Sled driver
No aircraft ever captured the curiosity & fascination of the public like the SR-71 Blackbird. Nicknamed "The Sled" by those few who flew it, the aircraft was shrouded in secrecy from its inception. Entering the U.S. Air Force inventory in 1966, the SR-71 was the fastest, highest flying jet aircraft in the world. Now for the first time, a Blackbird pilot shares his unique experience of what it was like to fly this legend of aviation history. Through the words & photographs of retired Major Brian Shul, we enter the world of the "Sled Driver." Major Shul gives us insight on all phases of flying, including the humbling experience of simulator training, the physiological stresses of wearing a space suit for long hours, & the intensity & magic of flying 80,000 feet above the Earth's surface at 2000 miles per hour. "Sled Driver" takes the reader through riveting accounts of the rigors of initial training, the gamut of emotions experienced while flying over hostile territory, & the sheer joy of displaying the jet at some of the world's largest airshows. Illustrated with rare photographs, seen here for the first time, "Sled Driver" captures the mystique & magnificence of this most unique of all aircraft.
Stats for nerds
14recommend
33mentions
28people
2010–2026years
45% recommend55% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- The original story doesn't pass the smell test, but it's fun and hard to disprove.
Sled Driver is a great book for anyone looking for something to read. Physical copies sell for the hundreds of dollars, but there is a PDF floating on the high seas.
- I'm re-reading Tracy Kidder's "The Soul of a New Machine" at the moment. It's about Data General and the development of a new minicomputer. I read it at the dawn of my IT career in the 1990s and found much of was still relevant then. (the book was written in 1981) Thirty years later, I'm mostly just nodding as I follow along; yep, yep, yep. "Engineering" is a distant second to corporate politics and office pecking order.
Reading Brian Shul's "Sled Driver" autobiography on the tablet. Shul was an SR-71 pilot, and the book is about 10% Shul and 90% SR-71. It reads fast and it's interesting, with unexpected bits of information.
Just finished David Goggins' "Can't Hurt Me." It's supposed to be a "motivational" autobiography. I can't say I felt motivated. Most of his problems were self-inflicted, and he treated his family and children like dirt.
- Check out his book “Sled Driver” as that story comes from there and is only a single amazing story out of many from that book.
- Oh man, this sucks. Learning about it from your comment. I always wanted to go see one of his speeches. I remember seeing them on YouTube and they were great. His story is truly inspirational. His books are incredible as well. I was gifted signed copies of Sled Driver and The Untouchables and I honestly treasure them. Guess I’ll just have to read them again today.
- It's a shame that the book that this story came from - Sled Driver by Brian Shul - is out of print.
The SR-71 speed check story is another good read: https://www.thesr71blackbird.com/Aircraft/Stories/sr-71-blac...
- Love that book. Sled Driver is also worth checking out. It focuses on things from the pilots perspective, but from memory the pilots had to have a fairly intimate understanding of their vehicles, so a lot of discussion of the mechanics/engineering.
Offtopic: Skunkworks, and Master's of Doom are two of my favourite non fiction books, and they both had a similar vibe. Liftoff (Eric Berger) was another. Can people recommend more books like this?
