Piece of an SR-71 Blackbird on eBay - Original Vertical Tail Rudder - $1mil o.b.o.
Posted by Esquire99@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 8 comments
Esquire99@reddit (OP)
I find it odd that the seller has 4 current listings. 3 of them are ~$15 crochet lights, and other is a $1mil tail fin off of one of the coolest/fastest planes of all time.
deleted_by_reddit@reddit
I looked at his previous stuff too, same thing. Maybe got it at a military auction? If they didn't know what it was...
Esquire99@reddit (OP)
Why aren't I ever at auctions where stuff like this "slips" out? I'm quite curious as to what it actually came off of. Wikipedia says that 36 SR71s were built, and all are "accounted" for, as either "lost" or in a museum. So, this is either from a crashed one, an "extra" part, or it's off of an early test model. It appears to have seen flight, so who knows. Very curious either way.
airshowfan@reddit
The serial number is in plain sight ;)
http://www.habu.org/sr-71/17955.html
Esquire99@reddit (OP)
So it was from a test aircraft. Interesting. I still wonder how they came about getting the part. Maybe it had to be replaced for one reason or another, since a "whole" version of 17955 seems to be on display.
airshowfan@reddit
Yes, I have personally checked ;) and 17955 seems to have both its rudders on.
How in the world did they get the part? Good question. Contacts at a maintenance facility that was about to throw it away? Or maybe a museum was about to get it (I have seen Blackbird rudders at museums) but the acquisition process broke down somewhere along the way? Maybe the part got misplaced in a junkyard or in storage, like that A-12 canopy.
Esquire99@reddit (OP)
Either way, what a find. I can't imagine there are many real SR71 parts in private hands (especially things beyond basic instrumentation).
Choice_Pomelo_1291@reddit
I dunno, there's a nuclear bomb capsule from a B-58 laying at a junkyard on my daily commute, I believe there are only three in existence remaining.