From: owner-skunk-works-digest@netwrx1.com (skunk-works-digest) To: skunk-works-digest@netwrx1.com Subject: skunk-works-digest V9 #20 Reply-To: skunk-works@netwrx1.com Sender: owner-skunk-works-digest@netwrx1.com Errors-To: owner-skunk-works-digest@netwrx1.com Precedence: bulk skunk-works-digest Sunday, March 5 2000 Volume 09 : Number 020 Index of this digest by subject: *************************************************** FWD (FT) Re: Air America Re: FWD (FT) Re: Air America Re: FWD (FT) Re: Air America SR-71 as passenger flight? Re: SR-71 as passenger flight? Re: SR-71 as passenger flight? Gary Powers Award Re: SR-71 as passenger flight? FWD (TLCB to SW) Re: SR-71 as passenger flight? Re: SR-71 as passenger flight? *************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2000 11:23:59 -0700 From: "Terry W. Colvin" Subject: FWD (FT) Re: Air America Just how many airlines have contracted to the CIA/OSS on a dedicated or on-call basis? Anyone know of a database or other sources? Terry - ----- >In a message dated 3/1/00 4:55:11 AM US Mountain Standard Time, >Pucabob@aol.com writes: > > > My luggage still bears Air America ID tags... So, did you know the guys in Slick Airways, created by Earle and Tom Slick, as in Tom Slick of cryptozoology fame? Slick Airways did lots of the same work for the CIA that Air America did. Loren - -- Terry W. Colvin, Sierra Vista, Arizona (USA) < fortean1@frontiernet.net > Home Page: < http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Stargate/8958/index.html > Sites: Fortean Times * Northwest Mysteries * Mystic's Cyberpage * TLCB * U.S. Message Text Formatting (USMTF) Program - ------------ Member: Thailand-Laos-Cambodia Brotherhood (TLCB) Mailing List TLCB Web Site: < http://www.tlc-brotherhood.org > Southeast Asia (SEA) service: Vietnam - Theater Telecommunications Center/HHC, 1st Aviation Brigade (Jan 71 - Aug 72) Thailand/Laos - Telecommunications Center/U.S. Army Support Thailand (USARSUPTHAI), Camp Samae San (Jan 73 - Aug 73) - Special Security/Strategic Communications - Thailand (STRATCOM - Thailand), Phu Mu (Pig Mountain) Signal Site (Aug 73 - Jan 74) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2000 13:14:15 PST From: "wayne binkley" Subject: Re: FWD (FT) Re: Air America southern air transport and byrd air operated C-130s for them.also an outfit out of taiwan flew C-46s.believe it was CAT. don't remember what it stood for.the USAF supplied C-130s to contract crews,but it is still classified.all i know is that they were called"E" flight wayne d.binkley >From: "Terry W. Colvin" >Reply-To: skunk-works@netwrx1.com >To: "tlc-brotherhood@NoPostage.com" >Subject: FWD (FT) Re: Air America >Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2000 11:23:59 -0700 > >Just how many airlines have contracted to the CIA/OSS on a dedicated or >on-call basis? Anyone know of a database or other sources? > >Terry > >----- > >In a message dated 3/1/00 4:55:11 AM US Mountain Standard Time, > >Pucabob@aol.com writes: > > > > > My luggage still bears Air America ID tags... > >So, did you know the guys in Slick Airways, created by Earle and Tom Slick, >as in Tom Slick of cryptozoology fame? Slick Airways did lots of the same >work for the CIA that Air America did. > >Loren > >-- >Terry W. Colvin, Sierra Vista, Arizona (USA) >< fortean1@frontiernet.net > >Home Page: < http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Stargate/8958/index.html > >Sites: Fortean Times * Northwest Mysteries * Mystic's Cyberpage * > TLCB * U.S. Message Text Formatting (USMTF) Program >------------ >Member: Thailand-Laos-Cambodia Brotherhood (TLCB) Mailing List > TLCB Web Site: < http://www.tlc-brotherhood.org > >Southeast Asia (SEA) service: >Vietnam - Theater Telecommunications Center/HHC, 1st Aviation Brigade > (Jan 71 - Aug 72) >Thailand/Laos > - Telecommunications Center/U.S. Army Support Thailand > (USARSUPTHAI), Camp Samae San (Jan 73 - Aug 73) > - Special Security/Strategic Communications - Thailand > (STRATCOM - Thailand), Phu Mu (Pig Mountain) Signal Site > (Aug 73 - Jan 74) ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2000 17:53:28 -0800 From: Dan Zinngrabe Subject: Re: FWD (FT) Re: Air America There's a list on the FAS site from 1996 that I just discovered (I figured John Pike would have something like that), though to me some of the entries are questionable, and I found several I had heard mentioned before missing. Nonetheless: Reader disretion advised. To the author's credit he lists open literature sources for the entries, it's up to the reader to decide how accurate they may be. If nothing else it could give you a good reading list if you're truly interested in how CIA manages their propreitary corporations (a search on Amazon for any other these books is a safe bet). One of the best documented CIA proprietaries is/was Intermountain Aviation in Marana, Arizona. Today you can see the C-130s and MD-11s lining