Falling From an SR-71
Early in 1965, Bill Weaver was thrown out of an SR 71 while flying at 80,000 feet. Freefalling after being ejected is scary enough. Not being able to see at all is terrifying. The temperature was -65°F as he fell closer to the ground he was not able to see. Dropping that fast and not hard and being blind is terrifying! Bill’s face plate was frozen and he was unable to see out of his helmet. Soon after this flight work began on producing a helmet that would not fog up during extreme temperature changes. In Bill’s own words about the ejection. The sound of rushing air and what sounded like straps flapping in the wind confirmed I was falling, but I couldn’t see anything. My pressure suit’s face plate had frozen over and I was staring at a layer of ice
As a Lockheed civilian test pilot flying out of Edwards Air Force Base in California, Weaver and Jim Zwayer, a recon and navigation specialist, were testing navigation and reconnaissance systems in the iconic 1960s spy plane. At Mach 3.2 over the New Mexico-Texas border, the right engine experienced an “inlet unstart,” instantaneously creating a catastrophic thrust imbalance. The airplane pitched up violently. Weaver forced the stick forward and hard left, then prepared for the worst. “I knew what was gonna happen,” he says. He tried to warn Zwayer on the intercom, but double-digit Gs strangled his voice and pulled the blood from his brain.
Consciousness returned in mid-air. “I couldn’t figure out how I had gotten out of the aircraft,” Weaver says. “I knew I hadn’t activated the ejection system.” Though he couldn’t see it through his ice-coated faceplate, the small drogue parachute attached to his pack deployed and stabilized his plunge through the high-altitude atmosphere. Meanwhile, he worried that the device that automatically pops the critical main chute at 15,000 feet required initiating the ejection sequence first—a detail he never got around to before blacking out. had no idea how far I had fallen,” he recalls. As he thought about opening his iced-over faceplate, the main parachute deployed. Floating in the winter sky over a barren, high plateau, he was relieved to see Zwayer’s parachute bloom nearby. “Oh, that was a great feeling,” he says. “Because I realized we had both survived, somehow.”
Weaver soft-landed, scaring an enormous antelope from the brush and ending his first and only career parachute jump. Somehow in that remote location, a rancher spotted his descent and landed a two-seat Hughes helicopter nearby. While Weaver struggled with his pressure suit, the rancher choppered over to retrieve Jim Zwayer but returned with devastating news: Zwayer was dead. Weaver would later learn that Zwayer was killed instantly when the Blackbird disintegrated—his textbook parachute descent was entirely automated. Leaving his foreman to guard the body, the rancher provided Weaver a harrowing lift to a Tucumcari hospital, revving the little chopper past its airspeed limits as the meticulous test pilot eyed the instruments apprehensively.
The explanation for Weaver’s unassisted egress from the SR-71 became clear. The seatbelt and shoulder harness—nylon with a tensile strength of 5,000 pounds—dangled from his flight suit, torn off where they attached to the ejection seat, which never left the aircraft. The supersonic blast during the breakup had literally ripped him out of the seat and clear of the cockpit, protected by his inflated pressure suit.
Bill Weaver returned to test flying two weeks later.
Source: Smithsonian Magazine
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Bullet Points:
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The shield wall we see in the popular TV series “Vikings” or “The Last Kingdom” is very nicely made, but unfortunately not true… Warming concludes that the Vikings probably fought the enemy actively using their shields, either to avoid being hit by swords or axes or to hit the enemy with the edge.
**The Prescott newspaper, The Miner, was very focused on the goings-on in Tombstone.
The Arizona Weekly Miner. March 24, 1882, page 4. “One of the Earp brothers from Tombstone was recently shot, and ever since has been in critical condition. Whether he will recover or not is a question. Now comes the news that Morgan Earp, another one of the family, was yesterday shot and killed by the Clanton element, with whom the Earps and Doc Holliday several months since had so much trouble.”
** Claudio points out Putin’s nightmare – Helsinki placed an order last year to purchase 64 F-35s from Lockheed Martin to replace its F-18 Hornet fleet, with deliveries set to begin in 2026.
