SR-71 video... interesting! Warning, some real Einstein stuf in here

[GhostTX]

Great stuff, but damn it! I keep seeing clips of this show, but never have seen it in its entirety.

[likeitfast55]

Strychnine is 100% right.
Ram rise is another way we describe the increased heat for higher altitudes.
The following is available in just about any aerodynamics or performance textbook - you should be able to check one out in your local library if it be of any size.

OAT = SAT

TAT = SAT(1 + kM^2/5)

Often, RAT is used to represent TAT in the equation above with a recovery loss, while TAT defines the full rise with no loss (k = 1).

If you play with your Jeppesen prayer wheel and compare the calculated answers, you should find a pretty close correlation. Temperatures in absolute units.

In the Jets I fly we use RAT. The highest I have ever gone is fl510, or 51 thousand feet. As his chart indicates heat is proportional to altitude.


Ram rise = The difference between TAT & SAT is called ram rise (RR) and is caused by compressibility and friction of the air at high velocities
(2) :
In practice the ram rise is negligible for aircraft flying at (true) airspeeds under Mach 0.2
For airspeeds (TAS) over Mach 0.2, as Airspeed increases the temperature exceeds that of still air. This is caused by a combination of kinetic (friction) heating and Adiabatic Compression
Kinetic Heating. As the airspeed increases, more and more molecules of air per second hit the aircraft. This causes a temperature rise in the Direct Reading thermometer probe of the aircraft due to friction. Because the airflow is thought to be isentropic and compressible, which by definition is adiabatic and reversible, the equations used in this article do not take account for Friction Heating. This is why we have to use the recovery factor e. Fact is that kinetic heating for modern passenger jets is almost negligible.
Adiabatic Compression. As described above, this is caused by a conversion of energy and not by direct application of heat. At airspeeds over Mach 0.2, in the Remote Reading temperature probe (TAT-probe), the outside airflow which may be several hundred knots, is brought virtually to rest very rapidly. The energy (Specific Kinetic Energy) of the moving air is then released (converted) in the form of a temperature rise (Specific Enthalpy). Energy as we know, can not be destroyed but only transformed, this means that according to the first law of thermodynamics, the internal energy of an isolated system must remain constant.
The total of Kinetic Heating and Adiabatic temperature change (caused by Adiabatic compression) is the Total Ram Rise.
Combining equations (1) & (2) we get:

If we use the Mach number equation for dry air:

were

we get
(3) :
Which can be simplified to:

by using
Rsp = Cp − Cv
and

a = is the local speed of sound.
γ = is the adiabatic index and is assumed for aviation purposes to be 7/5 = 1.400.
Rsp = is the specific gas constant. The approximate value of Rsp for dry air is 286.9 J·mol−1·K−1.
Cp = , is the heat capacity constant for constant presure.
Cv = , is the heat capacity constant for constant volume.
Ts = is the Static Air Temperature, SAT, measured in Kelvin.
V = is the True Airspeed of the aircraft, TAS.
e = recovery factor, which has an approximate value of 0.98, typical for a modern TAT-probe.
By solving (3) for the above values, a simple accurate formula for Ram Rise is then:

V\2
--------
RR total = 87\2

[03trubluGT]

I know one time I took an IQ test and scored a 136. It amazes me that I can look at these formulas and feel so mentally inept.

[helosailor]

I know one time I took an IQ test and scored a 136. It amazes me that I can look at these formulas and feel so mentally inept.

Kind of like me in algebra.

It's all about substitution and constants.
If I'm reading the formula Fd = 1/2Pv^2CdA correctly, it says:
friction=1/2 of the air density times (speed times speed) times the coefficient of drag times the frontal area.
So, you take the numbers you know (constants) and just substitute them in.

[Osiris]

I know one time I took an IQ test and scored a 136. It amazes me that I can look at these formulas and feel so mentally inept.

I was thinking the same thing. Oh look! A fly!...

[03trubluGT]

I was thinking the same thing. Oh look! A fly!...

Gotta go to K-Mart......

[Hobie]

SR-71 holds an absolute speed record of 2,454 mph. That doesn't take into consideration Earths rotation for distance traveled either though. For instance; the Earth rotates at 1,000mph. So as the sun rises in the west, the SR-71 can fly west across the Pacific Ocean 2x faster than the Earth can rotate away from it. Fun fact: can travel from US East coast to US West coast in 1 hr., 7 min., 54 sec.

