Mach 3.5
The story of the man who helped design a plane that would go down in history forever.
It is December 22, 1964 at USAF (United States Air Force) Plant 42 in a small town called Palmdale just north or Los Angeles, CA. A brand new prototype plane is being driven out onto the runway. A large, black, twin jet engine plane unlike anything anyone has ever seen before. A young pilot named Bob Gilliland hops into the cockpit and gets strapped in. The weather conditions are perfect, not a cloud in the sky. A perfect day for a test flight. The engines start up and immediately you can feel the absonute power coming off of the jet. It begins down the runway, picking up speed as it goes and before you know it, its in the air. It’s takeoff is quick and effortless, but that is not why everyone came out to watch it fly. As soon as it was in the air, it was evident that this was no plain and simple jet. No, this plane was fast, very fast. This was when the real test began. It started to pick up speed, and man was it moving! It got faster and faster until… BOOM! A sound wave exploded so loud, the entire town could hear it.
The plane had just gone mach 1, it had just broke the sound barrier. Everyone was in awe of the marvelous jet, but it was not done yet. Soon after that it had hit mach 2, it was now flying at twice the speed of sound, something very few jets have ever done, but that is not where it ends. Before you know it, mach 3, three times the speed of sound. One of only three other planes to do this in history up until that point. But it is still not done there, it keeps climbing and hits a top speed of mach 3.4, the fastest any plane has ever gone in the world. Everyone is in shock, nothing had ever gone that fast before or even came close. The plane came down for a safe landing, the pilot got out of the cockpit and celibrated with the engineers. History had just been made. That plane was the SR-71 “Blackbird,” and my great grandfather helped design it.
He was Sworn to Secrecy
My great grandfather was working for the military when he was designing these spy planes, and everything was classified information. He was not allowed to talk about what he was working on at Lockheed (the company he was working for). Here I will be interviewing my paternal grandmother over the phone, who was the daughter of my great grandfather, Grandpa Dale. She would always tell me all of these crazy stories of Grandpa Dale. He had always intrigued me knowing that he played a big part in creating the fastest plane ever built. He had such and interesting life and I really wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about him.
What was your first memory with Grandpa Dale?
My parents lived through the great depression, and it affected them greatly. I was 4 years old when we bought our first house, one that sticks out in my memory is that we paid for the house in full cash because my parents refused to go into debt.
Was there anything that you guys liked doing when you were a kid?
My dad and I loved riding bikes together. However, when I was young, my father had a heart attack and was in bed for a long time. He wasn’t very active for a while after that.
What was Grandpa Dale’s early life like?
He was born in Holdridge, Nebraska in 1916. He didn’t have much when he was younger. He lived in a mud hut that his own parents made from mud water and hay.
What was he like in high school?
He played saxophone in high school and was in band. They used to drive around in their Model T with their instruments strapped to the running boards and drive from town to town playing music.
What was he like after High School?
He left home right after high school and moved around a little from Nebraska to Denver to LA where he started working for Lockheed.
So did he ever go to college?
Because money was scarce, he wasn’t able to go to college. But he did take night classes. He never got his degree; college degrees weren’t as common back then as they are now. In those times people had to get jobs immediately after high school in order to support themselves. Getting a college degree was a luxury.
When did he start working for Lockheed?
He started working for Lockheed around the age of 24. He quickly worked his way up the ranks, and eventually started working on the “Skunkworks” team. Which was the code name for the secret team of people that worked on all of the top-secret spy planes.
How important was he on the “skunkworks” team?
Well, shortly after he started working there, the US had entered WW2 and he was drafted three different times. And each time he was drafted they had him come right back because they needed him working on the skunkworks projects more than they needed him in the war.
What was his responsibilities in skunkworks?
His main job was to work on the electrical components.
What was his biggest project that he worked on?
He worked on many different planes, however the most notable and impactful plane that he worked on was the Blackbird.
What did he work on specifically on the blackbird?
He was responsible for the entire electrical system of the plane.
Did he ever talk about the blackbird?
No, at least not until years after it was already done. This is because it was classified information and he was sworn to secrecy. He was not allowed to tell anyone about the blackbird, not even us.
Did he talk about the work often?
Well, I also worked at Lockheed in high school and so we would talk about work together all the time. And even though I worked there with him, he was not allowed to share details about what he was working on.
What did you work on at Lockheed?
I also worked with electrical components, obviously none as complex as his though.
Do you have any cool work stories about him?
So, as a senior member of the team, he was able to work with some very important people. Such as Chuck Yeager, who was the first pilot to break the sound barrier, and Kelly Johnson the head of Skunkworks.
How did Lockheed pay?
For that time, they paid very well. I remember him showing me one of his checks and it said $205 and I was completely in awe.
Now was that monthly? Because I know $200 was a lot of money back then.
It was, and no it was a weekly check, which is why I was so surprised. We lived very well because of that job. I was able to go to college without a problem.
When did he retire from Lockheed?
He was able to retire early and retired when he was in his late 50’s.
What did he do after working for Lockheed?
He bought and ran an auto supply store with my brother and ran that for a couple of years.
Reflection
My great grandfather lived quite the life. He started with practically nothing, literally living in a house made of mud. And he worked his way up the ladder and became one of the highest ranked engineers in a world renowned company and had the opportunity to work on a plane that changed the world forever. He is a true inspiration to me, how he shows us that we really can write our own future. That it doesn’t matter where we come from, it matters what we do to get to where we want to go.
