Nothing like being humbled...

[Adam the Akrodude]

every now and again!

I feel most honoured and privileged to have attended a talk given by Russ Szczepanik at the Royal Aeronautical Society last night in Melbourne. Russ was a former US Special Forces soldier (1 tour Vietnam) who at times was a "tunnel rat" - the guys who went down into the Vietcong/NVA tunnels with nothing but a flashlight and a Browning. He once lost his eyebrows and hair on his head from napalm dropped very close - lesson - don't look up when the nap goes off! Only 4 of his team of 12 returned home alive. On return he attended the USAF Academy, went on to fly F-4s/RF-4s (two tours Vietnam). On one occasion, Russ had a SA-2 SAM punch a hole right through a wing and luckily didn't detonate. He then went onto the SR-71 program - his main topic of discussion last night. Russ flew the SR for 6 years (600 hours) and went on to become the Director of Worldwide SR-71 operations - in a nutshell Russ did and saw it all and most likely wrote/amended the manuals! On retiring from the USAF, Russ went on to having a 20 year career with Boeing and still does work in aviation industry here in Australia now. As a long time SR-71 enthusiast, this was just a extraordinary experience. Not in my wildest dreams did I think I'd ever have the opportunity to meet and converse with a former SR pilot. Russ knew the legendary engineer Kelly Johnson, the man who headed up the engineering team that designed and built the SR-71. Apparently Kelly could more than hold his own in post flight get togethers at the local bar Sled drivers frequented - their fav drink, a "Hooker", vodka and tonic. Special thanks goes out to Dave Pilkington (Chairman of the RAE Vic Branch) for organising and hosting this event and the Royal Aeronautical Society in Melbourne last night. I think I'm still on decent from my imaginary ride above FL800+ last night!