Ever wondered what the cockpit of a SR-71 Blackbird looks like?

DesVegas · June 2016

Well today is your lucky day.

http://i.imgur.com/Q2WByS9.jpg

The word is they are all clocks set to different timezones cos it goes so goddamn fast

SimonC · June 2016

Pfffffft, doesn't even have a cup holder.

JezWynd · June 2016

Compare to the Lancaster. Seems incredible that the Lanc had a single pilot seat considering the duration of flights and physical strength required to operate.

DesVegas · June 2016

^Looks pretty beat up for a deep space vessel

Jalapeno · June 2016

^It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve...... etc

TheMarlin · June 2016

It's amazing to think it was introduced in secret in 1966, an retired in 1999. It makes you wonder what they are flying in secret today!

lasermonkey · June 2016

Back in the days when I was a "Friend of Duxford", I got to attend some of their open cockpit events and sat on quite a few different aircraft. It's amazing just how cramped some of them are. Maybe the most claustrophobic was the EE Lightning. Very little room to move, plus little forward visibility. Imagine doing the best part of 1,500 mph like that!

In comparison, the Spitfire was positively spacious, if not exactly ergonomically laid out.

Clambering around inside the Lancaster and B-17 was quite tiring. Considering it was fairly warm at the time and I was unencumbered by a flying suit, plus I was on the ground and no one was shooting at me, the twenty or so minutes I spent in each fair wore me out! Getting over the main spar in the Lanc was fun and I managed to gash my leg on the B-17 upper turret mechanism. Imagine doing that for eight hours at -20°C with people flinging lumps of metal at you.

Back to the SR-71- I saw one fly at a display at Alconbury, probably in 1982. From takeoff, the acceleration was incredible. I was amazed at how the pilot threw it around the sky too, especially considering those things are huge!

Chalky · June 2016

lasermonkey;1094586" said:

Back to the SR-71- I saw one fly at a display at Alconbury, probably in 1982. From takeoff, the acceleration was incredible. I was amazed at how the pilot threw it around the sky too, especially considering those things are huge!

Think your memory might be playing tricks on you - the SR-71 had a much lower power to weight ratio than the Lightning, never mind the F15/F16, and I'm pretty sure that handling even at low weights was limited to something like 3g, about half what the F15/F16 would repeatedly reach in their display.

lasermonkey · June 2016

What I was getting at, but should have said was "for its size". I mean, it's about a third longer than a Lancaster! When you see one flying up close, it's very impressive.

I've seen Lightning displays and never forgotten the usual end of display trick where they'd point the nose up and disappear in seconds.

Neil · June 2016

I'd seen the Blackbird before at an open day at Mildenhall many years ago.

I also remember climbing though the Lanc that had just come over from Oz (painted white) at Biggin and being amazed at how tight it all was as we made our way down it.

Incredible what those blokes of Bomber Command put up with. As well as nightfighters and flak they had the freezing cold, darkness and cramp!

Axe_meister · June 2016

How different the cockpit would look today. It would all be little computer screens.
I'd hate to see the plumbing behind the dash to feed all of those analoge instruments.

strtdv · June 2016

My favourite fact about the SR71 is that it leaks fuel on the ground as it's designed to expand as it heats up at extreme speed. I believe at full tilt it's around a foot longer than it is cold on the ground, which is the same amount that Concorde expanded during flight, and Concorde was twice as long to begin with!

bazxkr · June 2016

strtdv said:

My favourite fact about the SR71 is that it leaks fuel on the ground as it's designed to expand as it heats up at extreme speed. I believe at full tilt it's around a foot longer than it is cold on the ground, which is the same amount that Concorde expanded during flight, and Concorde was twice as long to begin with!

Indeed...........fuel was pissing out of it on the ground very easily visible. By the time it got in the air it needed refuelling as was almost empty. IIRC it had to maintain nearly stalling speed to stay at the same speed as the air tanker refuelling it. So advanced for it's day. None ever got shot down cos they just accelerated away from the missile. Google the SR71 flypast can't remember the tower but a UK base. A few cadets shit themselves that day.

Chalky · June 2016

IIRC it had to start the refuelling at height then descend gently as it got heavier.

Gassage · June 2016

It wasn't THAT secret!

I saw it at Farnborough in 1973.

DiscoStu · June 2016

I saw its earlier incarnation, the A-12, on the USS Intrepid in New York. I expected it to be bigger!

Chalky · June 2016

bazxkr;1095024" said:
strtdv said:

My favourite fact about the SR71 is that it leaks fuel on the ground as it's designed to expand as it heats up at extreme speed. I believe at full tilt it's around a foot longer than it is cold on the ground, which is the same amount that Concorde expanded during flight, and Concorde was twice as long to begin with!Indeed...........fuel was pissing out of it on the ground very easily visible. By the time it got in the air it needed refuelling as was almost empty. IIRC it had to maintain nearly stalling speed to stay at the same speed as the air tanker refuelling it. So advanced for it's day. None ever got shot down cos they just accelerated away from the missile. Google the SR71 flypast can't remember the tower but a UK base. A few cadets shit themselves that day.

That SR71 flypast is a great story! Though I very much think the flying details have been exaggerated...

bluechargeboy · June 2016

You need to know about this classic SR-71 aviation troll if you haven't read it already:

http://controversialtimes.com/funny/classic-military-sr-71-blackbird-pilots-troll-navy-pilot-and-civilian-aircraft-with-ground-speed-check/

cacophony · June 2016

used to work on the lightnings, binbrook was my first posting not all that long before the lightning was phased out. used to be in a room with a bloke who worked on the sim. every night he`d go and open up the building and use his radio to talk to nerds from all over the world and i`d go with him and, as the flight sim was never totally powered down, i`d fly it. got quite a few hours on the lightning that way.

a hell of an aircraft once it was airborn, an absolute ancient bag of nails on the ground though!.

Roland · June 2016

bazxkr said:!
None ever got shot down cos they just accelerated away from the missile.

Didn't Gary Powers get shot down by a Mig with external rockets and specially built missiles?

bluechargeboy · June 2016

Roland said:

bazxkr said:!
None ever got shot down cos they just accelerated away from the missile.

Didn't Gary Powers get shot down by a Mig with external rockets and specially built missiles?

That was a U2.

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Ever wondered what the cockpit of a SR-71 Blackbird looks like?

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