OT: Titanium

[Veloo]

This is why your spy plane is so expensive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obcya0ze6Zo

[oldpotatoe]

This is why your spy plane is so expensive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obcya0ze6Zo

Titanium has been used in aircraft for a long time. My 50s era design F-4 had an all titanium skin aft by the afterBurners..many have titanium hydraulic tubing for 5000psi+ pressures BUT yup, SR71 all titanium skin..cuz it went so fast, no other material would withstand the skin heating. And YES, they do leak fuel while on deck..skin tightens up a lot when airborne and boogying along at Mach3+.

Pretty amazing tech for a late 50s, early 60s aircraft..considering only about 15 years post WWII, prop tech...

Gotta wonder what various black 'skunk works' have on the drawing boards(or flying in Area 51) now.

[Tickdoc]

Gotta wonder what various black 'skunk works' have on the drawing boards(or flying in Area 51) now.

would be fun to know....

SR-71 is just such an amazing feat of engineering affecting so many aircraft since. Always fun to see one up close and it has this strange proportion of not a huge plane but so long and lean and it seems huge at the same time. I can't even imagine what a strange experience it must've been to push one on a mission.


https://i.imgur.com/0XpNWhx.jpg

[dancinkozmo]

Titanium has been used in aircraft for a long time. My 50s era design F-4 had an all titanium skin aft by the afterBurners..many have titanium hydraulic tubing for 5000psi+ pressures BUT yup, SR71 all titanium skin..cuz it went so fast, no other material would withstand the skin heating. And YES, they do leak fuel while on deck..skin tightens up a lot when airborne and boogying along at Mach3+.

Pretty amazing tech for a late 50s, early 60s aircraft..considering only about 15 years post WWII, prop tech...

Gotta wonder what various black 'skunk works' have on the drawing boards(or flying in Area 51) now.

cant imagine how thrilling it mustve been to fly an f4 !

[mtb_frk]

Wow, that is a cool picture of the controls.

[Steve in SLO]

Just imagine all the trouble you would get in publishing this picture in, say, 1965.