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-   -   SR-71, The Blackbird (https://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/616733-sr-71-blackbird.html)

West Coast 10th Feb 2008 04:47


Finally, at 80 feet, Jewel 62 was in the clear, although doing 600 knots, at night, using TFR.

Remind me again why we retired them. Thanks Brick, good stuff.

kmagyoyo 10th Feb 2008 09:29


Finally, at 80 feet, Jewel 62 was in the clear, although doing 600 knots, at night, using TFR.
F-me thats big balls seeing how the TFR could only get you down to 200' he must have 'paddled off' and eyeballed/zenned it. Which, lets face it, is an imprecise science and therefore worthy of beers and medals.

(Either that or the author is exaggerating for effect)

Al R 10th Feb 2008 10:51

Thanks Brick.


Continues ‘Yama,’ “At our pull.. our Pave Tack died. So only a couple of seconds from pickling, we had what the ROE dictated was an abort. Since the radar was still good and had a recent good update, I felt confident that we could still drop accurately, so we did. Post-strike we found out we’d hit a little short, but with 2,000 pounders, we still did significant damage to the area with no collateral damage.
In today's age where collateral damage is far more integral to how we operate, would he have been more likely to have aborted in those circumstances, or would it be acceptable to press on?


One tanker with the remainder of Karma flight orbited for nearly another hour, hoping that 52 would somehow make it out, but eventually had to leave as well.
Poignant stuff.

Tyres O'Flaherty 10th Feb 2008 11:58

I remember being woken up that night by the EF's leaving Upper Heyford.

Funny to be reminded of it !?!

brickhistory 10th Feb 2008 12:03


(Either that or the author is exaggerating for effect)
I wasn't there so I couldn't see the altimeter, but I wasn't exaggerating for effect. As the guy was my boss at the time and didn't exaggerate on other issues, I tend to take his word at face value.



Except for the KIA crew, no medals were awarded.

Al R 10th Feb 2008 12:06

I find that surprising - it was an epic achievement by any stretch of the imagination. What decoration was the KIA crew awarded?

brickhistory 10th Feb 2008 13:22

It was also very politically sensitive. Besides the European uproar (BTW, thanks to Mrs. Thatcher for letting it go. Not so much to France and Spain), Washington was not sure how the American public would react so they wanted it kept low key.

The USAF went even further and practically swept it under the rug. One of the guys interviewed was the vice-wing commander of the the 48th at the time. He has written his own book, "Raid on Qaddafi," and both in that and in my conversations with him, he was p1ssed about how the Air Force treated the crews.

Also, there were/are many terrorist security concerns both for the crews and their families and for the UK. More than a few of the aircrew did not want to talk about the mission nor have their names released. The ones in the story agreed to callsigns and last names, but not full names.

The crew of Karma 62 received Purple Hearts and DFCs. They left wives and children behind. RIP, gentlemen.

But, to get the thread back on course, my posting it was to highlight the SR-71's overflight of the formation.

El Grifo 10th Feb 2008 14:45

I was covering excercises on Otterburn at that time for RAF Strike Command.

We were politely told to stand down for a few days as schedules were changing.

We stood down a bit !!

From our slightly more "remote" location we were able to spend the next few days watching F-111's from Heyford and Lakenheath pounding the ground in a varying selection of styles.

One quickly prepared target looked for all the world like an area of Bedouin Tents.

It was only a few days later that we were told that this was the Lybian package warming up for the show. True or false I cannot say.

Suffice to say that my cameras remained well stowed for the duration of the excercise

IDALGO 18th Feb 2008 18:06

I Need A Favour!!!
 
Hello My Friend!i Read Your Small Article About The "eldorado Canyon" Operation And I Found It Very Good.
Now I Need A Favour From You Or Any Other That Maybe Know!i Want The Name Of The 2 Pilots Of F 111 70-2416 With The Callsign "puffy 12".as You Say They Had A Problem Over The Airport Of Tripoli While They Were Ready To Bomb It.thanking You In Advance!

El Grifo 18th Feb 2008 18:26

Any Takers :suspect::eek::suspect:

Launchpad McQuack 18th Feb 2008 19:18


i Want The Name Of The 2 Pilots Of F 111 70-2416
A strange request indeed, especially from a first-time poster. As has been previously mentioned, full names were not released...only nicknames and some last names.

I'd be interested to know if IP address for the user 'IDALGO' does in fact come from Greece...:hmm:

Pontius Navigator 18th Feb 2008 20:25

Writes as if he was a Nigerian and wants to offer a once-only all-time good deal, just needs Puffy's bank details.

Focks 2 18th Feb 2008 20:55


Originally Posted by IDALGO (Post 3920364)
Want The Name Of The 2 Pilots Of F 111 70-2416

Ah yes, the two British chaps in that aircraft. The pilot was Tony Blair and the Nav was Gordon Brown.

That should do it.

El Grifo 18th Feb 2008 21:38

Come on IDALGO, spill the souvlaki.

Who you and why you want to know. :suspect:

A bunch of argumentative twats we might be, but in a funny kind of way, we are still a band of brothers :ok:

gareth herts 19th Feb 2008 10:18

The two crew names are printed in a book I have right in front of me, "F-111 - Success In Action" by Anthony Thornborough. He also says there were five aborts over the target but no further details on which jets.

As has been said - I'm sure a search could unearth these details if you really want them!

denlopviper 19th Feb 2008 10:24

what happened to the blackbird tales :hmm:





:\

El Grifo 19th Feb 2008 12:15

You can whistle for that mate :}

ABX 29th Apr 2008 03:34

That JP7 fuel is pretty interesting stuff.

Click here to read a good SR71 article.


JP-7 is very slippery and extremely difficult to light in any conventional way. The slipperiness was a disadvantage on the ground, since the aircraft leaked fuel when not flying, but at least JP-7 was not a fire hazard.

ABX 22nd Dec 2009 11:56

Nice compilation video, click here.

Can anyone contribute good SR-71 video links?

Load Toad 2nd Mar 2010 03:25

SR-71 Online
 
Don't know if posted before - anyways...

SR-71 Online - SR-71 Flight Manual


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