[Joey Dean]

I got to see an operational SR-71 in a National Guard hanger in Oklahoma City prior to an airshow. There were about 15 of us and we got to do about everything but get in it. The crew chief and a pilot were there and they were happy to answer questions. The plane was incredible (still is). The engineering required to keep the fire lit in the engines at Mach 3+ was simply incredible. Pilots have been knocked unconscious and had bones broken from high altitude/high speed flame-outs when the front engine intake cycled that huge spiked cone in and out. The fuel and the fluid used for hydraulics was the same stuff, JP-11 as I recall, and there wasn't a spot on the floor of the hanger that wasn't covered in drip pans to catch it as it slowly leaked out. What a great plane.