# SR-71



## TBoneit

In his book, Sled Driver, SR-71 Blackbird pilot Brian Shul writes:
"I'll always remember a certain radio exchange that occurred one day as
Walt (my back-seater) and I were screaming across Southern California 13
miles high. We were monitoring various radio transmissions from other
aircraft as we entered Los Angeles airspace. Though they didn't really
control us, they did monitor our movement across their scope. I heard a
Cessna ask for a readout
of its ground speed. "90 knots" Center replied. "Moments later, a Twin
Beech required the same." "120 knots," Center answered. We weren't the
only ones proud of our ground speed that day as almost instantly an F-18
smugly transmitted, 'Ah, Center, Dusty 52 requests ground speed
readout.' There was a slight pause, then the response, "525 knots on the
ground, Dusty."
"Another silent pause. As I was thinking to myself how ripe a situation
this was, I heard a familiar click of a radio transmission coming from
my back-seater. It was at that precise moment I realized Walt and I had
become a real crew, for we were both thinking in unison." "Center, Aspen
20, you
got a ground speed readout for us?" There was a longer than normal pause
.... "Aspen, I show 1,742 knots" No further inquiries were heard on
that frequency.

In another famous SR-71 story, Los Angeles Center reported receiving a
request for clearance to FL 60 (60,000ft). The incredulous controller,
with some disdain in his voice, asked, "How do you plan to get up to
60,000 feet? The pilot (obviously a sled driver), responded, "We don't
plan to go up to it, we plan to go down to it." He was cleared.


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## harsh

I like!


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## Drucifer

An UFO got to step up and radio in.


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## Laxguy

Excellent!


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## trh

Enjoyed. Thanks.

But isn't FL60 = 6,000 ft?


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## BubblePuppy

"trh" said:


> Enjoyed. Thanks.
> 
> But isn't FL60 = 6,000 ft?


Nope. 60,000 ft is correct.


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## dmspen

Many years ago I got to take a tour at an Air Force Base north of Sacramento, CA. It was a base for SR-71 and U2 operations. We got to walk in the hangars with the planes and watched both take off. Pretty impressive stuff, especially considering the age of the technology.


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## puckwithahalo

In the late 70's the dad of one of my close friends got buzzed by something very fast and black while fixing antenna's on an airforce base. He had no idea what it was, but had talked about it for years. The day they revealed the SR71 to the public he said "Holy S$%&, thats what it was!" :lol:


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## dpeters11

I've heard these stories and have always wondered. Were these after the SR-71 became public? I'd think they wouldn't have wanted these things over the airwaves, or were they within specs made public by that point?


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## trh

dpeters11 said:


> I've heard these stories and have always wondered. Were these after the SR-71 became public? I'd think they wouldn't have wanted these things over the airwaves, or were they within specs made public by that point?


Many attribute the public release of information on this program to President Johnson in Feb 1964, when he confirmed the successful flights of the A11 at altitudes of over 70,000 ft and speeds over 2,000 mph.


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## trh

BubblePuppy said:


> Nope. 60,000 ft is correct.


Then some needs to let the FAA and the ICAO know. From the *FAA Pilot/Controller Glossary*.



> FLIGHT LEVEL- A level of constant atmospheric pressure related to a reference datum of 29.92 inches of mercury. Each is stated in three digits that represent *hundreds of feet*. For example, flight level (FL) 250 represents a barometric altimeter indication of 25,000 feet; FL 255, an indication of 25,500 feet.


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## BubblePuppy

"trh" said:


> Then some needs to let the FAA and the ICAO know. From the FAA Pilot/Controller Glossary.


No wonder Air Traffic Control sounded alarmed when I would report I was flying at FL 6.


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## hdtvfan0001

I suspect "Fearless Felix" Baumgartner's speed may have been "clocked" by something similar.


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## scooper

I've heard the "descending to FL600" story before, and the ground speed one doesn't surprise me either...


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## shuye

Is the book good? I remember as a kid, I would build model airplanes from kits and the SR-71 was my favorite. I remember reading or seeing a show about them once that talked about how they had to allow for expansion of the materials due to heat so small gaps would be visible when it was on the ground.


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## trh

Small gaps included the fuel tanks. They leaked so much that as soon as they got airborne, they had to refuel.


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