When i was stationed in Okinawa Japan, I had the privilege of seeing the SR-71 aka "Habu" named for the snake on Oki flying many times. One of the traits of the 71 is when it is coming in the leading edges are glowing red. On one particular night when i was at the beach in Naha with my fiance' at the time she looked up and saw what looked like a plane on fire.. with the angle we were at compared to where the plane was coming in, that is what it looked like. As soon as it got in closer that is when I noticed what it was and told her. Her first question is ... why did the light it on fire, referring to the hot leading edges. All i could do was laugh and I went ahead and explained it to her why the leading edges were glowing.
I think the best time was when at the airshow Kadena has, they had one of their Habu's out and I was able to get a close up inspection of the A/C and was generally impressed, the only bad part was, it was marking its spot on the tarmac. I had the opportunity get up on the access ladder and get a lookie inside, wholly moses what a complex set of controls.
Still one of the prettiest birds around.
LawnDart
