This special aircraft can fly into space itself, it is a very special jet. The design was said to come from Area 51 itself, and was a precursor for new aircraft we have not seen openly.
Great Plane, beautiful too. I live in England, and need a ride to America. Please pick me up and bring me home tonight :-) Concorde is great, SR 71 is better!! :-)
Great pic, it's even a trainer! (double cockpit wasn't standard) Only thing better would be if it had a drone on top, still THE BEST SPY PLANE AROUND in my opinion!
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Our Air Cadets are going to love this one – what a vista, as well as a great a/c. Would love to see something similar with the Stealth. Can anyone point me to it?
I think this picture is one of the best pictures i have found on the net.. I rate this one as a 10... But.... There is a faster plane...It's called th x-15...It is not an official record(I don't know why)... THanks for the pic..
I would have to agree this is “not” a real picture. If you look at the background and the SR-71 there are both nearly in focus. Yet the background is a little bit out of focus to make it look more but that can be easily done many graphics programs. Next thing to look at is the shadows. The shadows on the rudder (end of the SR-71) and the shadows on the mountains are pointing different direction. Shadow on the SR-71 are pointing more to the upper top left corner while the shadows on the mountain are pointing lower bottom left corner. A note to all: just look at the shadows of the main object of the picture and the background and if there not going the same direction then the picture is not real. Yet I’ve looked around on the internet and haven’t found any other pictures to support my believes on if this images is real or not. So I can be wrong but from my observations I can only say that this picture is not real…
this is a real image. for anyone that dosen't know about an SR-71, they they gain three feet in length going full speed. and no, i'm not just making that up. do you see the liquid on the wings? that's jet fuel. the components were made knowing that the plane would stretch in flight due to its speed, so when it is on the ground, it actually leaks fuel. but when it's in the air the components fit together and it know longer leaks. it's a fact. and i know this because my uncle is in the air force and he flies f/a-18 hornets
caedes is correct. The more you look at the picture the more it looks fake...at least to me. The shadows seem to point in two completely different directions. Thanks!
P.S. I WANT THAT PLANE
Doens't look fake to me. This is one old plane that will probably never lose it's ability to leave me in awe. I've been in love with this plane since the day I first saw it years ago. It's got more character than anything in the air, even today IMHO.
nappent is incorrect, this is a real image - no photochopping here. The shadows actually support this, rather than disprove it like he guessed. The shadows from the mountains aren't pointing in the same direction because they are not on the same horizontal plane. Look at the shadow the cockpit makes instead of the rudder. It's quite obvious. Most importantly, look at the heat distortions emanating from the engines.
It is real. Three mathematical points that distort the shadows of the rutter. I agree with Caustiq, the horizontal planes are not the same. The rutter is angled in towards the center of the SR-71 and the SR-71 is banking to the left as if to turn. The camera is from a refueling jet. Notice the spray pattern of the fuel from behind the second cockpit.
Just some info: This plane flies at three times the speed of sound. It holds the speed record for fastest crossing of CONUS at about 15 minutes. Only a few were made, somewhere around twelve i think. It was built for high altitude recon. They were retired from service and nasa obtained a few for research purposes. The engine length alone is about the length of a F-15. The cones on the engine intake move in order to slow down the air so the engine has an easier time accelerating at supersonic speeds. I don't know about this being the best plane but i do believe it was plagued with constant repairs as it is a plane of extremes. It expands at high speeds due to heat from air friction. The x-15 is faster but was a research rocket based plane for high alt/speed studies. I do believe it is a real photo and airfiz is right; most likely from a refuel jet.
"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:10 (KJV)
- Timothy J. Warren
http://www.timshomepage.co.nr
locust_00 hit it pretty much on the head. To get some idea of the speed of the plane the pilot stated that if you could maintain the speed of a bullet from New York to Los Angels that he could beat the bullet there. Yes it is a real Air Force photo and if you do a search and are dilligent in your search you'll turn up a number of photos of the plane. You are looking at an antique, yes they were retierd by the Air Force, but a couple are maintained by NASA. After reaching operating temperature the fuel tanks are topped off and then it is free to cuise at 3 time the speed of sound and altitudes over 80,000 feet. By the way the growth on the overall length is measured in inches and not feet, and it is not armed (used for recon only). If you are interested just go to Wikipedia and do a search on the SR-71 Blackbird. Kelly Johnson and his team at the Skunk Works created an aircraft that was lightyears ahead of its time.
It is the most awsome plane to ever hit the skies! There are all kinds of stories about this thing. There are reports of our cold war enemy attempting to shoot it down. By the time they knew it was in the area it was already beyond their reach! It was flying so high and so fast they couldn't even get close to it!. It was futile for them to even try. A friend of mine served during Vietnam. He flew in a multi-engine intelligence gathering plane. He said that occasionally they would see a blip on their radar screens come up and it was moving so fast it couldn't be anything else but the Black Bird up there doing it's thing!! Imagine the area it could cover with its high definition cameras. At about 65,000 feet the reach is in the neighborhood of 200,000 plus square miles, so go figure. Yes you can learn a lot more about this amazing plane if you do some homework. My understanding is that it could fly over mach 3 and beyond 80,000 feet. What? Do you think the Air Force is going to tell you the specific numbers? Anyway, there are still, believe it or not, some advantages this plane has over spy satellites. You see, it's the sudden and unexpected arrival of this beast that makes it such a force to contend with! Pilots used to fly tracks over the Middle East on a regular basis, taking off from the Eastern US and returning on the same day! "FREAKIN AWSOME" is a fitting statement indeed for this beast!!! This has been my favorite plane for over 30 years! It is still ahead of it's time!!! Cheers! / irkstl
Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of Yahweh, "He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust."
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers. Under his wings you will take refuge. His faithfulness is your shield and rampart.
5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day;
6 nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you.....
This image is taken directly from NASA's website- it is in the public domain. The plane is one of only two training versions of the SR-71 ever made, and is in fact owned by NASA to this day. The photo is quite real. This one still flies occasionally for NASA.
-gavin