SR-71

[Ducimus]

The B52 thread struck an old memory. Anyone else remember the SR-71 as a kid? I saw it at airshow's ( that isn't mine) and when they fired that plane up, the entire tarmac would vibrate and rumble. The sheer power of the plane was just awesome.

[the_tyrant]

If only I can fly one *sigh

It would be absolutely amazing if commercial air travel can achieve the speed that the SR-71 can

[u crank]

Cool post. I remember reading about this plane but can't remember the book or article. Some stuff I recall though was interesting. The turning radius at speed and altitude was huge. She didn't turn on a dime. Also the fuel tanks would leak on the ground, but would seal up as the aircraft heated up to almost 500F at mach 3.

Must have been a heck of a ride!

[MH]

Amazing plane and also amazing what could be achieved back in 60s when money was of no issue.

[CaptainHaplo]

The only plane I know of that was designed to leak fuel while sitting on the tarmac. Amazed me when I first learned that - but the forethought to do it was even more so.

[Stealhead]

The SR-71 was the only operational aircraft to use an engine that was a combination turbofan and ramjet it used some very unique fuel as well.The leakiness of the fuel though was a bit of an exaggeration in reality the gaps where very small and only a very small amount leaked(it was not a leaking pig as some might believe) out whilst on the tarmac and at low speeds but it was still a very serious fire hazard and as a result they only carried a small load for take off and then they got topped of by a KC-135 after take off.I knew an old timer NCO in the Air Force that had been stationed at Misawa AB Japan (a regular forward operating base for blackbirds in the old days to visit Kamchatka I am sure they also deployed to Kadena a lot more than likely for snooping on China) that one did did have a fire catch as it was taking off but it burned itself out soon after they landed again and about a hour later the Blackbird took off again.No doubt in my mind the SR-71 saw a lot of use over China and Southeast Asia more than anywhere else.A few times they flew it over North Vietnam and they actually tried to send MiG-21s to intercept.... effort in futility.I also knew a guy that been at Beale AFB home of the TR-1(U-2) and SR-71 he had some awards from the wing that had an engraved Blackbird and Dragon Lady of course he had little say about what he did.

@u crank the SR-71/A-12 was never designed with agility in mind so one can not expect it to have a good turn radius no need to turn when you are going so fast and flying so high up that nothing can get you in the first place.The A-12 interceptor was designed when dog fighting was felt to be a thing of the past and designs focused other aspects and had little or no interest in agility.

@MH congress and the branches still argued over what programs where worth spending money: "The A-12 program was officially canceled on 28 December 1966[13] ***8212; even before Black Shield began in 1967 ***8212; due to budget concerns[14] and because of the forthcoming SR-71, which arrived in Kadena in March 1968."

Another aircraft that got scrapped due to money concerns the B-70 it probably was not the best bomber concept at any rate though it was a very impressive design in it own right.

[nikimcbee]

The Evergreen and Boeing museums have SR-71s. @Boeing you can climb into a cockpit.

[Stealhead]

The USS Alabama Memorial Park in Mobile has an A-12 in its aircraft museum(I wonder how many A-12s are left ) I found this out from an ex Marine Corps Aviator that helps maintain the planes on display.He came up to me and asked "Does this Blackbird look a little funny to you?" I told him that it did look slightly different and he asked why might that be I took a guess and told him it must be an A-12 he was pretty impressed and showed the all the data about the plane.I still cant put my finger on what it was but that A-12 did look slightly different than an SR-71 I think it is the nose on the A-12 it is a little wider some of the dimensions are slightly different as well I have always had a keen eye for aircraft design.

[August]

I saw one take off once during a deployment to England. Almost as soon as it left the runway the pilot stood it on it's tail and kicked in the afterburners. It just shot away up into the clouds like a bullet. An awesome thing to watch.

[razark]

One of my favorite stories from an SR-71 pilot. Not sure if it really happened, but I still like it:

One day, high above Arizona , we were monitoring the radio traffic of all the mortal airplanes below us. First, a Cessna pilot asked the air traffic controllers to check his ground speed. 'Ninety knots,' ATC replied. A twin Bonanza soon made the same request. 'One-twenty on the ground,' was the reply. To our surprise, a navy F-18 came over the radio with a ground speed check. I knew exactly what he was doing. Of course, he had a ground speed indicator in his cockpit, but he wanted to let all the bug-smashers in the valley know what real speed was 'Dusty 52, we show you at 620 on the ground,' ATC responded. The situation was too ripe. I heard the click of Walter's mike button in the rear seat. In his most innocent voice, Walter startled the controller by asking for a ground speed check from 81,000 feet, clearly above controlled airspace. In a cool, professional voice, the controller replied, ' Aspen 20, I show you at 1,982 knots on the ground.' We did not hear another transmis sion on that frequency all the way to the coast.

[soopaman2]

In the opinion of everyone here would this still be a viable aircraft today?

That is what I thought of as I read these posts.

It truly was ahead of its time, and IMHO one of the best planes ever engineered.

A modern comparison is the f-22 Raptor.
(yeah yeah, the cost is too much to justify it in an extended combat role, blah blah)
Just saying, ahead of its time.

Love the US or hate us, we sure can build an airplane.

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by soopaman2

In the opinion of everyone here would this still be a viable aircraft today?

Nope. High and fast gets you killed. The Patriot and latest SA-XX can engage targets like the SR-71.

This is the super high speed recon asset of the future:

It stays up for a year, evasive maneuvers can send it in to the next hemisphere, it doesn't lose speed or alt in a turn, is expendable...

[Stealhead]

Yeah the SR-71 would not be safe like it was during the Cold War at the time it was they way to go but the Soviets knowing about the SR-71 and the B-70(though it got scrapped in 69~70) they started developing counters I am not sure if it an urban legend or not but it is said that the interceptor version of the MiG-25 was designed specifically to deal with the B-70 which was a project that they did know about to some extent

That is why the scrapping of the original B-1A program was a good choice that program was to be a high altitude bomber something that was clearly the way of the Dodo by even the early 70's.The B-1B was originally(and it can still perform in this role as can the remaining B-52s if need be) a low altitude NOE penetration platform the odds it was felt where much better of flying low and fast as the Soviets lacked aircraft that had look down shoot down radar abilities until the MiG-31 came along in the early 80s and still good NOE even if radar did see it would have required a high level of coordination to deal with (remember in a SAC war you are sending a large number of bombers in) I am pretty confidante that the Soviets would have been overwhelmed and the F-117 and B-2 that just changed the whole game because those could be used to strike unseen and blow holes in the wall for the B-1Bs and Buffs to penetrate and they could do this to some extent already with cruise missiles.

I would say that radar and guidance technology have caught up with very high and very fast well we all know that high alone was not enough when Gary Powers was shot down 70,000 ft was not high enough.

[Krauter]

Good post Steelhead

[Herr-Berbunch]

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

This is the super high speed recon asset of the future:

Looks like a chinese copy of the shuttle!

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

It stays up for a year, evasive maneuvers can send it in to the next hemisphere, it doesn't lose speed or alt in a turn, is expendable...

Surely that depends on the initial speed into the turn, the force of the turn, and a few other bits that escape me at the moment. Unless it's turn radius is huge at any speed?