Iron Man & the SR-71 Blackbird

In the movie based on the Marvel Comics' character "Iron Man," when weapons expert Tony Stark is kidnapped in Afganistan, he builds a metal suit equipped with weaponry to escape his captors.  After he returns to America, he builds a more high tech version in his garage.  

Tony Stark (aka Iron Man)

When his computer-assistant Jarvis tells him that numerous tests should still be run before attempting flight, Tony Stark tells him, "Sometimes you need to run before you can walk.

Iron Man's "Heads-up" display

Tony Stark flies out of his garage and into the night sky.  Stark asks the altitude record for the SR-71 Blackbird.  The icon of this amazing airplane appears on his heads-up display, and Jarvis rattles off its record.  Stark then tells Jarvis to punch it, and shoots up toward the moon.  

The SR-71 Blackbird: side view

The scene reminds how comforting it can be to complete a "more readily achievable goal."  Why do I tell myself that I must accomplish lessor goals, before one day reaching for the sky?  While every house needs a strong foundation, I can't just keep improving, strengthening, and redesigning the foundation.  Some day, I must begin work on the house.  

Standing before the SR-71

Or, to put it in more readily accessible terms, were I to rank all my desired goals with grades such as A, B, and C, it's the A's that I most want to look back on later and say, "Yes, I did that.  I accomplished that." 

You know, maybe it's time I took up running.  Every day.

Dragon Dave

The Space Shuttle Escape System Test Vehicle

No signs accompanied this curiosity at the Joe Davies’ Heritage Park in Palmdale.  Lacking evidence to the contrary, I assumed it was a mockup to assist engineers during the design phase, or used by the astronauts during preflight simulations.  When I did a little Internet-investigation, I discovered I was wrong on both counts. 

During the Space Shuttle's design phase, NASA conducted numerous safety tests.  In 1977, four years before the first shuttle flight, this test vehicle was bolted onto a rocket sled.  According to Robert Pearlman at Collectspace.com, “The test worked fine with the overhead hatch blowing off and the ejection seat with a dummy shot out and the chute opened.  Then you could see the hatch fly down and slice the dummy in half.  OOPS!”

This, and more great photos, can be found at
Robert Pearlman's forum.

Test crash dummies lead incredibly dangerous lives, do they not?

Due to the way it blasted into and returned from space, NASA chose not to incorporate an escape capsule into the Space Shuttle’s design.  They installed ejections seats on Columbia’s first four flights, though.  And what kind of ejection seats did they use, you ask?  As far as I can ascertain, the ejection seats used for the crash tests, and those they later installed in the Columbia, were modified versions of those in the SR-71 Blackbirds.

Just another way that those beautiful reconnaissance planes served our country.

Dragon Dave

Related Internet Links

Robert Pearlman’s Forum

Steve Austin in Palmdale

After studying the SR-71 Blackbirds at the Blackbird Airpark, we walked across to the adjacent Joe Davies’ Heritage Airpark, where we saw a large number of other aircraft.  They had been parked out on the desert in this arid environment, which should preserve them from rust and decay better than if they were left in a more cold and humid area, such as San Diego.  It was interesting to see these planes up close, read about them, and see the engines that powered them.

Another plane being readied for display.

After our tour, we ate lunch, and then walked into the museum gift shop.  As we had a long drive ahead of us, we intended to have a quick look around.  But Bob, a retired wiring specialist who had worked on the SR-71s, noticed my “Six Million Dollar Man” T-shirt.  He told me that he had met Lee Majors once, the actor who played Steve Austin, while the TV show was filming an episode nearby.  The conversation gradually shifted to the space shuttles, which he had also worked on.  He confessed that he cried when the decommissioned Endeavor arrived in California to become a display piece in a museum.  He had helped the space shuttles embark on so many missions, and taken great pride in his involvement with the program.  Now that grand era was over. 