Last September, the United States, and Finland announced plans to negotiate a pact to strengthen bilateral security cooperation. The agreement would provide a framework and legal basis for U.S. forces to obtain entry into the country and streamline the use of agreed facilities to conduct activities for their mutual defense. These could range from joint training to temporary maintenance of vessels and aircraft and could also include the temporary deployment of soldiers and storing of prepositioned equipment.
I wonder when the US will put forces on our own border to stop the influx of cultural enrichers. For their own safety of course, having been told repeatedly how terrible America is we should at least protect those people.
When? When President Trump returns… odds on that?
I remembered posting about that SR-71 incident with Bill Weaver back in 2014. It’s an amazing story.
What stood out to me was the calm, rational approach Weaver displays. Realizing he’s somehow floating alone in the sky with no airplane around him, somehow no longer in the airplane he was just flying, there’s not a trace of anguish; instead, his concentration is laser focused on “what’s going on now, what can I do now to make it out of this?” It’s a perfect attitude.
The guy clanked when he walked.
Ok, so I’m floating, and I can’t see anything…
Some men are just made of sturdier stuff. That was an epic story.
Watching ‘Free Solo’, Alex Honnold’s free climb of El Capitan, the documentary delved into how he managed a lack of fear while hanging on some nibs on a vertical wall a few thousand feet off the deck. Seems it’s built into his brain wiring…a lower than normal “fear center” aspect that affords him the ability – over years of practice and big wall climbing – to “not go there”. It’s focus.
Weaver, while lucky to have survived generally unscathed, didn’t see the free fall as something to fear…as SiG said, “What are you going to do now.” The past 3 years showed us how many aren’t of that mold.
I find it bizarre that Finnish politician’s are working hard on some “pact to strengthen bilateral security cooperation” while shuttering farmers ability to plant food. No food clearly trumps buying a bunch of aircraft. Misplaced priorities among the ruling class…who have manged to convince themselves they are smarter than the rest of us.
Was trying the ‘italics’ ‘coding’ for the first time…must have done something weird on the last bit…so I’ll just say emphasis mine.
The woke agenda mystifies me. The campaign to end rice farming worldwide is one example of this special brand of stupid. Billions of people rely on rice to live…and yes, the elites want to see them die — I get it.
The only reason I can see for forcing farmers to not farm is wholesale starvation. How can that be allowed?
Like our oil industry, farmers should tell these cretins to go pound sand. Sent a letter last year to the American Petroleum Institute saying as much. Who the hell gave the Fed’s the ability to hamstring our independent energy production? Instead these bums “create laws” that force compliance..or else. It’s unconstitutional at the root and is killing incentives to invent and make life better. (Yup LL, I am MAGA, only a moron/Socialist wouldn’t be.)
LL, when Satan takes over peoples brains or they are simply that daft, it’s a mystery to the rational-brained people who don’t live in Unicornland. One of life’s axioms: The UnAware annoy The Aware.
Rob – It can be allowed if the rice farmers are incarcerated or dead. Look at Sri Lanka. They went from bumper crops to literal starvation because of woke policies. Politicians are trying the same things in The Netherlands. If you violate government mandates, the government seizes your valuable farmland. Since they have been disarmed, they have few options.
Watch Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon Prime – He has an army of Brits, in government employ, screwing him at every turn.
Chinamen eat rice*. Chinamen have little sympathy for out-groups** (non-Han). Chinamen cannot be manipulated through guilt-tripping and whining about your victimhood*** throughout space and time. Therefore the Chinamen must be starved out.
I’m being sarcastic and facetious, but only a little. The Chinese do not have the Christian neuroprogramming “glitches” that have been so successfully exploited by those who have hijacked the West. The Chinese have a millennia-long continuous cultural identity of which they are very very proud. They will not let anyone tell them that they are born guilty and must be ashamed of their heritage. Anyone telling the Chinese that diversity and immigration (into China, especially of Africans) is a good thing will at best be ignored. Strung up, then shot for good measure, is what the Chinaman on the street would rather see happen to such peddlers of venom. So the usual tricks don’t work on Chinamen.
