Behold The SR-71 Blackbird’s Nest At Dawn黎明时分，SR-71“黑鸟”侦察机的巢穴
Two of the historic SR-71 Blackbird hangars that once lined Beale Air Force's Base's main apron are still standing today.
Updated Jan 1, 2021 8:03 PM EST
The SR-71 Blackbird is still giving us wonderful images to discover even over two decades after its retirement . Case in the point, the gorgeous photograph below, showing a pair of SR-71 Blackbirds sitting idle in their hangars on the flight line at Beale AFB at dawn.
It was from here that SR-71s would launch and recover for stateside missions. The aircraft would ooze its specialized JP7 jet fuel prior to starting in these hangars, a byproduct of an airframe designed to expand due to friction heat as much as four inches during high-speed flight.
The hangars also housed all the unique support equipment that was required to generate sorties for these extreme performance machines. This included the giant AG-330 start cart that used a pair of 401-cubic inch Buick ‘Wildcat’ V8 engines to stir the Blackbird’s J58 turbojets to life. While the tailor-made hangars may seem simple in design, the gear inside them that surrounds the Blackbirds makes the facilities look almost sci-fi in nature.
You can watch what a launch of the Blackbird from these hangars was like here and here (great soundtracks too!).
Blackbird ops at Beale circa the 1980s., USAF
At one time, a dozen of the hangars dotted the apron at the Air Force’s master strategic aerial reconnaissance base in Northern California, but over time they have dwindled in number.
Up until 2013, four of these original hangars still stood, when two were demolished. The remaining two still stand on the flight line at Beale and are used to support ongoing U-2 Dragon Lady and RQ-4 Global Hawk operations.
The last four SR-71 hangars seen prior to the two on the left being torn down. , USAF
The plan was to demolish the final two in 2020 as part of an ongoing initiative to get rid of or revamp Cold War-era infrastructure on the base, but that has yet to happen.
2020 image of Beale’s flight line with the two historic SR-71 hangars still seen standing., Google Earth
It’s great that a small piece of the Blackbird’s legacy at Beale still stands in the form of a pair of these hangars, the likes of which were gloriously captured in the beautiful sunrise image.
Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com
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更新于2021年1月1日晚上8:03（美国东部时间）。
即使在退役二十多年后，SR-71“黑鸟”侦察机仍然为我们带来许多精彩的影像。例如，下面这张精美的照片，就展现了黎明时分，两架SR-71“黑鸟”侦察机静静地停放在比尔空军基地飞行跑道的机库中。
SR-71侦察机就是从这里起飞和回收，执行美国本土任务的。飞机在机库启动前，会渗出特制的JP7喷气燃料，这是由于机身设计使其在高速飞行中因摩擦生热而膨胀，体积可达四英寸所致。
这些机库还容纳了所有为这些高性能战机执行飞行任务所需的独特支持设备。其中包括巨大的AG-330启动车，它使用两台401立方英寸的别克“野猫”V8发动机来启动黑鸟战机的J58涡轮喷气发动机。虽然这些定制机库的设计看似简单，但内部围绕黑鸟战机的各种设备却让这些设施看起来几乎像是科幻电影里的场景。
你可以在这里和这里观看黑鸟战机从这些机库发射升空的场景（配乐也很棒！）。
20世纪80年代左右，美国空军在比尔空军基地进行黑鸟侦察机作战行动。
曾经，在北加州空军的主要战略空中侦察基地停机坪上，有十几个这样的机库，但随着时间的推移，它们的数量逐渐减少了。
截至2013年，这四座原始机库中仍有四座屹立不倒，之后两座被拆除。剩余的两座至今仍保留在比尔空军基地的飞行跑道上，用于支持正在进行的U-2“龙夫人”和RQ-4“全球鹰”侦察机的运行。
这是在左侧两座机库被拆除之前，最后看到的四座SR-71机库。（美国空军）
该计划原本打算在 2020 年拆除最后两座建筑物，作为一项持续进行的清除或改造基地冷战时期基础设施的举措的一部分，但这项举措至今尚未实现。
2020 年比尔空军基地飞行线照片，可见两座具有历史意义的 SR-71 机库依然屹立。（谷歌地球）
令人欣慰的是，黑鸟战机在比尔空军基地留下的一小部分遗产仍然以两座机库的形式存在，美丽的日出照片完美地捕捉到了它们的壮丽景象。
联系作者：Tyler@thedrive.com
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