In 1969 an SR-71 was flying over the Pacific Ocean when it lost a generator in flight.
The plane landed on Midway Island and got a small painted addition added to it.
This is what I've pieced together from browsing the internet so I'm not sure how true it is.
The stabilization was done in Davinci Resolve and Photoshop's generative fill was used to fill in the extended background that the video didn't pan over.
--------------------------
Transcript:
The SR-71 Blackbird number 974 had one of the most colorful histories among all the Blackbirds and was generally well-regarded by its crew. In 1969, the aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing on Midway Island due to a generator failure, resulting in an unexpected artistic addition. During its four-day stay on the island due to adverse weather and tanker scheduling, the SR-71 crew crossed paths with a Navy officer and his wife. She happened to be an artist and was invited to the aircraft's ramp, where she spent approximately four hours painting Gooney birds on both of the aircraft's landing gear doors.
When the time came for the plane to take off, it had to be backed up all the way to the very edge of the short runway. Unfortunately, the painted Gooney birds didn't withstand the intense heat generated as the aircraft went supersonic, reaching temperatures of around 600°F, causing the paint to gradually burn off. Subsequently, when the aircraft returned to Kadena, it underwent a repaint using materials that could endure the extreme heat, ensuring the artwork would last.
Extra Info from my perspective:
I'm a huge fan of all aircraft, but especially military aircraft.
A week or two ago, while scrolling through Reddit, I stumbled upon a post showcasing previously unreleased footage from the late 1960s. It captured one of, if not the only instance of the time an SR-71 landed on Midway Island in the Pacific. The original footage was incredibly shaky since lenses back then weren't stabilized and film cameras didn't keep each frame of film in the exact same spot.
Realizing how cool this footage was, I reached out to the Redditor who posted the video and managed to obtain a copy in its original quality. I spent around three hours to stabilize the footage and also recreated a background to convert some shots into a widescreen frame. To provide more insight into what was going on, I did a little research as to why the plane landed on Midway. I then used AI to add a voiceover to the video, offering additional context to the cool story.
Sources on the plane being at midway:
[ Ссылка ]
[ Ссылка ]
[ Ссылка ]
[ Ссылка ]
Ещё видео!