May 16, 2024 • 7 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, here’s Major Brian Shul with his legendary story known today as the “LA Speed Check.”
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib, and this is our American stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on this show,
and some of our favorite stories are about the men
and women who serve our nation in uniform. Throughout its
nearly twenty four year career, the Lockheed SR seventy one
Blackbirds spyplane remained the world's fastest and highest flying operational aircraft.
(00:33):
From eighty thousand feet, it could serve a one hundred
thousand square miles of Earth's surface in a mere hour.
SR seventy one pilot Brian Schule recalls in his book Fledgdriver,
Flying the world's fastest jet. There are a lot of
things we couldn't do in an SR seventy one, but
we were the fastest guys on the block and loved
(00:56):
reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. Here's Major Shule
with his legendary story known today as the LA Speed Check.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
It's called the LA Speed Story, and it was just
a story about one day. It was really cool being
SR seventy one pound Walter and I were doing a
training mission around the United States where you just were
building up hours in time, and we take off that
Bill hit a tanker in Idaho, rip on up to Montana,
zip across Danver, hang a right tur in Albuquerque, out
over Los Angeles, up to Seattle, back in the Sacramento.
(01:28):
Two hours, twenty one minutes. And you just do that,
and then you do it backwards and you hit a
tank or two. It's just just to gain crew coordination.
Get bill your hours. We're on our last training mission.
We're over Tucson. I can see downtown LA. From Tucson.
We're at eighty nine thousand feet. I can see the
whole Western United States bathed in a warm October fall glow.
(01:51):
I can see the chain of rocky mountains from Canada
to New Mexico. I could just see the most beautiful
picture laid at my feet in the air, as smooth
as glass, not a game, each moving in the cockpit.
It was perfect. Now I'm thinking we bad. Now. I
feel sorry for Walter because he has to monitor five
radios in the back seat. So I flipped the switch
(02:11):
up just to listen. And LA Center is controlling. They
control all when you fly Southwest Air. There, the guy's
controlling everybody. But we're above controlled their space, so they
have us on their scope, but they're not talking to us. Now,
there's controllers all over the country Jacksonville Center, Chicago Center,
Seattle Center. You know it's the same guy. They all
(02:32):
talk the same and it's really cool the way they
talk because he make you feel important as a pilot.
They don't just say yeah, okay, here's your thing. They
make you feel really cool. So sure enough to this
was pre GPS day. Some SASNA guy has to know
his ground speed. La Center says, noa November tangle off.
You've got a ground speed readout for us. Now. Center
would like to say, who cares? Get all free? But no,
(02:55):
he'll talk to him like he's John Glynn s that's November.
Will well show you ninety nine? It's not zero knots
on the ground And they do that sing song. Boy,
that's how they talk, and it makes you feel kind
of cool. Right after that, a Twin Bonanza came up
to pimp the guy for speed. I guess and LA
Center Twin Beach, whatever, you got a ground speed right
for us? And centered like siakats Friday, why me, God,
(03:17):
please just get off free. But he's gonna talk to
him like he's Air Force one. Twin Beach. Shall we
show you one twenty one two's zero knots on the ground.
And right after that, a Navy F eighteen out of
Lamore popped up on frequency and you knew it as
a Navy guy because he talked really slick on the
radio center Dusty five two speed check, And I'm thinking,
(03:43):
wait a minute, Dusty five to two has a ground
speed indicator and had million dollar F eighteen cockpits right
there and the head's up display. Why is he calling
center to broadcast his speed? I get it. We had
just the meanest, baddest, fastest military jet in the Today
we're taking our little horna jet over Mount Whitney and
(04:03):
ripping across Death Valley, and we want everyone from Fresno
to the coast to know what real speed is. And
you can almost hear a little glee in the controller's voice,
like we have put an end to this Testy five two,
we show you six twenty six two zero knots across
the ground, And it was that across the ground, See
(04:24):
that little knife like, I hope nobody else has the
nerve to get on frequency now. And there wasn't an
airliner from Seattle to San Diego that wanted to be
next on Freak. It's sort of an etiquette thing amongst flyers.
And a twelve year old was reaching for the mic
bake and I thought, oh no, wait, Walter's in charge
(04:44):
of the radios. I flew single seat all those years,
but I'm in the family model now and I want it. No,
it's the navy that has died. They must die now.
And I thought, no, but if I do, while upset,
Walter and I want us to be a good crew.
