A fun little SR-71 story

[Viking]

  Good stuff.

when I was a pre-teen in the early 80s the SR-71 was my favorite military jet-- until I realized it carried no armament.

That's one of the reasons I lost interest in the Mosquito.

Well there was an armed version of it, YF-12, not sure if it ever entered service. 
Plus there was the prototype blackbird/s with the still faster recon drone mounted piggyback. 

As for the Mosquito, not sure lack of armament is a 'valid' criticism as probably the majority were armed, some rather heavily so. And often it makes sense that reconnaissance planes are unarmed.

Armed "version" and armed "version". The YF-12 lost the competition for the next generation Air Force fighter to what became the F-15 due to maintenence and reliability issues iirc. An american Foxbat with less payload, higher speed, higher altitude, massively longer pre-flight prep and the tendency to get jet fuel on everything nearby just didnt' seem relevant in a world where the soviets weren't even thinking about nuking american cities with deep penetrating long range bombers armed with cruise missiles. The soviets were however planning on using cruise missiles launched from long range bombers to attack carrier groups, consequently the American Foxbat was the F-14.

Re: the Mosquito and it's successor the Canberra (the mosquitos post war jet engined replacement) they were multi role multi engine fighter/bombers. They played every single combat role except torpedo launching and strategic bombing. The Mosquito is not an example of how a scout/recon plane can be adapted to other roles. It is an example of an exceptional design and production plan that managed to fill every single niche that didn't already have a plane specifically designed for the role as well as being able to perform competently in most roles when and where it was required. This was especially useful since it didn't consume any strategic resources apart from the merlin engines it used. The canadian ones used an american built merlin version iirc so those didn't used anything of real consequence in terms of material. It's brilliance lay in it's versatility both in being able to make up the numbers in roles which were already underequipped and filling new unplanned for roles (like pathfinding and strategic recon).

[DGuller]

 

[FunkMonk]

 

Super story and brightened up my day. Thanks grumbles.

[CountDeMoney]

Yeah, just look at what the SR-71 pilot in the OP said:  "Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe flying this plane. Intense, maybe. Even cerebral."  Though it seems flying one gives you about the best views you'll ever see without actually becoming an astronaut.

Ripping across the barren deserts 80,000 feet below us, I could already see the coast of California from the Arizona border.

That says it all right there.  Operationally, it must've been an absolute spoogefest back in the day, flying over Soviet airspace at the edge of space with all those fantastic surveillance bells and whistles.  More starship than aircraft.  Probably a different kind of fun than dropping CAS ordnance with an A-6 Intruder, but complete fun nonetheless.

For fun flying, I'd think the best bets would be the last generation of piston-engined fighters.  They used technology that had been around long enough that it was reasonably reliable, and were probably easier to fly for the most part than earlier fighters, yet the pilots were still in control and not overwhelmed by the techology, plus they were capable of pretty high performance.  Though I guess some of the last open-cockpit biplanes would get close to that--nowhere near the top speed, but manouverable, and you'd get that wind-in-your-face thing going for you.

Couple years ago, I took my Dad down to a place outside Front Royal, Virginia that offered rides in a Texan trainer, with as much acrobatics as you were willing to take.  Even got a cockpit video recording of the entire flight.   He had a total blast.  Looked like Snoopy in that flyer's cap.

[mongers]

  Good stuff.

when I was a pre-teen in the early 80s the SR-71 was my favorite military jet-- until I realized it carried no armament.

That's one of the reasons I lost interest in the Mosquito.

Well there was an armed version of it, YF-12, not sure if it ever entered service. 
Plus there was the prototype blackbird/s with the still faster recon drone mounted piggyback. 

As for the Mosquito, not sure lack of armament is a 'valid' criticism as probably the majority were armed, some rather heavily so. And often it makes sense that reconnaissance planes are unarmed.

