ot: SR-71 blackbird

[thwart]

Stumbled on this article about the SR-71. Fascinating stuff.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/01/18/1357883/-Speed-of-Heat-SR-71-Blackbird

Yeah, I know the site can be political, but this article stays away from that.

[Black Dog]

That was interesting. Thanks.

[bluesea]

That one I haven't seen, unfortunately. Have seen most others, plus a U2 once taxing probably after landing.

[Mikej]

Cool, I once saw what I thought to be a back half of an sr71 rolled across the San diego airport Tarmac. I was also stationed in Okinawa and also remember seeing the sugar cane farmers flinging habu's as they cut sugar cane.

[Climb01742]

the SR-71 launched a million daydreams in a million little boys. i know. coolest plane. ever.

[zmudshark]

Lot's of cool stories here:
http://www.reddit.com/search?q=SR-71

Bonus pic:

http://i.imgur.com/r7sF24I.jpg

[dancinkozmo]

..very cool...thanks for posting !

[BumbleBeeDave]

But this part . . . "So what followed the SR-71? My guess is a drone of some sort. As far as I know, there was never a "Project Aurora" to create a manned successor to the SR-71. Today our strategic reconnaissance is a combination of satellites, manned aircraft like the U-2 and drones like the RQ-170. The RQ-170 looks like a baby B-2 bomber."

Lots of stuff out there on Aurora. Even if you discount all the crazy stuff, it still sounds like they are working on something.

BBD

[rrudoff]

Used to have flight line and hanger access at NASA Dryden in mid 90's due to a NASA contract I was PI on looking at laser based F-15 engine thrust measurement. Dryden was still running ER-2 (U-2), SR-71, a B-52 and lots of F-18s along with an F-15 back then, and I could walk right up to any of them. Was very use to being quite close to running military gas turbines, but watching a J-58 SR-71 engine on a test stand was a whole other thing. My main contact at NASA had even worked on the X-15 which was the fastest of all.

Glad I am in Biotech these days though, it was interesting stuff, but a somewhat dying field.

[zzy]

Sled Driver is one of my favorite air war books. It has the famous story of a SR71 crew showing up a Marine Hornet pilot who was gloating over his airspeed on the radio. The thing was so fast it didn't have anti-missile counter measures. It just outflew them and they couldn't catch up.

[weisan]

Buying titanium off the Russians...haha...classic!

[dolface]

If you haven't read Bill Weaver's story (SR-71 test pilot) about surviving one them breaking up around him in mid-air then stop what you're doing and go here: http://roadrunnersinternationale.com/weaver_sr71_bailout.html

I'll wait.

(The site is a little hard to read so I just copy-pasted the text to a text doc).

[dolface]

And my favorite facts about that plane are that it flew from NYC to London (flying start) in 1:54:00 in 1974 (cite (http://www.wvi.com/~sr71webmaster/srspee~1.htm) and it leaked fuel on the ground ON PURPOSE! That is the most :banana::banana::banana: thing I have ever heard.

[Saxon]

My Dad did hardware and computer work on the SR71 through the 60's and 70's at Beale AFB. Everything was top secret at the time and he took us to the base a few times when we were young. I remember a huge sliding door that opened with a keypad. Never got to go behind that door, but it really impressed me. Very "Get Smart". :)

[JAllen]

Beautiful aircraft! I remember seeing a drawing as a kid of one of these flying hard and fast towards his ceiling as a surface to air missile runs out of fuel just out of reach of it.

[professerr]

Fun fact from the article about the SR-71. "[I]t had the exact same top speed as a P-51 Mustang. Both were limited to 450 knots indicated airspeed. Except up at 80,000 feet where the SR-71 flew that 450 indicated works out to Mach 3.2 or so."

[don compton]

I saw an SR-71 take off from Mather Air Base and disappear over Lake Tahoe while I was driving north on Sunrise Blvd. near Folsom, Ca. After takeoff, it just disappeared.

[dave thompson]

I hope this link still works, Sled Driver: http://mirror.xwl.me/Sled%20Driver.pdf

[parris]

Brian Shul(sp) is the author of Sled Driver. There's a few good You Tube Videos of him. It's worth the time to look up. Very cool stuff.

[JAllen]

If you haven't read Bill Weaver's story (SR-71 test pilot) about surviving one them breaking up around him in mid-air then stop what you're doing and go here: http://roadrunnersinternationale.com/weaver_sr71_bailout.html

I'll wait.

