wb9omc@ecn.purdue.edu (Duane P Mantick) (11/06/90)
From: wb9omc@ecn.purdue.edu (Duane P Mantick) >From: decwrl!well.sf.ca.us!well!nebulus@uunet.UU.NET (Bruce McDiffett - no good deed goes unpunished) >The best book I've read about the SR-71 and its relatives is >SR-71 Blackbird in action >by Lou Drendel >Squadron/Signal Publications, 1982 >ISBN 0-89747-136-9 >Around $12 (I forget exactly how much) >Squadron/Signal can (or could) be reached at >1115 Crowley Drive, Carrollton, TX 75011-5010 This book is good for drawing and pix but if you want some hard core info. the best one I have seen is probably from the Osprey Air Combat Series and is written by Paul Crickmore. This one is in a mostly black (seems appropriate :-) ) cover and has more details than you probably ever thought you'd see, especially technical information. Crickmore has a second book on the same subject that is more photos, some of them VERY good. Try also Aerofax's booklet on the SR71. VERY brief but VERY to the point, including photos, drawings, etc. >A note about the recent mothballing of much, if not all, of the SR-71 >fleet: when I was at Beale for an open house, I asked one of the >pilots who had just come in from a flyby whether the Air Force wanted >to keep the SR-71's flying. His response was that the Air Force >liked the plane, but hated picking up the tab for all the missions, >since they were all for State (read CIA). :-> There was an interesting article in an issue of Air and Space Smithsonian or something along those lines about the SR's being killed by Air Force politics as much as anything else. A general has been quoted (don't recall if it was that specific article) as having said that if it can't shoot and can't drop bombs we don't want it......congress wanted the SR's kept and even considered transferring the whole shebang to the Air National Guard or Reserves. >alt.conspiracy fodder: Anyone notice how you can't buy the SR-71 >models that used to include a model of the GTD-21? I was pretty >surprised when I first saw them, but now I can't find them anywhere >(insert Twilight Zone music here...). For openers, I hope they make the kit RIGHT and put the M12 version of the A12 under it. So far as I can tell, no SR71 EVER carried a GTD21. As far as that kit goes: They are still around. BUT, there are better GTD21's available. If you can stand working in vacuform, a company called Eagle's Talon sells a fairly precise GTD21 kit in 1/48, which matches the Testors kits - and the instructions are included for converting the 1/48 Testors SR71 into the A12/M12 configurations. You can reach Eagles Talon at: PO Box 23984 St. Louis, MO 63119 To avoid over-Blackbirding sci.military *again*, I will let you know about a mailing group that discusses such things. If you would like to be added, mail to prm@orchestra.ecn.purdue.edu. Phil Moyer runs the group; I am currently in process of posting a series of "where are they now" for the B58 Hustler. Duane