Any Aviation Junnkies?

[General Zod]

We had our quarterly fire chiefs meeting last night and the state Forest Service regional rep said they have the most air assets he remembers in state right now.

I'm sure they're still having to turn down requests. Even though we've got a huge-ass fire that's "80% contained" just a few miles away, a "red flag" fire warning where you basically can't walk outside and say the word "fire" without a fine, and a 108 degree high temp, some dipshit down the road decided today was the day to burn the weeds on his fence line...and then go inside to get out of the heat instead of monitoring it.

Yeah, I called the fire department on his ass as I drove by.

 

[toddnjoyce]

I took Todd's "air tanker" verbiage too literal, I do that on occasion .. lol

@toddnjoyce & @General Zod nailed it. There was a fire yesterday @9 miles north from where I recorded. They had one same area (Glendale) 2-3 weeks ago, certainly the 'necks aren't ignoring burn bans.

Crews responding to over 125-acre Houston County fire

Crews are responding to a fire in the vicinity of Glendale and Lovelady according to a post on social media from Trinity County Sheriff Woody Wallace.

www.ktre.com

It’s what they’re categorized as, however the AT-802 on floats technically becomes a waterscooper SEAT.

 

[bigtex10mm]

First I was in the Navy and my MOS was Aviation Boatswain Mate, which included launch and recovery operations from a carrier, so yes I am an aviation junkie.
Later on in life we were coming back from taking the kids to DisneyWorld in Florida and decided to take the scenic route along the Gulf. We ran across the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park. At that time also parked there was a B52 Stratafortress and the SR-71 Blackbird. The Blackbird was surrounded by a fence/barrier about waist high that had CIA Signs all around about every 20' that stated that "Entry past the barrier was a criminal offense punishable by death." It was almost like they were beckoning you to try with that little fence.

 

[General Zod]

First I was in the Navy and my MOS was Aviation Boatswain Mate, which included launch and recovery operations from a carrier, so yes I am an aviation junkie.
Later on in life we were coming back from taking the kids to DisneyWorld in Florida and decided to take the scenic route along the Gulf. We ran across the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park. At that time also parked there was a B52 Stratafortress and the SR-71 Blackbird. The Blackbird was surrounded by a fence/barrier about waist high that had CIA Signs all around about every 20' that stated that "Entry past the barrier was a criminal offense punishable by death." It was almost like they were beckoning you to try with that little fence.

Sadly, the Blackbird at that museum has recently been painted gloss dark blue because somebody didn't check the actual paint specs. Also...it's not an SR-71. It's an A-12, the single-seat CIA-operated predecessor to the SR-71. Which makes it actually a bit more historically significant, and more of a travesty that they've misidentified it at the museum. The A-12 fleet only operated for a couple of years before the mission was moved to the Air Force and the SR-71 was developed to replace them and take some workload from the pilot with the addition of a Reconnaissance Systems Operator in the back seat.

A-12s were slightly faster and flew slightly higher due to their reduced weight, and they were slightly shorter in length than SR-71s - and of course, the dead giveaway is the single cockpit.

 

[BBL]

We ran across the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park. At that time also parked there was a B52 Stratafortress and the SR-71 Blackbird. The Blackbird was surrounded by a fence/barrier about waist high that had CIA Signs all around about every 20' that stated that "Entry past the barrier was a criminal offense punishable by death." It was almost like they were beckoning you to try with that little fence.

Wait, what?
Which government official approved to threaten the public with DEATH for crossing the barrier at a park?
Are the signs in jest?
Surely, you cannot be serious.

 

[BBL]

Also...it's not an SR-71. It's an A-12, the single-seat CIA-operated predecessor to the SR-71.

Most civilians don't know the difference between those two.
And most civilians have never heard of the original RS-71 either.
And most civilians have never heard the story of the SR-71 pilot requesting FL700.

 

[Tex929rr]

Wait, what?
Which government official approved to threaten the public with DEATH for crossing the barrier at a park?
Are the signs in jest?
Surely, you cannot be serious.

The signs that said “Use of Deadly Force in Authorized” used to be something you could order up from the supply system. Like this picture, or similar. I only ever saw them on perimeter fencing around stuff like munitions and alert areas. Around a park sounds pretty crazy.

 

[General Zod]

Most civilians don't know the difference between those two.

