SR-71 Blackbird refueling from KC-135 Stratotanker, 1983. Against the Soviet Union, Thomas's SR-71 spied on Soviet naval activities in the Murmansk region, monitoring the Soviet Atlantic fleet and ...

While hitching a ride on a KC-135 tanker aircraft one day in 1985, I was able to capture a shot of the SR-71 just prior to its refueling. Emerging from a squall line over the North Sea ...

The SR-71’s fuel supply is indicative of the jet’s unique nature. Most jets in the U.S. military’s inventory were fine to function on JP-4, or later, JP-8—standardized fuels across the U.S ...

was injected into the SR-71’s engine, which of course, further increased the jet’s complexity and costs. Further increasing operation complexity and costs: the KC-135 tanker, which the Air ...

The SR-71 Blackbird is, without a doubt ... The competition, originally intended to replace the KC-135 tanker, got underway in the mid 1970s, with a pair of wide-body commercial airliners ...

The SR-71 took off from Edwards at 04.30AM, refueled offshore from a KC-135, flew back over Edwards and then headed eastward at supersonic speed. At 06.01AM a loud sonic boom rocked Southern ...

SH: So you couldn't even fly into the base? RM: No, only the planes stationed there could--the SR-71, the KC-135 refueling planes, etc. I got up there on a Saturday, and caught up with them a ...

Three variants of the KC-135 are currently in operational service with the U.S. Air Force: the KC-135R makes up the bulk of the fleet, while the former SR-71 Blackbird-specialized KC-135Q tankers ...

These 12,000 mile Plan B missions would need FIVE air-to-air re-fuelings from SIXTEEN Spain based KC-135 refueling tankers. With utmost secrecy the SR-71 folks mobilized and deployed. A handful of ...

The SR-71 was the last major aircraft designed with ... they had indicated on our flight plan. They replied, “A KC-135 tanker.” No wonder the traffic controller wanted to know the type of ...

The back of America's KC-135 Stratotankers and KC-10 Extenders ... If you can't plug them, then they get all pissed off and the "fun" begins. The SR-71 is unlike any other aircraft when it came ...

boom configuration which was very closely modeled on the tried and true flying boom used on the KC-135 Stratotanker. Testing occurred with various receivers, including the SR-71 Blackbird ...