THE RECORD BREAKERS

[Music] which required a whole set of new techniques to fabricate hot presses to form and size the parts machine tools and drills to cut the new alloy the Nel rings that form the area that houses the engines were the largest titanium forgings ever attempted these Rings formed with integral set stubs simplify wing and stabilizer attachment even the black paint necessary to withstand the blistering heat had to be developed as Kelly Johnson has often said just about everything on the Blackbird had to be invented from rivets to hydraulic oil window glass to Fasteners lockheed's Advanced development projects working closely with its customer and suppliers in all phases of development manufacturing and testing what was responsible for the success of this versatile airplane on 26th April 1971 a crew from be Air Force Base flew the Blackbird to new and exceptional records for duration and total [Music] distance cruising at three times the speed of sound the SR was flown over 15,000 miles the equivalent of a Non-Stop trip from San Francisco to Paris and return the crew was awarded the McKay trophy for 1971 for the most meritorious United States Air Force flight of the [Music] year when it was decided to display the Blackbird at the farnborough air show in England it was a natural to break the speed record from New York to London preparation for the record speed Dash from New York to London was routine for the mission planning Branch because of the speed of the SR precise Mission planning is required which puts unique demands on navigation to meet these Demands a computer program was developed to integrate all of the aircraft's performance factors and flight [Music] characteristics root information is assembled and fed into the computer where a navigation tape and Air root map is [Music] prepared the tape is utilized in the highly accurate navigational system developed specifically for the Blackbird Mission a flight simulator designed by the advanced development projects permits the nav tape to be flown and verified before the flight so realistic is this simulator it is used to check crew proficiency major Sullivan and major Whitfield regular Sr crew members were selected to make the flight the space-like pressure suit is similar to those worn by the astronauts it consists of an inner Garment of pressure vessels and an outer protective suit with built-in attachment for shoot harness life support connections a helmet gloves and boots developed for the role of the very high and very fast environment of the SR71 the suit provides protection in the event of a decompression or bailout the system contains a complete survival kit stowed in the seat [Music] cushion August 31st 1974 Beal Air Force Base on the Pacific coast of the United States boarding for the record-breaking flight from New York to London started before midnight [Music] a flight across the United States the Blackbird will refuel off the coast of North Carolina because the tanker aircraft cannot reach the speed or altitude of the SR it is necessary to slow down and descend to refuel the Blackbird is now in position to pass through the timing gate over New York City accelerating out to a speed over Mach 3 and near 880,000 Ft following a great circle route allowed the SR to cruise in its designed element during this time the skin temperature will exceed 600° F each air Inlet combined with the j58 turbo bypass engine will be converting The Mach 3 Ram air pressure into thrust equivalent to the horsepower of the Queen Mary as the aircraft travels faster than the speed of a bullet the sealant used to seal the fuel tanks was a joint and continuing effort in development of fluos silicone elastomers to withstand 3 plus flight after a routine Crossing at better than Mach 3 the SR passes through the timing gate near London and makes flyby over the farboro air show revealing its Double delta-shaped Wing and pencil-like [Music] uage designed without flaps or spoilers it lands at a speed less than a fighter aircraft with only brakes and a drag shoot [Music] the welcoming committee greets the crew the previous record from New York to London was 4 hours 46 minutes and has been Shattered by the Blackbird the SR71 official time for the 3,470 statute mile trip was 1 hour 55 minutes 32 seconds many notables were present for this m mous occasion including the SRS designer Mr CL Kelly Johnson Spectators arrive for the official opening of FBO International Air Show 74 as the Blackbird is towed to its static display position it passes several other current locked family members the air fores c5a Galaxy largest member of the Lockheed family the p3c Orion landbased ASW aircraft and the carrier-based s3a Viking subchaser all stars in their own [Music] right each day the air show is opened with a flyby of the angl French Concord supersonic transport the flying display of commercial and military aircraft craft from many nations thrilled the crowds of Spectators helicopters demonstrate versatility with speed and maneuverability sail planes execute graceful and Silent Maneuvers above the Airfield the Rothman International [Music] arabaticum in tight formation truly lived up to their name which translated means Thunderbolt a World War II Lancaster bomber adds a little [Music] Nostalgia the British Harrier Fighters demonstrate the latest in vertical takeoff and Landing aircraft psa's locked