[1971-Chevelle]

I love this aircraft and never knew this about them. Pretty cool stuff.

'I Had to Rev the Snot Out of the Buicks': Wild Stories From an SR-71 Crew Chief

Former Air Force Crew Chief Greg Edmonson had quite a bit to share about his days keeping the fastest jet ever built in the air.

www.thedrive.com

 

[bulb122]

Kind of funny that they thought the 454s sucked....

 

[Old greybeard]

Very cool, always liked the Blackbird and wasn’t aware how the were started.
BTW, just went to Wright-Patterson in Ohio and spent 2 days at the Air Force Museum. It is a must visit.

 

[V1rotate]

I love this aircraft and never knew this about them. Pretty cool stuff.

'I Had to Rev the Snot Out of the Buicks': Wild Stories From an SR-71 Crew Chief

Former Air Force Crew Chief Greg Edmonson had quite a bit to share about his days keeping the fastest jet ever built in the air.

www.thedrive.com

I you ever get a chance to go to the Airfoce museum in Dayton Ohio, check out the SR 71 they have. It is displayed with the start cart that is described in this story. The two Buick engines with dual quads and open headers are mounted back to back so that the flywheels are facing each other. In between the engines there is a gearbox with an output shaft that points straight up with a coupler that would engage with the jet engine. I would imagine that after each engine was started, ground crew would rev the engines and smoothly engage the two clutches to get the jet engine spinning.

 

[IFLY]

Now that these wonderful machines have been retired along with the F-117s, one has to wonder what is now being tested and flown out in Nevada..........

 

[Kawickrice]

Very interesting article. Thanks for sharing.

 

[DZAUTO]

When I was working at Tinker AFB, I often went TDY to Wright Pat. I always went over to the museum and spent some time. If a person enjoys aviation, especially military aviation, it is a fantastic place to visit!