The SR-71 Blackbird
Interesting information (history)!!
In April 1986, following an attack on American
soldiers in a Berlin disco, President Reagan ordered the bombing of Muammar
Qaddafi's terrorist camps in Libya .
My duty was to fly over Libya , and take photographs recording the damage our
F-111's had inflicted.
Qaddafi had established a 'line of death,' a territorial marking across the
Gulf of Sidra , swearing to shoot down any intruder, that crossed the boundary.
I was piloting the SR-71 spy plane, the
world's fastest jet, accompanied by a Marine Major (Walt), the aircraft's
reconnaissance systems officer (RSO). We
had crossed into Libya , and were approaching our final turn over the bleak
desert landscape, when Walt informed me, that he was receiving missile launch
signals.
I quickly increased our speed, calculating the time it would take for the
weapons, most likely SA-2 and SA-4 surface-to-air missiles, capable of Mach 5 -
to reach our altitude. I estimated, that
we could beat the rocket-powered
missiles to the turn, and stayed our course, betting
our lives on the plane's performance.
On the morning of April 15, I rocketed past the line at 2,125 mph.
After several agonizingly long seconds, we
made the turn and blasted toward the Mediterranean .. 'You might want to pull
it back,' Walt suggested. It was then
that I noticed I still had the throttles full forward. The plane was flying a mile every 1.6
seconds, well above our Mach 3.2 limit..
It was the fastest we would ever fly.
I pulled the throttles to idle, just south of Sicily, but we still
overran the refueling tanker, awaiting us over Gibraltar ...
Scores of significant aircraft have been
produced, in the 100 years of flight, following the achievements of the Wright
brothers, which we celebrate in December.
Aircraft such as the Boeing 707, the F-86 Sabre Jet, and the P-51 Mustang, are
among the important machines that have flown our skies.
But the SR-71, also known as the Blackbird, stands alone as a significant
contributor to Cold War victory, and as the fastest plane ever, and only 93 Air
Force pilots, ever steered the 'sled,' as we called our aircraft.
The SR-71, was the brainchild of Kelly
Johnson, the famed Lockheed designer, who created the P-38, the F-104
Starfighter, and the U-2.
After the Soviets shot down Gary Powers U-2 in 1960, Johnson began to develop
an aircraft, that would fly three miles higher, and five times faster, than the
spy plane, and still be capable of photographing your license plate.
However, flying at 2,000 mph would create intense heat on the aircraft's skin.
Lockheed engineers used a titanium alloy, to construct more than 90 percent of
the SR-71, creating special tools, and manufacturing procedures to hand-build
each of the 40 planes.
Special heat-resistant fuel, oil, and hydraulic fluids, that would function at
85,000 feet, and higher, also had to be developed.
In 1962, the first Blackbird successfully
flew, and in 1966, the same year I graduated from high school, the Air Force
began flying operational SR-71
missions. I came to the program in 1983,
with a sterling record
and a recommendation from my commander,
completing the weeklong interview, and meeting Walt, my partner for the next four
years. He would ride four feet behind
me, working all the cameras, radios, and electronic jamming equipment. I joked, that if we were ever captured, he
was the spy, and I was just the driver. He
told me to keep the pointy end forward.
We trained for a year, flying out of Beale AFB
in California, Karenna Airbase in Okinawa, and RAF Mildenhall in England. On a
typical training mission, we would take off near Sacramento, refuel over
Nevada, accelerate into Montana, obtain a high Mach speed over Colorado, turn
right over New Mexico, speed across the Los Angeles Basin, run up the West
Coast, turn right at Seattle , then return to Beale.
Total flight time:- Two Hours and Forty Minutes.
One day, high above Arizona, we were
monitoring the radio traffic, of all the mortal airplanes below us. First, a
Cessna pilot asked the air traffic controllers to check his ground speed.
'Ninety knots,' ATC replied. A Bonanza soon made the same request. 'One-twenty
on the ground,' was the reply. To our
surprise, a navy F-18 came over the radio, with a ground speed check.
I knew exactly what he was doing.
Of course, he had a ground speed indicator in his cockpit, but he wanted to let
all the bug-smashers in the valley, know what real speed was, 'Dusty 52, we
show you at 620 on the ground,' ATC responded.
The situation was too ripe.
I heard the click of Walt's mike button in the rear seat. In his most innocent
voice, Walt startled the controller by asking for a ground speed check from
81,000 feet, clearly above controlled airspace.
In a cool, professional voice, the controller replied,
'Aspen 20, I show you at 1,982 knots on the ground.'
We did not hear another transmission on that frequency, all the way to the
coast.
The Blackbird always showed us something new, each aircraft possessing its own
unique personality. In time, we realized
we were flying a national treasure. When
we taxied out of our revetments for take-off, people took notice.
Traffic congregated near the airfield fences, because everyone wanted to see,
and hear the mighty SR-71.
You could not be a part of this program, and not come to love the airplane.
Slowly, she revealed her secrets to us, as we earned her trust..
One moonless night, while flying a routine
training
mission over the Pacific, I wondered what the sky would look like from 84,000
feet, if the cockpit lighting were dark.
While heading home on a straight course, I slowly turned down all of the
lighting, reducing the glare and revealing the night sky.
Within seconds, I turned the lights back up,
fearful that the jet would know, and somehow punish me.
But my desire to see the sky, overruled my caution, I dimmed the lighting
again. To my amazement, I saw a bright light outside my window.
As my eyes adjusted to the view, I realized that the brilliance was the broad
expanse of the Milky Way,now a gleaming stripe across the sky. Where dark
spaces in the sky, had usually existed, there were now dense clusters, of
sparkling stars.
