SR71 N Blackbird

[msleddogtom]

Has anyone taken or visited the SR71 Blackbird static locations to photograph? If so what are you thoughts on the best place to photograph the SR71 Blackbird from a photographers standpoint as in backgrounds and such for subject and being able to isolate whitout to many distactions from other exibits surrounding it? I do wish it visited some airshows also for more public views

[ClickJ]

I've only seen a few on display - the most interesting one to me is at the SAC museum in Ashland NE - definitely cluttered surroundings but this was from my early days of photography when I didn't pay much attention to composition, so there might be an opportunity there for a cleaner shot -

201710_SACMuseum_034_EDITED.jpg (309.77 KiB) Viewed 792 times

201710_SACMuseum_038_EDITED.jpg (300.14 KiB) Viewed 792 times

(I will give the SAC museum a little plug here, if you haven't been there and find yourself on I-80 between Lincoln & Omaha with a bit of time I would highly recommend stopping - it's pretty humble compared to some other museums but it was the first aviation museum I visited and that visit reminded me how much I enjoyed airplanes when I was younger...leading me to one of my favorite hobbies, aviation photography.)

If you're OK with SR-71-ish the Intrepid museum in NYC has an A-12 on the deck. Last I saw it was near the edge so you might be able to get a nice shot with some of the city in the background without having to worry about people on the far side. It has been 20+ years since I've been there though so I don't remember a lot about the setting.

[msleddogtom]

Love both Photo,'s Ill probaply only get one shot at trying to get the SR71 and have looked through different media to try and find the best looking place to achieve a respectable shot. I will probably only have a 4hr radius to my location to choose for such shot so your response is greatly appreciated>> I still would really like one to show at some shows so everyone could see one>>.

[wfooshee]

Looking at the Wikipedia article on the SR-71 and the list of surviving aircraft, I don't see anything closer to you than Hutchison, Kansas and Ashland, Nebraska, and I can't tell you anything about their environments. I know that the one at Eglin AFB's Air Force Armament Museum is outdoors, in front of the museum, and there's an A-12 at the Battleship Alabama museum in Mobile, which used to be indoors until Katrina tore the place up. The A-12 was outside now last time I saw it.

The SR-71 is the one that was built with a longer tail to house more goodies for its reconnaissance role, but advances in equipment made the long-tail unnecessary, and it was apparently tail-heavy, anyway. But it's the only one of those so pretty unique even for an SR-71.

And since they don't fly any more, your hope of seeing one at a show near you is beyond futile...