Bob had told me that Frank, the man sitting behind the counter, had piloted the SR-71s on some of their secret reconnaissance missions.  But he was talking with a family, and my wife had signaled her readiness to leave.  As I stepped into the doorway, Frank broke off his conversation and called to me.  He told me that he had known Bruce Peterson, the pilot who had piloted those heavy lifting test vehicles like the M2-F2 and the HL-10, just as Steve Austin had in the TV show (and in Martin Caidin’s original novel Cyborg). 

Peterson flew the HL-10’s first test flight.  According to Frank, Peterson had been preparing to land when the vehicle suddenly turned upside-down.  During preflight simulations, he had been forbidden to use any controls unless specifically directed by ground control.  But at this point, he started working with the controls, and figured out to right the aircraft before it touched down.  After that, Frank said, the “wiring folks” had some sorting-out to do!

In addition to his two previous flights, Peterson flew the sixteenth and final test of the M2-F2.  These heavy lifting bodies minimized the wing structure by shaping the fuselage to maximize its lifting capacity, but the M2-F2’s shape was rounder than that of the HL-10.  The vehicle began to roll from side to side, and while Peterson fought for control, he spotted a rescue helicopter in his path.  As it turned out, he wouldn’t have hit the helicopter, but by changing course while wrestling with the controls, he touched down before the landing gear had fully extended.  This was the crash made famous during the opening of “The Six Million Dollar Man” TV show.

After that, Frank and I spoke about the X-2 and X-15 rocket plane programs, and the missed potential of the Dyna-Soar X-20 rocket plane program that was cancelled to make way for the space shuttle.  Intensely interesting stuff, but my wife was waiting patiently in the doorway, and I knew we had spent far longer in the gift shop than we had planned.  Still, I felt enriched by those two conversations, neither of which would have occurred had I not worn my T-shirt advertising a forty-year-old TV show.

Isn’t it amazing how the stories we love help us connect with others?

Dragon Dave

Related Internet Links

Daleks on Vacation

The Blackbirds of Palmdale

Related Internet Links

Joe Davies Heritage Airpark

Blackbird Airpark

The Blackbirds of Palmdale

The SR-71 Blackbird, unofficially known as
The World's Most Beautiful Airplane.

I traveled to Edwards Air Force Base because I wanted to see examples of the X-series rocket planes that, had our national leaders decided otherwise, might have led to the development of America’s first space planes.  I also wanted to see some of the heavy lifting bodies, such as the HL-10, that NASA experimented with before they built the space shuttle.  Yet the plane that impressed me most was the SR-71 Blackbird.

The SR in the designation stands for Strategic Reconnaissance, and as the Blackbird was a Black project, a pall of secrecy still surrounds the plane.  I spotted one parked outside the base museum, and its sheer size and shape took my breath away.  I wanted to know more about it.  Unlike the other planes and helicopters, no signage accompanied the SR-71.  When I purchased the toy in the museum, the clerk said, “They’re amazing aircraft, aren’t they?”  With a hushed voice, she also told me that her father had worked on their development. 

After our lunch at the cafeteria adjacent to the NASA Dryden Visitor center, we walked around several more planes, including another of these long, sleek planes.  When the bus arrived, we lined up, and as we climbed aboard, I asked Don, our fact-filled tour guide, what the plane was.  “Oh, that’s a SR-71 Blackbird,” he said off-hand, and seemed inclined to say nothing more.  “It looks bigger than the one outside the museum,” I pursued.  “Oh, maybe it’s the A-model trainer,” he responded.  As others were boarding, I didn’t want to halt those behind me.  I just hoped he’d say something more about them.  He never did.

Try as I might, I couldn't capture the entire side of the plane
with my camera.

I’ve always thought of fighter jets as the most sleek and beautiful of aircraft.  Yet seeing the SR-71 was akin to a person who grows up thinking of the Chevy Camero or the Ford Mustang as the ultimate sports car, and suddenly encounters a Ferrari or Lamborghini.  

