Cold War Conversations

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).  Thanks to all those who are supporting the podcast with monthly pledges and donations. It is much appreciated and will allow us to expand the scope of the podcast. If you would like to support the podcast further and get access to some exclusive extras go to our website at coldwarconversations.com and click on the “support the Podcast” menu option. 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-4