From the SR-71 pilot's perspectcive

[Langanobob]

It's got a hemi in it.

That won't work.  Every time the Hemi speeds up, so does the conveyor belt.

Do you think it's time for us to log off and go for a ride?   [moto]

[Popeye the Sailor]

That won't work.  Every time the Hemi speeds up, so does the conveyor belt.

Do you think it's time for us to log off and go for a ride?   [moto]

I don't ride on the weekends anymore. Only weekdays-too many motorcyclists out on the weekends, and they really kind of suck at what they do.

[superjohn]

It's got a hemi in it.

Actually, if  remember correctly, the starter units used Oldsmobile 455 rocket big blocks to get the turbines going.

Not a Hemi, but close.


This pointless trivia moment brought to you by the letter 'g'. 

[Buckethead]

This pointless trivia moment brought to you by the letter 'g'. 

Sweet! That letter starts off my last name.

Another random trivia bit? Okay.

The name of the athletic shoe company Adidas has nothing to do with thinking about sex.

The founder's name was Adolf Dassler. His nickname was Adi. Adi Dassler. He equipped Jesse Owen with running shoes for the 1936 Olympics.

His brother Rudolf, citing political differences, founded Puma.

[CraigD426]

When I was 12 I went to live with my dad who was a Marine pilot in Okinawa. One day not long after I had arrived on the island I was eating lunch with pops and some of his pilots at the Officer's Club at MCAS Futenma when I noticed a black airplane making an approach to Kadena AFB about 8 miles away. The O club had a great view of the East China Sea and the approach to Kadena AFB. So anyway, when I saw this familiar looking aircraft which I had only seen in pictures I exclaimed "What's That???". All of the pilots kinda looked at me strangely, my dad just responded calmly, "That's the Habu". In Okinawa the SR-71 was reffered to as "The Habu" after the black poisonous snake on the island. So being a 12 year old kid who was amazed with everything that flew, my dad was a pilot after all, I got real excited when I realized what I was seeing, "Wow! They have those here?" All of the Marine KC-130 pilots kinda gave me a look of disdain that I was excited to see an Air Force plane when there were plenty of perfectly good Marine Corps planes on the base I was eating lunch at. That was one of my fondest moments of living in Okinawa, that and watching it take off one night on the balcony of the Apt building we lived in. I swear from 8 miles away it rattled all the windows in the building in what must have been a deafening roar up close, that and the bright orange afterburners rocketing skyward were quite a sight to see. Later that year they were retired, but I was lucky enough to have seen it fly on at least two separate occasions.

[Langanobob]

Craig, great story.   I've only seen them at airshows.  As a kid I remember U-2's taking off from Lockheed in Burbank, CA.  They had or have a reputation as sort of high altitude powered gliders, but wow, when they took off they went absolutely straight up!  Great thrill for kids to see that kind of stuff and you never forget.

[Popeye the Sailor]

God I love that plane...

So, just to be clear, you think the 2,000+ MPH plane that leaks fuel all over itself because it expands at higher temperatures that flew in the early 60's and operated with a couple of jets in a low oxygen atmosphere is just dandy.

You also think we didn't have the technology to actually go higher than this plane with rockets in a no oxygen area a few years later (moon landing)?

[GAAN]

The SR-71 never actually flew, it was just a front to help mask the lack of an actual moon landing

also

there was never any bombing in hiroshima or nagasaki

the Nips are actually vampires and a bunch of them walked outside when the Enola Gay flew by trailing a sign with anti-vampire propaganda

[Popeye the Sailor]

The SR-71 never actually flew, it was just a front to help mask the lack of an actual moon landing

also

there was never any bombing in hiroshima or nagasaki

the Nips are actually vampires and a bunch of them walked outside when the Enola Gay flew by trailing a sign with anti-vampire propaganda

Just pointing stuff out. I have to do it here 'cause they asked me to stop at work.

[5lv]

I was at Oshkosh when an SR-71 was there. The crew gave a presentation and said among other cool facts, that it took a team of people 8 hours to do a pre-flight. He also said it cost $250,000 an hour to fly it - about the same as my S4.