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scream-of-consciousness; "If you're trying to change minds and influence people it's probably not a good idea to say that virtually all elected Democrats are liars, but what the hell."
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"If the number of Islamic terror attacks continues at the current rate, candlelight vigils will soon be the number-one cause of global warming. " |
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There is a wonderful book (not sure its still in print) by the late Ben Rich called, 'Skunk Works'. It details the development of the SR-71, the stealth fighter, and other projects. It also deals with the people involved in Lockhede's operation.. in particular Kelly Johnson.
Thinkin' about tradin' in the ol' BUF, are we Rodge?
"Simplificate and add lightness..."
tomw
"Skunk Works" is techie airplane guy PORN. Fantastic read, especially how it all came about.
Another great SR-71 book is "Sled Driver" by Brian Shul.... loved the part where he talks about using the sonic booms as a psychological weapon in Vietnam when they got 3 of 'em to streak across Hanoi from three different directions at the same time, slamming the buildings with the converging shockwaves from the Mach3 planes....
UMMM, now we know how to fly one, all we need is an SR-71. There's one at Dulles in the Smithsonian and another on the Intrepid in NYC, and then there's this list.
JLW III
My favorite SR71 story:
"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 twin 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 Walter's mike button in the rear seat. In his most innocent voice, Walter 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."
http://gizmodo.com/5511236/the-thrill-of-flying-the-sr+71-blackbird
While stationed on Okinawa, one source of fun was watching the Blackbird take off from Kadena AB. Truly an awe inspiring event, every time.
One dumped in the ocean off the PI. They brought it back to Kadena and off loaded all the classified stuff, then tried to cut it up to take to the boneyard.
None of the metal cutting stuff on base would effectively get thru the titanium skin.
The Fire department had a gas powered abrasive cut off saw, and it stalled out trying.
ISTR the shipped it back to Davis Monthan intact for disposal.
Helluva airplane!
The flight manual for the A-6 Intruder starts out with a page that states, in large letters, "IF YOU SEE OPEN FLAMES, EJECT".
Sort of the opposite of "DON'T PANIC".
Turing word: "oarizes". Adding oars to an A-6? Might help at that.