CIA history of the A-12
“For such a state-of-the-art aircraft, the instrumentation was surprisingly old-fashioned, in keeping with Johnson’s preference for tried-and- true systems..”
Amazing statement about Kelly Johnson’s engineering perspective. Practically everything about the airplane was decidedly not old-fashioned. Every innovation had a form-fit-function purpose and where old-fashioned was sufficient, that was used.
Certainly the “drivers” demonstrated courage and competence when operating this amazing aircraft, especially early on. But consider the engineering courage it took, by many people, and the incomparable leadership and vision displayed by Kelly Johnson to guide it through the immense development challenges.
Amazing statement about Kelly Johnson’s engineering perspective. Practically everything about the airplane was decidedly not old-fashioned. Every innovation had a form-fit-function purpose and where old-fashioned was sufficient, that was used.
Certainly the “drivers” demonstrated courage and competence when operating this amazing aircraft, especially early on. But consider the engineering courage it took, by many people, and the incomparable leadership and vision displayed by Kelly Johnson to guide it through the immense development challenges.
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From our earlier discussions here about Brian Shul:
Brian Shul's story about getting slow on a cadet flyover is highlighted in this Tyler Rogoway article:
https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/th...lso-1719654907
Brian Shul and Rich Graham famously do not get along decades later. Graham tells of an incident where Shul was less than candid about his whereabouts when reports came in of an SR doing a unauthorized buzz job in burner for a photo shoot. Months later Shul supposedly was in a deployment bar bragging about how he got away with one and word got back to Colonel Graham. Mission voice recorder tapes from the archive were pulled and Shul and backseater Walter Watson kept their wings but never flew the SR again.
A former colleague who flew the SR-71 claims that Shul is persona non grata among the Blackbird alumni after someone told the Air Force Office of Special Investigations about security risks due to illicit affairs between crewmembers and locals in Mildenhall and Kadena. With the TS/SCI clearance significant contact with foreign nationals is a mandatory report. My former colleague feels that Shul was the source of the tip that initiated the OSI investigation.
Whatever the case, Brian Shul has kissed the Blarney Stone and is a terrific speaker.
A former colleague who flew the SR-71 claims that Shul is persona non grata among the Blackbird alumni after someone told the Air Force Office of Special Investigations about security risks due to illicit affairs between crewmembers and locals in Mildenhall and Kadena. With the TS/SCI clearance significant contact with foreign nationals is a mandatory report. My former colleague feels that Shul was the source of the tip that initiated the OSI investigation.
Whatever the case, Brian Shul has kissed the Blarney Stone and is a terrific speaker.
Colonel Graham tells the story of a crew's removal for cause from the 'program' in one of his books (see below) but doesn't give names.
Here's an anecdotal account of the incident from another forum:
Here's an anecdotal account of the incident from another forum:
I had a most interesting conversation with Col. Rich Graham, former SR-71 pilot, 1st SRS squadron commander and 9th SRW commander while I was at the Oshkosh EAA Airventure today [posted in 2013 - Airbubba]. Recently in an Air Force Association Magazine letters to the editor section there were a few letters including one from General Patrick Halloran about Brian Shul, basically saying he was the only SR-71 pilot removed for cause and that he should not be regarded as any kind of hero Blackbird pilot. Nothing was said about what actually happened.
I asked Col Graham if he could tell me what that was all about, and he was happy to do so. It seems one evening the command post at Beale received several phone calls from people living in nearby Marysville saying a plane had crashed. There were only two jets airborne from Beale at the time, a KC-135 and an SR-71 flown by Shul. Both were contacted and reported no problems. When the SR landed, Col Graham, who was Squadron CC at the time, and another high-up from the wing were there to meet him. Shul and Walter Watson, Shul's RSO, told a believable story explaining what had happened and nothing else was said.
Months later Shul was in England and one evening at the Officer's Club was bragging about lying to the command staff and getting away with it. Word got back to Beale and Col Graham had the mission tapes pulled out of storage. He said that he, the Deputy Wing Commander and Wing Commander listened to the cockpit voice recording and heard Shul and Watson in the cockpit concocting what story they were going to tell. What really happened was that Brian Shul was starting his photography business and wanted photos of an inflight SR-71 lighting off the afterburners at night. He had a friend over at his house, and Brian made several low passes over his house lighting off the burners for the friend to get the photos. The noise is what made the citizens think there was a plane crash. Col Graham said while Watson went along with the story, it was Shul who was behind it. Col. Graham and the wing deputy commander wanted Shul permanently grounded, but the Wing Commander decided to cut him a break, so while removing him from the SR-71 he allowed Shul to continue flying the T-38.
Col Graham also said Shul was breaking regulations by taking a camera into the SR-71 and later T-38 cockpits, but the command staff was unaware he'd been doing that until Shul published his books after leaving the USAF, because everyone who witnessed it figured Shul had permission and so they never reported it. Shul most assuredly did not have permission! Col Graham told me that had he been aware, Shul would have been fired from the program immediately. And they were also unaware of the other things Brian Shul later wrote about, such as flying Mach 3.5 over Libya (Col Graham doubts that number but concedes it might be possible) and nearly stalling the SR-71 while flying an unauthorized fly-by at a small airport in England. Col Graham said had any of those things been brought to his attention Shul would have been immediately fired. Because of all these things Brian Shul is persona non grata to the Blackbird community.
Col Graham stressed that the SR-71 was considered a national treasure and that they all knew any pilot hot-dogging in the airplane could bring major embarrassment to the program, the Air Force and the Nation. Evidently most all of the other Blackbird pilots consider Shul a pariah and want nothing to do with him as well.