L 1011 with Rolls-Royce engines presents the finest in widebody technology after a week-long program thrilling the air show crowds the United States Air Force F-15 Eagle goes through its final performance and touches down behind the SR71 display area members of the sr's record-breaking team answered questions and autograph fact sheets for the thousands of visitors to the Blackbird static display with the British red arrow aerobatic team bringing the far Barrow Air Show to a close the decision to return non-stop to be Air Force Base by way of Los Angeles was announced no record existed for this flight although the airlines fly it regularly in 12 to 14 [Music] hours the SR was flown to milen Hall Airbase a short distance from farboro in in preparation for the flight a second flight crew Captain Adams and MIM mccor were on hand to make the return flight suit up of the crew by the physiological Support Division was routine preparation for the flight progressed on schedule having been briefed on the mission and the weather in route the pilot and RSO boarded for the flight to California [Music] following a spectacular takeoff the aircraft made a perfect pass through the London gate and headed west across the Atlantic and Greenland slowing down to refuel over the Hudson Bay in Canada the Sr headed for Los Angeles decelerating and descending the arrival was announced over the Los Angeles timing gate by the slight Rumble of a sonic boom a turn north brings the Blackbird home landing at be Air Force Base the announcement was made the setting of still another record for the Blackbird family London to Los Angeles a distance of 5,460 3 statute miles in 3 hours 47 minutes and 39 [Music] seconds on hand to greet the crew was General pittz commander of the 15th Air Force and and Mr Russ Daniel blocked vice president and SR71 general manager the press and TV networks documented the [Music] event the SR71 designed a decade ago with thousands of hours above Mark 3 to its credit flying reconnaissance missions in the defense of the United States the Blackbird has set a new record from New York to London and established a record London to Los Angeles a tradition for the Blackbird family the record [Music] Breakers hi hi I'm captain Wilson at Davis M Air Force base and I'm just getting suit up for a You2 High Flight [Music] there's a unique training program for You2 student Pilots instead of attending a formalized training school students are sent to the 349th Strategic reconnaissance squadron at Davis M Air Force Base in Arizona here they're trained by pilots of the oper AAL Squadron itself basically it's an airplane like any other airplane once you get it off the ground and flying around at altitude and everything but when you come within a few feet of the ground it's just really a bucket of worms it just goes all over the place it's probably the selest airplane I've ever flown before in my life you can't land at on speed because of the way the center of gravity is because if you hit on the main gear first it'll just bounce up into the air so uh you have to land it in a complete stall and preferably about 1T off the [Music] ground there's 10 ft 5 4 Landing one of these aircraft is pretty much a two-headed snake one of the problems is we have great big wings and a bicycle landing gear and that makes it hard to land reset your tra we've got to depend on our mobile Vehicles here to uh get us in a position where we can actually watch the aircraft throughout the landing and uh take off roll and once we clear the runway we've got to get back into a position for a second touch and go off for another [Music] Landing TI mobile runway's clear now we'll be pulling right out behind him here and you'll be able to see just exactly what the perspective of the mobile recovery officer is we can see aircraft coming in and uh he've got a problem with his wings being uh controlled through out the landing roll and until he's in a and once again we get some pretty good Wing control throughout the roll out there he didn't really run any rual problems at all throughout that Landing now this next one it turns out we're going to use full flaps and he didn't really get the the tail wheel down as far as he should because of the unique Landing characteristics of the U2 all Landings are recorded on videotape so the commander can personally monitor each student's progress the videotapes are also used as a training aid for the students themselves they have the opportunity to watch their own Landings and this way are able to perfect their flying skill we will cover all those with the de breaking before the next breaking so that he uh understands that he can't be up there with no air speed and a balloon and a wing control on the runway in the uh training situation like I am right now um your rides can be anywhere normally on a a basic instrument ride or a basic uh contact uh Landing ride type thing you'd be in the air probably for about two maybe 3 hours when you go out on a photo Mission or something of this nature here it could be anywhere up to 8 hours long as far as the airplane goes uh you're constantly busy in the thing you're just working all the time it's a an old saying like I flew Fighters at one time in Southeast Asia come back and you can only be good as your number four man out there is or your number two man in this airplane you can only be as good as you are oh [Music]