Like Time Travel: The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Landed at Beale 17 1/2 Hours Before It Took Off From Kadena, and Had Pilot Dave Peters Not Stopped Three Times for Tankers, Each Time Dropping From Mach 3.2 to Mach 0.8, It Would Have Been 19

Air Force SR-71 pilot Dave Peters flew a “time-bending” mission on a Saturday, taking off from Kadena Air Base at 10:00 a.m. and landing at Beale Air Force Base 17.5 hours earlier than his scheduled departure time. Peters, with Ed Bethart in back, refueled three times over a 6,100-mile Pacific route. The final landing came after a low approach into a closed pattern at Beale, followed by debriefing and an early arrival for Friday happy hour at 4:30 p.m. Peters holds the SR-71 flight-time record at 1,217.3 hours and previously dead-sticked a Blackbird in 1979.