Got To Sit In An SR-71 Blackbird

[Knight26]

Speaking of irony, I've heard that much of the titanium used in the construction of the SR-71s had to be purchased direct from the USSR, as the US' supply was so limited.

Technically it wasn't procured directly, but by dummy corperations set up by the CIA.

Edited May 12, 2005 by Knight26

[Retracting Head Ter Ter]

And now that the Soviets/Russians are not churning out their subs/planes/etc by the bajillions, I finally can afford a titanium watch!

Back to the question. Is creating something with the performance of a Blackbird possible by other countries today? Is it just $?

[David Hingtgen]

It's more of a "why?" Same reason the Blackbird isn't flying now---incredibly complex and expensive to maintain on a day-to-day basis, and satellites are almost as good. Yes, an SR-71 can be anywhere really quickly and take pics of EXACTLY what you want, but the USAF apparently doesn't consider it worthwhile enough to keep in service.

I doubt we could do anything notably superior, but to make another similar plane is quite possible, just very expensive.

Past Mach 3, the mach cone gets quite tight. Aerodynamic problems, regardless of strength/heat/structure. The sheer shockwave starts eating at the frame. For all the people who claim Mach 4 or Mach 5+ for the SR-71, they obviously know nothing about shockwaves. A Blackbird will self-destruct from its own shockwave at about Mach 3.5. And one A-12 on a high-speed run did ruin its wings and tails trying to do so. (Fastest Blackbird ever--went about 3.5 before parts started ripping off) Survived, but was immediately scrapped after landing due to damage.

SR-71 speeds:

3.2 Normal cruise

3.3 High cruise, approved flight-by-flight. Depends on atmospheric temp more han anything.

3.35--Max dash speed, 5-10 mins

3.4---emergency, moderate damage sustained

3.5---severe damage/destruction.

Both of the bottom two assume you have a very cold day, and a "cold" engine. 99% of the time, the turbine inlet temp is the limiting factor for the SR-71's speed. The numbers above presume a PERFECT engine running very cool, and that the shape of the airframe itself is the limiting factor, not how hot the engine is running.

[JB0]

It's more of a "why?" Same reason the Blackbird isn't flying now---incredibly complex and expensive to maintain on a day-to-day basis, and satellites are almost as good. Yes, an SR-71 can be anywhere really quickly and take pics of EXACTLY what you want, but the USAF apparently doesn't consider it worthwhile enough to keep in service.

Isn't the Air Force's unofficial position something along the lines of "if it can't blow stuff up, we don't want it"?

[glane21]

I thought a few were still in service? And doesn't NASA have one it uses?

[JB0]

I thought a few were still in service? And doesn't NASA have one it uses?

The only ones that were still flying were NASA's. And they had to drop it because they couldn't afford the maintainence.

[Retracting Head Ter Ter]

Would the Blackbird have benefitted from using compression lift like the XB-70?

[Akilae]

Dunno how accurate this is, and I'm sure it's a biased POV, but according to "Skunk Works", it was SAC and Cheney that wanted the Blackbird down and out. Lockheed actually made an offer to reactivate and service the Blackbird for Desert Storm, but that also got shot down by Cheney, "Once we let this damn airplane back in, we'll never get it back out."

Well, in hindsight, drones nowadays seem to be partially filling the role, although a lot slower and a lot lower.

Aren't U-2s still in regular service for weather research?

[HWR MKII]

The U2 is still doing its military job and is used by nasa to do weather experiments plus various "other" reasons.

[Fatalist]

Went to the California Science Center over the last weekend. I was shocked to see that they had an A-12 trainer up on stilts right next to the main parking area. Couldnt believe how huge that thing is!!!

Sadly, the info plaque they had for it said the max speed was Mach 2.2. But we all know thats false.