It was
time for me to renew my membership of IWM Duxford Air Museum, so I took the opportunity
to see what was going on.
My first
port of call was to the American Museum, I have become very interested in the Lockheed
SR-71 Blackbird. Unfortunately, from a photographers’ point of view it is not
in the best place. Due to its size they have displayed it in the front corner, so
it is difficult to get a decent shot but here are a few.
The SR71
operated at around 85,000 feet, so way above other commercial traffic. It
cruised at Mach 3.2 this is around 2200 MPH.
in 1976,
the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird broke the world's record for sustained altitude in
horizontal flight at 25,929 meters (85,069 feet).
It still
holds the New York to London speed record of 1 hour 54 minutes
Also, London
to Los Angeles. They returned the Blackbird 5,447 statute miles in 3 hours 47
Next stop was to see how the refurbishment of the of Victor XH648 was coming along. Started back in 2016 it is now about half way through. It is being prepared for ground display only but there is a lot of work to finish this aircraft.
Then I
wanted to see the Panavia Tornado GR4 (ZA469) located in its new home. This one
was retired from active service early in 2018.
Finally out
on the apron the sun was going down and I just could not resist taking another
shot of the VC10.
© Lionel Callow 2019
