My father-in-law was career Air Force, 1953-1975. He has some great stories. They had an SR-71 come into their base (somewhere in Texas, if I remember correctly). They had to keep it inside a hanger and it leaked hydraulics and fuel until it got airborne and up to speed. When in flight, at high speed, everything heated up and sealed. I've read confirmatory stories elsewhere.
He also got to work with GE in field testing some of the first "miniguns" in that little SE Asian conflict. He had plenty of photos of that.