(The site is a little hard to read so I just copy-pasted the text to a text doc).
That is an incredible story. It's sad that the other crew member died.

[gasman]

Thanks for the link. I built a plastic model as a kid, also saw one disappear after taking off from Mather on my way to Tahoe. Great static display at the Air and Space museum. You can't get very close to it.
I'm going to read the other links tomorrow.
The X-15 was another favorite of mine as a kid.

They must be working on advanced drones or other aircraft we don't know about.

[firerescuefin]

They must be working on advanced drones or other aircraft we don't know about.

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/features/2013/sr-72.html

[bikinchris]

Who knows what kind of technology is still classified and we won't hear about if for a few decades?
You only see what is allowed.

[hairylegs]

Very cool! There's one outside the Science Center here in CA. Amazing.

[witcombusa]

My dad was on the floor @ P&WA working in Experimental when the J-58 was
being hashed out. Truly amazing plane.

[soulspinner]

cool

[weisan]

If you haven't read Bill Weaver's story (SR-71 test pilot) about surviving one them breaking up around him in mid-air then stop what you're doing and go here: http://roadrunnersinternationale.com/weaver_sr71_bailout.html

I'll wait.

(The site is a little hard to read so I just copy-pasted the text to a text doc).
dolface-pal, thanks for the read. I will gobble up every bits and pieces of information that has anything to do with my beloved BlackBird. Saw the bird at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in DC a couple years back. My people has to literally pry my fingers off the railings to leave. :p

Freakin' hilarious and amazing at the same time.

"Two weeks after the accident, I was back in an SR-71, flying the first sortie on a brand-new bird at Lockheed's Palmdale, Calif., assembly and test facility. It was my first flight since the accident, so a flight test engineer in the back seat was probably a little apprehensive about my state of mind and confidence. As we roared down the runway and lifted off, I heard an anxious voice over the intercom. "Bill! Bill! Are you there?"

"Yeah, George. What's the matter?"

"Thank God! I thought you might have left." The rear cockpit of the SR-71 has no forward visibility--only a small window on each side--and George couldn't see me. A big red light on the master-warning panel in the rear cockpit had illuminated just as we rotated, stating, "Pilot Ejected." Fortunately, the cause was a misadjusted microswitch, not my departure."

[wallymann]

The thing was so fast it didn't have anti-missile counter measures. It just outflew them and they couldn't catch up.

Re-read Shul's book. Blackbirds do/did have a suite of defensive anti-missile systems, both threat sensing and electronic countermeasures.

here's the relevant section from the blackbird's flight manual, all defensive systems are controlled by the RSO in back.

http://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/manual/4/4-119.php

[bluesea]

They must be working on advanced drones or other aircraft we don't know about.


I would bet money on it. They wouldn't have cut the F-22 at far less than 300 otherwise.

[William]

I still find the whole program fascinating, but with all the computers and technology we have to do the work for us today....this still blows my mind...

OK let's get to the good stuff. Starting sometime around 1960, a bunch of guys with crew cuts and pocket protectors sat down with their slide rules and produced the fastest aircraft to this day. Probably puffing on cigarettes the whole time. This was 1960 after all.
I have to add a few caveats to "fastest". To call the A-12/SR-71 the fastest I have to limit the categories to "manned" and "air breathing". Rocket planes like the X-15 have gone faster and unmanned aircraft have gone faster.

To get a plane to go Mach 2 isn't all that hard. Mach 2 capable fighters have been pretty common since the late 1950s. To go Mach 3 is another level of difficulty altogether.




William

[staggerwing]

Thanks for the link. I built a plastic model as a kid, also saw one disappear after taking off from Mather on my way to Tahoe. Great static display at the Air and Space museum. You can't get very close to it.
I'm going to read the other links tomorrow.
The X-15 was another favorite of mine as a kid.

They must be working on advanced drones or other aircraft we don't know about.

If you would like a little closer look at one, and you happen to find yourself in SW Ohio, plan on stopping by the Air Force Museum in Dayton.

They have a SR-71 in the main facility, and a YF-12a over in the R&D gallery. Get there early, as you must sign up for a shuttle ride over the R&D hanger, which technically is "on base." Once the days quota is filled, that is it. No go if we are at a heightened security status.

All sorts of cool toys in the R&D hanger, X-15-2, check, XB-70 Valkyrie, check, and many more. There are only minimal barriers, mainly to prevent accidental impalement. Get as close as you like, but don't touch. However, lighting is not great. Tripods used to be OK, if you want to take a couple quality visual souvenirs.