that field on a drive from Phoenix to Tucson- thousands must pass it every day. It has a long and interesting history- Richard Marcinko barely mentions it in his book "Rogue Warrior" as the place where SEAL Six originally did jump training (and one trainee, who he calls "Nestle", died- a search of newspaper articles revealed a jumper named Hershey who had an accident around the same time under unusual circumstances- exactly what Marcinko described). This is the most interesting thing I've yet seen on Intermountain- some of their corporate officers tried for, well, doing their jobs. Glenn's Marana links page: Studies In Intelligence article on the Fulton recovery system, CAT, and Intermountain Another infamous proprietary was Aviation Tech Services, based in Miami during the early 1980s. ATS was a joint CIA/NSC operation codenamed "Sea Spray", a smaller, more covert version of the Army's Task Force 160 special operation helicopter unit. ATS used modifed Hughes 500 helicopters nickednamed "Star Wars Choppers" (easily distinguished from a distance- at the time Hughes had already switched to the "pointy" 500 canopy, yet military procurement rules forced both TF160 and Sea Spray to use the older bubble canopies- which caused more than a few headaches at Hughes). ATS primarily supported Intelligence Support Activity and CIA operations in Central America. ISA is still one of the least known intelligence agencies, even though much about it's actions in Central America was made public as a result of the Iran-Contra scandal. There's a pretty good synopsis of ISA here: The actual operation SEA SPRAY was supporting was "Yellow Fuit". Moist if it documented in Woodward's "Veil" book and a series of Newsweek articles by the same. Dan _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ The software you were born with helps you follow thousands of different threads on the Internet, whip up gourmet feasts using only ingredients from the 24-hour store, and use words like "paradigm" and "orthogonal" in casual conversation. It deserves the operating system designed to work with it: the MacOS. _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2000 21:30:11 -0500 From: "Weigold, Greg" Subject: SR-71 as passenger flight? This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. - ------_=_NextPart_001_01BF864A.BEBF9834 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" I have a question for the list..... I have a friend who claims that he was working with the CIA (he was a Ranger) while in Laos/Cambodia area. He and some buddies were dropped 'in country' multiple times and did lots of recon work, a little demolition, some harassment, always reporting back to some 'civilians'. His last mission wasn't anything special, except he was hurt during the landing. His chute didn't deploy properly or something. Anyway, his back was hurt pretty badly and they couldn't get him out of there easily.... two choices: be captured or take a shot at a hot landing with some very well trained (and very lucky) chopper pilots.... he chose the chopper.... After clearing the LZ, he found that his chopper had taken some fire and wasn't going to make it too much farther, and they ditched, but inside South Vietnam.... he was then medivac'd to some island in the Pacific (he's not sure where, but it wasn't much bigger than the airstrip itself!!) and... this is where the subject line comes in... He claims that he was picked up on this island by an SR-71 (two-seater of course) and flown non-stop to Washington for a 'special' debriefing. Says they refueled several times, but he was unconscious (due to the injuries and meds) during a couple so he's not sure exactly how many times.... The question is: Has anyone ever heard of the SR-71 being used like this? For transporting passengers? Seems like an expensive ride.... for a lieutenant. He wasn't even a big wig, just a lowly LT who got hurt during a parachute landing. He says that he didn't have any real big info or anything, in fact, he wasn't even sworn to secrecy about the SR ride!! He says that he was doped up enough (back injuries ARE extremely painful) that he can't really remember anything about the layout of the dash or anything like that... although he seemed to think that there were some things in there that he didn't recognize at all... but not being a pilot, I don't know that I'd take that too seriously. He said that he told some guys at the hospital in Washington about the plane, after his debriefing and surgery, they just looked at him and smiled.... talking about the meds and stuff. Or too much weed while in the 'Nam.... No one believed him because he claims that no one really knew what an SR-71 was at the time (in 1966).... and his claim of doing Mach 3 between fuelings was all an hallucination. Thanks Greg - ------_=_NextPart_001_01BF864A.BEBF9834 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable SR-71 as passenger flight?

