For aviation fans ~ "What was the slowest you ever flew the SR71 Blackbird?"

For aviation fans ~ "What was the slowest you ever flew the SR71 Blackbird?"

Brian Shul, Retired SR-71 Pilot via Plane and Pilot Magazine As a former SR-71 pilot, and a professional keynote speaker, the question I'm most often asked is "How fast would that SR-71 fly?" I can be assured of hearing that question several times at any event I attend.

It's an interesting question, given the aircraft's proclivity for speed, but there really isn't one number to give, as the jet would always give you a little more speed if you wanted it to. It was common to see 35 miles a minute. Because we flew a programmed Mach number on most missions, and never wanted to harm the plane in any way, We never let it run out to any limits of temperature or speed. Thus, each SR-71 pilot had his own individual "high" speed that he saw at some point on some mission. I saw mine over Libya when Khadafy fired two missiles my way, and max power was in order. Let's just say that the plane truly loved speed and effortlessly took us to Mach numbers we hadn't previously seen.

So it was with great surprise, when at the end of one of my presentations, someone asked, "what was the slowest you ever flew the Blackbird?" This was a first. After giving it some thought, I was reminded of a story that I had never shared before, and relayed the following.

I was flying the SR-71 out of RAF Mildenhall, England , with my back-seater, Walt Watson; we were returning from a mission over Europe and the Iron Curtain when we received a radio transmission from home base. As we scooted across Denmark in three minutes, we learned that a small RAF base in the English countryside had requested an SR-71 fly-past.

The air cadet commander there was a former Blackbird pilot, and thought it would be a motivating moment for the young lads to see the mighty SR-71 perform a low approach. No problem, we were happy to do it.

After a quick aerial refueling over the North Sea, we proceeded to find the small airfield.

Walter had a myriad of sophisticated navigation equipment in the back seat, and began to vector me toward the field.

Descending to subsonic speeds, we found ourselves over a densely wooded area in a slight haze. Like most former WWII British airfields, the one we were looking for had a small tower and little surrounding infrastructure. Walter told me we were close and that I should be able to see the field, but I saw nothing.

Nothing but trees as far as I could see in the haze. We got a little lower, and I pulled the throttles back from 325 knots we were at. With the gear up, anything under 275 was just uncomfortable. Walt said we were practically over the field-yet; there was nothing in my windscreen. I banked the jet and started a gentle circling maneuver in hopes of picking up anything that looked like a field.

Meanwhile, below, the cadet commander had taken the cadets up on the catwalk of the tower in order to get a prime view of the fly-past. It was a quiet, still day with no wind and partial gray overcast.

Walter continued to give me indications that the field should be below us but in the overcast and haze, I couldn't see it. The longer we continued to peer out the window and circle, the slower we got. With our power back, the awaiting cadets heard nothing. I must have had good instructors in my flying career, as something told me I better cross-check the gauges. As I noticed the airspeed indicator slide below 160 knots, my heart stopped and my adrenalin-filled left hand pushed two throttles full forward. At this point we weren't really flying, but were falling in a slight bank. Just at the moment that both afterburners lit with a thunderous roar of flame (and what a joyous feeling that was) the aircraft fell into full view of the shocked observers on the tower. Shattering the still quiet of that morning, they now had 107 feet of fire-breathing titanium in their face as the plane leveled and accelerated, in full burner, on the tower side of the infield, closer than expected, maintaining what could only be described as some sort of ultimate knife-edge pass.

Quickly reaching the field boundary, we proceeded back to Mildenhall without incident. We didn't say a word for those next 14 minutes.

After landing, our commander greeted us, and we were both certain he was reaching for our wings. Instead, he heartily shook our hands and said the commander had told him it was the greatest SR-71 fly-past he had ever seen, especially how we had surprised them with such a precise maneuver that could only be described as breathtaking. He said that some of the cadet's hats were blown off and the sight of the plan form of the plane in full afterburner dropping right in front of them was unbelievable. Walt and I both understood the concept of "breathtaking" very well that morning, and sheepishly replied that they were just excited to see our low approach.

As we retired to the equipment room to change from space suits to flight suits, we just sat there-we hadn't spoken a word since "the pass." Finally, Walter looked at me and said, "One hundred fifty-six knots.

What did you see?" Trying to find my voice, I stammered, "One hundred fifty-two." We sat in silence for a moment.

Then Walt said, "Don't ever do that to me again!" And I never did.

A year later, Walter and I were having lunch in the Mildenhall Officer's club, and overheard an officer talking to some cadets about an SR-71 fly-past that he had seen one day. Of course, by now the story included kids falling off the tower and screaming as the heat of the jet singed their eyebrows. Noticing our HABU patches, as we stood there with lunch trays in our hands, he asked us to verify to the cadets that such a thing had occurred. Walt just shook his head and said, "It was probably just a routine low approach; they're pretty impressive in that plane." Impressive indeed.