Brian Shul and the SR-71 - General Discussion - ARC Discussion Forums
Col. Graham's SR-71 Revealed: The Inside Story (1996) has a similar account of the incident on pages 189-190 with word of the exploit filtering back from Kadena instead of Mildenhall. Col. Graham was 9th SRW Vice Wing Commander in the book version.
I asked Col Graham if he could tell me what that was all about, and he was happy to do so. It seems one evening the command post at Beale received several phone calls from people living in nearby Marysville saying a plane had crashed. There were only two jets airborne from Beale at the time, a KC-135 and an SR-71 flown by Shul. Both were contacted and reported no problems. When the SR landed, Col Graham, who was Squadron CC at the time, and another high-up from the wing were there to meet him. Shul and Walter Watson, Shul's RSO, told a believable story explaining what had happened and nothing else was said.
Months later Shul was in England and one evening at the Officer's Club was bragging about lying to the command staff and getting away with it. Word got back to Beale and Col Graham had the mission tapes pulled out of storage. He said that he, the Deputy Wing Commander and Wing Commander listened to the cockpit voice recording and heard Shul and Watson in the cockpit concocting what story they were going to tell. What really happened was that Brian Shul was starting his photography business and wanted photos of an inflight SR-71 lighting off the afterburners at night. He had a friend over at his house, and Brian made several low passes over his house lighting off the burners for the friend to get the photos. The noise is what made the citizens think there was a plane crash. Col Graham said while Watson went along with the story, it was Shul who was behind it. Col. Graham and the wing deputy commander wanted Shul permanently grounded, but the Wing Commander decided to cut him a break, so while removing him from the SR-71 he allowed Shul to continue flying the T-38.
Col Graham also said Shul was breaking regulations by taking a camera into the SR-71 and later T-38 cockpits, but the command staff was unaware he'd been doing that until Shul published his books after leaving the USAF, because everyone who witnessed it figured Shul had permission and so they never reported it. Shul most assuredly did not have permission! Col Graham told me that had he been aware, Shul would have been fired from the program immediately. And they were also unaware of the other things Brian Shul later wrote about, such as flying Mach 3.5 over Libya (Col Graham doubts that number but concedes it might be possible) and nearly stalling the SR-71 while flying an unauthorized fly-by at a small airport in England. Col Graham said had any of those things been brought to his attention Shul would have been immediately fired. Because of all these things Brian Shul is persona non grata to the Blackbird community.
Col Graham stressed that the SR-71 was considered a national treasure and that they all knew any pilot hot-dogging in the airplane could bring major embarrassment to the program, the Air Force and the Nation. Evidently most all of the other Blackbird pilots consider Shul a pariah and want nothing to do with him as well.
Brian Shul and the SR-71 - General Discussion - ARC Discussion Forums
Col. Graham's SR-71 Revealed: The Inside Story (1996) has a similar account of the incident on pages 189-190 with word of the exploit filtering back from Kadena instead of Mildenhall. Col. Graham was 9th SRW Vice Wing Commander in the book version.
https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/th...lso-1719654907
Salute,
Maybe the only pPrune dude here that Brian would recognize on a dark stormy night trying to get into the pub.......
I cannot vouch for all the war stories and such associated to Brian, and I do not think all of them originated with him.
The fellow was a no kidding survival case due to his extreme physical condition. That allowed him to get back into flying status when 99% of mortals would have either died or given up.
So say what you will, and believe what you will.
I have flown with more combat heroes that have ever posted here, as they are very few.
I do not view Brian as a great war hero.
I view him as a great survival lesson. Very good physical condition, good choice of underwear in a burning wreckage, etc. He trashed the nomex stuff. Told me that after running down the wing and finding a tree that he thot he was home free. Then the nomex stuff burned the hell,outta him. His hands clearly showed where the old leather portions of the glove were versus the nomex. The nomex does not burn but it gets hot and stays hot. Wool and cotton do not do that.
Please let Brian go in peace and direct poo mouth to somebody else.
Gums sends...
Maybe the only pPrune dude here that Brian would recognize on a dark stormy night trying to get into the pub.......
I cannot vouch for all the war stories and such associated to Brian, and I do not think all of them originated with him.
The fellow was a no kidding survival case due to his extreme physical condition. That allowed him to get back into flying status when 99% of mortals would have either died or given up.
So say what you will, and believe what you will.
I have flown with more combat heroes that have ever posted here, as they are very few.
I do not view Brian as a great war hero.
I view him as a great survival lesson. Very good physical condition, good choice of underwear in a burning wreckage, etc. He trashed the nomex stuff. Told me that after running down the wing and finding a tree that he thot he was home free. Then the nomex stuff burned the hell,outta him. His hands clearly showed where the old leather portions of the glove were versus the nomex. The nomex does not burn but it gets hot and stays hot. Wool and cotton do not do that.
Please let Brian go in peace and direct poo mouth to somebody else.
Gums sends...
There was a drawing made of a “UFO” spotted after landing in Rendlesham Forest UK just off the RWY at RAF Woodbridge in December 1980 by a witness who saw an object looking very much like the D12. How it got there, who knows, but they were carried as D21Bs on an underwing pylon on the B52H.
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A classic online saga from two decades ago about some A-12 archeology by Tom Mahood.
'The Hunt for 928':
https://www.otherhand.org/home-page/...-of-stupidity/
'The Hunt for 928':
https://www.otherhand.org/home-page/...-of-stupidity/
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