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Once
it was your turn on the "ladder" to fly, mission planning
began in earnest the day before the flight. The primary and
backup crew met in Operations to go over details with our mission
planners. The pilot and RSO discussed the air refueling tracks,
fuel offloads, bank angles, Mach numbers, fuel minimums, threat
areas, SAM missile sites, the Closest Point of Approach (CPA)
to unfriendly airspace, abort scenarios, alternate bases, and
weather forecasts. |
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For
a routine sortie, mission planning took about 30 minutes for an experienced
crew and about one and a half to two hours for a new crew. New and
more complicated sorties could take several days to plan effectively.
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After
mission planning was finished to everyone's satisfaction,
crews stored their classified materials back in the safe and
were free to do as they pleased until crew rest time came
around - the standard Air Force 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
However, since our wake-up time was usually about 3 hours
before takeoff, Habus had to get to bed much earlier. We typically
followed the schedule to the right for a 0800 takeoff.
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2100
- Sleep (if you could)
0500 - Wake up (the hard part), shower, dress
0530 - Eat high protein/low residual meal
0615 - Formal mission briefing start
0645 - Physical exam and suit up
0715 - Arrive at aircraft
0730 - Start engines (depending on taxi distance)
0800 - Takeoff |
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The Mission
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| Go
on an SR-71 Operational Mission |
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Return
to Mission |
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