~ Bad Girl, Bad Girl. Whatcha gonna do? Watcha gonna do with a Mach 3 woo? ~

[boxcar]

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Lady in Black
Blackbird
SR-71
Habu
Lead
Sled
SR
.3+

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The AlphaSim SR-71 Blackbird is no joke.
It is a highly complex & decently-accurate simulation,
not one to just throw the throttles forward & take a spin.
No.
Learn her first & subsequently treat her like the sophisticated lady she is,
if any resemblance to a realistic flight in her is desired.
Am in the process of learning this simulation
& will hopefully post a proper flight
of this marvel within the
next few weeks.
Love it!
.A+
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Here we are @ Beale AFB, take-off roll, port AB lighting.
Only a small window of time to get them both lit or get out of it...
otherwise the yaw becomes unrecoverable & you do not have a good day.
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A moment later the starboard AB lights & we are beginning to scoot down the runway well.
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Wheels coming up & accelerating decently (wholly understated).
Beale AFB scenery & AI from SkySim, much as the base is remembered from my service there in the mid-1970s.
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Air refuelings are possible when rendezvous with KC-135 aerial tankers are achieved. By-the-manual flying her after learning the proceedures is very satisfying.

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When first seeing that $50.00 price tag @ AlphaSim, my feet were dragged a bit... but that price is in New Zealand dollars,
not US dollars. The present exchange rate, after conversion, cost me $27.92 USD recently. Quite the bargain, imo.
The exchange rate is even better now for we US residents, it appears.

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Lots of great stuff here regarding both the sim & real life Habu: http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?t=191240
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At AlphaSim in New Zealand, David Bushell is the main man behind this fascinating simulation.
His love for the Blackbirds permeates throughout the simulation & documentation. Thank you, David.
Am also thanking one of our moderators, tigisfat, for his SR-71 enthusiasm & related support here at our forums.

.Thanks, all.
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[CycoFlo]

That looks so damn cool! That Afterburner Effect is just gorgeous!!!

By reading the Thread Title I though you're showing some of the Valkyrie... but this one also rocks!

Oh and the Valkyrie, I couldn't resist and tried her... you don't wanna know how it looked... I should stick with Jets that's for sure!

[Distorted Humor]

wonderful shots, the alphasim SR-71 will be the first Payware plane I will buy, I too had sticker shock till I found out it was NZ dollars

[Asad Khawer]

Lovely shots of a lovely plane, my friend. Beautiful.

Been seriously considering this purchase for a while with what little I can come up with from my web designing work... but then again, FSX can be a pain in the pooper performance-wise at times.

[boxcar]

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Florian- The Valkyrie is also an awesome FS aircraft, freeware & a couple of Payware to choose from, including AlphaSim. S'okay... you do quite well in those big ole' jetairliners, my friend!

DH- Cool. Just do your homework on this FS bird first to reap the rewards, guy. She'll bite ya ifin's ya don't.

Asad- There be a AplhaSim one for FS9: http://www.alphasim3.com/store/produ...roducts_id=194
Has additional features that the FSX model doesn't have, too boot! Better price too.

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Thanks, guys!
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[peer01]

WOW Some fantastic pics David!!! That girl is a bit too fast for me, and too expensive as well I'm afraid

[aircav1970]

Very Nicely done Amigo! The BlackBird is one of those Icons that you never get tired of seeing!

[Asad Khawer]

Reminds me...

In his book, Sled Driver, SR-71 Blackbird pilot Brian Shul writes: "I'll always remember a certain radio exchange that occurred one day as Walt (my backseater) and I were screaming across Southern California, 13 miles high. We were monitoring various radio transmissions from other aircraft as we entered Los Angeles airspace. Though they didn't really control us, they did monitor our movement across their scope. I heard a Cessna ask for a readout of its ground speed."

"90 knots" Center replied.

"Moments later, a Twin Beech required the same."

"120 knots," Center answered.

"We weren't the only ones proud of our ground speed that day as almost instantly an F-18 smugly transmitted, 'Ah, Center, Dusty 52 requests ground speed readout.'

"There was a slight pause, then the response, 525 knots on the ground, Dusty".

"Another silent pause. As I was thinking to myself how ripe a situation this was, I heard a familiar click of a radio transmission coming from my backseater. It was at that precise moment I realized Walt and I had become a real crew, for we were both thinking in unison." "Center, Aspen 20, you got a ground speed readout for us?"

There was a longer than normal pause.... "Aspen, I show 1,742 knots"

There were no further inquiries.

[FlyingKiwi]

Looks like an excellent addon - it's been quite a long time since I had one of these for FS, might have to look into it.

There's also the great story of an SR-71 crew calling up control and requesting FL700 - not realising what the aircraft in question was, the controller clears them to FL700 "if you can make it that high" to which the SR-71 crew respond "descending to FL700".

[boxcar]

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Thanks, Jan & Gary.

And yes, Asad- One of the classic tales from the Blackbird files. Thanks!

Leo- An intense simulation, coming a long way since its first release.
Yes, the story goes, upon request of the pilot for clearance to FL 650,
the ATC controller says, "If you can get there you can have it."
"Roger... descending to FL 650."
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