Throwback Thursday; March Field Air Museum and the SR-71A Blackbird

Back in 2012 I was working in the Riverside Area when I stopped at the March Field Air Museum to view the Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird on display.

The March Field Air Museum is located off I-215 on Van Buren Boulevard in the March Air Reserve Base. The March Field Museum first opened in 1979 and was quickly moved to the former commissary building by 1983. Since 1993 the Museum has been located just off I-215 on Van Buren Boulevard.

The main attraction on display at the March Field Air Museum as stated above is 1 of 32 SR-71 Blackbirds ever built. The SR-71 Blackbird was in production from 1964 to 1998 and was the fastest plane that ever existed. In 1976 SR-71 61-7962 set a speed record of 2,193.2/Mach 3.3 and an altitude record of 85,069 feet.

The SR-71 was designed to be a stealth reconnaissance aircraft that was capable of evading surface-to-air-missiles. The SR-71 was powered by Pratt & Whitney J58 turbo jet engines capable of producing 32,500 pound feet of thrust. Interestingly SR-71 Blackbirds had to started by a pair of Buick Wildcat engines (I'm uncertain if it was the 401 or 425 nailheads) before being switched the Chevy Big Block engines (again I'm not certain of the displacement).

Of the 32 SR-71 Blackbirds produced 12 were lost in crashes. The SR-71A was the most common model with 29 being produced, 2 SR-71Bs being produced, and 1 SR-71C was produced. The SR-71A on this display on at the March Field Air Museum carries serial number 61-7975.

The March Air Field has various different military aircraft on display. Rather than attempting to describe all the notable ones they can be found here on my Flickr album:

March Field Air Museum

Comments

2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley. To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker. Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa. The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language. The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246. CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County. CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward. South of CA 127 ...

Finding the Pre-Emption Road of New York State

The Pre-Emption Road (or rather a series of roads named Pre-Emption Road) follows a survey line called the Pre-Emption Line, drawn in the early days of the United States. The story begins with Massachusetts and New York having competing land claims to modern day Western New York State that have their roots in colonial charters granted by the British. After the Revolutionary War ended, this land became the frontier of the nation and its settlement became a priority for the new American government. During this era, there were a lot of competing land claims that needed to be settled. It was no different with the land claims between New York State and Massachusetts. On November 30, 1786, Massachusetts and New York sent representatives to Hartford, Connecticut to resolve their competing land claims. In less than three weeks, the representatives had reached a compromise. Massachusetts would receive pre-emption rights, meaning the right to sell the land after the Indian title ...

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...

Gribblenation

Search This Blog