Official Aviation Thread...

[BlackbirdM3]

Back when I started working my current job, AeroUnion had just gone under. We did heavy maintenance/serious structural work on these P-3's for as cheap as we could make it (at their request). When they went, the left one of these P-3's in one of our hangars, and I saw it first hand. I've never seen a wing that was more patch than original wing, just loaded up with massive doublers full of Hucks and HiLoks. That old thing sat there for a couple years before somebody decided to scrap it a few months back.

Yes, the last year that AeroUnion was around the owner was driving the company into the ground. Cheap as possible was the name of the game. Yes, at least one of them was pretty long in the tooth.

Will

[BlackbirdM3]

I recently found a Facebook page that has some seriously interesting SR-71 pics as well as XB70 pics. Here is a small sample.

YF-12 at Groom lake

First flight of the SR-71 (I've never seen this shot this clear)

J58 cutaway

YF-12 and an SR-71 with a T38 chase plane.

D21 drone on the radar test range (never seen this pic before)

XB70 windtunnel test models

Making the carbon leading edge pieces for either an A12 or SR-71

I'd kill for this poster

Loading AIM-47 missiles onto a YF12

Unfinished A-12

Flight prepping SR-71 980/NASA 844 early in the morning at Edwards AFB.

XB70 at speed.

A12 being placed on the RCS stick

One of my favorite shots. Note the inlet spike being replaced.

Early morning roll out.

YF-12 using an F117 pitot tube (extremely rare shot taken in the mid '70s. It was very early in the Have Blue or Hopeless Diamond program)



Just a really cool shot.


Will

[M-technik-3]

[BlackbirdM3]

The result after this happened


Will

[FLYNAVY]

real cool (and previously unseen by me) pics.......love this thread

I wonder if "flying" a D-21 was cooler back in the day than flying a pred or reaper is today.....

[BlackbirdM3]

real cool (and previously unseen by me) pics.......love this thread

I wonder if "flying" a D-21 was cooler back in the day than flying a pred or reaper is today.....

A D21 was an autonomous drone. It flew itself. I think it had the same navigation system as the SR-71/A-12 and would fly a preset course. Once it reached the end of the course, it would eject its payload of sensors and cameras to be caught by another plane while it fell to the ground with several large parachutes or it would be fished out of the ocean by a hopefully near by ship waiting for it.

Most of the pics I posted above are VERY rare. My source has written several books and has done a lot to declassify quite a bit of info. The first time I saw most of these shots I was expecting the CIA to come and arrest me.

956 at Edwards, the canopy cover is apparently off an A-12


971 landing at Palmdale I think.


Pics don't get any more rare than this. Q bay camera settings from an A-12


Where the J-58 started. This is number 4 of 10 FXJ-58s on the test stand.


D21B in flight


How cool is this shot? A pair of U2Bs and an XB70


Will

[spyde25]

Good stuff

[BlackbirdM3]

So this became the oldest plane I've flown on. Built in 1929.


Will

[estoguy]

Cause the stupid Youtube tags don't work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSN9ipE4VoI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp6UTP3gNM4

[gkurey]

Clearly they have fabbed up some rugged mounts!! Sweet video!

[BlackbirdM3]

Clearly they have fabbed up some rugged mounts!! Sweet video!

Cool, but still more than 10K feet below a U2 cruise altitude, and 20K feet lower than the SR-71 cruise, and 30K feet less than the A12. Kinda puts how special those 3 are, into perspective. Still, its the only way a civilian is going to get anywhere near that high. I'd have to guess it was right at its max service ceiling.

Will

[steve68]

I was in Dryden/Edwards all through the 90's and 2000's seen numerous 71's flying, had one do a super sonic high altitude fly buy, almost knocked our trailer off the mounts, double wide, there awesome and the history,

one of the old guys in out dept was a test pilot on the 71 program, I have a poster from Dryden of the 71 flying, he walks in looks at the tail numbers, say "Oh, I flew that one," he was in his 70's then, really cool pics,

[red baron]

Official Aviation Thread...

Took the 180 to the ranch w/ my sister for the weekend.




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[jalopi]

planning on taking some flight classes [fixed wing] when i've got the extra cash from selling my house, anything i should know about ahead of time? seems pretty straight forward, just bring money and get a FAA physical, yeah?

also, anyone ever played the microsoft flight simulator x? how good of a representation is it compared to the planes you've actually flown?

[flyboyx]

Took the 180 to the ranch w/ my sister for the weekend.




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how do you like the uflymike/bose a13 headset combination in a prop plane. i used to fly with a few guys that used them in regional jets.