World News

By Tiffani Grey

When SR-71 Blackbird pilot Brian Shul found himself above the Los Angeles Center communications tower on a training mission, he heard a series of pilots radioing in for a ground speed check. What he and his partner Walter did next is nothing short of the most amazing aviation troll of all time. This story is sure to have you smiling by the end!

The SR-71 Blackbird is touted as the “king of speed” when it comes to Air Force jets. To put it simply, this thing is a beast.

Schul, a former Vietnam War-era attack pilot, was tasked with flying one of these beasts, which was nicknamed “The Sled” by those who flew it. In his 1991 book, “Sled Driver,” he recounted the many stories and experiences he had while flying the SR-71, however one of his stories takes the cake.

his book is now a collector’s item, sold only on Amazon through third-party sellers and currently priced at $433.00. So you know this has to be good.

In one story in the book, Shul and his navigator, Walter Watson, came across a few civilian pilots who radioed in for a ground-speed check. One of those Navy pilots thought his F-18 Hornet was the fastest thing in the sky that day. Spoiler alert … he was not.

The encounter occurred over the city of Los Angeles, as Shul and Watson completed a training mission that took them over Western states like Arizona, Colorado, Idaho and Montana before reaching coastal California at almost incomprehensible speeds. High above civilian traffic in his high-tech spy plane, Shul wrote that he took a moment to listen in on the routine flying going on below.

“The predominant radio chatter was from Los Angeles Center, far below us, controlling daily traffic in their sector,” Shul wrote. “While they had us on their scope (albeit briefly), we were in uncontrolled airspace and normally would not talk to them unless we needed to descend into their airspace.”

They listened as civilian pilots asked air traffic control on the ground for their flight speed.

“Ninety knots on the ground,” a Cessna pilot was told, Shul wrote. (That’s about 103 mph, in civilian terms.)

A Twin Beech pilot then checked in. “I have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed,” air traffic control replied. (That’s about 143 mph.)

hen, Shul wrote, a “Navy jock” flying an F-18 checked in to ask — in a clearly superior voice — for his fighter’s air speed. The fighter didn’t need to check with a civilian air traffic controller for his speed, Shul wrote. He just wanted to make sure the aircraft around knew who was boss. (“He’s the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet,” Shul wrote.)

“Dusty 52, Center,” air traffic control responded. “We have you at 620 [knots] on the ground.” (That’s about 713 mph.)

That was fast enough to impress any civilian listeners, of course. But just then Shul’s navigator in the SR-71 decided to join the conversation — and show that Navy guy what speed really was.

“Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke,” Schul wrote: “’Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check?”

And then came the reply that had to have that “Navy jock” grinding his teeth.

“Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground,” the controller responded.

That’s about 2,100 mph, faster than an F-18 could ever dream of going.

“I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation, and you just knew he was smiling,” Shul wrote. “But the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed the mic once again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like voice: ‘Ah, Center, much thanks, we’re showing closer to nineteen hundred on the money.’

“For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in the armor of the Houston Center voice, when L.A.came back with, ‘Roger that Aspen, Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You boys have a good one.’”

And they did — a very good one.

“It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been flamed, all mortal airplanes on freq were forced to bow before the King of Speed,” Shul wrote.

“For just one day, it truly was fun being the fastest guys out there.”

Now, the American public has loved Navy pilots since World War II days, and “Top Gun” is part of American lore, so they’ve got a lot to be cocky about — and deservedly so.

But does anyone think the F-18 pilot remembers this incident over Los Angeles quite like Brian Shul does?

H/T The Tribunist

http://conservativetribune.com/fighter-pilot-undone-epic-exchange/