* not all chinamen are rice eaters. It’s hard to grow rice in the cold north. Wheat and millet are important there.
** just like certain other high-IQ groups, only the Chinese aren’t smooth about it
*** regardless of actual rights and wrongs, if something horrible happens hundreds of times, why are no lessons learned from any of it? Then again, clearly something about it works, so maybe I’m just too stupid to understand the strategy.
The whole victimhood thing falls on deaf ears with me too. I might be part Chinese.
I get that the “elites” want to stop farming. What I don’t get is the public support from all the non-farmers. Haven’t these people ever been hungry, where do they think their next meal is coming from. Just do not understand why people would do something so contrary to their own self interest.
Asked a non-farmer that same question back in the 80’s. He said he’d get food from the store, the same way he always has.
People used to understand two things: Suffering and Cash. When it hurt them or their wallet they would act. Now the perception management and brainwashing has half the people believing the high double-digit inflation rate is acceptable…while loving their open door cell and persecution. They are asleep. While the Left/Dem’s burn it all down in front of them they simply pull out the marshmallows, [woke] Hershey bars, and graham crackers.
Brian Shul–sled driver.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFJMs15sVSY
He’s very glib…you put it down, or we’ll shoot it down. “I realized that I was on the right team”
When I was about eight years-old my dad told me that if I ever unexpectedly found myself in a bad situation to never panic and think my way out of it.
That advice has saved my life on five separate occasions: three times in water, once while driving, and once flying a Cessna 152.
Then there were the times that proved that under stress a person does not rise to the occasion, but reverts back to their lowest level of training.
Come to think about it my flight instructor was a military pilot rated in both fixed wing and rotary and had taught me to go to full military power when things looked dicey…and as you know jamming the throttle to the firewall for “full military power” in a Cessna 152 is akin to stomping the throttle to the floor in a 36 horsepower VW Bug. Meh.
Oh, and then there were the dog attacks out of nowhere…but, regaining consciousness at 86,000 feet, being blind, and no airplane adds new meaning to not panicking at the “unexpected”.
Advice much needed for more than half the population. Watched TG Maverick” over the weekend, the gal pilot loses an engine and immediately goes full power to gain altitude, etc. Took me a second to realize what she did instinctively. Training.
Not panicking isn’t a cure-all because you can still die (horribly and calmly), but panicking will definitely make almost any situation worse. The other skill is to make a frigging decision. Right or wrong, MAKE A DECISION. I lived much of my life making split-second decisions and falling back on training and sometimes muscle memory. It served me well so far.
PS to PAULM – when I buy a car, I try to buy one with enough power to do much the same thing. Occasionally, that power can make a difference. It’s like putting the holster on my belt and stuffing the handgun into it whenever I get dressed. Same concept. MRSLL has seen me need it often enough that she doesn’t question the practice the way she did early on.
I’m still trying to figure out a traction control work-around on MrsPaulM’s slightly modified ’07 Jeep Liberty… in snowy conditions the computer steals the accelerator when you need it most. Turn TC off and it the thing gets more squirrely than a little dog in a cattle drive. Used to be if you knew how to drive you could coax the rear wheels to assist, now the “safety above all” brainiac’s have ruined even that…mainly because far too many have no clue how to drive. A.I. ain’t all it’s cracked up to be in most real world situations.
PS. Dad drilled into us kids the “Don’t just stand there with your mouth hanging open, make a damned decision!”. (Geez, I can hear him today.)
I have a cardiologist friend who simply could not make quick decisions. You couldn’t get an answer out of him on the spot. He’d stroke his beard, say, “Hmmm…” and wander off. Between an hour to a day later, he’d return with an exhaustive list of the possible things you could do, with intelligent and clear explanations of the risks and benefits of each potential action. I wish I had recordings or transcripts of those mini-lectures. He’s a really smart and erudite guy. But totally unsuited for inpatient ICU medicine, and it made the nurses and trainees nuts. He’s in industry now and doing very well.