Obviously the force of gravity has less power the father away an object is from the earth, but does it not play a factor here?

I can see there being SOME difference in ground speed at extremely high altitude when traveling with/against the rotation of the earth, but it's not as if the plane is operating completely out of the effect of gravity? Right?

[Hobie]

Excerpt

There were a lot of things we couldn't do in an SR-71, but we were the
fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of
this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun
to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to
describe flying this plane. Intense, maybe. Even cerebral. But there
was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it
was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment.
It occurred when Walt and I were flying our final training sortie. We
needed 100 hours in the jet to complete our training and attain
Mission Ready status. Somewhere over Colorado we had passed the
century mark. We had made the turn in Arizona and the jet was
performing flawlessly. My gauges were wired in the front seat and we
were starting to feel pretty good about ourselves, not only because
we would soon be flying real missions but because we had gained a
great deal of confidence in the plane in the past ten months. Ripping
across the barren deserts 80,000 feet below us, I could already see
the coast of California from the Arizona border. I was, finally, after
many humbling months of simulators and study, ahead of the jet.
I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for Walter in the back seat. There
he was, with no really good view of the incredible sights before us,
tasked with monitoring four different radios. This was good practice
for him for when we began flying real missions, when a priority
transmission from headquarters could be vital. It had been difficult,
too, for me to relinquish control of the radios, as during my entire
flying career I had controlled my own transmissions. But it was part
of the division of duties in this plane and I had adjusted to it. I
still insisted on talking on the radio while we were on the ground,
however. Walt was so good at many things, but he couldn't match my
expertise at sounding smooth on the radios, a skill that had been
honed sharply with years in fighter squadrons where the slightest
radio miscue was grounds for beheading. He understood that and allowed
me that luxury.
Just to get a sense of what Walt had to contend with, I pulled the
radio toggle switches and monitored the frequencies along with him.
The predominant radio chatter was from Los Angeles Center, far below
us, controlling daily traffic in their sector. While they had us on
their scope (albeit briefly), we were in uncontrolled airspace and
normally would not talk to them unless we needed to descend into their
airspace.
We listened as the shaky voice of a lone Cessna pilot asked Center for
a readout of his ground speed. Center replied: "November Charlie 175,
I'm showing you at ninety knots on the ground."
Now the thing to understand about Center controllers, was that whether
they were talking to a rookie pilot in a Cessna, or to Air Force One,
they always spoke in the exact same, calm, deep, professional, tone
that made one feel important. I referred to it as the " Houston Center
voice." I have always felt that after years of seeing documentaries on
this country's space program and listening to the calm and distinct
voice of the Houston controllers, that all other controllers since
then wanted to sound like that, and that they basically did.
And it didn't matter what sector of the country we would be flying in,
it always seemed like the same guy was talking. Over the years that
tone of voice had become somewhat of a comforting sound to pilots
everywhere. Conversely, over the years, pilots always wanted to ensure
that, when transmitting, they sounded like Chuck Yeager, or at least
like John Wayne. Better to die than sound bad on the radios.
Just moments after the Cessna's inquiry, a Twin Beech piped up on
frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his ground speed. "I
have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed." Boy, I
thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is dazzling his Cessna
brethren. Then out of the blue, a navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore
came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock because
he sounded very cool on the radios. "Center, Dusty 52 ground speed
check". Before Center could reply, I'm thinking to myself, hey, Dusty
52 has a ground speed indicator in that million-dollar cockpit, so why
is he asking Center for a readout? Then I got it, ol' Dusty here is
making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave
knows what true speed is. He's the fastest dude in the valley today,
and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his
new Hornet. And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with
more distinct alliteration than emotion: "Dusty 52, Center, we have
you at 620 on the ground."
And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what? As my hand
instinctively reached for the mic button, I had to remind myself that
Walt was in control of the radios. Still, I thought, it must be done -
in mere seconds we'll be out of the sector and the opportunity will be
lost. That Hornet must die, and die now. I thought about all of our
Sim training and how important it was that we developed well as a crew
and knew that to jump in on the radios now would destroy the integrity
of all that we had worked toward becoming. I was torn.
Somewhere, 13 miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside
his space helmet. Then, I heard it. The click of the mic button from
the back seat. That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had
become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke:
"Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check?"
There was no hesitation, and the replay came as if was an everyday
request. "Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and
forty-two knots, across the ground."
I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate
and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation,
and you just knew he was smiling. But the precise point at which I
knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long
time was when he keyed the mic once again to say, in his most
fighter-pilot-like voice: "Ah, Center, much thanks, we're showing
closer to nineteen hundred on the money."
For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in
the armor of the Houston Center voice, when L.A.came back with, "Roger
that Aspen, Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You
boys have a good one."
It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable
sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been flamed, all mortal
airplanes on freq were forced to bow before the King of Speed, and
more importantly, Walter and I had crossed the threshold of being a
crew. A fine day's work. We never heard another transmission on that
frequency all the way to the coast.
For just one day, it truly was fun being the fastest guys out there.

