Military types in civvie schemes

[Adam the Akrodude]

@Ray

And of course here she is in all her glory - 1st image is post tanker and streaming JP-7 prior to airframe expansion that will seal the fuel tanks.

How's this for the ultimate military type in civvie guise? A few of the legendary NASA test pilots from Dryden got to check out in the Habu and were the last pilots to fly this amazing aeroplane.












The "Habu" is my all time fav jet. It's the extremes in engineering, it's performance, effort required to keep them flying, the missions and the aircrew themselves that to me make it the most outstanding jet aircraft of all time.

Bit of trivia for you. Fav "Habu" drink for the operational crews was a "Hooker" - Vodka and soda. Here's cheers to all involved in this most amazing of jet aircraft, right from the concept conceived by the legendary Kelly Johnson, right to the final operator of the Habu - NASA Dryden.

[tor lives]

Yeah....having had the privilege of seeing several SR71s in the "flesh" all I can say is that they are one awesome aeroplane!!!
If you are ever near Palmdale, California, there is an excellent air museum called Blackbird Park and there you will find some of the most amazing aircraft ever built on display including SR71s, F-117s, and U-2/TR-1s.
TOR
PS: You have planted a seed Adam.....a WIF civvie SR-71, perhaps in a BAE Flight Systems white/blue colour scheme Mmmmmmm food for thought there.

[Adam the Akrodude]

There could be a new 1/48 SR-71 coming out in the future. I made the Testors kit years ago, even giving it "Matchbox" style trench panel lines on the upper surface only as I was too lazy to do the underside. So, I am looking forward to one day seeing a decent Habu kit to do justice to this extraordinary jet.
Hey Ray, how about a bare metal SR with BAE Flight Systems in say blue? A titanium Habu with blue lettering would look awesome! What do you think?

[tor lives]

Hey Ray, how about a bare metal SR with BAE Flight Systems in say blue? A titanium Habu with blue lettering would look awesome! What do you think?

Yeah, that sounds very sexy . A highly-polished NM civvie SR71 sounds cool. Trouble is, given my hit-and-miss history with Alclad , I don't know if I would be game.
TOR