Sled Driver

path through the evening sky. The contrails were no longer white, but now exhibited
a golden reddish color. Each ice crystal sharply reflected the fiery hues of the setting
sun. I viewed the subtle colors of the sky with the signature of the Sled arcing across
it in lines of red, and realized I could never photograph this scene. The large contrast
of light and dark would make the scene impossible to capture adequately on film.
Nevertheless it held my attention until our final turn to the South.
We sped home in search of our third refueling, and the sun appeared to rise again
as we travelled south. The sky returned to its normal color of deep blue. We left a
strange and mysteriously beautiful area behind and returned to a land where the
sun was where it should be. After landing we had much to debrief about missionrelated
material. Later, I mentioned the sight I had witnessed to Walt, and found he
had been unable to see it because he was so busy at the time. As I walked back to
my quarters, I watched the sun set for the second time that day. It had been a
memorable flight. I'll always recall that picture of being suspended between night
and day with our contrails etched across the frozen Arctic sky. It was one of the
many gifts the airplane gave to me.
A CREW FINISHES
Nearly four years after we started the program, Walt and I had our final flight
together. At the time, we didn't know it would be our last flight. It was one of those
satisfying missions where everything worked out as planned and the jet flew
flawlessly all day. We flew an operational sortie with a bonus at the end. After
completing a long swing through Europe on a complex route, we were tasked to fly
in an airshow in England upon our return. I felt a little like the Spitfire pilot of
yesterday who left to do battle with the enemy, returned unscathed, and did a few
low passes for the chaps back at the home field before landing. When we topped off
with the last tanker, it was a good feeling to know that several thousand people
were waiting to see us return. When we got out of the jet, that day in England, we
shook hands and congratulated each other on a mission well-flown. Although the
end was unforeseen, we couldn't have asked for a better finale than that.
Walt went to command an ROTC detachment; it was an excellent opportunity for
him. I opted to stay at Beale to continue to instruct in the T-38 and schedule the
remaining months of local SR-71 flights. We had experienced much, and lived
moments we would remember for the rest of our lives.