[Hobie]

Had to break this into two posts -

In April 1986, following an attack on American soldiers in a Berlin disco, President Reagan ordered the bombing of Muammar Qaddafi's terrorist camps in Libya. My duty was to fly over Libya and take photos recording the damage our F-111's had inflicted. Qaddafi had established a "line of death," a territorial marking across the Gulf of Sidra , swearing to shoot down any intruder that crossed the boundary. On the morning of April 15, I rocketed past the line at 2,125 mph.

I was piloting the SR-71 spy plane, the world's fastest jet, accompanied by Maj Walter Watson, the aircraft's reconnaissance systems officer (RSO). We had crossed into Libya and were approaching our final turn over the bleak desert landscape when Walter informed me that he was receiving missile launch signals. I quickly increased our speed, calculating the time it would take for the weapon--most likely SA-2 and SA-4 surface-to-air missiles capable of Mach 5 - to reach our altitude. I estimated that we could beat the rocket-powered missiles to the turn and stayed our course, betting our lives on the plane's performance.

After several agonizingly long seconds, we made the turn and blasted toward the Mediterranean . "You might want to pull it back," Walter suggested. It was then that I noticed I still had the throttles full forward. The plane was flying a mile every 1.6 seconds, well above our Mach 3.2 limit. It was the fastest we would ever fly. I pulled the throttles to idle just south of Sicily , but we still overran the refueling tanker awaiting us over Gibraltar

Scores of significant aircraft have been produced in the 100 years of flight, following the achievements of the Wright brothers, which we celebrate in December. Aircraft such as the Boeing 707, the F-86 Sabre Jet, and the P-51 Mustang are among the important machines that have flown our skies. But the SR-71, also known as the Blackbird, stands alone as a significant contributor to Cold War victory and as the fastest plane ever-and only 93 Air Force pilots ever steered the "sled," as we called our aircraft.

I had applied to fly the world's fastest jet and was receiving my first walk-around of our nation's most prestigious aircraft. In my previous 13 years as an Air Force fighter pilot, I had never seen an aircraft with such presence. At 107 feet long, it appeared big, but far from ungainly.

Ironically, the plane was dripping, much like the misshapen model had assembled in my youth. Fuel was seeping through the joints, raining down on the hangar floor. At Mach 3, the plane would expand several inches because of the severe temperature, which could heat the leading edge of the wing to 1,100 degrees. To prevent cracking, expansion joints had been built into the plane. Sealant resembling rubber glue covered the seams, but when the plane was subsonic, fuel would leak through the joints.

The SR-71 was the brainchild of Kelly Johnson, the famed Lockheed designer who created the P-38, the F-104 Starfighter, and the U-2. After the Soviets shot down Gary Powers' U-2 in 1960, Johnson began to develop an aircraft that would fly three miles higher and five times faster than the spy plane-and still be capable of photographing your license plate. However, flying at 2,000 mph would create intense heat on the aircraft's skin. Lockheed engineers used a titanium alloy to construct more than 90 percent of the SR-71, creating special tools and manufacturing procedures to hand-build each of the 40 planes. Special heat-resistant fuel, oil, and hydraulic fluids that would function at 85,000 feet and higher also had to be developed.