Anyway, yeah. A suboptimal decision RFN is better than an optimal decision after the fact.
I have been in that situation being a nurse and I have had on occasion contrary to the physician on duty made a decision on a patient. I still remained a nurse and in good standing because the doc hiccupped too long or screwed the pup… Choose your doctor very carefully, some are dimwits contrary that license on the wall.
What do you call the guy who graduates last in his class in medical skool?
Doctor.
Totally agree. Whilst you can still die being calm, panicking only makes you die quicker (usually). Likewise, if you make the wrong decision, you can still die but, at least you made a decision, and didn’t stand there like a stunned mullet waiting for it to happen. I have spent my life thinking fast/processing information rapidly and making split second decisions. Even now, as I have aged and am in retirement, it still frustrates the hell out of me the number of people out there who cannot think on their feet and who couldn’t make a decision if a shark bit them. For those who might not understand the vernacular regarding mullets and sharks, they are old Australian colloquial expressions for someone who does not have a clue and is indecisive.
Sorry if this seems misplaced. It was meant as a reply to Larry’s comment above.
OODA Loop in action when out and about. Run AT the perp instantly once it is determined he is there to do harm…get him off his game. (or just shoot the criminal intent on doing harm if so prepared)
Of course if in NYC you’ll get arrested for manslaughter when saving the lives of everyone else. Best to stay away from such places to reduce the risk of being a hero where The Moronic Democrat Murphy’s Law of ‘No good deed goes unpunished” prevails.
Panicking is also amazingly fucking annoying.
Even if we’re all going to die, can we just do it w/o frigging screaming and wigging out?
Traction control, like all the other crap that gets between the operator and the machine (I will give anti-lock brakes a semi-pass, there are circumstance where they actually improve things, sometimes) is the devil. I wouldn’t hold out much hope of a hard-disable option, even with a tuner box my ’05 Magnum AWD R/T could only hard-disable by shutting off so much other stuff that they recommended it only for drag strip use.
-Kle.
Um, shield wall. Lots of evidence via sagas and other semi-oral histories that the Scandinavians fought two styles of battles – open field and in formation.
Open field is just running around killing and hacking, you know, light infantry and harrier tactics. It’s what you do when you have the advantage and the enemy isn’t prepared. So you run them down and bash them with shields and hack and slash with edged weapons.
If one’s enemy is given half a chance to form up in a formation, then open harrier tactics don’t work at all. It then becomes formation vs formation and in that situation, guess what’s on the front of your formation (unless you’re Swiss pikemen)? Shields. Big 3-4′ diameter shields. And the best way to use said shields is by overlapping them.
There’s literally ‘photographic’ evidence, in carvings and drawings and in survivors’ accounts, that the Scandinavians used shield walls. Just as everyone since basically shields were invented and you got more than 1 person standing next to another on the same side.
This type of ‘study’ is right up there with the late-lamented bucket thesis. Because they’ve found lots of buckets in Scandinavian digs but not a lot of baskets, the theory in the 1990’s was that ‘Vikings’ didn’t use baskets but used buckets for everyday carrying like most people would use baskets. Even though there is historical evidence of basketry and baskets in ‘Viking’ times, and there’s lots of questions as to did the ‘Vikings’ teach the Native Americans splint basketry, or did the NAs teach the ‘Vikings’ or was it parallel evolution given similar materials.
Vikings didn’t use shield walls… Bwahahahaha. What’s next, they didn’t use hand or two-handed axes?
Seriously, hey, researchers, get a life. Just this year they’ve come out with Scandinavians had plain boring armor without any adornment, and they didn’t use jewelry, or if they used jewelry it was crude and stolen from other people, and if they did have jewelry they hacked it apart.
Okay, that last statement, hacked apart jewelry? That was normal amongst all peoples who didn’t have a central bank currency. For frig’s sake, there’s literally Byzantine money necklaces. Take a necklace made out of lots and lots and lots of links of silver or gold. You paid by weight of metal, not by a face value. So buying something? Pluck off a couple links. Or chop that bracelet into pieces.
