Flock of Blackbirds
Discussion
anhamgrimmar said:
thats pretty much all of the production run in that photo there isnt it?
just googling, and theres only 3? in active service
I think they're pretty much obselete now we have lots of satelites.
Fantastic aircraft though, there's one at Duxford in the American hanger.
bosscerbera said:
And you can add the Oxcart single seaters to that lot too...
Was the Oxcart the U-2?
No he's referring to the single seat A-12 recon version was the first of this 'family' used by the CIA as a U2 replacement (that was the intention anyway) they built 12 I think (some say a few more), then later converted three into two seat YF-12 experimental interceptors but these were cancelled so they redesigned it again into the SR-71 we all know and love. One YF-12 was used to make an SR-71B trainer. 32 SR-71s were built and 12 were lost in accidents. They all look virtually the same though. Ironically it was made from Russian titanium, I always found that amusing
A-12
YF-12
Eric Mc said:
None in service anymore. They haven't been replaced by satellites. The US and Russians have been using satellites since BEFORE the SR-71 entered service. The SE-71 has mainly been replaced by unmanned aircraft such as the Global Hawk.
Yeah they brought about 3 or back into service to fill the gap, since every enemy knows about the satellite movements and can hide accordingly. Mostly killed off because of petty political reasons, which always seems to ruin any interesting military project bloody politicians...
All gone now though, The ruskies could shoot the SR71 down now and any other country can be taken care of by the TR1's and the vastly cheaper and expendable UAVs as was mentioned earlier by EricMc. Another aeronautical legend off to retirement, sad to see her go but on the up side at least most have gone to museums where they can be seen...
They're just stunning looking and performing aircraft. Every vehicle built with high speed performance in mind (fighter planes, speed boats, racing cars)always looks perfectly proportioned. Strange that the physical laws of aero/hydrodynamics coincide with perfect aesthetics.
And yes they did leak fuel until the panels got hot enough at high speed to expand and seal the wing tanks. The fuel they use has a very high ignition point (i.e. you'd need a blow torch to get it lit), just as well really withs tons of the stuff pissing out everywhere...
And yes they did leak fuel until the panels got hot enough at high speed to expand and seal the wing tanks. The fuel they use has a very high ignition point (i.e. you'd need a blow torch to get it lit), just as well really withs tons of the stuff pissing out everywhere...
MilnerR said:
They're just stunning looking and performing aircraft. Every vehicle built with high speed performance in mind (fighter planes, speed boats, racing cars)always looks perfectly proportioned. Strange that the physical laws of aero/hydrodynamics coincide with perfect aesthetics.
And yes they did leak fuel until the panels got hot enough at high speed to expand and seal the wing tanks. The fuel they use has a very high ignition point (i.e. you'd need a blow torch to get it lit), just as well really withs tons of the stuff pissing out everywhere...
The fuel JP-7, was also used in the hydraulics system because of it's high flash point, normal hydraulic fluids can't take the heat she generated at MACH 3.3+
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