|
SledLimitedEditionDriver
THE PATCH
The custom Centennial of
Flight Limited Edition Sled Driver emblem was specially designed
to celebrate the new Limited Edition of Sled Driver, released as
a commemorative of the Centennial of Flight year. The patch
design highlights a century of flight, punctuated by the
development of the fastest, highest flying plane built during
that period.
At the center of the patch,
suspended in time, above the earth it changed forever, is the
Wright Flyer. The focal point of the emblem, it represents the
starting point of aviation as we know it today.
The globe is draped in
American flag colors, representing the United States as flexing
the greatest air power the world has ever known. Not only going
from first to fastest, but also to worlds most powerful.
The 7 stars on the field of
blue, represent the 7 Mercury Astronauts, men with the Right
Stuff that took the Wright Brothers’ dream beyond the blue.
 The
SR-71 is seen pushing its double shock wave purposefully across
a red field, representing the numerous Cold War missions flown
against Communist regimes with impunity, personally delivering
the sound of freedom.
The two stars on each end of
Centennial of Flight, represent the two crew members who manned
the SR-71.
If you add up the individual
numbers in the years 1903 and 2003, it equals 18, the number of
letters needed to write Centennial of Flight.
The top roller of the patch,
as shown here, is the generic version of which only 1000 will be
made and sold separately. With each Limited Edition book, the
top roller will include that book's individual number, thus as
no two SR-71's were exactly alike, so too each book patch will
be uniquely different.
If you add up the letters in
the other three rollers, Limited Edition Sled Driver, it equals
24, the number of years the SR-71 flew missions worldwide, from
1966-1990.
The three red stripes
represent the three main locations the SR-71 flew missions from;
Beale AFB, Kadena Air Base, and RAF Mildenhal.
The two white stripes
represent the memory of Orville and Wilbur Wright.
The silver border represents
the silver wings of the U.S. Air Force, longtime nemesis of the
red scourge of Communism, keepers of the SR-71.
The gold color of the
Centennial year numbers, represents the gold wings of Marine and
Naval Aviation, key air components to America’s mighty carrier
fleet.
The four black rollers around
the sea of red, represent the four cardinal points of the
compass from which, at anytime, day or night, the black Sled
could pursue its worldwide mission, encircling the red scourge
of Communism.
The 14 blue stars, one for
each line of the poem High Flight, form a constellation along
the edge of the patch, representing the vast outreach of space,
the final frontier of flight.
|
Back