Shooting Stars, flashed across the canvas every few seconds. It was like a
fireworks display with no sound.
I knew I had to get my eyes back on the instruments, and reluctantly, I brought
my attention back inside.
To my surprise, with the cockpit lighting still off, I could see every gauge,
lit by starlight.
In the plane's mirrors, I could see the eerie shine of my gold spacesuit,
incandescently illuminated, in a celestial glow. I stole one last glance out the window. Despite our speed, we seemed still before the
heavens, humbled in the radiance of a much greater power. For those few moments, I felt a part of
something far more significant, than anything we were doing in the plane. The sharp sound of Walt's voice on the radio,
brought me back to the tasks at hand, as I prepared for our descent.
The SR-71 was an expensive aircraft to operate.
The most significant cost was tanker support, and in 1990, confronted with
budget cutbacks, the Air Force retired the SR-71.
The SR-71 served six presidents, protecting America
for a quarter of a century.
Un-be-known to most of the country, the plane flew over North Vietnam , Red
China , North Korea , the Middle East, South Africa , Cuba , Nicaragua , Iran ,
Libya , and the Falkland Islands .
On a weekly basis, the SR-71, kept watch over every Soviet Nuclear Submarine,
and Mobile Missile Site, and all of their troop movements.
It was a key factor in winning the Cold War. I am proud to say, I flew about
500 hours in this aircraft.
I knew her well.
She gave way to no plane, proudly dragging her Sonic Boom through enemy
backyards, with great impunity.
She defeated every missile, outran every MiG, and always brought us home.
In the first 100 years of manned flight, no aircraft was more remarkable.
The Blackbird had outrun nearly 4,000
missiles, not once taking a scratch from enemy fire.
On her final flight, the Blackbird, destined
for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, sped from Los Angeles to
Washington in 64 Minutes, averaging 2,145 mph, and ,setting four speed records.
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Charley Reese's final
column for the Orlando Sentinel... He has been a journalist for 49 years. He is
retiring and this is HIS LAST COLUMN.
Be sure to read the Tax List at the end.
This is about as clear and easy to understand as it can be.
The article below is completely neutral, neither anti-republican or democrat.
Charlie Reese, a retired reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, has hit the nail
directly on the head, defining clearly who it is that in the final analysis
must assume responsibility for the judgments made that impact each one of us
every day. It's a short but good read. Worth the time. Worth remembering! 545 vs.
300,000,000 People
-By Charlie Reese
Politicians are the only people in the world who create
problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are
against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against
inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes? You and I don't propose a federal budget. The
President does.
You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on
appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code, Congress
does.
You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don't control monetary policy, the
Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and
nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million
are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic
problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because
that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its
Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but
private, central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a
sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a
senator, a congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't
care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has
the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is
the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing
you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con
regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an
excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a
Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.. (
The President can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept
it.)
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives
sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and
approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House?( John
Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party. He and fellow House members,
not the President, can approve any budget they want. ) If the President vetoes
it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to. [The House has passed a
budget but the Senate has not approved a budget in over three years. The
President's proposed budgets have gotten almost unanimous rejections in the
Senate in that time. ]
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million
cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of
incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem
that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the
plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then
it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the
red.
If the Army & Marines are in Iraq and
Afghanistan it's because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan ..
If they do not receive social security but are
on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want
it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to
bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists,
whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the
power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.
Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there
exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy,"
"inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing
what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and
they alone, have the power. They,
and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.
Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees... We
should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.
What you do with this article now that you have read it... is
up to you.
This might be funny if it weren't so true.
Be sure to read all the way to the end:
Tax his land, Tax his bed, Tax the table,
At which he's fed.
Tax his tractor, Tax his mule, Teach him taxes
Are the rule.
Tax his work, Tax his pay, He works for peanuts anyway!
Tax his cow, Tax his goat, Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties, Tax his shirt, Tax
his work, Tax his dirt.
Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink, Tax
him if he
Tries to think.
Tax his cigars, Tax his beers, If
he cries Tax his tears.
Tax his car, Tax his gas, Find
other ways To tax his ass.
Tax all he has Then let him know That
you won't be done Till he has no dough.
When he screams and hollers; Then tax him
some more, Tax him till He's good and sore.
Then tax his coffin, Tax his grave, Tax the sod
in Which he's laid...
Put these words Upon his tomb, 'Taxes
drove me to my doom...'
When he's gone, Do not relax, Its
time to apply
The inheritance tax, Accounts Receivable Tax, Building Permit Tax, CDL license Tax, Cigarette
Tax, Corporate Income Tax, Dog License Tax, Excise Taxes,
Federal Income Tax, Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA), Fishing
License Tax, Food License Tax, Fuel Permit Tax, Gasoline
Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon), Gross Receipts Tax, Hunting License Tax, Inheritance Tax, Inventory Tax, IRS Interest
Charges, IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax),
Liquor Tax, Luxury Taxes, Marriage License Tax,
Medicare Tax, Personal Property Tax, Property Tax, Real
Estate Tax, Service Charge Tax, Social Security Tax, Road
Usage Tax, Recreational Vehicle Tax, Sales Tax, School Tax,
State Income Tax State, Unemployment Tax (SUTA), Telephone
Federal Excise Tax, Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax,
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes, Telephone
Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax, Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring
Charges Tax, Telephone State and Local Tax,
Telephone Usage Charge Tax, Utility Taxes, ehicle License Registration Tax, Vehicle Sales Tax,
Watercraft Registration Tax, Well Permit Tax, Workers
Compensation Tax.
STILL THINK THIS IS
FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes
existed 100 years ago, & our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world,
and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What in the heck happened? Can you spell 'politicians?'
