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Flying the world's fastest plane: Behind the stick of the SR-71
Great interview with former SR-71 pilot Rick McCray. One of the highlights is his description of losing a engine over Norway. (www.sbnation.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
I remember in 1971, being in the same shape as those Norwegian boys after he lost that engine. One came in from somewhere to our base in South Korea. Already in descent for Kadena, Okinawa, where they were based, he was too low to go on and they elected to divert. Crash phone rang. We were told it was a modified B57 with engine out. Now I had just came in there from Kirtland in ABQ and that 57 business sounded fishy. Overcast with about a 3 grand cloud deck. Wing commander had specifically told hospital squadron to make sure I was on the response. We all lined up near runway waiting on his arrival. Boss man came over with fire chief, told me what it was and said I was only man on base with PSD experience, the suits, and I had previous on the U2 but had never seen anything but pictures of the blackbird. They broke out and touched down just fine. Boss gave me his radio to talk to pilot; fire chief gave me a foil suit for heat protection. Straight into the hanger, tight security, cool down and pilot extrication. A C141 with repair crew and those Buick Wildcat starters was already airborne from Kadena before he ever landed. Next time I saw that bird was on it's climbout after repair. Nose up and gone.
Wayne...respect bros..had no idea you were in that class of aviator..how you doin anyway?
Hell, that was about 41 years ago and I was just an Airman first. Nothing special. Outa here. Gotta go to LIT early. We all doing fine
Peacher so the Blackbrid was sent into the hanger or HANGAR (LOL!!!)
picky, pick, picky. LOL
Yup know the fellow that would have sent the repair crew stationed at Kadena. He retired from Beal well before they retired the bird. He also started at Beal as the same when they brought them into service. His name is on the gear door of the one at the museum of Flight in Seattle.
One of the down sides that few know is that most of the people who worked on it got some form of cancer due to the chemicals used when working on it. And the fellow I know is one of those. Said it was the only job in his life he looked forward to also. Never talked about it until it was retired.
He didn't have to wait that long. In 1985, I saw one at an air show. The crew chief took me under it to show me how it leaked fuel because of "stretching and shrinking" by nearly a foot when it got hot in flight and cooled down on the ground. He showed me the pattern of rivet and panel lines on the leading edge and told me the underlying structure looked like wedges cut out. He said with the skin on, the space in the wedge was filled by radar-absorbing material and the wedge shape also helped dissipate radar waves. He said about the shape of the chines and the way the wing and fuselage joined reduced radar detection, too.
All that was in 1985. That was more than three (3) years before the F-117 was shown to the public and before anyone started hearing in the media about how stealth worked, things like faceted shapes and RAM coatings.
But an SR-71 crew chief was talking about it. They were also letting people sit in the cockpit, but the line for that stretched into next week, so I didn't even try.
Oh, and by the way, this was at an air show in Toronto, so unless that crew chief was totally clueless about geography, he knew he was talking to a foreign national and that he was in a foreign country. And I had a media pass, which he also knew because he said the personal tour was to make up for me not being able to see the cockpit because of the long line.
So I don't think your friend really had to wait until the SR-71 was retired in 1998 -- or did he start talking in 1989 when it was retired for the first time? After all, no one knew then that it was coming back. Either way, I (and many other people) were being told a lot in 1985.
All that was in 1985. That was more than three (3) years before the F-117 was shown to the public and before anyone started hearing in the media about how stealth worked, things like faceted shapes and RAM coatings.
But an SR-71 crew chief was talking about it. They were also letting people sit in the cockpit, but the line for that stretched into next week, so I didn't even try.
Oh, and by the way, this was at an air show in Toronto, so unless that crew chief was totally clueless about geography, he knew he was talking to a foreign national and that he was in a foreign country. And I had a media pass, which he also knew because he said the personal tour was to make up for me not being able to see the cockpit because of the long line.
So I don't think your friend really had to wait until the SR-71 was retired in 1998 -- or did he start talking in 1989 when it was retired for the first time? After all, no one knew then that it was coming back. Either way, I (and many other people) were being told a lot in 1985.
He just didn't talk about it for whatever reason until much later just the way he was nothing else. Just the fact he talked about it was a big deal to me as he was dealing with something I really was interested in. Wish I could have gone to Seattle when he was on the panel there at the museum back a few years ago. Was just sharing one of my experiences like others didn't need you to get so wound up about it. Am sure you enjoyed being told about it also. Oh yes by the way he was in charge of it at Beal while he was there, also in England, and Kadena. He also was in charge of the record flight logistics from the US to England by the way. He wasn't just a crew chief.
A friend of mine from the AZANG was the first crew chief on the SR-71. Also a lady I worked with there was a hyd troop on taem later. She went on to become an officer & a few years ago I told her about the fact that they were have some pilots & maintainers & designers coming to he Pima Air Museum here in Tucson. So she got out some material & pictures she had & went out to meet those folks. Turned out she knew a few of them & they could not believe some of the material she had. She ended up retiring a few years ago because of health problems & I got her to go to the VA & sign up & she ended up 100% disabled. Saw her last week & will see her next week as we bury a co-worker.