The aviation world has lost one of its brightest luminaries. Major Brian Shul was an incredible survivor and a top gun pilot – but also a gifted pho

SR-71 pilot, photographer and storyteller Brian Shul dies at 75

submited by

Style Pass

2023-05-22 06:30:04

The aviation world has lost one of its brightest luminaries. Major Brian Shul was an incredible survivor and a top gun pilot – but also a gifted photographer and storyteller with the ultimate access pass. His brilliant tales of flying the extraordinary SR-71 Blackbird – the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft in history – will live forever.

What a life would've flashed before this man's eyes. Born in Quantico, Virginia in 1948, Shul earned a history degree at East Carolina University before signing up to the US Air Force. He was sent to Vietnam, where he flew 212 air support missions before his T-28 Trojan light attack plane was shot down near the Cambodian border. Unable to eject, Shul took a terrifying gravity ride to the ground, crashing into the jungle deep in enemy territory.

As he described to me in our 2016 interview, the plane exploded into flames. Shul was trapped in the burning wreck, watching the visor of his helmet start to melt, figuring it would burn his eyes out if it dripped onto him. He crawled free of the wreckage, severely burned, then found a place to camouflage himself and hide, as enemy patrols combed the area searching for him, coming within a few feet of his hiding spot.