Flying the SR-71 Blackbird In the Cockpit on a Secret Operational Mission

by Graham, Richard H.; Miller, Jay

• ISBN13: 9780760332399
• ISBN10: 0760332398
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-07-15
• Publisher: Zenith Press

Summary

Forty years after it was first flown, the SR-71 is still the fastest jet plane in the world, and when operational could survey 80,000 square miles with its advanced camera and recon equipment. From 1964 until final retirement in 1998, it flew missions over such diverse areas as Vietnam, Korea, the Soviet Union, Europe, the Middle East. The Lockheed SR-71 was an advanced, long-range Mach 3 reconnaissance aircraft developed by Lockheed Skunk Works; it flew so far and fast that not a single one was shot down, as they were capable of simply accelerating to escape attack, even by heat-seeking air-to-air missile! This book takes the reader on an operational mission that only a few Air Force pilots have ever been privileged to experience. Pilot and instructor Colonel Richard Graham offers a rare cockpit perspective on how regular Air Force pilots and navigators transformed themselves into SR-71 Blackbird crews, turning their unique aviation talents to account in an unprecedented way. Graham details, as no other pilot can, what an SR-71 mission entails, from pre-flight briefing, wearing the pressure suit, using surveillance equipment, to returning to base.

Author Biography

A veteran of fifteen years of assignments within the SR-71 community, Colonel Richard H. Graham is uniquely qualified to tell the Blackbird’s story. Crew member, instructor pilot, chief of the standardization/evaluation division, Colonel Graham was named SR-71 Squadron Commander, 1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, in January 1981. A command pilot with more than 4,600 military flying hours, he has earned military decorations and awards including the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross with three oak leaf clusters, Air Medal with eighteen oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with “V” device and one oak leaf cluster, Air Force Organizational Excellence Award, Combat Readiness Medal with one oak leaf cluster, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with four service stars, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with palm, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal. Colonel Graham’s other books on the SR-71 include SR-71 Revealed: The Inside Story and SR-71 Blackbird: Stories, Tales and Legends. He lives in Plano, Texas.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. vii
Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. xiii
The Making of a Habu	p. 1
Mission Planning	p. 14
Preflight Activities	p. 23
Aircraft Preflight	p. 40
Cockpit Left Console Preflight	p. 52
Instrument Panel Preflight	p. 58
Cockpit Right Console Preflight	p. 77
Starting Engines	p. 83
Before Taxiing	p. 91
Taxiing and Before Takeoff	p. 98
Takeoff and Climb	p. 106
KC-135Q and "Cold" Tanker Air Rendezvous	p. 113
Acceleration to Mach 3+	p. 124
Cruising at Mach 3+: The "Hot" Leg	p. 131
Decel and "Hot" Tanker Air Rendezvous	p. 166
Recovery	p. 172
Debriefings	p. 184
The Blackbird's Retirement	p. 187
Epilogue	p. 196
Appendices	p. 197
Black Shield Memorandum	p. 198
Yom Kippur Memorandum	p. 199
Cuba Overflight Memorandum	p. 200
SR-71 Pilot's Checklist	p. 201
Pilot's Computer Flight Plan of "Becky"	p. 274
Training Sortie Map of "Becky"	p. 278
List of Acronyms	p. 280
Index	p. 282
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