SR-71 Final Anecdote-I promise!

[Terry Terrenoire]

NO OFFENSE, keep 'em comin'!

Terry T.

On Sun, 15 Dec 2002 11:21:02 -0600 Bill Glaze <billglaze at triad.rr.com>
writes:
> Hope I don't get removed from the list, but inasmuch as you folks 
> seemed
> to find this interesting--
> I had a co-pilot once who had been an instructor in F-104's.  One 
> day
> (he told me) he and another instructor were up in a F-104F two 
> seater.
> As he put it, "a couple of instructors trying to scare each other."
> They went into afterburner, and put the airplane in a 45 deg. climb
> until the engines flamed out from lack of air.   They were sitting 
> in
> the airplane as it completed it's ballistic climb.  The altimeter 
> read
> over 100,000 ft. although, as he says, it works on air, and there 
> wasn't
> any.  The sky had turned blue, and you could see the earth's 
> curvature.
> The airplane was slowly tumbling, the controls were slack. As the
> aircraft went end-over-end, they looked above them, and saw a 
> contrail.
> It was so far above them, they couldn't see any airplane at the 
> head.
> They called Denver Center: "Denver Center, Air Force XXX, Say type
> aircraft at our 12:00 position."
> Denver didn't answer.  They repeated twice more; Denver still 
> didn't
> answer.
> Finally, a different voice came back, and they realized it was the 
> pilot
> of the mystery airplane.
> All he quickly said was:  "SR-71"
> How high?  How fast?  The government admits to Mach 3 and 80K feet 
> at
> the max.
> My guess, (and my co-pilot friends) are much greater.
> I hope I haven't offended anybody by being so far off pattern; 
> thanks.
> 
> Bill Glaze
> 
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