Given their sheer size, at first I thought the Blackbirds carried a whole team of people inside monitoring specialized equipment.  Yet the planes just carried a pilot, and even the cockit was cramped.  The speeds at which they shot through the air (in excess of Mach 3, or 2000 miles per hour), the engines that propelled them that fast, and the amount of fuel they needed to stay aloft dictated the size and shape of the plane.

One of the Bypass Turbo (or Turbo-ramjet) engines.
(Despite its size, the SR-71 didn't even carry a starter motor).

This J58 Starter Motor needed two
Chevy 454 cubic inch engines to power it!

After glimpsing these amazing planes at Edwards Air Force Base, we extended our stay in the area to visit the Blackbird Airpark in Palmdale.  I spoke with a former pilot, and a wiring specialist who worked on both the SR-71 and the space shuttle.  According to the wiring specialist, the cockpit and control panels were more compact than those in the space shuttle!

So much plane, so little cockpit.

I’d like to return to Blackbird Airpark after I’ve learned a little more about them, and can conduct an intelligent conversation with the volunteers.  But even if I never learn anything more about these magnificent planes, I’d just like to see them again. 

Did I mention that I thought they were beautiful?

Dragon Dave

Related Dragon Cache entries

Our Visit to Edwards Air Force Base: Part 1

Related Internet Links

Blackbird Airpark

Daleks Check Out The SR-71 Blackbird

Salt: Are they asleep?

Pepper: It sounds like it.

Salt: We need to be sure.

Pepper: All right, I’ll check. 

A Pause

Pepper: The humans’ eyes are closed, and their breathing is deep.

Salt: Okay, turn on the light.

Salt: Why do you think Master and Mistress were so mesmerized by the 

SR-71 Blackbird?

Pepper: Because, as they said, it was able to do surveillance over foreign countries at higher altitudes than other reconnaissance aircraft.  And if the inhabitants detected it, and decided to launch a missile, it was so fast it could outfly it.

Salt: Yes, but they saw all kinds of unique aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base, including the Bell X-1, the experimental rocket plane with which Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier.  This was the only one they bought a toy of.  In fact, they never buy airplane toys.  What made the SR-71 so special they felt they had to buy this as a memento of their visit?

Pepper: Well, isn’t it obvious? 

Salt: No.

Pepper: It’s black and sleek, just like me.

Salt: Just for that, I get to ride it first.

Pepper: That’s not fair.  I’m the one who checked to make sure they were asleep. 

Salt: Fine.  You can ride second.

Pepper: Oh, okay.

Pepper: Hey, wait a second.  That’s not fair!

Salt: Shh!  We don’t want to wake Master and Mistress.

Pepper: Then let me have my turn. 

Salt finishes her maiden flight.

Salt: I tell you what.  There’s not much room on this desk.  Let’s move down, and I’ll give you the first ride across the floor.

Pepper: Yeah, okay.  You can be Alan Shephard, and I’ll be Gordon Cooper.

Salt: There’s no way I’m giving you that long a ride, Mister. 

Pepper: Then I’m John Glenn to your Alan Shephard. 

Salt: If we’re just comparing the length of their Mercury flights…fine.

Pepper: Whoo-hoo!  Hey, this is fun!

Salt: Shh!  You’ll wake Master and Mistress!

Pepper: Don’t be such a soggy Dalek!  Whoo-hoo!  Watch me fly!

Salt: Quiet!  I just heard a thud.  Oh no, that sounds like a groan.  Master must be hurt!

Pepper: Well, what can we do about it?

Salt: Think!  What do you think will happen next?

Pepper: Uh…you’re right.  We’d better get back up to the desk.

Salt: Yes, and quickly, before they turn on the lights. 

Pepper: It would have to happen during my flight!

Salt: Shh!  They’ll be more flights later.  Now get a move on, before they see us out of place!

Editor's note: This event takes place shortly before blog post "The Dangers of Modern Travel."