In 1962, the first Blackbird successfully flew, and in 1966, the same year I graduated from high school, the Air Force began flying operational SR-71 missions. I came to the program in 1983 with a sterling record and a recommendation from my commander, completing the weeklong interview and meeting Walter, my partner for the next four years. He would ride four feet behind me, working all the cameras, radios, and electronic jamming equipment. I joked that if we were ever captured, he was the spy and I was just the driver. He told me to keep the pointy end forward.

We trained for a year, flying out of Beale AFB in California , Kadena Airbase in Okinawa , and RAF Mildenhall in England . On a typical training mission, we would take off near Sacramento, refuel over Nevada, accelerate into Montana, obtain high Mach over Colorado, turn right over New Mexico, speed across the Los Angeles Basin, run up the West Coast, turn right at Seattle, then return to Beale. Total flight time: two hours and 40 minutes.

One day, high above Arizona , we were monitoring the radio traffic of all the mortal airplanes below us. First, a Cessna pilot asked the air traffic controllers to check his ground speed. "Ninety knots," ATC replied. A twin Bonanza soon made the same request. "One-twenty on the ground," was the reply. To our surprise, a navy F-18 came over the radio with a ground speed check. I knew exactly what he was doing. Of course, he had a ground speed indicator in his cockpit, but he wanted to let all the bug-smashers in the valley know what real speed was "Dusty 52, we show you at 620 on the ground," ATC responded. The situation was too ripe. I heard the click of Walter's mike button in the rear seat. In his most innocent voice, Walter startled the controller by asking for a ground speed check from 81,000 feet, clearly above controlled airspace. In a cool, professional voice, the controller replied, "Aspen 20, I show you at 1,982 knots on the ground." We did not hear another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast.

One moonless night, while flying a routine training mission over the Pacific, I wondered what the sky would look like from 84,000 feet if the cockpit lighting were dark. While heading home on a straight course, I slowly turned down all of the lighting, reducing the glare and revealing the night sky. Within seconds, I turned the lights back up, fearful that the jet would know and somehow punish me. But my desire to see the sky overruled my caution, I dimmed the lighting again. To my amazement, I saw a bright light outside my window. As my eyes adjusted to the view, I realized that the brilliance was the broad expanse of the Milky Way, now a gleaming stripe across the sky. Where dark spaces in the sky had usually existed, there were now dense clusters of sparkling stars. Shooting stars flashed across the canvas every few seconds. It was like a fireworks display with no sound. I knew I had to get my eyes back on the instruments, and reluctantly I brought my attention back inside. To my surprise, with the cockpit lighting still off, I could see every gauge, lit by starlight. In the plane's mirrors, I could see the eerie shine of my gold spacesuit incandescently illuminated in a celestial glow. I stole one last glance out the window. Despite our speed, we seemed still before the heavens, humbled in the radiance of a much greater power. For those few moments, I felt a part of something far more significant than anything we were doing in the plane. The sharp sound of Walt's voice on the radio brought me back to the tasks at hand as I prepared for our descent.

The SR-71 was an expensive aircraft to operate. The most significant cost was tanker support, and in 1990, confronted with budget cutbacks, the Air Force retired the SR-71. The Blackbird had outrun nearly 4,000 missiles, not once taking a scratch from enemy fire. On her final flight, the Blackbird, destined for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum , sped from Los Angeles to Washington in 64 minutes, averaging 2,145 mph and setting four speed records.

The SR-71 served six presidents, protecting America for a quarter of a century. Unbeknownst to most of the country, the plane flew over North Vietnam , Red China, North Korea , the Middle East, South Africa , Cuba , Nicaragua , Iran , Libya , and the Falkland Islands. On a weekly basis, the SR-71 kept watch over every Soviet nuclear submarine and mobile missile site, and all of their troop movements. It was a key factor in winning the Cold War.

I am proud to say I flew about 500 hours in this aircraft. I knew her well. She gave way to no plane, proudly dragging her sonic boom through enemy backyards with great impunity. She defeated every missile, outran every MiG, and always brought us home. In the first 100 years of manned flight, no aircraft was more remarkable.

