SR-71 Blackbird

It's a fantastic plane.
I saw the one at Duxford and was surprised how shabby (?) it looked - like a Coupe with a lot of parking dings

Awesome. I recently read a very informative book called the "Area 51" by Annie Jacobsen. Cover whole spy programme, A-bomb programme, CIA, politics, cold war. I learned loads and simply could not believe how far ahead the thinking and US technology was. Add it to your Xmas list!

They're not really about looks, though, especially when stationary and the anti-radar coatings etc.

"Ironically, the plane was dripping, much like the misshapen model I had assembled in my youth. Fuel was seeping through the joints, raining down on the hangar floor. At Mach 3, the plane would expand several inches because of the severe temperature, which could heat the leading edge of the wing to 1,100 degrees. To prevent cracking, expansion joints had been built into the plane. Sealant resembling rubber glue covered the seams, but when the plane was subsonic, fuel would leak through the joints."

This early model, the A12, sits on board a decommissioned aircraft carrier off one of Manhattan's piers.

I never saw this plane fly, but was told that it once took off from Farnborough during the airshow. Apparently it took off, pointed it's nose straight up and continued straight up until it was out of site...

That was a party trick for the Lightning as well.

and for the f15 which has the highest vertical climb rate iirc. There are youtube videos of the sr27 at RIAT or Farnorough. as noisy as a B1 it seems.
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=BZF-4Zt4qWs&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DBZF-4Zt4qWs

Apparently proccy has the same party trick when it's his round.

I saw this fly once or twice when i was a kid, at the Abbotsford Airshow outside Vancouver. The announcer said 'we've just been told the Blackbird has taken off from Burbank CA. It will be here in 30 mins'

I listened to the pilot talking to members of the public at Duxford 2 years ago. Very interesting and approachable chap, with some lovely reminiscences of flying very hungry apparently!

I'd love to read his book but with only 3,500 in circulation, the cheapest I could find is £303...

Why deprive people of such an amazing account of his life?!

@ OP: proving retro rules.

@shifty:
The last flight of an RAF Vulcan was similar. The pilot who I met a few years back stood it on its tail, held it with the throttle, push to the after burner and set of every alarm for 10 miles before disappearing in to the endless blue.

The Vulcan didn't have afterburner, it was just a naturally aspirated noisy beast! Although they did test fit and fly the afterburner version of the RR Olympus engines (as fitted to Concorde) on the Vulcan, I can't imagine how loud that was!

and sadly next season will be the Vulcans last, so if you want to see XH558 flying, you ate running out of time.

Oh perhaps I've confused my self and it was the sr-71 he was talking about.

Sure it wasn't a lightning?

Probably not an SR 71, as they actually have a poor thrust/weight ratio, and slow climb (despite their speed)

Probably a lightening, it was always a battle between them and the F15 as to who could reach brakes off to 50,000ft the fastest.

Just been standing outside watching some more aircraft porn - a Spitfire was doing some loops next to the village for about 30 mins!

Wow