And at that moment I heard a click of the mic.
But in the back seat, ladies and gentlemen, Walter and
I became a crew. At that moment, his best innocent voice,
(05:10):
la Center, Aspen three zero, have you got up ground speed?
Right up for us? You could almost hear a collective
gasp on Freak, like all the four fools didn't hear
the previous transmissions. Oh they got crushed like a grape.
It's it's just a pilot thing. But Center had to
give you that same voice Aspen threes there we show
you one nine ninety two knots across the ground. When
(05:36):
I know is gonna like Walter a lot is When
he came back said Center, we're showing a little closer
to two thousand, ladies and gentlemen. We did not hear
another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast.
The King of speed lived, the Navy had been flamed,
and a crew had been formed for just a moment.
(05:58):
It was absolutely fun being the fastest guys on the block.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
And you've been listening to Major Brian Schule his story
of the SR seventy one Blackbird doing a little speed
check to show off just a little bit. By the way,
a little about Schule. He flew two hundred and twelve
combat missions and was shot down near the end of
the Vietnam War. Unable to eject, he was forced to
(06:23):
ride the plane into the jungle. He was rescued by
Army special forces and was so badly burned that he
was given next to no chance to live. Ryan spent
a full year in the military hospital, where he underwent
fifteen medical procedures and was told he would never fly again.
Bryan miraculously returned to full flight status, flying the A seven,
(06:46):
then the A ten, and went on to be an
instructor at the Air Force's top gun school. By the way,
he's a real life people folks, real life people. His
career culminated in flying the SR seventy one Blackbird. Brian
was the pilot who provided President Ronald Reagan with detailed
photos of the Libyan terrorist camps in nineteen eighty six.
(07:09):
Major Brian Schules SR seventy one Blackbirds story the LA
Speed check here on our American Stories Folks. If you
(07:31):
love the great American stories we tell and love America
like we do, we're asking you to become a part
of the Our American Stories family. If you agree that
America is a good and great country, please make a donation.
A monthly gift of seventeen dollars and seventy six cents
is fast becoming a favorite option for supporters. Go to
our American Stories dot com now and go to the
(07:52):
donate button and help us keep the great American stories coming.
That's Our American Stories dot Com.
This is Lee Habib, and this is our American stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on this show,
and some of our favorite stories are about the men
and women who serve our nation in uniform. Throughout its
nearly twenty four year career, the Lockheed SR seventy one
Blackbirds spyplane remained the world's fastest and highest flying operational aircraft.
(00:33):
From eighty thousand feet, it could serve a one hundred
thousand square miles of Earth's surface in a mere hour.
SR seventy one pilot Brian Schule recalls in his book Fledgdriver,
Flying the world's fastest jet. There are a lot of
things we couldn't do in an SR seventy one, but
we were the fastest guys on the block and loved
(00:56):
reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. Here's Major Shule
with his legendary story known today as the LA Speed Check.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
It's called the LA Speed Story, and it was just
a story about one day. It was really cool being
SR seventy one pound Walter and I were doing a
training mission around the United States where you just were
building up hours in time, and we take off that
Bill hit a tanker in Idaho, rip on up to Montana,
zip across Danver, hang a right tur in Albuquerque, out
over Los Angeles, up to Seattle, back in the Sacramento.
(01:28):
Two hours, twenty one minutes. And you just do that,
and then you do it backwards and you hit a
tank or two. It's just just to gain crew coordination.
Get bill your hours. We're on our last training mission.
We're over Tucson. I can see downtown LA. From Tucson.
We're at eighty nine thousand feet. I can see the
whole Western United States bathed in a warm October fall glow.
(01:51):
I can see the chain of rocky mountains from Canada
to New Mexico. I could just see the most beautiful
picture laid at my feet in the air, as smooth
as glass, not a game, each moving in the cockpit.
It was perfect. Now I'm thinking we bad. Now. I
feel sorry for Walter because he has to monitor five
radios in the back seat. So I flipped the switch
(02:11):
up just to listen. And LA Center is controlling. They
control all when you fly Southwest Air. There, the guy's
controlling everybody. But we're above controlled their space, so they
have us on their scope, but they're not talking to us. Now,
there's controllers all over the country Jacksonville Center, Chicago Center,
Seattle Center. You know it's the same guy. They all
(02:32):
talk the same and it's really cool the way they
talk because he make you feel important as a pilot.
