The SR 71 Blackbird

[bob10]

[ame]https://youtu.be/WOQncsVloow[/ame]

[bob10]

The Aurora project.

[ame]https://youtu.be/Y9MaP-J5ps8[/ame]

[ame]https://youtu.be/5SbeClnx4Hk[/ame]

[Pickles2]

Awesome Bob, AWESOME.
I love my Spifires, Mustangs, any WW11 Warbirds etc, but the SR 71 Blackbird, is my absolute favourite aircraft.
I have actually stood underneath one at the Duxford Museum in the U.K.
Thanks, Pickles.

[JDNSW]

The SR71 (and its predecessor A-12) is an amazing aircraft - especially when you realise that they entered service in 1964. They were an example of designing without any preconceived constraints and designed right at the edge of the possible for technology of the day.

IT was shut down by Pentagon politics rather than anything to do with the aircraft. Some generals objected to what was effectively a CIA private airforce! (And wanted the budget for bombers)

John

[PSI250]

Definitely an awesome aircraft.

There's some funny facts like how they leak fuel When on the runway etc due to the extreme thermal expansion of the tanks they don't seal until they heat up.

'Sled driver' is apparently a good read if you can find a copy. Last copy I saw was going for over $1000.

There's that cool ground speed check story out of the book in this link here
SR-71 Blackbird Pilot Trolls Arrogant Fighter Pilot with Ground Speed Check. | Tribunist

[cripesamighty]

Sled Driver is an excellent read. I have it as an eBook. The other great read is the SR-71 flight manual which has been recently declassified. A few pages are redacted but the bulk of it is available as a pdf download.

[squizzyhunter]

There's that cool ground speed check story out of the book in this link here
SR-71 Blackbird Pilot Trolls Arrogant Fighter Pilot with Ground Speed Check. | Tribunist

Pure gold!

Has always been my favourite jet without question.

[Boxhead63]

Awesome Bob, AWESOME.
I love my Spifires, Mustangs, any WW11 Warbirds etc, but the SR 71 Blackbird, is my absolute favourite aircraft.
I have actually stood underneath one at the Duxford Museum in the U.K.
Thanks, Pickles.

I too have been to Duxford. It's always on the visit list for my young bloke and I. An absolutely fascinating place. I could not believe that i was actually walking through a Concorde. I would love to have had a look inside the Blackbird. One day!

Cheers
Rob

[bob10]

They were brave men who first flew the SR 71. The story about the Aurora got me thinking. The only engine capable of flying to mach 10 would be the scram jet engine.The first successful launch of a ram jet engine in the World was at Woomera, by a Qld University team. This is how a scram jet works' EDIT- NASA got involved with the Qld. Uni. project, and nothing much has been heard of it since, AFAIK.

https://youtu.be/xpOa3B03gYg




The video is part of an edX open online course, HYPERS301x: Hypersonics ? From shock waves to scramjets.

Introduction to the free course;

https://youtu.be/VAQBXw6cVdE

You can access all the videos and other course content for free by enrolling at https://www.edx.org/course/hypersoni...x-hypers301x-2.


The story of the QLD UNI launch at Woomera;

On the trail of the Scramjet - the Lab - ABC Science Online

[bob10]

Building of the SR71.

https://youtu.be/d8I7MLD0YZQ