However, g-forces built up so rapidly that my words came out garbled and unintelligible, as confirmed later by the cockpit voice recorder. I didn’t think the chances of surviving an ejection at Mach 3.18 and 78,800 ft. “I attempted to tell Jim what was happening and to stay with the airplane until we reached a lower speed and altitude. I instantly knew we were in for a wild ride. I jammed the control stick as far left and forward as it would go. An immediate unstart occurred on the right engine, forcing the aircraft to roll further right and start to pitch up.
“On the planned test profile, we entered a programmed 35-deg. Unstarts were not uncommon at that time in the SR-71’s development, but a properly functioning system would recapture the shock wave and restore normal operation. “Without proper scheduling, disturbances inside the inlet could result in the shock wave being expelled forward–a phenomenon known as an “inlet unstart.” That causes an instantaneous loss of engine thrust, explosive banging noises and violent yawing of the aircraft–like being in a train wreck. Normally, these actions were scheduled automatically as a function of Mach number, positioning the normal shock wave (where air flow becomes subsonic) inside the inlet to ensure optimum engine performance. This was accomplished by the inlet’s center-body spike translating aft, and by modulating the inlet’s forward bypass doors. The SR-71’s inlet configuration was automatically adjusted during supersonic flight to decelerate air flow in the duct, slowing it to subsonic speed before reaching the engine’s face.
#MOST G FORCE SURVIVED MANUAL#
“Several minutes into cruise, the right engine inlet’s automatic control system malfunctioned, requiring a switch to manual control. And yet, I don’t recall too many periods of boredom during my 30-year career with Lockheed, most of which was spent as a test pilot.
#MOST G FORCE SURVIVED PROFESSIONAL#
“Among professional aviators, there’s a well-worn saying: Flying is simply hours of boredom punctuated by moments of stark terror. Graham’s book SR-71 The Complete Illustrated History of THE BLACKBIRD The World’s Highest, Fastest Plane) is priceless in conveying the experience of departing a Blackbird at an altitude of fifteen miles and speed of Mach 3.2. Although not a true ejection out of the SR-71, the following story told by Weaver (available in Col. 25, 1966, Skunk Works test pilot Bill Weaver and his back seater, Jim Zwayer, were to evaluate procedures for improving high Mach cruise performance by reducing trim drag. The first accident involved aircraft 952. However the SR-71 flight test program, conducted at Palmdale, was not without its accidents.
So it comes as no surprise if, thanks to its astonishing flight characteristics, the aircraft has set numerous speed and altitude records throughout its career. From 80,000 feet, it could survey 100,000 square miles of Earth’s surface per hour. Throughout its nearly 24-year career, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Mach 3-strategic reconnaissance aircraft remained the world’s fastest and highest-flying operational aircraft. The SR-71 then literally disintegrated around us,” Bill Weaver, SR-71 test pilot Still trying to communicate with Jim, I blacked out, succumbing to extremely high g-forces. I learned later the time from event onset to catastrophic departure from controlled flight was only 2-3 sec. “Everything seemed to unfold in slow motion.
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