[Milsurplus] U-2 and SR-71A

[mikea]

On Mon, Jan 27, 2003 at 11:23:05PM -0600, Bob Wilder wrote:
> Got a chance to see the YF-12A when it came into Eglin years
> ago for armament testing. Remember the guys from the alert
> crew placing 5 gal cans all over the ramp under the wings
> to catch the fuel that was leaking out of the aircraft. Was
> assigned to base comm at the time and was in the control tower
> when the plane took off to go out and test a missile. Watch
> the aircraft go straight up and break the sound barrier twice
> from the ground to an altitude above 70,000 feet. The YF-12A
> was supposed to shoot down a drone B47 out over the Gulf of
> Mexico. The B-47 was at an altitude of 40,000 feet and when
> the YF-12A started its dive towards the bomber and released
> the missile, the missile entered the vertical stabilizer, thru
> the horizontal stabilizer and continued to the water before
> it exploded. It seems that those first tests the missile used
> a contact fuse and because of the speed of the missile it did
> not explode on contact. The crippled B-47 was flown back to Aux
> field 3 when it was landed. As I maintained the radio equipment
> at Field 3, I got a chance to see the B-47 with its big holes
> in the tail.

Wasn't it an F-104 that shot itself down by running into the 
stream of slugs that it had discharged? 

It sure illustrates the principle that the weapon needs to go
faster than the weapons platform. Which brings up the interesting
question of just _what_ missile, back then, was fast enough that
the YF-12A wouldn't drop it off the 0-length rails and then run
right over it.

-- 
Mike Andrews
mikea@mikea.ath.cx
Tired old sysadmin since 1964