Lt. Col. Ed Yielding (pilot) and Lt. Col. J.T. Vida (reconnaissance systems officer) set four speed records while flying the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, including a transcontinental mark of 2,112.52 mph (one hour, eight minutes, 17 seconds elapsed time) over the 2,404.05-mile course from Oxnard, Calif., to Salisbury, Md. The flight was anticipated to be the SR-71s retirement flight.
The Air Force is on track to reach its annual goal of graduating 1,500 new pilots that had proved elusive to this point, one year after the service launched a sweeping overhaul of its undergraduate pilot training program, Air Education and Training Command said Sept. 14.
