SR71 at San Diego Air Museum

it is the real thing

Actually, the item on display out front is an A-11, the single seat version.

dang, it looks about 3 times as big on film......

never would have guessed...

Another well-known airplane that is much smaller than most people think is the Concorde.

I saw one parked at a Dulles concourse and at first I thought it was a "promotional model". Then I realized it was the real thing. I think the fact that it is very slender gives the illusion that it is very long. It really is a relatively small aircraft.

Martin

I'll second that. I toured the inside of one at Boeing field in Seattle whilst visiting family last year. It's very narrow and definatley not as long as it appears. Also walked around the outside of an SR71 there too and same thing. John

Actually, no, the aircraft is an A-12, serial number 60-6933, not an A-11. "A-11" is what Pres. Johnson called the YF-12A fighter version, supposedly mis-reading "AMI", for Advanced Manned Interceptor. More info can be found here:

Wilson

There is also an SR 71 at the Air National Guard Museum at Minneapolis-St. Paul Intl. Airport. This museum was closed down since

9/11 because a guard interceptor squadron moved in. It is gone now, and the museum is starting to reopen on selected weekends (I think it will be open the July 4 weekend.

Also if you look just aft of the cockpit you will see where the other 2 cockpits were sealed....

The one on display at the US Space and Rocket Center is a YA-12 that was converted from an SR-71....

Dave

The first time I saw a B-17 in high school back in the '70s, I was surprised at how small it was. But yesterday, I had the opportunity to extensively examine the interior of the B-17G "Fuddy Duddy" and I was impressed with how big it is on the inside. I really expected it to be small and cramped, but there really was room to move around in the waist gun compartment and the radio compartment. The catwalk through the bomb bay was a little tight (OK, I'm not as svelte as I used to be). The pilot and copilot stations were also a little tight. I sat in the pilot seat and the cockpit window sill was was in contact with my left shoulder. The real cool thing about the cockpit was that I was finally able to see how the dorsal gunner position was arranged and how you got into the bombardier/navigator compartment. When watching B-17 TV shows and movies as a kid, I could never quite figure what the guy behind and between the pilot and copilot was doing rotating around. It's a tight squeeze under the cockpit but once in the nose, there seems to be a lot of room. When in the bombardier's seat, I was able to look through the optics of the Norden bombsight and reach over with my left hand, flip the safety catch and toggle the bomb switch, something I've always wanted to experience.

If you ever have the opportunity to tour the interior of a military airplane or sit in the pilot's seat, I highly recommend taking advantage of the chance. You get a whole new perspective of the aircraft and a different way of thinking about the airplane, especially if you're a modeler.

Martin

I've been through Fuddy Duddy and I really wasn't comfortable anywhere forward of the bomb bay. I'm just too tall to get around inside there without barking my scalp. But I did thoroughly enjoy the experience. I watched too many movies and "12 O'Clock High" on TV and HAD to get inside a real one. :)

Bill Banaszak, MFE

Btw, and did you say "bombs away"? :)

DANG! I knew I forgot to do something! ;^)

Martin

Yuri:

For a real challenge you should have tried to squeeze >