I am often asked about this word "Habu" - what it is and why I've chosen it as my e-mail address (among other things...). Well, it has to do with my interest in aviation and automobiles. It's a story that began halfway around the world, almost forty years ago...
Okinawa is in the Ryuku Island chain in Japan. A small, dark, poisonous pit viper snake, indigenous to the Ryuku islands, is called the "Habu" by the native islanders. Though non-aggressive, the Habu snake can inflict a painful and sometimes deadly bite. (photo by Online Encyclopedia of Japanese Reptiles)
In the late 1950s, an aeronautical engineer named Clarence "Kelly" Johnson began working on an aircraft designed to fly higher and faster than any manned aircraft had ever flown. The top-secret program was given the code-name "Oxcart", and would eventually become the Lockheed A-12. The A-12 was not intended to become part of the U.S. Air Force inventory, but was instead operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The Air Force subsequently developed a larger and heavier version of the A-12 under their own top-secret program code-named "Senior Crown". This aircraft would become the Lockheed SR-71. Although never officially given a name, the plane was often called the "Blackbird" because of it's rather sinister looking overall black paint scheme. (photo by NASA)
In 1968, four SR-71s began basing their operations out of Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan. There, the native Okinawans began calling the SR-71 "Habu" because it's shape and color reminded them of the dark pit viper snake. The name stuck, and operational SR-71 crew members began wearing "Habu" patches on their flight suits. Some SR-71s carried a picture of Habu snakes on their vertical tail fins. (photo by NASA)
In 1979, I purchased a Pontiac Firebird. The car was solid black, with a 400 cubic inch V-8 engine, a four-speed manual transmission and four-wheel disc brakes. Since this "Black Bird" was the fastest car I had ever owned, I made the analogy to the SR-71's capabilities and the Pontiac now wears personalized plates proclaiming it as "Habu II". (photo by habu2)
Several years later, Lockheed built another black jet - the F-117A Nighthawk (also known as the Stealth Fighter). During the Gulf War (1991) an F-117A of the 416th TFS, tail #837, carried "nose art" on the bay door depicting a coiled viper named "Habu II". The pilot's name was Capt. Matt Byrd. (photos by Randy Jolly)
After the Gulf War, Capt. Matt Byrd went on to fly with the USAF Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team and carried on the tradition. Here is HABU III displayed on the inside of an access panel on Capt. Byrd's #3 Thunderbird during the 1993 season. (photo by Brian Shul)
The Air Force retired the SR-71 in 1990, just before the Gulf War. The 'final' flight was on March 6th, 1990 - a record-setting run that crossed the entire continental United States, from the west coast of California to the east coast of Maryland, in just 68 minutes and 17 seconds. The average speed for the 2404 statute mile flight was over 2112 miles per hour. I was at Dulles Airport on that day. I heard the double sonic boom as the aircraft passed overhead, completing the record flight, and saw it land a few minutes later.
The Air Force has since re-activated two SR-71s to operational flight status, in an off- again, on-again, tug-of-war battle of funding appropriations. NASA also now flies an SR-71 as part of their ongoing hypersonic research program. It is still the fastest, highest flying aircraft ever made - almost 35 years after it first flew. (photo by NASA)
Here are some links to other HABU related web sites:
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