The Brillant Buzzard

"A very large plane that can actually launch smaller aircraft"...US's 'aircraft carrier' in/of the sky?

www.area51zone.com...

regards
seekerof

That's cool. Aurora was actually once in the budget accidentally. Why would the SR-71 be retired without a replacement? It takes time to move satellites and they are dependant on good weather. I have an Air Force buddy (mechanic) who claims to have worked on it, but he was also drunk at the time so I don't know if he is full of crap. He claimed it would do more like Mach 8. I honestly don't think the human body can take those speeds, but I am neither a doctor nor a physicist.

Personally Freddie, I don't think the Blackbird is 'fully' retired, per se'.

I think that the 'Aurora' is real. Funding may be gone, again, per se', but I do think that a few exist. Funding may fall under 'toilet seats and hammers'...if you know what I mean and then under 'undisclosed projects'.
Here is an article to read that you might find interesting. The article, per se', comes after the specs for the 'Aurora SR-X':
www.area51zone.com...

regards
seekerof

Well, there's an interesting development to say the least. Looks like the Navy may have lost its monopoly to a small extent. It'll probably just be used to deploy drones like Darkstar in greater quantities.

[Edited on 8-7-2003 by darkhowling]

There is some info on this site about an aircraft just like this, though ATS says it was used as a platform to launch space vechicles. The ATS site even has the same pictures as the Area51 site. ATS says that the plane was based on the XB-70 bomber. They do sare a resemblance.