Whats up with blackbirds?

How exactly are blackbirds conspiracy related? I mean whats so great about them there just planes right? I know there were only like 40 ever made and some of those were shot down but aren't they a few years old? surely we have faster more modern planes?

Well, its common knowledge that Black Birds are soviet spies. Have been for years.

Back in the late 40's, Soviet scientists learned how to advance a blackbirds intellect a 1000 times rivaling some of Humanities top thinkers.

So some government agencies use Black Birds as spies!!

Rumor has it Big Bird from Sesame St is a Chinese assassin.

All true.




I hope this conspiracies it all up for you

Youre talking about the black bird planes right? And whats this about big bird? A chineese assasin? never.......

Originally posted by Atomix
Youre talking about the black bird planes right?

Just a little humor for you. Tis a joke.

There was a Black Bird issue in some town this last week where they were swooping down and attacking people. Damn blackbird spies!!

are blackbirds armed?
if so what do they carry?

No, not armed. They only carry cameras.

I think there were plans for an armed version back in the 60's...but thankfully the 60's died and along with them the armed version plans.

Originally posted by bodrul
are blackbirds armed?
if so what do they carry?

The SR-71 Blackbird was based on the earlier A-12 built for the CIA. The A-12 had originally been intended to be a high-speed bomber, but it was instead fitted with cameras and sensors for reconnaissance missions. However, the A-12 was still capable of carrying an external pod on its centerline containing a 1-megaton nuclear bomb. The A-12 was retired once the SR-71 dedicated reconnaissance platform entered service in the late 1960s. It is believed that the SR-71 was also equipped to carry a nuclear weapon, but I'm not sure if this was ever done.

The Air Force was also interested in a fighter model that was called the F-12. This version featured internal weapon bays that could carry AIM-47 air-to-air missiles. I've heard stories that the AIM-54 Phoenix missile was originally developed for a production F-12 fighter, but this model was cancelled and the Phoenix was instead adopted by the Navy for use on the F-14 Tomcat. Regardless, only three prototypes of the YF-12 were built, but they were instead given to NASA for use in high-speed research.

You can read more about the Blackbird family here:

www.aerospaceweb.org...
www.sr-71.org...

Heh, this reminds me of something, my wife was watching Days of our lives one day and they said they were gonna scramble BLACKBIRDS to intercept a private jet or something that was hillarious...

Atomix
How exactly are blackbirds conspiracy related? I mean whats so great about them there just planes right? I know there were only like 40 ever made and some of those were shot down but aren't they a few years old? surely we have faster more modern planes?

Conspriacy related??? They were classified a while back...and test flew out of Area 51, and there top speed is highly debatable, thats about all I can think of.

and NONE were ever shot down.

All Blackbirds are retired...they havn't flown any in years.

Faster planes...yes and no. nasa flew a scramjet a year or so ago, it reached mach 9.8...which is far faster then the Blackbird could even hope to be.
But as for a "real" aircraft...no, nothing has beat the bird. (But of course the Blackbirds top speed Mach 3.2, has been far surpassed in the "Black" world, which black aircraft most likely use either a ramjet or scramjet or PDE)

even the chinese HQ-3 can shoot down a blackbird.

Really satalites are the only viable way of optical surveilance these day's...

Blackbirds were as said, high speed recon planes. I'm pretty sure that they are still the fastest manned aircraft capable of taking off on it's own power, but I could be mistaken.

Anyhow I'm not sure if they're completly retired or not. I think they are but I've heard something about NASA using them for high altitude scientific work.

Conspiracy related, well they supposedly did some recon work over Vietnam, they were tested at Groom Lake (aka Area 51), were classified for a long time, and even today nobody is truely sure of it's maximum altitude and speed. But in the end I only remember hearing about three of them ever being made.

SR-71 Flight Manual

www.sr-71.org...

Maximum Mach 3.3

The maximum alitiude limit is 85,000 feet unless higher altitude is specifically authorized.

Thats the generally accepted limit, however I've heard a lot of rumors that it can go much higher and even a bit faster if the pilot wants it to.

Anyhow I've heard about the armed blackbird, I guess the concept eventually turned into the Valkyrie (or was the Valkyrie first?, I don't remember). Either way supersonic spy planes have pretty much been phased out, too many accidents, too easy to shoot down now a days and not as effective.

Originally posted by Atomix
I know there were only like 40 ever made and some of those were shot down but aren't they a few years old?

www.globalsecurity.org...

None shot down. You can't hit what you can't catch.

BTW-I find the Mach 3.2 a little unrealistic. When the plane was flying at top speed, the aerospike intakes caused the engines to act as ramjets. I suspect that the jets flew a lot faster.

sorry for the mistype

[edit on 21-5-2005 by simtek 22]

simtek 22
When the plane was flying at top speed, the aerospike intakes acted caused the engines to act as ramjets.

acted??? Its officially has 2 turboramjet engines.

It took off like a normal aircraft, using a turbo jet engine...then once it got to the right altitude, they flip a switch moving small flaps inside the engine, which direct the air from the inner turbo jet to the surround outter area where air passes threw the engines "pod" to the behind the turbojet and then is ignited, kicking it into mach speeds.

Originally posted by cyberdude78
Anyhow I'm not sure if they're completly retired or not. I think they are but I've heard something about NASA using them for high altitude scientific work.

NASA retired its SR-71 fleet in 2001.

Originally posted by simtek 22
BTW-I find the Mach 3.2 a little unrealistic. When the plane was flying at top speed, the aerospike intakes caused the engines to act as ramjets. I suspect that the jets flew a lot faster.

Here is a description of how the turboramjet engines work:

www.aerospaceweb.org...

It is unlikely that the SR-71 could go much faster than Mach 3.5 due to structural and propulsion limitations. One limiting factor is the glass on the cockpit canopy that would fail due to overheating above Mach 3.5. Also, the shock waves off the aircraft nose would impact the engine cones around Mach 3.6 causing the engines to flame out.

Originally posted by Atomix
How exactly are blackbirds conspiracy related? I mean whats so great about them there just planes right?

The Origional Blackbirds were developed for the CIA. Officially they weren't around long before the Air Force took over the program. However, with the exception of their deployment to Kadenia AB, Okenawa for Black Sheild, the A-12's were based out at Groom Lake. Many people think the CIA might have done more with the A-12 blackbird then they admit to. Second, spy planes are used for spying. Who all did they REALLY spy on! That is the link!

Tim
ATS Director of Counter-Ignorance