This is retired US Air Force Major Brian Shul in full flight suit gear within the cockpit of the iconic SR-71 Blackbird.
USAF/Brian Shul via Wikimedia Commons
According to Shul’s website, he flew 212 combat missions during the Vietnam War before volunteering to fly the SR-71 Blackbird — a high-speed, high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft developed by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works.
Shul retired from the Air Force in 1990 with 20 years and 5,000 hours of fighter-jet flight time.
On July 28, 1976, Air Force pilot Eldon Joersz set the world air speed record by traveling 2,193 miles per hour (Mach 3.3) in the SR-71. That record still stands today.
