Cold War Conversations

Flying the Cold War Blackbird SR71 Spyplane (27)

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Episode notes

Today we are talking about the SR71 Blackbird spy plane. Only 32 Blackbirds were ever made, and they were in service from 1964-1998. The great defensive ability of the plane was its high speed and altitude. Standard evasive action was just to accelerate, which made it almost invulnerable to the attack technologies of the time.

The top speed of the plane was mach 3.3 (2,200 miles/hour that’s 36 miles/minute).

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Back to todays episode…our guest knows a bit about the SR71…Buz Carpenter accrued 777 hours flying SR-71 planes. He flew Blackbirds as an aircraft commander and later as an instructor pilot, with over 60 operational missions. He also flew in the C-141, RF-4C, and T-38 planes, flying 150 combat hours in Vietnam.

He worked in the Pentagon and served as Wing commander at Ramstein Air Base in German during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He retired as a Colonel after serving as the 2nd Air Force Vice Commander, responsible for all the USAF Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance flying assets.

He is currently a docent for the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, Udvar Hazy Center. We welcome Buz Carpenter

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