The Blackbird is still one of my favorite aircraft. I used to have a whole whack of posters covering my ceiling of the plane when I was a kid. Have you ever played around with any of the Micro$oft flight simulator programs? If you have any of them on your computer, here is a site with an awesome Sr-71 you can fly in the game. It is near the bottom of the page. http://www.fsplanet.com/best2.htm
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11:13 PM
Nashco Member
Posts: 4144 From: Portland, OR Registered: Dec 2000
I have flown the SR-71 on an old copy of Chuck Yeager's Flight Trainer. It's hard to get off the ground, but once you're in the air, point it at the moon and go up until the sky turns black!
Nashco --
If you're in Alabama -- there's one in Huntsville and another in Birmingham. Warner Robins, near Macon, GA, also has one.
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07:31 AM
LZeitgeist Member
Posts: 5662 From: Raleigh, NC, U.S.A. Registered: Dec 2000
The ANG museum on the northside of Minneapolis St. Paul International has one on display. Remember all the stories/rumors about the 'aurora' that supposedly replaced the SR71? Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine ran a few articles where they claimed to have heard radio conversations with one of the pilots and had tracked it and measured its speed. Then the stories just kinda died off. http://www.abovetopsecret.com/pages/aurora.htmlhttp://aurorapage.tripod.com/
[This message has been edited by WampusCat (edited 12-10-2001).]
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03:16 PM
hugh Member
Posts: 5563 From: Clementon,NJ,USA Registered: Jun 2000
I've read some fascinating articles on the SR71.On it's last flight it flew out over the Pacific,refueled and got a running start towards Washington DC.It made it in about 1 hour16 minutes.Satelites reduced the need for the SR71 and caused it's eventual retirement.
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07:38 PM
LZeitgeist Member
Posts: 5662 From: Raleigh, NC, U.S.A. Registered: Dec 2000
Is it true the sr-71 leaked fuel all over the place till it reached cruising speed? I know they were supposed to be un-armed, but they just looked mean as hel*.
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12:14 AM
mrfiero Member
Posts: 9003 From: Colorful Colorado Registered: Mar 99
I always like the SR-71 too. My dad was in the Air Force and I got to see one up close and personal (got to see it in the air too!) in '79 or '80 while we were stationed on Okinawa (Kadena AFB).
Mj, indeed the Sr71 did leak fuel until it reached a certain speed/height and then the airframe would tighten up. There was actually a variant of the Sr71 that was proposed for interception called the YF12, and it was capable of carrying air to air missles. It is distinguishable from the regualr BB by its nose section. The one plane I really want ot know more info about is the Aurora, the new ramjet the military is supposedly testing.
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03:42 AM
PAUL88GT Member
Posts: 343 From: Huntsville, Alabama, USA Registered: Jul 99
The one in Huntsville is parked in front of the Space and Rocket Center on Interstate I-565 on the west side of town. You do not have to pay to get in the museum to see it (up close). You may want to check it out if you come to the Swap Meet at the Fiero Factory next April.
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02:36 PM
artherd Member
Posts: 4159 From: Petaluma, CA. USA Registered: Apr 2001
I saw that plane in Seattle, first one I've seen up close... AWESOME! Rocket Sled indeed! I lucked out, Brian Shuel was there (Author of the Sled Driver books, and a SR-71 pilot We spent the rest of the day there, and I talked with him a bit. They would get up at 6am, fly around the USA TWICE, and be back in CA for lunch....
THe SR-71 would indeed leak fuel on the ground when 'cold' (the airframe normally *operates* in excess of 1,000degreesF.) The JP-7 Fuel is a special, and *very* hard to ignite. Once a fire broke out in a trashcan in a SR-71 hanger, and a quick-thinking mechanic took a bucket of JP-7, tossed it on the fire, and it WENT OUT!
The JP-7 soaked SR-71 did catch fire once on the run-up pad, but considering the burning temp at sea level is about *HALF* the operating skin temp of the airplane.... They just sat tight and let it burn off
The Titanium Airframe is being gradually heat treated as the plans grow older through normal flying. It does not stress crack like Aluminum, and it is stronger today than it ever was when new. These planes could last *forever!*
The SR-71 Pilots will live about 5min longer than the rest of us, due to Relativity Dialation!!!
------------------ Ben Cannon 88 Formula, T-top, Metalic Red "Every Man Dies, not every man really Lives" 88 Formula, Northstar, Silver -Mel Gibson, "Braveheart"
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11:33 PM
artherd Member
Posts: 4159 From: Petaluma, CA. USA Registered: Apr 2001
Kelly Johnson: "Will it do Mach 3?" "Oh yes" "Will it do Mach 3.5?" "Oh yes" "Will it do Mach 4?" "I am not at liberty to discuss the top speed of the SR-71..." "Will it do Mach 4.5?" "I am not at liberty to discuss the top speed of the SR-71..." "Will it do Mach 5?" "I am not at liberty to discuss the top speed of the SR-71..." "Will it do Mach 5.5?" "Oh, no, it won't do Mach 5.5"
Brian once told me that over Libia, he was doing Mach 3.5, and still had *THREE INCHES of afterburner travel* left on the throttles....
Best! Ben.