All of this, all of it, smacks of some idiots trying to get their PhDs and having to write new papers so they latch onto the most stupid ‘theories’, theories that are less plausible than ‘Ancient Aliens’ and everyone falls in love with the new theories.
What next? Willie the Bastard wasn’t the first king crowned in Westminster Abbey?
Gaaaaahhhhh. Makes my brain hurts…
You know, thinking about it, our host the lovely LL may have just plunked this in here in order to get me peeved off and fill up space with a scathing rebuke. Maybe. Hmmm. Still more likely than ‘Vikings didn’t use shield walls.’
Academia would be much improved if hot tar and feathers was allowed to be used against academics who spout such useless and idiotic theories. Or maybe pelt them with tomatoes, dipped in liquid nitrogen.
;^)
“You know, thinking about it…and fill up space with a scathing rebuke”
It worked.
“Just this year they’ve come out with Scandinavians had plain boring armor without any adornment, and they didn’t use jewelry, or if they used jewelry it was crude and stolen from other people…”
Well duh, of course. It’s hard to be whiter than a Scandinavian, so they MUST be portrayed as crude, stupid and purely parasitic/predatory. Consider the origins and biases of many academics. Then consider anthropology in particular, and the legacy of Franz Boas.
You have to discount their use of the Thing and democracy in administering the internal affairs of the nation because, they were nothing but crude barbarians, devoid of a code or any resemblance of a civilization.
Then there’s the social sides of the eeeeevil Scandinavians.
Women owned property.
Women had the right of divorce, sometimes as simple as standing in the middle of the village and repeating “I divorce you” three times.
Slaves had rights. And could petition the local leaders for redress. And often won.
So evil these uber-blanco ultra-whiteness people.
On the metallurgical side of things, the Scandinavians developed pattern-welded blades that were and still are very complex. Access to bog-iron and meteoric nickel-iron gave them the ability to forge extremely strong and sharp weapons with a hardened edge and softer core that absorbed shock and survived.
Which is why I can’t, just… can’t, watch that dog-turd of a movie “13th Warrior” where Towel ibn Head grinds a double-edged broadsword into a fine scimitar. Bitch, please, that horrid broadsword was stronger and more sound than any scimitar of the time (and guess what, the head-wrappers stole that tech from the dot-Indians, so suck it, all y’all.)
Yeah, so barbaric that they (the Scans) developed advanced metal-works, advanced jewelry works, advanced carvings, advanced weaving techniques (using warp weighted looms) and did crop rotation before the rest of the world, did fish-waste fertilizing before the Native Americans ‘taught’ white people how to fertilize with fish (yeah, that one always pissed me off after 5th grade once I found that Europe was so fertile and the lands the Pilgrims worked were basically infertile – true story.)
But these wonderful, smart, crafty, hard-working, hard-living, farmers (who put to sea to raid once the farming season was over) were so horrible.
Especially compared to advanced cultures like the Irish. (Gee, I crack myself up sonedays, no?) Who still whine about Lindesfarne being raided by vikings. If’n you all bog-trodders hadn’t been killing and fighting and destroying your own religious sites, Lindesfarne wouldn’t have been located on some easily accessible from the sea but hard to reinforce via land section of Ireland. And mayhaps if’n every trumped up village chief wasn’t a ‘king’ and fighting every other trumped up village chief who also called himself a king then mayhaps all y’all could have put together an effective defense against just a bunch of barbarians in boats.
Suck it, Eire!!!
And LL sucks me into yet another rage-filled rant. You’re good, Larry, real good. Got my eye on you now… Yeah…
As to metal, running out of easily accessible bog and meteor irons forced them to work on discovering how to make their own bog and meteor irons, once again pushing their metallurgy past ‘more advanced’ cultures.
Not nearly as advanced as the historically accurate Wakanda…
Twice in one day…you win the rant award. Good stuff regardless. (I may need to watch Rob Roy again, been awhile.)
Weaver = Test pilot mentality… And the whole Finland thing is ‘interesting’ to watch…
Yes indeed.