I have a question for the list.....

I have a friend who claims that he was working with = the CIA (he was a Ranger) while in Laos/Cambodia area.  He and = some buddies were dropped 'in country' multiple times and did lots of = recon work, a little demolition, some harassment, always reporting back = to some 'civilians'.

His last mission wasn't anything special, except he = was hurt during the landing.  His chute didn't deploy properly or = something.  Anyway, his back was hurt pretty badly and they = couldn't get him out of there easily.... two choices: be captured or = take a shot at a hot landing with some very well trained (and very = lucky) chopper pilots....  he chose the chopper....

After clearing the LZ, he found that his chopper had = taken some fire and wasn't going to make it too much farther, and they = ditched, but inside South Vietnam....  he was then medivac'd to = some island in the Pacific (he's not sure where, but it wasn't much = bigger than the airstrip itself!!) and... this is where the subject = line comes in...  He claims that he was picked up on this island = by an SR-71 (two-seater of course) and flown non-stop to Washington for = a 'special' debriefing.  Says they refueled several times, but he = was unconscious (due to the injuries and meds) during a couple so he's = not sure exactly how many times....

The question is: Has anyone ever heard of the SR-71 = being used like this?  For transporting passengers?  Seems = like an expensive ride.... for a lieutenant.  He wasn't even a big = wig, just a lowly LT who got hurt during a parachute = landing.

He says that he didn't have any real big info or = anything, in fact, he wasn't even sworn to secrecy about the SR = ride!!  He says that he was doped up enough (back injuries ARE = extremely painful) that he can't really remember anything about the = layout of the dash or anything like that...  although he seemed to = think that there were some things in there that he didn't recognize at = all... but not being a pilot, I don't know that I'd take that too = seriously. 

He said that he told some guys at the hospital in = Washington about the plane, after his debriefing and surgery, they just = looked at him and smiled.... talking about the meds and stuff.  Or = too much weed while in the 'Nam....   No one believed him = because he claims that no one really knew what an SR-71 was at the time = (in 1966).... and his claim of doing Mach 3 between fuelings was all an = hallucination.

