Any SR-71 Blackbirds in Service Now

[Elmer Fud]

Are there any Sr-71's still in service? I know they were all suppose to be moth balled but what's the real skinny? We sure could use them with all that's going on in the middle east now.

 

[tomgoodman]

Sr-71

Are there any Sr-71's still in service? I know they were all suppose to be moth balled but what's the real skinny? We sure could use them with all that's going on in the middle east now.

I think the last one flying was at NASA's Dryden research facility, Edwards AFB. They used it to test a scramjet (supersonic-combustion ramjet) engine mounted on the back.

 

[TankerDriver]

Why could we use them in the Middle East? With all the Predator, Global Hawk and satellite technology, why would we need that thing?

 

[psysicx]

They still have U-2's.

 

[Slice121]

Are there any Sr-71's still in service?

Not that you know about...

 

[Huggyu2]

The Sled's last flight was October 1999. Can't remember for sure, but it might have been the Edwards AFB Airshow that year.

 

[JimNtexas]

The SR-71 has been replaced by the Blackstar. Maybe.

 

[tomgoodman]

SR-71 replacement

The SR-71 has been replaced by the Blackstar. Maybe.

The "two stage to orbit" idea sounds a lot like the old "Dyna-Soar" project. The AF had astronaut trainees preparing for that mission until it was cancelled. Whatever the SR-71s replacement will be for the high-threat recon role, expect an unmanned vehicle. Good as the Blackbird was, it needed replacement--the original CIA contract for the single-seat version was signed in the EISENHOWER administration!

 

[Metro752]

The SR-71 has been replaced by the Blackstar. Maybe.

nice website

 

[lowtimedriver]

The "two stage to orbit" idea sounds a lot like the old "Dyna-Soar" project. The AF had astronaut trainees preparing for that mission until it was cancelled. Whatever the SR-71s replacement will be for the high-threat recon role, expect an unmanned vehicle. Good as the Blackbird was, it needed replacement--the original CIA contract for the single-seat version was signed in the EISENHOWER administration!

About two months ago I was laying on a beach in Dana Point, Ca, and I saw the contrails of a vehicle that was so high, I couldn't see the aircraft, but only the contrails. It was traveling East and went from horizon to horizon in about two minutes. It wasn't a rocket or a missile as I have seen many launches from Vandenburg, and it was without a doubt, the fastest aircraft I have ever seen. Makes you wonder.

 

[Huggyu2]

About two months ago I was laying on a beach in Dana Point, Ca, and I saw the contrails of a vehicle that was so high, I couldn't see the aircraft, but only the contrails.

Do you remember about what time of day that was?

 

[XShipRider]

About two months ago I was laying on a beach in Dana Point, Ca, and I saw the contrails of a vehicle that was so high, I couldn't see the aircraft, but only the contrails. It was traveling East and went from horizon to horizon in about two minutes. It wasn't a rocket or a missile as I have seen many launches from Vandenburg, and it was without a doubt, the fastest aircraft I have ever seen. Makes you wonder.

Do fighter aircraft at or above 50K feet leave contrails? They would be
next to impossible to see with the naked eye at that altitude.

 

[Elmer Fud]

SR-71 Blackbird

I know the Blackbird is an old fossil designed on drafting boards and calculations made with slide rules. It can fly at Mach3+ (classified) and altitudes over 90,000 FT. (classified) and can out run most missiles. None that I know of have ever been shot down. UAV's are great but lots have been shot down. Satellite recon restricted to mostly VFR can't see through clouds, dust and sand storms. Lots of countries want to get into the Nuclear ICBM and Nuclear car bomb business. All we have to loose is our keester's after all. I think I'll just watch a DVD today "Trinity and Beyond".

 

[Gorilla]

Do fighter aircraft at or above 50K feet leave contrails? They would be
next to impossible to see with the naked eye at that altitude.

A fighter at extreme altitudes would be very hard to see. The spacing (and number) of the cons is a good clue as to the type of aircraft.

IIRC, at a certain point, cons will cease, and this varies with the atmospheric conditions, so you can have situations where the jet will con climbing between 290 and 440, above that, no con. That may be my mad cow disease speaking, though. It's been a while since I worried about cons.

 

[lowtimedriver]

Do you remember about what time of day that was?

From what I can recollect, it was between 1600 and 1800.

 

[KeroseneSnorter]

From what I can recollect, it was between 1600 and 1800.

So would that be Zulu or local?

Additionally you did not see a secret aircraft....you saw a weather balloon..no wait , an alien spacecraft, no no a...um...hmmm, a high altitude elephant fart.....that uh bounced off a 747 en route to um....pick up a rare Hippo....a pink one...and pregnant.....

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