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/exhibits/r&d/index.asp

Should also mention, Huffman Prairie is on the north side of the base, although it doesn't look like much. That was where the Wright Brothers perfected their aircraft, following their initial successes at Kitty Hawk.

[josephr]

I suggest a national bike tour to visit all of them....doesn't count if you don't take pictures!....the one parked in the UK is optional.

http://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/locations.php

[malcolm]

There was a book about it's development and other related things called skunk works or at least I think that's the one I'm thinking of. It's a great read.

[RFC]

The Blackbird IS the stuff of which dreams are made. Here is a photo of my then young sons admiring the SR-71 on display at the SAC Air Museum outside of Omaha. These guys are now young men, both with STEM degrees.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b384/RCopple/SAC%20Air%20Museum0_zpszweydagw.jpg (http://s23.photobucket.com/user/RCopple/media/SAC%20Air%20Museum0_zpszweydagw.jpg.html)

If you are ever in Omaha, the SAC Museum is well worth the visit. Three giant hangers full of air history from WWII and the Cold War. Just to name a few, B-36, B-52, Doolittle folding wing B-25, U-2, British Vulcan and much more. My Dad was a WWII B-24 lead bombardier in the 8th Army Air Corp out of London. So, I grew up on fly boy stories (and Catch 22). They were the Greatest Generation.

Here is one of the more quirky and one of my favorites -- the Gremlin. It was designed to be an onboard defensive fighter for the B-36 on transcontinental missions intended to be dropped out of the bombay doors when enemy fighters presented a threat. Only three were made. This is that last existing example. Talk about a crotch rocket!

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b384/RCopple/SAC%20Air%20Museum3_zpsgi1jvife.jpg (http://s23.photobucket.com/user/RCopple/media/SAC%20Air%20Museum3_zpsgi1jvife.jpg.html)

[staggerwing]

Here is one of the more quirky and one of my favorites -- the Gremlin. It was designed to be an onboard defensive fighter for the B-36 on transcontinental missions intended to be dropped out of the bombay doors when enemy fighters presented a threat. Only three were made. This is that last existing example. Talk about a crotch rocket!


Think that is an XF-85 "Goblin." And, there just might be another floating around out there. :) Note the sequential tail feather numbering.

http://www.sr-71.org/museums/usaf/research/index.php?aircraft=XF-85

[RFC]

Think that is an XF-85 "Goblin." And, there just might be another floating around out there. :) Note the sequential tail feather numbering.

http://www.sr-71.org/museums/usaf/research/index.php?aircraft=XF-85

LOL! Yes, you are correct. It's the Goblin. Interesting that there is at least one other around. As I understand it, one or two crashed in the attempt to bring it back into the B-36 by way of the hook and a cable. Apparently the turbulence was too great.

[rwsaunders]

I hope this link still works, Sled Driver: http://mirror.xwl.me/Sled%20Driver.pdf

It works Dave...thanks for the read.

[choke]

In 1987 I was at Kadena AFB waiting to board a plane home after 6 months in Okinawa. We (my BN) had gone through processing and customs and were lounging in some open-lattice brick structures perhaps 500ft from the flightline trying to stay cool and catch a nap. All of a sudden the loudest noise I've ever heard in my life came blasting over us. I looked up and saw a SR-71 taking off on the far runway. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to grab the camera out of my bag before it was gone. I've been less than 200ft from two F4s taking off in tandem and the noise of the SR-71 dwarfed that.

A few months later I went to the air show at Miramar NAS. There was a SR-71 on display with approximately 30ft around the plane roped off. The crewmembers were inside the roped off area and were answering questions. When it finally was my turn I asked two questions. I don't recall the first but the second was "I know these are stationed at Kadena, Beale and Mindenhall, are there any other bases they're at?" I received the same answer to both questions..."I can't tell you that". After the second time I said "I suppose there's not much point in me asking you anything is there?" He just smiled and said "No".

[RFC]

The Air Force and/or NASA will have to go a long way to develop anything that is as functionally and aesthetically as cool as the Blackbird.

The only thing I have seen that is marginally close occurred on spring Saturday afternoon while driving west towards the Scottsdale Airport. I looked up and saw what I assumed to be an RC and then realized, "that's a fraking B-2!" Indeed, I later learned that there was was an air show going on that day and the Air Force had approved a fly over by a B-2.

[MadRocketSci]

Think I'm a gonna start chain smoking...

