Unseen Footage of the SR-71 at Edwards AFB

I worked the SR-71'a at Beale AFB back in the mid 70's. I was in comm repair and would come in early in the am to preflight the jet and follow her out to the hammerhead in the launch truck. We had the most awesome view of he full AB take offs. Yup those were the days of good ole SAC command.

I was an Identification officer in 22nd NORAD region when I encountered an SR running from England to Cali. on an attempt to set a transoceanic/transcontinental speed record. She did it under 4 hrs iirc. Our SAGE tracking computers could not keep up with her...we had to go manual with humans...the speed exceeded the design limits of NORAD computers of the time. It was classified at the time...lets just say she was flying over 1000kts FASTER than Concord.

That plane has been flying for over 50 years and its STILL the fastest airplane in the world...........

I watched them come and go from the end of the runway in Kadena, Okinawa in the early 70's when I was stationed there in the Navy.

Timeless and excellent footage, love these snippets of history. Many thanks for sharing.

I was an AGE repairman for the SR71 at Beale and TDY to Kadena from 1969-1972. Once had to recover it in Kunson AB in South Korea. My job was repairing the two Buick Wildcat engines in the AG330M which had one throttle for both engines. Four Barrel carbs.

It was Kelly Johnson not Jim Kelly that lead the design team, pretty big factual error.

sure, is a pretty bird.

Man there are some memories: I was at the EAFB airshow in 1997? 1998? (Fiftieth anniversary of the USAF: saw one of the last flights at the show - standing on the shock diamonds going straight up. Unfortunately by the time I got to EAFB 2004-12 for the ABL program they weren't flying. We used to eat lunch outside and watch aircraft every day to "stretch our eyes" away from PC work all day.

Noticed comments on the sound of the ground carts: they needed ~ 3-400 horsepower: 2 Buick Wildcat V-8 engines with uncorked headers did the trick. 1991-8 lived in Palmdale 3 miles south of USAF 42: is the open-air museum still at 25th & P?

Chase birds: there was a 16 earlier on and both 16 and 18 on the later part at EAFB - shot from the North side.

SOOOOO... what have we done since the 60's that's anywhere near as impressive for just plain everything? Kelly Johnson we need you again.

Thanks for the video, Jim. I worked at AFP 42. in the mid 50's on the F106 program. Shifting gears-how many of you know of Ralph Parr, the greatest military aviator of all time?

Stationed at Camp Zukeran Okinawa many years go and was fortunate to watch many “Habu’s” operating out of Kadena AB. A AWESOME plane!

I worked on the "Q" model KC-135 that refueled the SR-71 at Kadena in Okinawa back in the 60's. I've got some Super 8 movies (remember them) of it somewhere.

As I recall, They had to use a pyrophoric (pentaborane) stored in a squib for each engine to ignite the fuel. I think the fuel was JP-7. Worked crash rescue and spent a lot of time watching the SR7i and YF12 from the first arrival at Edwards. The start cart with the Buick engines was as an exciteng sound as the AB's on takeoff.

Such cool footage. Sometimes I wonder who put who in charge of making stupid decisions like mothballing the best of the best. Almost reminds me of what the hell that’s going on now

Question. Does that chase plane get tossed around in the wake of the Blackbird? TIA

Amazing footage. I can only imagine the adrenaline those test pilots must have felt. Thanks for sharing.

the twin Buick Wildcat engines were just in front of the main control panel. A 8 inch or so gear rose up to mesh with bottom of engine then crank engines to turn it. Similar to a Submarine up scope.

AF plant 42 is at Palmdale. Maybe I misunderstood the reference.
Who is Jim Kelly?
The genius of the SR71 was Ben Rich who was a thermal guy. That whole thing was a thermal nightmare but they worked the problems and got great solutions.

I got to see one take off from a base in England back in the 80s. I was impressed with the angle of takeoff. It was straight along the axis of the aircraft. There was no "mushing" toward the belly. Just straight up along a fixed line.

A SR-71 flew over Burbank Airport in 1990 when Lockheed moved out of Burbank. I was there to see the demonstration.

Never forget the man behind the machine, Clarence Kelly Johnson. Mr. "Keep It Simple Stupid"(KISS Principle)

"SR-71 Cockpit Checkout" video on YouTube. You won't be disappointed.

I stood under the one on display at Duxford Air Museum, Cambridgeshire, UK in 2010. So impressive! They had drip trays on the floor under both engines. Very loose on the ground but tightened up considerably at altitude.

Very Cool!! I can watch that all day long.

In the early 70's I remember the SR-71 was forced to make an emergency landing at Reese AFB in Lubbock, Texas. It was early evening and as soon as it touched down it was covered which a very large tarp. It took off a few hours later just after midnight I believe. It was a big surprise for us.

Hey Kurtz, that was the mid engine version right?

Excellent!

Great video. I highly recommend if you're ever in the Dulles area to go see this amazing aircraft up close and personal. I used to live near Dulles Airport and had the privilege of seeing this aircraft years ago. When I was there they still let you walk right under it but now it appears they have safety gates surrounding it. It was one of the highlights of the museum along with the Enola Gay B-29 Superfortress and Space Shuttle Enterprise. The Enterprise has since been moved out of there however I think Discovery is there now.