Thanks
Greg

- ------_=_NextPart_001_01BF864A.BEBF9834-- ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2000 22:19:23 -0500 (EST) From: Sam Kaltsidis Subject: Re: SR-71 as passenger flight? Everyone would have had to wear pressure suits. Very impractical to say the least, not to mention almost impossible for an injured person and medics that would have had to provide in-flight care. Regardless of whether this is true or not, and with all due respect to your friend and other veterans, your friend should not be talking about this. National security comes first! Sam > I have a question for the list..... > > I have a friend who claims that he was working with the CIA (he was a > Ranger) while in Laos/Cambodia area. He and some buddies were dropped 'in > country' multiple times and did lots of recon work, a little demolition, > some harassment, always reporting back to some 'civilians'. > > His last mission wasn't anything special, except he was hurt during the > landing. His chute didn't deploy properly or something. Anyway, his back > was hurt pretty badly and they couldn't get him out of there easily.... two > choices: be captured or take a shot at a hot landing with some very well > trained (and very lucky) chopper pilots.... he chose the chopper.... > > After clearing the LZ, he found that his chopper had taken some fire and > wasn't going to make it too much farther, and they ditched, but inside South > Vietnam.... he was then medivac'd to some island in the Pacific (he's not > sure where, but it wasn't much bigger than the airstrip itself!!) and... > this is where the subject line comes in... He claims that he was picked up > on this island by an SR-71 (two-seater of course) and flown non-stop to > Washington for a 'special' debriefing. Says they refueled several times, > but he was unconscious (due to the injuries and meds) during a couple so > he's not sure exactly how many times.... > > The question is: Has anyone ever heard of the SR-71 being used like this? > For transporting passengers? Seems like an expensive ride.... for a > lieutenant. He wasn't even a big wig, just a lowly LT who got hurt during a > parachute landing. > He says that he didn't have any real big info or anything, in fact, he > wasn't even sworn to secrecy about the SR ride!! He says that he was doped > up enough (back injuries ARE extremely painful) that he can't really > remember anything about the layout of the dash or anything like that... > although he seemed to think that there were some things in there that he > didn't recognize at all... but not being a pilot, I don't know that I'd take > that too seriously. > > He said that he told some guys at the hospital in Washington about the > plane, after his debriefing and surgery, they just looked at him and > smiled.... talking about the meds and stuff. Or too much weed while in the > 'Nam.... No one believed him because he claims that no one really knew > what an SR-71 was at the time (in 1966).... and his claim of doing Mach 3 > between fuelings was all an hallucination. > > Thanks > Greg > > - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2000 11:35:13 -0000 From: "Gavin Payne" Subject: Re: SR-71 as passenger flight? This is a multi-part message in MIME format. - ------=_NextPart_000_001A_01BF8696.DF371A50 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable SR-71 as passenger flight? My only cause for concern is that the author had to specifiy that it = was a two seater SR71. Never seen a one-seater, has anyone else? After clearing the LZ, he found that his chopper had taken some fire = and wasn't going to make it too much farther, and they ditched, but = inside South Vietnam.... he was then medivac'd to some island in the = Pacific (he's not sure where, but it wasn't much bigger than the = airstrip itself!!) and... this is where the subject line comes in... He = claims that he was picked up on this island by an SR-71 (two-seater of = course) and flown non-stop to Washington for a 'special' debriefing. = Says they refueled several times, but he was unconscious (due to the = injuries and meds) during a couple so he's not sure exactly how many = times.... - ------=_NextPart_000_001A_01BF8696.DF371A50 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable SR-71 as passenger flight?

 

My only cause for concern is that the = author had to=20 specifiy that it was a two seater SR71.  Never seen a one-seater, = has=20 anyone else?

 

 

 

After clearing the LZ, he found that his chopper had = taken=20 some fire and wasn't going to make it too much farther, and they = ditched, but=20 inside South Vietnam....  he was then medivac'd to some island in = the=20 Pacific (he's not sure where, but it wasn't much bigger than the = airstrip=20 itself!!) and... this is where the subject line comes in...  He = claims=20 that he was picked up on this island by an SR-71 (two-seater of = course) and=20 flown non-stop to Washington for a 'special' debriefing.  Says = they=20 refueled several times, but he was unconscious (due to the injuries = and meds)=20 during a couple so he's not sure exactly how many times....

 

