posted on Jul, 18 2017 @ 12:56 PM
I was reading an old Popular Science article where the author went in to great depth discussing the needs of Mach 5 airframe. He was at Edwards, I
believe, and was discussing with his host (can't remember who the host was) what kind of fuel source such a bird would require, while touring a hangar
housing an SR-71. Was a really great read! The interviewee whose last name was Dupont, if I remember right, was stating that if he was working at
Lockheed, he would be interested in using liquid methane. Describes that the liquid methane would act as a great heat sink for such an aircraft.
There other interesting bit was a suggestion of Methylcyclohexane as potential fuel source. The author stated that you would have to find a proper
catalyst though, and I remember wondering if TEB would be able to work for such an application.
This was all back in 88' so who knows how applicable any of the ideas brought forth in that thought experiment of an article are today, but once
again, it was a great read!!!
November 88 issue of Popular Science.