Armed "version" and armed "version". The YF-12 lost the competition for the next generation Air Force fighter to what became the F-15 due to maintenence and reliability issues iirc. An american Foxbat with less payload, higher speed, higher altitude, massively longer pre-flight prep and the tendency to get jet fuel on everything nearby just didnt' seem relevant in a world where the soviets weren't even thinking about nuking american cities with deep penetrating long range bombers armed with cruise missiles. The soviets were however planning on using cruise missiles launched from long range bombers to attack carrier groups, consequently the American Foxbat was the F-14.

Re: the Mosquito and it's successor the Canberra (the mosquitos post war jet engined replacement) they were multi role multi engine fighter/bombers. They played every single combat role except torpedo launching and strategic bombing. The Mosquito is not an example of how a scout/recon plane can be adapted to other roles. It is an example of an exceptional design and production plan that managed to fill every single niche that didn't already have a plane specifically designed for the role as well as being able to perform competently in most roles when and where it was required. This was especially useful since it didn't consume any strategic resources apart from the merlin engines it used. The canadian ones used an american built merlin version iirc so those didn't used anything of real consequence in terms of material. It's brilliance lay in it's versatility both in being able to make up the numbers in roles which were already underequipped and filling new unplanned for roles (like pathfinding and strategic recon).

Why are you telling me this, I know all of that, no doubt most of the rest of the forum does too. 

Did I say it was ? Or might I have been commenting on it being unarmed ?

[grumbler]

Armed "version" and armed "version". The YF-12 lost the competition for the next generation Air Force fighter to what became the F-15 due to maintenence and reliability issues iirc. An american Foxbat with less payload, higher speed, higher altitude, massively longer pre-flight prep and the tendency to get jet fuel on everything nearby just didnt' seem relevant in a world where the soviets weren't even thinking about nuking american cities with deep penetrating long range bombers armed with cruise missiles. The soviets were however planning on using cruise missiles launched from long range bombers to attack carrier groups, consequently the American Foxbat was the F-14.

The YF-12 didn't lose out to the F-15 - it was from the generation before the F-15.  The F-12 program was cancelled because the need for it disappeared with advances in ICBMs and especially SLBMs.  It had been designed as a long-range interceptor, not a fighter per se.  The F-15 and F-14 were primarily air superiority fighters.  Neither was "the American Foxbat."  You could argue that the Phoenix missile was a purely interceptor missile, but that didn't make the F-14 an interceptor.  It just gave an air superiority fighter like the F-14 the capability to act in the long-range-interceptor  role when necessary.

[derspiess]

Uh yeah, calling the F-14 the American Foxbat is a bit of an insult. 

[Razgovory]

Oh, no some one compared an American interceptor to a a Soviet interceptor.  The horror!

[Neil]

The F-22 is the American Foxbat:  An expensive waste of resources built to counter an opponent that didn't exist.

[Viking]

The F-22 is the American Foxbat:  An expensive waste of resources built to counter an opponent that didn't exist.

Canadians have nothing worthwhile to say on the topic. *cough*AVRO Arrow*cough*

[Neil]

The F-22 is the American Foxbat:  An expensive waste of resources built to counter an opponent that didn't exist.

Canadians have nothing worthwhile to say on the topic. *cough*AVRO Arrow*cough*

Wait a minute...  Aren't you from Iceland?

[Razgovory]

Man, I wouldn't want that albatross around my neck.

[Grey Fox]

The F-22 is the American Foxbat:  An expensive waste of resources built to counter an opponent that didn't exist.

Canadians have nothing worthwhile to say on the topic. *cough*AVRO Arrow*cough*

What's your point?

[Viking]

The F-22 is the American Foxbat:  An expensive waste of resources built to counter an opponent that didn't exist.

Canadians have nothing worthwhile to say on the topic. *cough*AVRO Arrow*cough*

What's your point?

It's just Canada; aviation; AVRO Arrow;



That's pretty much all I need.

[grumbler]

It's just Canada; aviation; AVRO Arrow;



That's pretty much all I need.

If you are going to mock Canadian military aircraft, mock the CF-100 Canuck.  They actually built that turkey in large numbers.