Devilish Grin

[Mike Mancil]

SR-71 Blackbird

 

[Ben Egbert]

Fast company.

 

[AlanLichty]

Not the usual view of this bird - I like the perspective,

 

[JimFox]

Wow.... this is a work of Art! Way to take aviation photography to a whole other level.

 

[Mike Mancil]

Fast company.

Not the usual view of this bird - I like the perspective,

Wow.... this is a work of Art! Way to take aviation photography to a whole other level.

Thanks guys, you're very kind. The reality is that in airplane museums, even here in the Smithsonian, the planes are stacked so tightly that isolating one is difficult. Here I employed b/w and much heavier vignette than I ever use in an attempt to focus full attention on this magnificent machine. It wasn't until viewing later that I noticed the "grin" that so perfectly fits the character of this plane.

Here's some data on this SR-71: "This Blackbird accrued about 2,800 hours of flight time during 24 years of active service with the U.S. Air Force. On its last flight, March 6, 1990, Lt. Col. Ed Yielding and Lt. Col. Joseph Vida set a speed record by flying from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in 1 hour, 4 minutes, and 20 seconds, averaging 3,418 kilometers (2,124 miles) per hour. At the flight's conclusion, they landed at Washington-Dulles International Airport and turned the airplane over to the Smithsonian."