the green flame

a reply to: Sammamishman

I don't even stargaze and have twice. Although I know what one was now.

a reply to: Zaphod58

im not even an aviation guy really and I've seen 4 different things over the last decade or two if I add it all up. life's weird. some people look their whole lives and never see anything. a idiot walking home from kfc sees a triangle.

sometimes I think the universe and or the govt. chose the wrong putz when it came to my sightings.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I'm convinced the really cool stuff hides from me.

a reply to: Sammamishman

You just gotta put some effort into it.

a reply to: Zaphod58

That's for sure.

a reply to: Sammamishman

i recommend standing on my sidewalk to see all the good stuff. no effort required. heck some aircraft even come to you.

it sure beats trekking around the desert.

Also if something happens to go wrong in the adverse conditions tests it can be salvaged or at worst easily secured.

Flying over Canada/Alaska can be good preparation for future flights over Alaska's Neighbor.


a reply to: Zaphod58

a reply to: hawks

Well I'm in Alaska and I can tell you, I haven't seen much in 32 years. And I'm always looking up, the Northern Lights might be out.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: spaceman42

Yes and no. It appears almost instantaneous and down to a hover from the ground because of the altitude it's at. It can decelerate and accelerate quicker than you think, but it's largely an optical illusion.

Oh great another Rabbit hole...A companion to the Green Lady..Not including the Black Triangles or X37b.

Yes and no. It appears almost instantaneous and down to a hover from the ground because of the altitude it's at. It can decelerate and accelerate quicker than you think, but it's largely an optical illusion.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I was going to say that the flight path LeviB describes almost sounded like what I'd imagine a supersonic-launching TSTO would look like from the ground. First, it lines up its launch inclination (the S-turn) before flying a parabola (where it appears to slow down) before launching the spaceplane/its payload (the acceleration).

My other guess was something with a two-stage propulsion setup either changing it's cycle or transitioning from its airbreathing engines to its closed-cycle powerplant.

It crossed my mind later that what I thought was "It" slowing down was actually a change in altitude before heading North again

originally posted by: Blackfinger

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: spaceman42

Yes and no. It appears almost instantaneous and down to a hover from the ground because of the altitude it's at. It can decelerate and accelerate quicker than you think, but it's largely an optical illusion.

Oh great another Rabbit hole...A companion to the Green Lady..Not including the Black Triangles or X37b.

TR-3b!!*runs and hides*

originally posted by: yuppa

originally posted by: Blackfinger

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: spaceman42

Yes and no. It appears almost instantaneous and down to a hover from the ground because of the altitude it's at. It can decelerate and accelerate quicker than you think, but it's largely an optical illusion.

Oh great another Rabbit hole...A companion to the Green Lady..Not including the Black Triangles or X37b.

TR-3b!!*runs and hides*

Flay that man!!!!!

I see more & more people referring to "The Green Lady"...noob question, is the general consensus that this is the "SR72".. or one of the Darpa Falcon projects, or something else entirely?

a reply to: DichroChrono

From what I've gathered, it's neither the blackswift more the SR-72, but a third, manned, platform.

Others may correct me, but the basic details I've put together are: roughly SR-71-sized, manned, and using heavily, HEAVILY modified/augmented J58-type engines, likely burning jp7 AND boron-related additives, to achieve mach 3.5-4 at altitudes 10-20k feet higher than the blackbird flew.

As for planform, it's been hinted at that it uses a low-observable design with a looong development history, a design supposedly originating in the 60s. That, to me at least, suggests that it can trace it's origins back to the Convair FISH/Kingfish designs, which were competitors to what became the A-12, but we're supposedly MUCH stealthier. The kingfish especially even had rudimentary faceting.

The CIA ultimately chose the Lockheed A-12 design because it was the simpler and less ambitious of the two. Let that sink in for a moment.

a reply to: Barnalby
Why IF a Platform like this exist and work well , not transform it in a low payload first strike bomber ?

a reply to: darksidius

Because that requires a complete redesign of half the aircraft.

a reply to: Zaphod58
OK, do you think The Green Lady is at the end of its life or more in the begining ? Sadly we never see it in the white ?

a reply to: Barnalby
How about a Blackbird-sized XB-70, with newer tech?

a reply to: Barnalby

Wait... isn't the green lady the one that Bassplyr saw twice? I thought it was practically silent and had an orb of plasma extending from it. While no one wants to say what its mission is, all we have been told is that it is very advanced and likely to stay very black for a long time/forever.

Bass: Any chance you could re-post the renderings that another member here made based off of your reports?

a reply to: keeley

No, that was off on a tangent, like we usually shoot off on in this forum. The Green Lady is another bird.