SR-71 Pilot on Being the fastest

[Andje]

http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/r0cyk/the_sr71_production_line/c420foe

I just thought this put the reason to go "fastest" into perspective
1842 knots = 3411kmh = 2120mph.

[spinningmagnets]

The slowest an SR-71's been flown (funny story)
http://www.planeandpilotmag.com/speed-is-life.html

edit: SR-71 trivia
http://www.wvi.com/~sr71webmaster/srqt~1.htm

Some bits: This was before modern computer-aided-design (CAD), the SR-71 was designed with slide-rules and pencils.

Even though this was during the cold war, CIA-controlled shell-companies purchased the needed titanium from...RUSSIA...in order to make critical parts of the roughly fifty SR-71's.

[dogman]

Still blows my mind that that speed record has stood since 1958 or something like that. Is it still classified exactly how fast? The records I have heard of were actualy not at full speed!

Compare that to a 58 cars technology. What a leap ahead aircraft had made. Helps of course that the cold war gave em the blank check. Cars never got that kind of govt leg up. Well, actually they did, but it was for highways, not better cars.

[richirich1113]

This post about the SR-71 brought back memories. I think it was about 14 years ago, i was living in Palm Springs. One early evening there was a an enormous boom that shook the town. Everyone thought than there had to have been a bomb attack. The local news radio was having massive calls. the concussion was enough to have reports of things falling off the shelves in stores, rattleing windows, and enough to scare the hell out of everyone.

All night people were trying to figure out what could have caused this.

Finally, a day and a half later the report came in:

An SR-71 decided to flip a u-turn and hit the throttle which caused the boom. Apparently from the report , it was a unauthorized maneuver and there was to be reprimands( i doubt it- but it looked good for the news).

Anyway ,i bet it was hella fun for the pilots.