Skip to main content

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

Popular posts from this blog

US Route 101 in Benbow, Garberville and Redway

The communities of Benbow, Garberville and Redway can all be found along US Route 101 within southern Humboldt County.  The former surface alignment of US Route 101 in Garberville and Redway once crossed the Garberville Bluffs along what is now Redwood Drive via a corridor constructed as part of the Redwood Highway during the 1910s.  US Route 101 through Benbow, Garberville and Redway was modernized by 1935.  US Route 101 would eventually be upgraded to freeway standards in Benbow, Garberville and Redway by extension of the Redwood Freeway during 1966-68.  As the cover photo the original grade of US Route 101 and the Redwood Highway can be seen at the Garberville Bluffs during 1934.  US Route 101 can be seen in the communities of Benbow, Garberville and Redway on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Humboldt County .   The history of US Route 101 in Benbow, Garberville and Redway Benbow, Garberville and Redway lie on the banks of the South Fork Eel River of southern Humboldt County.  D

Highways in and around Old Sacramento; US 40, US 99W, CA 16, CA 24, CA 70, CA 99, CA 275, and more

This past weekend I was visiting the City of Sacramento for a wedding.  That being the case I decided to head out on a morning run through Old Sacramento, Jibboom Street Bridge, I Street Bridge, Tower Bridge, and path of US Route 40/US Route 99W towards the California State Capitol.  My goal was to retrace the paths of the various highways that once traversed the Old Sacramento area. This blog is part of the larger Gribblenation US Route 99 Page.  For more information pertaining to the other various segments of US Route 99 and it's three-digit child routes check out the link the below. Gribblenation US Route 99 Page The old highway alignments of Sacramento The City of Sacramento lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and American River in Sacramento Valley.  Sacramento Valley was discovered by Spanish Explorer Gabriel Moraga in 1808.  Moraga referred to the fertile Sacramento Valley akin to a "Blessed Sacrament."  By 1839 John Sutter Sr. settled in Mexican held

Old Stage Road in Tulare County and Kern County

Old Stage Road is an approximately 30-mile rural highway comprised of Tulare County Mountain Road 1, Kern County Mountain Road 447 and Tulare County Mountain Road 109.  Old Stage originates at Jack Ranch Road near Posey and ends at the outskirts of Porterville at Deer Creek.  Old Stage Road notably is comprised of two 19th Century stage routes.  From White Mountain Road northwest to Fountain Springs, Old Stage Road overlays Thomas Baker's 1860s era stage road to Linn Valley (now Glennville) and the Kern River Gold Rush Claims.  From Fountain Springs to Deer Creek, Old Stage Road is comprised of the 1853 Stockton-Los Angeles Road. Featured as the blog cover is the northward descent on Old Stage Road along Arrastre Creek to the town site of White River.  What became White River was settled along a spur of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road as "Dog Town" when gold was discovered nearby.  By 1856 the community had been renamed Tailholt.  A stage road from Tailholt to Linn Valley w