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Tomcatinva
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 03, 2004 - 2:35 pm: | 
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Just for fun, hope everyone enjoys....
In his book, Sled Driver, SR-71 Blackbird pilot Brian Shul writes:
"I'll always remember a certain radio exchange that occurred one day as my co-pilot Walt and I were crossing Southern California 13 miles high. We were monitoring various radio transmissions from other aircraft as we entered Los Angeles airspace. Though they didn't really control us, they did monitor our movement across their scope.
I heard a Cessna ask for a readout of its ground speed. "90 knots" Center replied.
Moments later, a Twin Beech also asked for a ground speed readout. "120 knots," Center answered.
Almost instantly an F-18 smugly transmitted, "Ah, Center, Dusty 52 requests ground speed readout." There was a slight pause, then the response, "525 knots on the ground, Dusty."
Another silent pause. As I was thinking to myself how ripe a situation this was, I heard a familiar click of a radio transmission coming from my back-seater. "Center, Aspen 20, you got a ground speed readout for us?"
There was a longer than normal pause .... "Aspen, I show 1,742 knots".
No further inquiries were heard on that frequency. |
Radiodude
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 03, 2004 - 10:22 pm: |
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How fast in a KNOT? |
Dan
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 12:10 am: |
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Great!
Dan |
Tomcatinva
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 12:23 pm: |
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One KNOT, besides the one in my shoe :-) HA,HA, HA... equals 1.151 miles per hour. So if my calculation is correct the SR-71 was going 2005.042 miles per hour. I would say just a little over the speed limit & enough to peal the paint back. :-) And the first plane, the Cessna, was going about 103.59 miles per hour. Kind of like the difference between a Model T Ford and a rocket powered dragster! |
james
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 3:06 pm: |
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that sr-71 is that the fastest we have? |
Alsworld
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 9:14 pm: |
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The SR-71 Blackbird (or Habu as it was called in Okinawa) set the world speed limit years ago, flying from London to New York in less than 3 hours . They did this after they planned on phasing them out of the military inventory. It could outfly any missle shot at it, and it was claimed faster than a 30-06 bullet.
Although classified, it's public numbers were it flew at 80,000+ feet high and could exceed Mach 3+. Yes, the pilot(s) had to wear space type suits.
Alsworld |
kingpin
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 9:45 pm: |
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crazy,nuts,wild,i like it!!!
thanks for the info
kingpin |
Tech8541
| | Posted on Thursday, February 05, 2004 - 12:39 am: |
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alsworld,
the only habu's i saw in oki were in the jungle (and there were plenty of them there). thank god they did not strike at mach 3. |
Alsworld
| | Posted on Thursday, February 05, 2004 - 4:31 pm: |
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Tech8541,
yep I understand that. Somehow they (local Okinawans) thought the SR-71 resembled the Habu, hence the Blackbirds nickname locally.
For those unaware of what we are talking about, a "real" Habu is a highly venomous snake on Okinawa, part of the cobra family if I'm not mistaken. The Okinawans take them and put them in a jar along with other distillery items and make their whiskey, known as Habu Saki. Then they sell it in bars as shots.
Sad part is I never saw any locals drink the stuff, hmmm......What possesses us to see a poisonous snake in the bottom of a jar full of liquid and say "give me a shot of that!" ???? I drank a few shots years ago just to say I did it. Yes, I still wonder why? I prefer Thai Whiskey.
Glad you didn't get bit Tech8541, as I'm sure with your previous job & employer that you spent quite some time in the Jungles. Semper FI from a Mudduck Squid.
Alsworld |
Ironmask
| | Posted on Thursday, February 05, 2004 - 8:32 pm: |
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Alsworld & Tech 8541,
From another mudduck squid in a marine uniform stationed at Kadina.
I remember performing in the USO shows there. Thanks for the memories.
Alsworld, take care "Swabby" Iron Mask |
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