European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 19, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine the sr-71, the Blackbird route is to the Edge of Span at 2,100 Mph As it splat on global hot spots. According to one Pilot it excites the boy in Allol us who love to Fly sr-71 spy plane shrouded in secrets by Steve Geis Silger associated press her 71 Sulu tolf Hughes Inlo View out of nowhere Gamow licit. O yer Idaho like a Star ship in the movies shaped like a Dagger Black and sinister it slices Cloud Putis in an otherwise Blue sky to it climbs slowly to mate with a refuelling air Lanker this is the Blackbird the original stealth Jel Iha Roc Ceis Al 2,100 Mph to the Edge of space Asil spies on global hot spots out of reach of attack Tho spacesuit Clad Pilot and navigator members of an Olive air Foice team peer Oul toward the refuelling Lanker where a news Crew is observing a training exercise that wandered 1,200 Miles ovo five Western Stales. The  Iho photo reconnaissance Jel . Air Force officials cell Par i Longme orig Miracle part ghost is Iho one Hal first employed slow Ltd or radar evading Echo ology Iha one that s fill packs top secret gear and was once so Secrel that to now my of it was confiscated by the military. Its View members who themselves were he target of an espionage attempt at then Crno base in California say they have been attacked numerous limes by missiles fired irom ground forces or of Lightens futilely trying to Cul Short the Blackbird s missions which involve photographing inc icon nations. Sr-7 1 s Don t return file they re unarmed. Tho win engine Blackbird is Able to evade the attacks because it still holds world records for Speed and Altitude even though it is 25 years old its top capabilities remain Secrel. But the air Force says it lies to More than 85.000 Lee at Over three limes the Speed of sound. Thai s roughly 33miles a minute faster than a Bullet last enough to a croak from san Francisco to new Vork in 1 hour 45 minutes a former sh-71 Pilot col Richard Graham says the aging plane which was designed by Lockheed can Sui Oul perform most if not All of the other operational aircraft in the world. For the 1 960s. In was Way ahead of its time it was Al the leading Etc go of stealth  says Graham who commands the Wing that includes the or Ile sr-7 1 Squadron stationed at Beate fab 1 1 0 Miles Wrt Casl of san Francisco adds current Blackbird Pilot. I co Gill or cull i think the aircraft still carries quite a Tel of mys quo. It looks Ife something from outer space Tho sh-71 excites the to m All of us who love to ii the pilots say it flies like no other you re so far up you Don t have a sen Salton of Speed and you Start to see the curvature of the Earth says Graham a s smooth. Serene peaceful Quot you hear your own breathing there s no Walher at that Altitia a h you look straight a into space it s Black " but cutbacks Are planned in the Blackbird program because of budget restraint and the aircraft May soon be replaced by a super advanced Stealen spy plane Ida i reportedly is under develop mint. The new Jel will % even farther out of reach of hostile farces  five limes Iho Speed of sound nearly twice As  As the sr-71 to More than 100.000 eel. News reports say Moi Yovor the new plane is so shrouded m so cloth technology thai in will go und elected As it careens Over older nations. According to the reports the Seal to technology Al ill largely secret has town Lar More sophisticated in the two decades since the design of Iho sr-71, which was built wild radar absorbing materials and beam Del Locking curves on its body with the new Al still under development along with its f-19 lighter Andb-2 bomber counter parts. In is Iho sh-71 Hal continues to collect information Tor the Pentagon and the Central intelligence Agency recent missions reportedly have included High is Over the persian Gull and the arabian sea to provide data 1o . Warships operating in the area its cameras can photograph 100,000 Square Miles an hour revealing Iho terrain in enough detail to say. Make of a License pm it. According to the air Force. The recent training Mission observed by the news Crew began at scale. With the Pilot and reconnaissance by slams operator arriving three hours before if coff or physicals breakfast briefings and donning of $100.000 spacesuits hat include toilet facilities. A Van the those used to Lake astronauts to launch pads carried the men to the sr-71, fuel thai is not particularly flammable dripped to Iho ground irom Hall Lull tanks which would fully Seal Only alter the aircraft expanded in the heat of flight. Equipment screamed As it ignited the sr-71 s twin Turbo jets which belched greenish Blue flames and 100 loot streams of shimmering heat just idling. Finally Theoa Cebird blasted Down the runway Ihen skyward in a crackling Thunder thai Shook the ground some two hours Lalor Inose aboard he Kc-135 Strat Tanker again saw the Della winged Blackbird mis time Over a practice refuelling corridor some 25,000 feet above Southern Idaho s snowed capped mountains the refuelling Boom operator Laid in the belly of the Tanker at its Tail staring out the Back through portals Asho helped guide the Boom into Iha 107 loot Long Blackbird. Within minutes the second Haft of the sr-71 s fuel Load too heavy a Burden for ils lil Lotf was gushing Between the coupled planes which were travelling at 500 Mph. Explained Lanker navigator to. Phi Campbell we re going As fas As to can and he s going As slow As he  Aerial re Lueling provides the Blackbird its global Rango a Mission can keep an sr-71 in the air for 12hours, entering Hoelsle territory and leaving it to refuel perhaps Lour or five times says circuit. Sr-71 Squadron commander at Beale. Tanker Crews Are somewhat jealous of sell Calion focused on the Blackbird and ils close knit Crews everything is always or this or that griped Cine Lancor Crew member. Bill both Tanker and Blackbird Crews acknowledge a Mutual respect tankers have gone the extra mile in Many cases to reach an sr-71 in trouble says Wing commander Graham Many of the Blackbird Crew members Are family men Wilh Tho youngest in their Early 30s for most it s choir fas Active duly flying assignment Judy Bozek. The 31-year-old Wilo of a Blair Bock. An sr-71 crewman was aboard the Tanker watching i  she says but you sort of gel numb to the fear seeing him today Mads in worse i can visualize it now " or cull. Who i is town go Blackbird missions in live years says to experienced an in Light emergency dial could have led loan explosion such dramas Are doubly Tanse because pilots Are flying Over hostile territory Blackbird pilots say their background  from survive. Crews usually have a decade of Hying experience before they can compete for the program i accepted they train for another year. Even on the ground dangers persist former Auman Bruce Oil was sent to prison in 1986 Lor passing an sr-71 unil personnel list to Fri agents posing As soviet spies indeed the Rote of the sr-71 in world a lairs apparently remains significant department of defense officials say aircraft Are still needed to gather intelligence because of the limits of satellite surveillance according to news reports sunday june 19, the stars and stripes Pago 13