Little did I realize after relaying this experience to my audience that day that it would become one of the most popular and most requested stories. It's ironic that people are interested in how slow the world's fastest jet can fly. Regardless of your speed, however, it's always a good idea to keep that cross-check up, and keep your Mach.

Re: For aviation fans ~ "What was the slowest you ever flew the SR71 Blackbird?"

Re: For aviation fans ~ "What was the slowest you ever flew the SR71 Blackbird?"

I have always loved the looks of that aircraft, I never flew jets, but did have my pilots license back in the mid 70's I know this one is pretty darned fast, I also love RC's and still have a few..

Re: For aviation fans ~ "What was the slowest you ever flew the SR71 Blackbird?"

Re: For aviation fans ~ "What was the slowest you ever flew the SR71 Blackbird?"

Great story.

Reminded me of a time I was sightseeing with a friend who was a Fed-Ex pilot in the right seat. The ridges here in Central Pa can sometimes make for some strange winds aloft at low levels and it makes it possible to fly backwards in relation to the ground. I went full flaps and reduced power to just above stall and figured it would get a rise out of him. Not even a change in his expression as objects in the windshield got farther away. I asked him if he was impressed. He laughed and said “did you forget that I am also a helo pilot in the guard?”

Re: For aviation fans ~ "What was the slowest you ever flew the SR71 Blackbird?"

Re: For aviation fans ~ "What was the slowest you ever flew the SR71 Blackbird?"

My close friend is Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding (ret.), the holder of all U.S. coast to coast speed records in a SR71 @ just under 2,200 mph. We very often talk about all kinds of airplanes.

A great SR71 non-combat thrill was doing a pre-game stadium flyover at a World Series game @ Candlestick Park. Ed flew low level circles @ 450 knots over the Sacramento River Delta east of Oakland, CA until his allotted time. It was as dark as flying over the ocean. When Ed came over the Oakland hills across the bay, he couldn't get over all the bright lights. As he flew over the stadium, Ed hit the afterburners and climbed straight up spewing a great trail of flames.

Ed's other big thrill was getting down below the rim of the Grand Canyon in a fighter jet. They don't allow such fixed wing flights any longer.

Ed later flew for Northwest Airlines and took a furlough to nurse his elderly mother back to health. He went back to airlines until his retirement as a 747 pilot.

While the SR71 was very streamlined, it was still a low tech generation airplane made out of high tech materials. Few low level flights were made, as the fuel tanks wouldn't seal until it flew high and fast. Upon take off, they'd meet a tanker waiting for them to top off the tanks. Then, they'd go up to as high as 80,000' where the real speed happened. The Air Force had to stage tankers along the way of their secret flight paths, and they were carrying a special jet fuel mix. Needless to say, they were logistical nightmares to keep in the air. Much of the SR71's speed came from flying so high, and it was the high flight that kept them from being shot down by antiaircraft missles.

Ed is now 63 years old and doing well in retirement. He's definitely one of the best of the best as a pilot and as a man.

Re: For aviation fans ~ "What was the slowest you ever flew the SR71 Blackbird?"

Re: For aviation fans ~ "What was the slowest you ever flew the SR71 Blackbird?"

I wonder if he knew my uncle. My uncle(also Lt Col in USAF) was an F4 pilot in Vietnam and later became the chief test pilot for the U2 working for Lockheed in Palmdale, CA.

Re: For aviation fans ~ "What was the slowest you ever flew the SR71 Blackbird?"

Re: For aviation fans ~ "What was the slowest you ever flew the SR71 Blackbird?"

Great story - and probably the way some of the best flying is done sometimes: by professional accident

Re: For aviation fans ~ "What was the slowest you ever flew the SR71 Blackbird?"

Re: For aviation fans ~ "What was the slowest you ever flew the SR71 Blackbird?"

I know what you mean about pilots having interesting stories. I flew light singles for awhile, and know just enough to talk their talk.

When I lived in Memphis after college, the first pilots for Federal Express lived in my neighborhood when they were flying Falcon jets. One neighbor actually put a tank of jet fuel on his personal Exxon credit card one night in Iowa. My next door was a Phantom pilot in the Navy, and got in the middle of the Turkey-Cyprus crisis. He was a DC-10 pilot when hit with diabetes, and he can no longer fly anything but flight simulators. He retired from head of flight training at Fed Ex and moved to Spring Hill (TN).

I have one close friend that worked for Vernon Presley maintaining Elvis' Convair 880. He flew on the plane the night Elvis was buried returning Priscilla, Lisa Marie, Ann Margaret and George Hamilton to Los Angeles. Then they dead headed back. My buddy was the youngest and least experienced pilot to ever be rated to fly JetStars. He lived in London flying constantly to Moscow for a large Memphis commodity (grain) broker. Now, he's a United Airlines captain.