They don't just say yeah, okay, here's your thing. They
make you feel really cool. So sure enough to this
was pre GPS day. Some SASNA guy has to know
his ground speed. La Center says, noa November tangle off.
You've got a ground speed readout for us. Now. Center
would like to say, who cares? Get all free? But no,
(02:55):
he'll talk to him like he's John Glynn s that's November.
Will well show you ninety nine? It's not zero knots
on the ground And they do that sing song. Boy,
that's how they talk, and it makes you feel kind
of cool. Right after that, a Twin Bonanza came up
to pimp the guy for speed. I guess and LA
Center Twin Beach, whatever, you got a ground speed right
for us? And centered like siakats Friday, why me, God,
(03:17):
please just get off free. But he's gonna talk to
him like he's Air Force one. Twin Beach. Shall we
show you one twenty one two's zero knots on the ground.
And right after that, a Navy F eighteen out of
Lamore popped up on frequency and you knew it as
a Navy guy because he talked really slick on the
radio center Dusty five two speed check, And I'm thinking,
(03:43):
wait a minute, Dusty five to two has a ground
speed indicator and had million dollar F eighteen cockpits right
there and the head's up display. Why is he calling
center to broadcast his speed? I get it. We had
just the meanest, baddest, fastest military jet in the Today
we're taking our little horna jet over Mount Whitney and
(04:03):
ripping across Death Valley, and we want everyone from Fresno
to the coast to know what real speed is. And
you can almost hear a little glee in the controller's voice,
like we have put an end to this Testy five two,
we show you six twenty six two zero knots across
the ground, And it was that across the ground, See
(04:24):
that little knife like, I hope nobody else has the
nerve to get on frequency now. And there wasn't an
airliner from Seattle to San Diego that wanted to be
next on Freak. It's sort of an etiquette thing amongst flyers.
And a twelve year old was reaching for the mic
bake and I thought, oh no, wait, Walter's in charge
(04:44):
of the radios. I flew single seat all those years,
but I'm in the family model now and I want it. No,
it's the navy that has died. They must die now.
And I thought, no, but if I do, while upset,
Walter and I want us to be a good crew.
And at that moment I heard a click of the mic.
But in the back seat, ladies and gentlemen, Walter and
I became a crew. At that moment, his best innocent voice,
(05:10):
la Center, Aspen three zero, have you got up ground speed?
Right up for us? You could almost hear a collective
gasp on Freak, like all the four fools didn't hear
the previous transmissions. Oh they got crushed like a grape.
It's it's just a pilot thing. But Center had to
give you that same voice Aspen threes there we show
you one nine ninety two knots across the ground. When
(05:36):
I know is gonna like Walter a lot is When
he came back said Center, we're showing a little closer
to two thousand, ladies and gentlemen. We did not hear
another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast.
The King of speed lived, the Navy had been flamed,
and a crew had been formed for just a moment.
(05:58):
It was absolutely fun being the fastest guys on the block.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
And you've been listening to Major Brian Schule his story
of the SR seventy one Blackbird doing a little speed
check to show off just a little bit. By the way,
a little about Schule. He flew two hundred and twelve
combat missions and was shot down near the end of
the Vietnam War. Unable to eject, he was forced to
(06:23):
ride the plane into the jungle. He was rescued by
Army special forces and was so badly burned that he
was given next to no chance to live. Ryan spent
a full year in the military hospital, where he underwent
fifteen medical procedures and was told he would never fly again.
Bryan miraculously returned to full flight status, flying the A seven,
(06:46):
then the A ten, and went on to be an
instructor at the Air Force's top gun school. By the way,
he's a real life people folks, real life people. His
career culminated in flying the SR seventy one Blackbird. Brian
was the pilot who provided President Ronald Reagan with detailed
photos of the Libyan terrorist camps in nineteen eighty six.
(07:09):
Major Brian Schules SR seventy one Blackbirds story the LA
Speed check here on our American Stories Folks. If you
(07:31):
love the great American stories we tell and love America
like we do, we're asking you to become a part
of the Our American Stories family. If you agree that
America is a good and great country, please make a donation.
A monthly gift of seventeen dollars and seventy six cents
is fast becoming a favorite option for supporters. Go to
our American Stories dot com now and go to the
(07:52):
donate button and help us keep the great American stories coming.
That's Our American Stories dot Com.
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