With the Libyan coast fast approaching now, Walt asks me for the third time, if I think the jet will get to the speed and altitude we want in time. I tell him yes. I know he is concerned. He is dealing with the data; that's what engineers do, and I am glad he is. But I have my hands on the stick and throttles and can feel the heart of a thoroughbred, running now with the power and perfection she was designed to possess. I also talk to her. Like the combat veteran she is, the jet senses the target area and seems to prepare herself.

[Hobie]

Part 2

For the first time in two days, the inlet door closes flush and all vibration is gone. We've become so used to the constant buzzing that the jet sounds quiet now in comparison. The Mach correspondingly increases slightly and the jet is flying in that confidently smooth and steady style we have so often seen at these speeds. We reach our target altitude and speed, with five miles to spare. Entering the target area, in response to the jet's new-found vitality, Walt says, "That's amazing" and with my left hand pushing two throttles farther forward, I think to myself that there is much they don't teach in engineering school.

Out my left window, Libya looks like one huge sandbox. A featureless brown terrain stretches all the way to the horizon. There is no sign of any activity. Then Walt tells me that he is getting lots of electronic signals, and they are not the friendly kind. The jet is performing perfectly now, flying better than she has in weeks. She seems to know where she is. She likes the high Mach, as we penetrate deeper into Libyan airspace. Leaving the footprint of our sonic boom across Benghazi , I sit motionless, with stilled hands on throttles and the pitch control, my eyes glued to the gauges.

Only the Mach indicator is moving, steadily increasing in hundredths, in a rhythmic consistency similar to the long distance runner who has caught his second wind and picked up the pace. The jet was made for this kind of performance and she wasn't about to let an errant inlet door make her miss the show. With the power of forty locomotives, we puncture the quiet African sky and continue farther south across a bleak landscape.

Walt continues to update me with numerous reactions he sees on the DEF panel. He is receiving missile tracking signals. With each mile we traverse, every two seconds, I become more uncomfortable driving deeper into this barren and hostile land. I am glad the DEF panel is not in the front seat. It would be a big distraction now, seeing the lights flashing. In contrast, my cockpit is "quiet" as the jet purrs and relishes her new-found strength, continuing to slowly accelerate.

The spikes are full aft now, tucked twenty-six inches deep into the nacelles. With all inlet doors tightly shut, at 3.24 Mach, the J-58s are more like ramjets now, gulping 100,000 cubic feet of air per second. We are a roaring express now, and as we roll through the enemy's backyard, I hope our speed continues to defeat the missile radars below. We are approaching a turn, and this is good. It will only make it more difficult for any launched missile to solve the solution for hitting our aircraft.

I push the speed up at Walt's request. The jet does not skip a beat, nothing fluctuates, and the cameras have a rock steady platform. Walt received missile launch signals. Before he can say anything else, my left hand instinctively moves the throttles yet farther forward. My eyes are glued to temperature gauges now, as I know the jet will willingly go to speeds that can harm her. The temps are relatively cool and from all the warm temps we've encountered thus far, this surprises me but then, it really doesn't surprise me. Mach 3.31 and Walt is quiet for the moment.

I move my gloved finder across the small silver wheel on the autopilot panel which controls the aircraft's pitch. With the deft feel known to Swiss watchmakers, surgeons, and "dinosaurs" (old- time pilots who not only fly an airplane but "feel it"), I rotate the pitch wheel somewhere between one-sixteenth and one-eighth inch location, a position which yields the 500-foot-per-minute climb I desire. The jet raises her nose one-sixth of a degree and knows, I'll push her higher as she goes faster. The Mach continues to rise, but during this segment of our route, I am in no mood to pull throttles back.

Walt's voice pierces the quiet of my cockpit with the news of more missile launch signals. The gravity of Walter's voice tells me that he believes the signals to be a more valid threat than the others. Within seconds he tells me to "push it up" and I firmly press both throttles against their stops. For the next few seconds, I will let the jet go as fast as she wants. A final turn is coming up and we both know that if we can hit that turn at this speed, we most likely will defeat any missiles. We are not there yet, though, and I'm wondering if Walt will call for a defensive turn off our course.

With no words spoken, I sense Walter is thinking in concert with me about maintaining our programmed course. To keep from worrying, I glance outside, wondering if I'll be able to visually pick up a missile aimed at us. Odd are the thoughts that wander through one's mind in times like these. I found myself recalling the words of former SR-71 pilots who were fired upon while flying missions over North Vietnam . They said the few errant missile detonations they were able to observe from the cockpit looked like implosions rather than explosions. This was due to the great speed at which the jet was hurling away from the exploding missile.