[RFC]

Yes, they were custom built in the Skunk Works. Keep in mind that they were primarily fabricated from Titanium, including the bolts and other fasteners so that expansion rates would be consistent when surface friction temperatures reached more than 600 degrees F.

Any wonder that I have a serious thing for Ti bikes? Actually, I have a 90ish Ti MTB frame made for a Dutch company from Ti reclaimed from surplus Russian MIGs.

[don compton]

I hope this link still works, Sled Driver: http://mirror.xwl.me/Sled%20Driver.pdf
Thanks for the link

[RFC]

SR-71 Records:

http://www.wvi.com/~sr71webmaster/srrcd~1.htm

[KJMUNC]

Was just reading another article about the history of the program. Some great old pictures of the development of the A-12.

http://www.roadrunnersinternationale.com/transporting_the_a-12.html?m=8

[NickR]

Thanks for posting and all the other links, time to do some more reading.

[Seramount]

Was just reading another article about the history of the program. Some great old pictures of the development of the A-12.

http://www.roadrunnersinternationale.com/transporting_the_a-12.html?m=8

wow, photos taken AT Area 51...that seems pretty unique. don't think I've ever seen any before.

[Bostic]

Fascinating thread. A highlight for me during a visit to Washington D.C. in 2012 was the Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia. Seeing a Blackbird in person as well as the Enola Gay, Concorde and the Space Shuttle, simply amazing. My wife said I was just like a little boy running from exhibit to exhibit.

[GregL]

https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/a-12

Love 'em or hate 'em, the CIA does a great job of documenting their history. Once something is declassified, some great reads become available. I have a PDF of the entire document in the link above, but can't find the online location of the file.

- Greg

[GregL]

http://www.enginehistory.org/P&W/p&w_j58.shtml

Be sure to click on the photos to enlarge them!

- Greg

[CaliFly]

I remember going to an airshow at Norton AFB in the late 70s. Love at first sight. The black beast circled the airfield, came in for a landing and pulled slowly to the edge of the tarmac. The skunk works logo was emblazoned on a vertical stabilizer. I nearly peed my pants as the cockpit opened and the space-suited pilots climbed out. No scifi flick has ever compared to what my 8-year-old self witnessed that day.

Years later, I took my boys down to March AFB to see the sleeping giant. Totally worth it.

[GregL]

Two more: Here's an Aviation Week & Space Technology pilot report on the beast:

http://aviationweek.com/site-files/aviationweek.com/files/archive/www.aviationweek.com/Portals/aweek/media/PDF/SR-71.pdf

And here's the declassified parts of the flight manual:

http://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/manual/

The manual dispels many of the myths about the Blackbirds, including their true maximum speed: it's Mach 3.3 (http://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/manual/5/5-8.php) as long as the airframe temp limit is not exceeded.

- Greg

[KJMUNC]

I had no idea they had so much tail art.....seems like those guys had a lot of fun with it.

http://www.wvi.com/~sr71webmaster/tail001.html

[LiveFreeOrDie]

Here is a virtual tour of the cockpit:

http://nmusafvirtualtour.com/media/068/SR-71A%20Front%20Cockpit.html

And an explanation of the cockpit by ex-pilot Richard Graham.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj9UwKQKE3A

He had some great stories when I saw him speak at Air Venture one year. :)

[bikingshearer]

The SR-71 is the coolest plane I've ever seen. I never saw one in the air, but I have had the good fortune to see two museum birds - one at the former Castle AFB (Atwater CA, in the San Joaquin Valley northeast of Fresno) and one on the deck of the USS Intrepid anchored on the Hudson River at NYC. That plane looks faster than hell just sitting there.

Castle also has an example of what I think is the second-coolest plane, a B-36. It is so ugly with that bulbous cockpit canopy, so big, with so bizarre an engine configuration (the famous "six turnin', four burnin'" and the prop engines set up as pushers) that it just fascinates me. The Castle AFB one has the bomb bay doors open, so you can duck in and stand with your head in it. It held a lot of bombs.

[weisan]

the SR-71 launched a million daydreams in a million little boys. i know. coolest plane. ever.

As always, Climb-O pal had it right the first time.:banana:

[thwart]

And an explanation of the cockpit by ex-pilot Richard Graham.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj9UwKQKE3A


Fascinating.

Squared.

[RFC]

Just a little more aircraft history eye candy.

http://www.cnet.com/pictures/a-century-of-the-best-of-the-u-s-air-force-pictures/?ftag=ACQ63afa6d