Yeah, but the ones curating a military museum should. I mean, they really should. They have the correct A-12 serial number on the tails, and the correct (fake) USAF insignia, but they painted the thing BLUE and they're calling it an SR-71 when what they have is a much rarer bird. It's like hacking the horn off a unicorn and calling it a pony.

 

[bigtex10mm]

The signs that said “Use of Deadly Force in Authorized” used to be something you could order up from the supply system. Like this picture, or similar. I only ever saw them on perimeter fencing around stuff like munitions and alert areas. Around a park sounds pretty crazy.
View attachment 333432

That looks very similar to the sign.

 

[bigtex10mm]

Sadly, the Blackbird at that museum has recently been painted gloss dark blue because somebody didn't check the actual paint specs. Also...it's not an SR-71. It's an A-12, the single-seat CIA-operated predecessor to the SR-71. Which makes it actually a bit more historically significant, and more of a travesty that they've misidentified it at the museum. The A-12 fleet only operated for a couple of years before the mission was moved to the Air Force and the SR-71 was developed to replace them and take some workload from the pilot with the addition of a Reconnaissance Systems Operator in the back seat.

A-12s were slightly faster and flew slightly higher due to their reduced weight, and they were slightly shorter in length than SR-71s - and of course, the dead giveaway is the single cockpit.

Thank you for the clarification. I was not aware of the differences. I do know whichever one it was is an extremely cool looking plane!! Is the bomber still there?

 

[General Zod]

Thank you for the clarification. I was not aware of the differences. I do know whichever one it was is an extremely cool looking plane!! Is the bomber still there?

I'm not sure - I've actually never been there. I'm active in online groups related to the Blackbird family - A-12/SR-71/MD-21/YF-12. That particular A-12 is a sore point with a lot of us because of how it's been mishandled.

 

[Vaquero]

U.S. Space & Rocket Center · 1 Tranquility Base, Huntsville, AL 35805

★★★★★ · Museum of space history

maps.app.goo.gl

The one at Nasa in Huntsville AL is the one I saw.

Which variant is it?

 

[tangoparson]

Most civilians don't know the difference between those two.
And most civilians have never heard of the original RS-71 either.
And most civilians have never heard the story of the SR-71 pilot requesting FL700.

Ok FL700 a good one but the best SR71 story……

Search YouTube for Brian Shul -Speed Check….


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[General Zod]

U.S. Space & Rocket Center · 1 Tranquility Base, Huntsville, AL 35805

★★★★★ · Museum of space history

maps.app.goo.gl

The one at Nasa in Huntsville AL is the one I saw.

Which variant is it?

That's actually another A-12, but from what I've seen it's stored indoors and has an accurate paintjob. I think it's the one that was damaged by Hurricane Katrina, and they put a lot of effort into restoring it afterward.

The one at the battleship is A-12 #60-06938

The blue one being called an SR-71 at NASA's Huntsville Rocket Center is A-12 #60-6930.

 

[General Zod]

Here's some pics I took of the SR-71 on display at Lackland AFB around 2004:


The low-viz paint job is from the last few years of the Blackbird's career, before the first retirement in 1989. Not long after, a few Blackbirds were brought back in 1993 and those also had pain red markings on black, but had standard Air Force tail codes (BB for Beale, although they flew out of Edwards AFB this time) rather than just the serial number (or in the case of some airframes, a serial number and some tail art).

 

[General Zod]

Here's some great pics of a Blackbird with the mid-late 90s markings, including the BB tailcode.

SR-71A (64-17967) Blackbird Walk Around Page 1

It's on display at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana. I may be sensing a road trip in my future...assuming you can get on base to see the displayed aircraft.

 

[Lonesome Dove]

My dad worked for Mcdonell Douglas and I live by a small airport. Does that count?

 

[southtexaspilot]

Refilled my O2, headed to Georgia on Saturday. Woohoo.

W


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[oohrah]

There's also an SR-71 at the Space Museum in Hutchison, KS

 

[BBL]

Ok FL700 a good one but the best SR71 story……

Search YouTube for Brian Shul -Speed Check….


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

No worries, I've heard/read the story multiple times over the decades. Friends play it for me thinking that'll appease me for some reason. I think they just like it a lot. Civilians usually do. I prefer the FL story.