I see nothing outside except the endless expanse of a steel blue sky and the broad patch of tan earth far below. I have only had my eyes out of the cockpit for seconds, but it seems like many minutes since I have last checked the gauges inside. Returning my attention inward, I glance first at the miles counter telling me how many more to go, until we can start our turn. Then I note the Mach, and passing beyond 3.45 (2625mph), I realize that Walter and I have attained new personal records. The Mach continues to increase. The ride is incredibly smooth.

There seems to be a confirmed trust now, between me and the jet; she will not hesitate to deliver whatever speed we need, and I can count on no problems with the inlets. Walt and I are ultimately depending on the jet now - more so than normal - and she seems to know it. The cooler outside temperatures have awakened the spirit born into her years ago, when men dedicated to excellence took the time and care to build her well. With spikes and doors as tight as they can get, we are racing against the time it could take a missile to reach our altitude.

It is a race this jet will not let us lose. The Mach eases to 3.5 as we crest 80,000 feet. We are a bullet now - except faster. We hit the turn, and I feel some relief as our nose swings away from a country we have seen quite enough of. Screaming past Tripoli , our phenomenal speed continues to rise, and the screaming Sled pummels the enemy one more time, laying down a parting sonic boom. In seconds, we can see nothing but the expansive blue of the Mediterranean . I realize that I still have my left hand full-forward and we're continuing to rocket along in maximum afterburner.

The TDI now shows us Mach numbers, not only new to our experience but flat out scary. Walt says the DEF panel is now quiet, and I know it is time to reduce our incredible speed. I pull the throttles to the min 'burner range and the jet still doesn't want to slow down. Normally the Mach would be affected immediately, when making such a large throttle movement. But for just a few moments old 960 just sat out there at the high Mach, she seemed to love and like the proud Sled she was, only began to slow when we were well out of danger. I loved that jet.

[Hobie]

I thought that number was 2760 for some reason - it's only 2250mph lol.

[RWhite]

Want to read some interesting info on the optical and electronic systems that the A-12 and SR-71 carried? I came about these sometime ago. There is always talk about the plane(s,) but little is said about what they carried.

ECM Equipment

http://www.wvi.com/~sr71webmaster/sr_sensors_pg3.htm

Radar and Data Link

http://www.wvi.com/~sr71webmaster/sr_sensors_pg2.htm

Cameras, etc.

http://www.wvi.com/~sr71webmaster/sr_sensors_pg1.htm

Other interesting facts: CIA cover story for A-12

https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/a-12/hiding-oxcart-in-plain-sight.html

And, if you have a lot of time on your hands, here is a list of the Photo Interpretation Reports for the A-12 Missions….

http://roadrunnersinternationale.com/missions.html

One of these…

http://roadrunnersinternationale.com/missions/bx6728.pdf

This formerly TOP SECRET document was interesting read in 1967..….kind of stale now…....Note the cover sheet has been blacked out? The document details all the planned overflight locations…

And my favorite….The A-12 First Official Flight at Groom Lake..…Not painted dark blue yet…...unique video, in that most still shots of the test area, background mountain views were removed by the gov’t censors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psdtKHyefwA

[Hobie]

Hard to believe these two vehicles were first rumbling around at the same time.



In 1962;
First Wal-Mart was opened.
Federal troops had to be called in after riots broke out when a black man tried to enroll at the University of Mississippi.
The Beatles release "Love me do"
Beverly Hillbillies and The Dick Van Dyke show are on TV.
Spartacus, Lawrence of Arabia, and To Kill a Mockingbird are in theaters.
JFK is still alive
Marilyn Monroe sings happy birthday to him, later that year she would die.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
A Clockwork Orange is published.
One flew over the cuckoos nest is published.

Hard to believe in those same times a US spy plane would be flying 2000mph.

[Strychnine]

Obviously the force of gravity has less power the father away an object is from the earth, but does it not play a factor here?

nah, not really. The SR71 flies around 15 miles high. The space shuttle orbits at 250 miles (16.5x higher) and still feels 90% of Earth's gravity.