No Tally, No Clue...

1968 Chevrolet Corvair 500 Hardtop

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Impressive view of an F-4B of VF-142 ready for launch from the USS Midway (South China Sea, August 1964). Note the catapult bridle attached to the aircraft, the extended nose wheel strut and the angle of attack sensor sticking out of the small circle just in front of the "210"

Dramatic moment of a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor releasing infrared flares

Captured during airshow , likely by the F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team at an aerospace event.

Resources: shutterstock

Pilot Rick McCrary tells his story: We unlocked the back doors, turned on the lights, and I thought, "Oh lord, there's a spaceship." They took me out to a small hangar and opened the door to show me the SR-71

I had never seen it before. Very little was known about it by anyone else. It was still sight-sensitive. You could see it, but you couldn't walk up and touch it, or look at the cockpit, things like that. It was never out for public display. It would fly missions and always taxi right into the hangar. It flew sensitive reconnaissance missions, so very few people outside the community knew anything about it. I only knew what was in the public record, as well.

Seeing the size of it was just... awesome. Until you see it, you don't have a feel for how big it is for a fighter-type aircraft: 107 feet long is a big airplane. Because of the black color, it has this massive look to it, with those giant engines out there on the wing.

Again, just an incredible sight, and unlike anything else I'd ever seen before. I was hooked at that point. You would get a couple of sunsets and sunrises, because at those northern latitudes, you often would see day to night, and then a terminator line, almost like a black velvet curtain, where you can see how it's light on this side, and dark on the other side. It's the most amazing thing you can imagine.