- ------=_NextPart_000_001A_01BF8696.DF371A50-- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2000 11:08:35 -0600 From: "Robert S. Hopkins, III" Subject: Gary Powers Award - --============_-1259846375==_ma============ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" Colleagues, You may be interested to learn that after 40 years the U.S. government will bestow the Prisoner of War Medal upon Francis Gary Powers for his internment in the Soviet Union. The ceremony will take place on 1 May, 2000, the 40th anniversary of his "shoot down" near Sverdlovsk. It will be held at Beale AFB, California. Francis Gary Powers, Jr., will receive the medal on behalf of his father. In addition, Gary will "go high" in a U-2 flight. Anyone interested in more information about or attending the ceremony should contact LtCol Carl Trout at carl.trout@beale.af.mil for further details. As many of you know, Gary has been a driving force with the Cold War Museum (please visit their website at http://www.coldwar.org). He has asked me to let you know that in honor of his father---as well as the many others who were unheralded or unremembered for their roles in the "silent" cold war---that you consider making a tax-deductible donation to the museum. The address is Cold War Museum P. O. Box 178 Fairfax, VA 22030 USA +(703) 273-2381 To learn more about the museum and how you can help in its important mission of remembering *both* sides of the cold war, please visit their web site or call them. This message is not intended as a solicitation, and I apologize to anyone who may deem this inappropriate. Please mark your calendars for 1 May to remember Powers, what he believed in, and what he was willing to risk to achieve that. Sincerely, /s/ Robert S. Hopkins, III, Ph.D. - --============_-1259846375==_ma============ Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable New_Century_SchlbkColleagues, You may be interested to learn that after 40 years the U.S. government will bestow the Prisoner of War Medal upon Francis Gary Powers for his internment in the Soviet Union. The ceremony will take place on 1 May, 2000, the 40th anniversary of his "shoot down" near Sverdlovsk. It will be held at Beale AFB, California. Francis Gary Powers, Jr., will receive the medal on behalf of his father. In addition, Gary will "go high" in a U-2 flight. Anyone interested in more information about or attending the ceremony should contact LtCol Carl Trout at carl.trout@beale.af.milNew_Century_= Schlbk for further details. As many of you know, Gary has been a driving force with the Cold War Museum (please visit their website at http://www.coldwar.org). He has asked me to let you know that in honor of his father---as well as the many others who were unheralded or unremembered for their roles in the "silent" cold war---that you consider making a tax-deductible donation to the museum. The address is Cold War Museum P. O. Box 178 =46airfax, VA 22030 USA +(703) 273-2381 To learn more about the museum and how you can help in its important mission of remembering *both* sides of the cold war, please visit their web site or call them. This message is not intended as a solicitation, and I apologize to anyone who may deem this inappropriate. Please mark your calendars for 1 May to remember Powers, what he believed in, and what he was willing to risk to achieve that. Sincerely, /s/ Robert S. Hopkins, III, Ph.D.=20 - --============_-1259846375==_ma============-- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2000 11:29:10 -0600 From: "Robert S. Hopkins, III" Subject: Re: SR-71 as passenger flight? - --============_-1259845138==_ma============ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" >Anyway, his back was hurt pretty badly > >He claims that he was picked up on this island by an SR-71 >(two-seater of course) and flown non-stop to Washington for a >'special' debriefing. Says they refueled several times, but he was >unconscious (due to the injuries and meds) during a couple so he's >not sure exactly how many times.... > >He says that he was doped up enough (back injuries ARE extremely >painful) that he can't really remember anything I'd be curious learn how anyone with a serious back injury could bend over to get into a pressure suit, and then spend 7+ hours seated in an ejection seat from the Pacific to DC, drugs or not. There could be few things worse than this kind of treatment for back injuries. In addition, the Sled would have landed in a place (Andrews?) where it would have attracted A LOT of public attention, and there just doesn't seem to be any record of this. Regardless of this spurious (?) claim, the original question is a good one: has the SR-71 been used as a transport (other than VIP dog-and-pony rides)? Robert Hopkins ********************** "Animals, which move, have limbs and muscles. The earth does not have limbs or muscles. Therefore, it does not move." - -------Scipio Chiaramonti, distinguished medieval scientist - --============_-1259845138==_ma============ Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="us-ascii" Anyway, his back was hurt pretty badly He claims that he was picked up on this island by an SR-71 (two-seater of course) and flown non-stop to Washington for a 'special' debriefing. Says they refueled several times, but he was unconscious (due to the injuries and meds) during a couple so he's not sure exactly how many times.... He says that he was doped up enough (back injuries ARE extremely painful) that he can't really remember anything I'd be curious learn how anyone with a serious back injury could bend over to get into a pressure suit, and then spend 7+ hours seated in an ejection seat from the Pacific to DC, drugs or not. There could be few things worse than this kind of treatment for back injuries. In addition, the Sled would have landed in a place (Andrews?) where it would have attracted A LOT of public attention, and there just doesn't seem to be any record of this. Regardless of this spurious (?) claim, the