PS: They start the JP-7 with Tri-Ethel Borane, a high-energy density exlposive developed for deep pressure offshore oil exploration (blowing holes in rock a mile down.) CERTINLY NOT for starting jet engines
Count the Mach Diamonds!
------------------ Ben Cannon 88 Formula, T-top, Metalic Red "Every Man Dies, not every man really Lives" 88 Formula, Northstar, Silver -Mel Gibson, "Braveheart"
Originally posted by maryjane: relativity who? What?
I could be wrong...
...but i think Artherd was refering to the Theory of Relativity, Re: Albert Einstien, it links velocity and time...as you speed up, time slows down, relative to a non-moving observer. Experiments have been done with atomic clocks. Atomic clocks are very very accurate, if they run for 1000 years they will only be off a second or two, any way... You put one clock on the ground and the other on an airplane and fly around for a few weeks, and when your done the clock on the airplane will be a little bit behind the clock that is left on the ground.
So, when Artherd says that the pilots will "live longer" he is technically incorrect, what is happening is that we on the ground are traveling faster through time than those in the airplane. Five minutes would be a HUGE difference, but may be correct, if you asume that the pilots have a fairly long carreer. (And spend a lot of time flying in the airplane at high-speeds.)
It's 4:30 am, if this doesn't make sense, I appologize.
Man those things are fast. I beleive stil the fastest plane ever to be in service.
Woulder what it would take to strap one of the engines onto a fiero... <fantasy> ignition...check maskes on...check belted in...check fuel injetors...check ingnition in 3 2 1 BAM! Mach 4 in 3 seconds. </fantasy> Anyways.... <relizes he was daydreaming out loud>
------------------ '88 coupe, 5 speed, custome paint job "I! have a plan!" Have you seen my website yet? Http://www.LithiumEffects/pheageysfeiro Killed: '97 civic CS auto; Killed by: '94 Civic Ex, '96 Camery LX Vandalised: 2 time (in 2 days).
Ben, you never cease to amaze me! Good stuff. That thing sounds like it goes way beyond being "just a machine".
This thing sounds like one of the machines that can do things that the human body can't tolerate, so who can fly it to the max of it's capabilities?
Don't flog me with a wet noodle, I don't know anything about this stuff, I'm just asking?! I will never get over the basic CONCEPT of manned flight, let alone a mechanical beast like this thing! That's just incredible!
Good info...all, thanks for sharing.
Happy holidays!
------------------ Have a good one!
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09:45 AM
PFF
System Bot
Dec 13th, 2001
artherd Member
Posts: 4159 From: Petaluma, CA. USA Registered: Apr 2001
Can a pilot take it? Man, what a plane, but for the most part; yes.
Straight line speed is no problem, depending on who you ask, we're all hurtling away from the rough center of the universe's expansion at anywhere from .1-.6C (speed of light) any way you slice that, it's fast
However, let's just say that you DO NOT want to yank on that control stick very hard above certin mach numbers or so (unsurprisingly the airplane is fairly sensative above mach 3 Most airplanes have a speed that which, once exceeded, you can *hurt* the plane by yanking it around to roughly. Pilots know this as 'manuvering speed.'
PS: Despite extensive shielding and a 3" thick SOLID quartz windscreen, the cockpit temp rises above 220F during normal runs.
You could cook a steak on there!
With some technology though (Apollo era climate controled space suits actually) the human body can mostly take it
PSS: Red2m4, time dialation with speed, exactly what I was talking about. Yes, it IS a huge number! as for 'older' or live 'longer', it's all relative :P)
Best! Ben.
quote
Originally posted by Sage: This thing sounds like one of the machines that can do things that the human body can't tolerate, so who can fly it to the max of it's capabilities?
------------------ Ben Cannon 88 Formula, T-top, Metalic Red "Every Man Dies, not every man really Lives" 88 Formula, Northstar, Silver -Mel Gibson, "Braveheart"
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12:05 AM
TSPalmer Member
Posts: 177 From: Franklinville, NC, USA Registered: Mar 2001
The pilots wore a modified space suit if I remember correctly to survive both the pressure and the heat associated with the speeds the SR-71 could reach, plus the altitude that they flew at.
------------------ T.Shawn Palmer '85 SE 4cyl 5spd
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12:46 PM
BN Boomer Member
Posts: 2086 From: Snohomish, Wa Registered: Jun 99
Seems I also recall that the Blackbird doesn't/didn't take off with a full load of fuel. Just enough to get it airborne and able to be aerially refueled.
I think there is one on display at Hill AFB in Ogden, UT, too.
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01:21 PM
BN Boomer Member
Posts: 2086 From: Snohomish, Wa Registered: Jun 99
Also, considering that jet engine fuels are fairly close to diesel and kerosene, it shouldn't came as any great surprise that it isn't very easily ignited. You can put out matches and cigarettes in the stuff. The only general time an explosion hazzard is present is on hot days when fumes begin to generate, and even then it is usually only in confined areas like fuel tanks.
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01:27 PM
Mark Matthews Member
Posts: 537 From: Las Vegas, NV, USA Registered: Nov 2001
When I was a kid living in Boulder, Colorado one would fly over the house about once a year. That was quite interesting hearing, and feeling, it boom overhead. Until living in CA, it felt like what a earthquake would feel like. No I know better!
------------------ Mark Matthews '87 GT Fastback T-top