On The Edge

On The Edge
by
Larry Brown
On The Edge was created by Larry from one of his most memorable flights in the SR 71. The mission launched out of Beale AFB, California westward over the pacific to the eastern Soviet Union coast and then into Kadena Air Base on the island of Okinawa, Japan. On this flight, Larry snapped several pictures while above 80,000 feet, using a 35mm camera. The view from one of these photos is reproduced exactly in this drawing and shows the curvature of the earth as seen by many HABU’s in the SR-71. The SR 71 routinely operated from 80,000 and Mach 3 or above which was near the edge of the flight envelope. Crews had to be especially mindful in this region since any inlet or engine disturbance could put the aircraft out of control from which there was no recovery. Even with the extremely thin atmosphere, the heat generated from these speeds produced skin temperatures as high as 900 degrees and internal temperatures near 300 degrees.

Each print includes a certificate of authenticity, and each is signed by Larry Brown with the print number.