original question is a good one: has the SR-71 been used as a transport (other than VIP dog-and-pony rides)? Robert Hopkins ********************** "Animals, which move, have limbs and muscles. The earth does not have limbs or muscles. Therefore, it does not move." - -------Scipio Chiaramonti, distinguished medieval scientist - --============_-1259845138==_ma============-- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2000 12:56:53 -0700 From: "Terry W. Colvin" Subject: FWD (TLCB to SW) Re: SR-71 as passenger flight? After having worked the Blackbird for 5 years, I can confirm there were no 'passengers', especially injured ones. As they would have to be stuffed into a pressure suit and have to wait a period of time breathing conditioned air prior to launch. As well, the pressure suits are fairly personalized. There definitely wouldn't have been room for any medics. (Well, I guess they could stuff 'ONE' into an empty recon bay. :0) This guy has been smokin' sumtin, me thinks...... Bob "Terry W. Colvin" wrote: > Medevac via SR-71 borders on the ludicrous, not practical, and just wacky. > > Terry > > ----- > Everyone would have had to wear pressure suits. Very impractical to say the > least, not to mention almost impossible for an injured person and medics that > would have had to provide in-flight care. > > Regardless of whether this is true or not, and with all due respect to your > friend and other veterans, your friend should not be talking about this. > > National security comes first! > > Sam - -- Terry W. Colvin, Sierra Vista, Arizona (USA) < fortean1@frontiernet.net > Home Page: < http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Stargate/8958/index.html > Sites: Fortean Times * Northwest Mysteries * Mystic's Cyberpage * TLCB * U.S. Message Text Formatting (USMTF) Program - ------------ Member: Thailand-Laos-Cambodia Brotherhood (TLCB) Mailing List TLCB Web Site: < http://www.tlc-brotherhood.org > Southeast Asia (SEA) service: Vietnam - Theater Telecommunications Center/HHC, 1st Aviation Brigade (Jan 71 - Aug 72) Thailand/Laos - Telecommunications Center/U.S. Army Support Thailand (USARSUPTHAI), Camp Samae San (Jan 73 - Aug 73) - Special Security/Strategic Communications - Thailand (STRATCOM - Thailand), Phu Mu (Pig Mountain) Signal Site (Aug 73 - Jan 74) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2000 22:23:15 -0600 From: "Albert H. Dobyns" Subject: Re: SR-71 as passenger flight? Robert S. Hopkins, III wrote: > > Anyway, his back was hurt pretty badly > > He claims that he was picked up on this island by an SR-71 > (two-seater of course) and flown non-stop to Washington for > a 'special' debriefing. Says they refueled several times, > but he was unconscious (due to the injuries and meds) during > a couple so he's not sure exactly how many times.... > > He says that he was doped up enough (back injuries ARE > extremely painful) that he can't really remember anything > > I'd be curious learn how anyone with a serious back injury could bend > over to get into a pressure suit, and then spend 7+ hours seated in an > ejection seat from the Pacific to DC, drugs or not. There could be few > things worse than this kind of treatment for back injuries. And if I understand the SR-71 manual and various books, the guy in back does things like take care of navigation plus the pair of them train together and serve together. It really sounds so unlikely to me, but I've been taken by surprise before. > > In addition, the Sled would have landed in a place (Andrews?) where it > would have attracted A LOT of public attention, and there just doesn't > seem to be any record of this. Well they might have landed at night which might make casuaul spotters of the aircraft less likely. I have a color photo of an SR-71A that was parked in a hangar at Andrews AFB, MD. It was taken in 1972 during an open house. I don't remember the tail number. It was roped off and I think 1 or 2 guards were posted. I didn't enough money with me to go get more film! And I discovered the plane by accident because I was trying to find a shortcut to the parking lots. I don't know if its visit to Andrews was publicized. > > Regardless of this spurious (?) claim, the original question is a good > one: has the SR-71 been used as a transport (other than VIP > dog-and-pony rides)? > > Robert Hopkins > The 2 most recent books by Paul Crickmore contain a list of all first-flights for everyone including various VIPs such as a Congresswoman who wanted to get a bill passed that would allow female crews. Also an AVWeek journalist received a ride I believe. General Chuck Yeager got to ride or maybe fly it once. Offhand I can't think of anyone else who wouldn't be a VIP. I'm a "P" and some might think of me as an "IP" but not "VIP". And it looks like these kind of rides are totally out of the question. Even Bill Gates, who could certainly afford to pay for it, probably couldn't get a ride. Al ------------------------------ End of skunk-works-digest V9 #20 ******************************** To subscribe to skunk-works-digest, send the command: subscribe in the body of a message to "majordomo@netwrx1.com". If you want to subscribe something other than the account the mail is coming from, such as a local redistribution list, then append that address to the "subscribe" command; for example, to subscribe "local-skunk-works": subscribe local-skunk-works@your.domain.net To unsubscribe, send mail to the same address, with the command: unsubscribe in the body. Administrative requests, problems, and other non-list mail can be sent to georgek@netwrx1.com. A non-digest (direct mail) version of this list is also available; to subscribe to that instead, replace all instances of "skunk-works-digest" in the commands above with "skunk-works". Back issues are available for viewing by a www interface located at: http://www.netwrx1.com/skunk-works/ If you have any questions or problems please contact me at: georgek@netwrx1.com Thanks, George R. Kasica Listowner