Excellent post, UFO Bloke - I've read that story in Sled Driver myself and it's one of my favourites.
I have heard tell of another amusing SR-71 story, but I can't find confirmation anywhere - unless someone out there knows better...?
Anyway, the story (true or otherwise) goes that the first flight of the SR to RAF Mildenhall from Beale AFB went slightly wrong. While flying along at Mach 3, roughly 1nm every two seconds, the crew missed the TOD (top of descent point) by about 90 seconds. Unfortunately, they had completely overshot the entire United Kingdom and had to do a U-turn somewhere over the North Sea!!!
Enjoy,
MD.