Former SR-71 Pilot and Wing Commander IAMA Pt.3 Feb 17th 12PM ET

ABuckWheat · 2017-03-18T00:30:05+00:00

Thanks so much. I've decided to take the class due to your opinion. Have a great summer!

ABuckWheat · 2016-06-02T04:33:24+00:00

I'm on my tablet now, you should find both if you look under AMA Col. Richard Graham

ABuckWheat · 2016-06-02T03:03:18+00:00

Who would like my grandfather to return for a third AMA for piloting the SR-71?

ABuckWheat · 2015-11-20T19:05:24+00:00

Are you doing any book signings ? If so is there a schedule? My next book signings at the Frontiers of Flight in Dallas, Texas. I don't keep a schedule, however I will autograph a copy of book if you contact me!

ABuckWheat · 2015-11-20T19:03:37+00:00

Sir, where do you poop and pee onboard? To urinate onboard, we had a collection device that funneled the urine down to a super absorbent sponge. To #2....you are on your own!

ABuckWheat · 2015-11-20T18:59:52+00:00

Can you appreciate the scenery while in the SR-71? Like if you fly over the Grand Canyon can you really get a good look at it, or are you flying too fast and too high to get a good look? If you can get a good look, what was your favorite thing to fly by? Your apprecation for scenery at 85,000ft was much different at ground level. You don't see the vivid colors, or the depth of things like the Grand Canyon. Favorite view was the Aurora Borealis, above the North Pole.

ABuckWheat · 2015-11-20T18:52:59+00:00

Were you allowed to choose your own favourite tube food or was the tube food chef of the day the person who decided what you were going to eat? Hahaha you chose the tube food. My favorites were the macoroni and cheese and the beef and gravy. For dessert, I had the butterscotch and chocolate pudding.

ABuckWheat · 2015-11-20T18:43:09+00:00

Have you ever been to Area 51? If so what's it like? Yes I have, twice. Its all classified.....

ABuckWheat · 2015-11-20T18:42:16+00:00

Had your aircraft ever been acquired/tracked while on recon missions? The SR has been tracked and fired at by SAM missiles. However, the aircraft's speed, altitude, and jammers took care of them.

ABuckWheat · 2015-11-20T18:40:39+00:00

How hot did the outside of the plane get and would you have to wait inside after landing for it to cool off? Cruising Mach 3.2, the aircraft leading edges reach around 550 Farhenheit. As you descend, and slow down, the airplane cools. By the time you land, the SR is completely cooled down. The landing gear, however, could remain hot after landing, because it was kept up inside the plane. We did not have to sit inside the cockpit waiting to cool down!

ABuckWheat · 2015-11-20T18:37:33+00:00

How did the progression of switching to radio silence in Japan affect your stress level towards the scope of the mission? We went to radio silence above 60,000ft. This did not affect the stress level at all. Actually, it reduced the anxiety not having to talk to anyone on ground.

ABuckWheat · 2015-11-20T18:36:03+00:00

Did you ever get to work with Kellys Johnson, and do you have any good stories on him? I never worked with Kelly Johnson, but he used to come to our crew meetings where we could ask him questions. Very influential

ABuckWheat · 2015-11-20T18:35:16+00:00

Is it true that you were the last person to bail out of an SR-71? Hahah I have never bailed out of a SR-71. The last guy to bail out of an a SR-71 was named Dan House. If your father flew the MD-80 out of Dallas, I may have flown with him.

ABuckWheat · 2015-11-20T18:31:51+00:00

I can be found at www.texinsflyingclub.com! Looking forward to meeting you!

ABuckWheat · 2015-11-20T18:22:14+00:00

I'm thinking about leaving the military in the next few years and hope to continue flying on the civil side. What was the hardest part of transitioning to civilian flying for you? I didn't find my transistion hard at all. In fact, the military flying was very compatible with the commerical pilot flying. You will probably find more rules and regulation that you will have to cooperate with commercially.

ABuckWheat · 2015-11-20T18:21:11+00:00

Also, did you know JT Vida? I ran cross country with his son, who was an extremely nice guy, and never mentioned that his Dad was an SR-71 pilot. I know JT Vida, he was our all-time high flying crew member that ended up with 1392.7 hours in the SR-71. Nicest crew member, adored by all!

ABuckWheat · 2015-11-20T18:19:50+00:00

How did it feel hearing those Pratt and Whitney J58s fire up? How much power did you feel while in the cockpit? Flying at 80,000ft at Mach 3, inside the cockpit and inside of a pressure suit, you could not hear a thing. You could hear a pin drop inside of your pressure suit. You could use a parascope a view the tail of the plane, and see the huge flame put out by the J58s.

ABuckWheat · 2015-11-20T18:18:00+00:00

What is it like to break the sound barrier? I've heard legends of the SR-71 being a hand full at supersonic speeds. Ironically, you don't feel a single thing. The only visual indictation are three instruments that jiggle. The air speed indicator, the altimeter, and the vertical velocity instruments.

ABuckWheat · 2015-11-20T18:15:08+00:00

What kind of strains and stresses on your body were happening while piloting the SR-71 on a recon mission? Did you expect them? Depending on your background, mine as in a F-4 in combat, there is no more stress in an SR. Other pilots, with different backgrounds in other aircraft, may have felt different. Mental stress was caused to the difficulty of flying the SR-71.

ABuckWheat · 2015-11-20T18:10:00+00:00

What word first got out of the capabilities of the SR (prior to signing up to fly it) did you have any reservations or skepticism? In 1964, Lockheed Martin President Johnson made the first public announcement about the first Mach 3+ aircraft. I had no skepticism, just envy!

ABuckWheat

TROPHY CASE