Always was a big fan of the SR71. I remember back in the late 80's they were bringing one into March Air Force Base for an air show. I had base access at the time & knew the approximate arrival time. I was at the end of the runway and the SR started doing touch & goes for about 30 minutes with full afterburner. I was right underneath it. What a sight. Cars, on the 215 which paralleled the runway, were pulling of the road and getting out to watch. Afterwards went over and watched it taxi in. Was able to walk right up to it and see all the ice falling off of everything,
This thing has bothered me all week. What a tragedy. I went one year & sat right where the plane went down. I had a group of crazy ex-TWA people in the booth on one side & Bill Lear's wife on the other side. Great times. I have to admit that I knew there was always a possibility of something going wrong. Being that close & at those speeds there isn't too much of a margin of error.