The best thing the USA gave the world (THE SR-71 BLACKBIRD)

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Today I went on a school trip to a place called Duxford air museum, and here I found the best thing the U.S.A. ever gave the world, the SR-71 BLACKBIRD.I was shocked, never did I expect in the British Isles to see my all time favourite vehicle, and in my opinion, the greatest machine invented by man, this beauty was parked in the American air combat hangar, along with a U-2 spy plane and many other gems.wow.I was surprised that it was not as long as appeared in photos of it flying, then remembering that it actually gains A FOOT in length because of the speeds it travelled at. Here are the pictures I took; enjoy:





NOTES:
1.bare in mind these photos may not be as special to you as they are for me ;)
2.sorry about the brightness, it will be sorted
3. the cylinder shaped things on the floor are the inner engines- they have been taken out.
4. in the 4th pic, please ignore those arrogant sods walking by :p
5.thanks!
 
Didn't know there was an SR-71A at Duxford... *reschedules weekend*

There's a Vulcan there which is also an awesome beast.
 
yeah saw that too, along with concorde and a douglas dc10, and loads of other stuff that was awesomely cool
 
👍

The SR-71 is indeed a sight to behold. If you ever have the chance to go see it in person, DO IT!!!

I'm lucky to live near Boeing's Museum of Flight, where a Blackbird is permanently parked. I even got to see it fly once at a Boeing airshow. It flew low, with the leading edges all glowing red. It approached and flew by without making a peep, then BOOM!!! (Not supersonic mind you, but close to it). My ears were honored to be hurt by such a machine :).
 
Lucky sod. I went to the RAF museum and saw a Vulcan, those things are MUCH bigger than I thought they would be!
 
Cool! It is a beautiful machine. I'll have to take a trip to Duxford at some point soon.

This is one of my favourite photos of it.
 
I would have said Rock N' Roll, but the Blackbird is also nice.

I saw them all the time. My dad was in the Army Corps. of Engineers and went to military bases all the time. During an air show, he got me behind the velvet rope and on the ladder to the cockpit to take a picture. I still have it, somewhere.
 
oh, and i touched it's soft american underbelly :p solid lifters- you are a lucky git.
 
It would be cool to see the Concorde. I saw an SR-71 BlackBird when I went to see the Spruce Goose at Evergreen Aircraft in McMinnville (sp?) Oregon a few years ago. It was pretty cool.
 
Cool :drool:

If you want a good day at an air museum I must reccomend the fleet air arm museum down south. It's amazing, they've even converted a hanger to be like an aircraft carrier flight deck, with an F-4 phantom aswell.

I've seen a Victor (at the not very inspiring Yorkshire Air Museum), but no Vulcan. :(
 
Duxford is the place to visit for avaiation if you are in europe. Apparently (as in this may not be true, but i have been told by people whom i would believe) Duxford does more avaiation restoration work than anywhere else in the worlds, even more than the Smithsonian, which is 2nd apparently.

I was at Duxford this sunday and i also got pics of the Blackbird, best thig is to touch it, you can see why people said it felt alive. The skin doesnt feel metallic at all.

BTW anyone visiting Duxford may notice the new empty hangar there, its for the British aviation display that will be going in there in a similar style to the American display. The advantage at the moment is that most of the aircraft, such as the Vulcan and Concorde have been rolled outside so if you want a chance to get really close and photograph em without surrounding planes now is your chance.
 
Anyone remember the Night raven? I use to pretend it was this jet and fly it around my room atleast twice as fast as the other G.I. Joe jets. :lol:

Crazy jet, unfortuantly i've only seen it once in person, and it was just parked at the air show. :(
 
I saw one at the Museum near Dullus. It was smaller than I thought, but still amazing that I could actually see a plane I never thought I would be able to see in person. The one I saw still had the engines in it.
 
Wow, didn't know we had a Blackbird here in the UK. I've been meaning to go to Duxford for a while now, i guess i should do something about it.
 
Isn't this 1 of remaining 3 SR-71s still intact?

I know a couple were taken apart and sold off. One of our members on Ultimatecarpage has a part from one he bought off Ebay.

Silencer, by Dullus, are you referring to Dallas? I'm only asking b/c I could have sworn I had seen your location mention Texas and that I've never heard of Dullus. :D
 
check wikipedia for where to see one, i was suprised how many are left, or parts of it are left anyway maybe not as rare as we thought? i do know that the one i was at yesterday is the ONLY ONE outside the USA
 
hmmm, i thought this thread may have attracted more interest
 
TheCracker
Isn't Dulles Washington's International airport?
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Yes, that's right.

*McLaren
Silencer, by Dullus, are you referring to Dallas? I'm only asking b/c I could have sworn I had seen your location mention Texas and that I've never heard of Dullus. :D[/FONT]
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Nah I meant Dulles Airport. I just forgot how to spell it :dopey: . They recently built a small air museum near it with an SR-71, the Space Shuttle Enterprise, the Enola Gay (sp?), a Concorde Jet, the F-35, and some extremely old WWII fighters and I believe some WW1 era planes.
 
i agree, of course i am happy to see the only sr-71 outside the U.S. but, there should be one in australia.definetly
 
Been to Duxford and seen the same SR-71.... a thing of beauty and my favourite design of all aircraft, however I remember what kicked my ass when walking into the American building was the size of the 'BUFF', B52 Stratofortress to all you non-aircraft fans, its FLIPPIN HUGE!!!!!!

If you like aircraft CCX, check out and maybe arrange a visit to RAF Cosford. http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/cosford/aboutus/index.cfm

Tis a good museum with some great planes, one of which is the TSR2. If you know about it fine, but if you don't, the story of it is amazing, yet sad.
 
cardude2004
It would be cool to see the Concorde. I saw an SR-71 BlackBird when I went to see the Spruce Goose at Evergreen Aircraft in McMinnville (sp?) Oregon a few years ago. It was pretty cool.
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I've been to that one. I can't spell McMinnville either. :D If you ever get a chance to go see that Boeing Museum Kyle was talking about, they have a cutout cockpit of the SR71 that you can sit in, while the whole thing I think was hanging from the ceiling. They also do have a walkthru of a Concorde, which was just scary small inside. Another cool plane was the JFK's Air Force One that they let you walk through.

Edit:
BTW, the thread title is wrong. "The best thing the USA gave the world (THE SR-71 BLACKBIRD) ". USA didn't give this plane to anybody. :D
 
CCX
i agree, of course i am happy to see the only sr-71 outside the U.S. but, there should be one in australia.definetly
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Oh BTW we'll take a Concorde too while we are at it. ;)
 

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