more? Would love to hear.
| ocdtrekkie wrote:
| So I've heard other great stories from this book before, and I
| was curious how much it cost to actually get the book.
|
| The book in it's latest incarnation is $295. What on earth?
| mmaunder wrote:
| Stick and Rudder is the best read out there if you want an
| intuitive pilots understanding of what happened here. It unpacks
| angle of attack from a pilots perspective rather than using
| engineer speak. At that speed the control surfaces of the
| Blackbird would have had very little effect which is incredibly
| scary as you're approaching a stall low and slow. They'd need big
| deflections to keep her straight and it would have felt very
| mushy.
|
| It's also worth noting that airflow from the engines don't flow
| over control surfaces like some light aircraft which means they'd
| actually have had to gain airspeed before they'd stop mushing
| around, further delaying recovery. Although I'm guessing that
| happened pretty damn fast.
| userbinator wrote:
| A similar thing happens with boats --- the rudder only has an
| effect when water is moving past it, so it's more difficult to
| maneuver when moving slowly.
| mmaunder wrote:
| That's right. The significance for pilots is that, with low
| airflow over control surfaces which gives a mushy feel, you
| also have a high angle of attack which means you are
| approaching stall as flow over the wing separates. So the
| plane is harder to control but you're also about to fall out
| of the sky.
|
| Stalls can also occur at higher speed in high g maneuvers, so
| mushiness isn't the only indicator of approaching a stall.
| But it's pretty reliable in straight and level flight.
| jacquesm wrote:
| Maneuvering a regular (stern) driven boat without a bow screw
| at low speeds is super hard. There is this 10 year old kid at
| a marina near where I live that handles all of the rental
| boats, I've seen them do this in absolutely impossible
| situations with a grace and skill that really blows my mind,
| it's like the boat is on rails and does exactly what they
| want it to do. Even the box shaped 'party boats', and those
| are really next to impossible to move around in predictable
| ways.
| leeoniya wrote:
| here's one i like: https://www.otherhand.org/home-
| page/area-51-and-other-strang...
| buryat wrote:
| SR-71 speed check
|
| One time we were going fast
|
| a small plane got on the radio and said "how fast am i going"
|
| the tower said "you are going fast"
|
| and then a bigger plane got on the radio and said "haha i think i
| am going faster how fast am i going"
|
| and the tower said "you are going a little faster"
|
| and then a jet fighter was going really fast and talked like a
| really cool guy and said "hey there, I sound like a cool guy,
| tell me how fast I'm going"
|
| and the tower said "you are going very fast" but he sounded
| totally normal
|
| And then I wanted to say something but that was against the
| rules, and then the other guy in my plane said "hey tower, are we
| going fast"
|
| and the tower said "yes you are going like a million fast" and
| then the guy in my plane said "I think it's a million and one
| fast" and then the tower said "lol yeah ur plane is good"
|
| and then I said "did we just become best friends"
|
| and the other guy said "yes"
| serf wrote:
| you know how some people have a talent for story-telling,
| painting vivid landscapes and heroic deeds with words and
| prose?
|
| you have a talent for story-telling, but sort of from the
| opposite end of the spectrum; you sucked all of the heroism and
| bravado out of the story without actually misrepresenting any
| of the facets of it.
|
| nice work.
| heyitsguay wrote:
| Not to denigrate OP, but this reduced version has become a
| bit of a copypasta meme of its own.
| marai2 wrote:
| I'm sorry but this is the funniest comment I've read on HN!
| phendrenad2 wrote:
| For reference, this:
| https://www.reddit.com/r/SR71/comments/2dpmw7/the_sr71_speed...
| is a story that amateur jet fighter enthusiasts have copy-
| pasted to every edge of the internet, to the point of everyone
| cringing when they see it.
| teraflop wrote:
| "There were a lot of things we couldn't do in a Cessna 172, but
| we were some of the slowest guys on the block and loved
| reminding our fellow aviators of this fact."
|
| https://www.reddit.com/r/copypasta/comments/e6r7gv/
| 2-718-281-828 wrote:
| later his wife asked "did you go fast?2
|
| and the guy said "oh yes, very fast!"
|
| the wife asked "like really really fast?"
|
| he answered "really really really fast!"
|
| and the children entered the kitchen asking "how fast did you
| go?"
|
| and daddy said "pretty fast"
|
| and ...
| loser777 wrote:
| Plagiarism:
| https://www.reddit.com/r/copypasta/comments/8ya8v4/sr71_spee...
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(page generated 2021-11-28 23:00 UTC)