SR-71 Blackbird - Some Statistics
Dec 24, 2015 12:12:09 #
This has got to be the most fantastic plane ever built. Take a look at the numbers.
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/celebrate-the-51st-anniversary-of-the-sr-71-blackbirds-1749338300
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/celebrate-the-51st-anniversary-of-the-sr-71-blackbirds-1749338300
Dec 24, 2015 12:20:25 #
Absolutely amazing aircraft!
The reason it was retired is because the new stuff made it obsolete.
The stuff we don't know about.
The reason it was retired is because the new stuff made it obsolete.
The stuff we don't know about.
Dec 24, 2015 12:20:54 #
jerryc41 wrote:
This has got to be the most fantastic plane ever built. Take a look at the numbers.
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/celebrate-the-51st-anniversary-of-the-sr-71-blackbirds-1749338300
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/celebrate-the-51st-anniversary-of-the-sr-71-blackbirds-1749338300
59,000 pounds was what one weighed empty.!!!
There's one hanging in the air, at the Cosmospere in Hutchinson KS.
Dec 24, 2015 13:12:37 #
I watched them take-off and land when I was stationed a few miles away from one of their bases in Okinawa. Impressive ascent to say the least!
Dec 24, 2015 14:38:26 #
Dec 24, 2015 16:50:22 #
WNYShooter wrote:
And completely designed on sliderule and graph paper!
Largely by Kelly Johnson, I think. He was a genius.
Dec 24, 2015 16:50:51 #
Robert Graybeal wrote:
Absolutely amazing aircraft!
The reason it was retired is because the new stuff made it obsolete.
The stuff we don't know about.
The reason it was retired is because the new stuff made it obsolete.
The stuff we don't know about.
Satellites.
Dec 24, 2015 18:45:23 #
A few more interesting facts. The hydraulic fluid had to be heated above 86 degrees F before it would flow and the fuel has been used to put fires out because of its high flash point. On the ground, it leaked fuel like a sieve. The tires had metal shavings molded into them to help dissipate the heat buildup during takeoff & landing. The OBC (optical bar camera) carried a roll of film 10,500 feet long. Each frame was 6 feet in length. A full roll took over 12 hours to process. As the film was being taken up after processing, it was cut in 74 frame increments. After adding a film header & trailer with mission information, each roll was almost 500 feet long.
Dec 24, 2015 19:56:19 #
nicksr1125 wrote:
A few more interesting facts. The hydraulic fluid... (show quote)
Thanks for all that info. Nick. Lots of cool stuff. 6 feet negatives.
Unreal.
Marion
Dec 24, 2015 19:56:57 #
Dec 25, 2015 06:20:51 #
Saw my first one the night of Oct 3 1972 when Udorn Royal Thai AFB was attacked by Viet Cong Sappers in Northern Thailand. The SR71 had diverted to Udorn after a recon trip over North Vietnam after an in-flight emergency. I was a 20 yr old GI at the time and rode by the SR parked in a revetment with armed guards around it - we were amazed by the dark sinister shape that was so secretive at the time.
Saw one in the air at the U.S.A.F.'s 50th anniversary in Oshkosh, 1997. Then more in Seattle's Museum of flight, Smithsonian, Wright Pat, etc.
Saw one in the air at the U.S.A.F.'s 50th anniversary in Oshkosh, 1997. Then more in Seattle's Museum of flight, Smithsonian, Wright Pat, etc.
Dec 25, 2015 08:48:48 #
Dec 25, 2015 08:50:56 #
sammywoody wrote:
Saw my first one the night of Oct 3 1972 when Udorn Royal Thai AFB was attacked by Viet Cong Sappers in Northern Thailand.
There's a relative of the SR-71 on the Intrepid, docked in Manhattan, NY.
http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/
Dec 25, 2015 08:56:31 #
skunkworks because of the smell of the wierd polymers used in construction.. I wrote the developement/acceptance software for the ELINT rcvrs for that vehicle HP9825..and later tested the antenna bays in the chamber shown onthe left... 1912... funjob.. EdM
Dec 25, 2015 09:15:48 #
Nope that wasn't the main reason.
Robert Graybeal wrote:
Absolutely amazing aircraft!
The reason it was retired is because the new stuff made it obsolete.
The stuff we don't know about.
The reason it was retired is because the new stuff made it obsolete.
The stuff we don't know about.
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