Originally posted by FredT
It crused at Mach 3.2. In severla books they talk about reaching Mach 3.46 or something like that due to an error in the air sampling probe and when they landed most of the wiring had almost been burnt to a crisp.

The author of this "article" is simply not versed on the aircraft he is talking about. The thermodynamics involved with mach 14 flight are simply beyond the Titanium airframes ability to cope with. They were just able to fly it at Mach 3.2 let alone 4X that speed.

Thanks for the exact speeds, I couldn't recall them off hand.

I too read the story about the blackbird nearly frying all of it's wiring. In any case, the Blackbird was a remarkable piece of technology, which has not been duplicated since. It really makes you think what must go into making something like the FALCON/HyperSoar.

There is no way a P&W J-58 turbojet can propel any aircraft to Mach 14 - it is a physical impossibility, in fact it is highly doubtful that a turbojet of any kind could propel an aircraft even to Mach 5. Thats why the defense industry is focusing on scramjets.

Link us to the declassified information, because as far as i can gather, its still classified.

Train

Dude, the pilots manual has ben declassified, but theres no TOP SPEED number listed. Its all the same garbage, faster than 3.3 when commander ordered and all that crap. I want an exact number, how dam fast did it go, maximum all time, i dont care if it was only for 3 seconds. If the top speed is 2,345.57 mph, then write it down like that, dont give me this mach 3.2+ garbage.

I WANT OFFICIAL TOP SPEED MAXIMUM!!!

Train

Read Sled Driver by Brian Schull. Outstanding book if you can afford it. He mentions the fastest that he flew it, and it's not 3.3.

[edit on 2/3/2006 by Zaphod58]

I've already posted as much information as I could find from previously classified sources reagrding the maximum speed performance of the A-12, YF-12A, and SR-71.

These numbers come from official CIA, USAF, NASA, and Lockheed documents, now decalssified. I can't link you to them because they are not online.

This information is the real deal. There is none of that "Mach 3+" stuff. These are hard numbers. Based on these documents, and interviews with pilots and engineers from the program, I have no reason to believe there are any significant secrets left regarding Blackbird maximum speed.

See my earlier post for details.

Originally posted by benevolent tyrant
I know that fighter pilots, wearing g-suits, train extensively to handle the g forces. The pull of 4 or 5 g's can present a "very difficult environment' in which to function. What sort of training could possibly be offered to pilots to learn to cope with 14 g's? Do we really train our pilots to fly while unconscious?

I cannot help but doubt the veracity of these reported speeds. Of course, we do have aircraft that can fly beyond the capability of humans to remain conscious. Perhaps the SR-71 is now a remotely controlled aircraft akin to the Predator? I doubt it.

What does pulling Gees have anything to do with mach ?Totally unrelated I think

Originally posted by benevolent tyrant
I know that fighter pilots, wearing g-suits, train extensively to handle the g forces. The pull of 4 or 5 g's can present a "very difficult environment' in which to function. What sort of training could possibly be offered to pilots to learn to cope with 14 g's? Do we really train our pilots to fly while unconscious?

The SR was so fast that it would literally take them hundreds of miles to make a turn. They MIGHT occasionally see 2Gs, but almost definately not.

mach 14 = 4764.06 metre per second.

glass can crack at about 2500 metres a second

that what crap all over a quarter mile run

Yeah, but gees are multiples of accln due to gravity, 9.8m/s, while mach(340 m/s) is something else. So I don't understand the connection.

There isn't one. It's actually a misunderstanding I've run into before, where the faster you go, the more Gs you pull, when in fact it's the faster you go the wider your turn radius goes. So the SR would take hundreds of miles to turn.

for this plane to travel at mach 14 its doing that speed.
nothing we know of but light and energy can travel at those sort of speed

mach 14 is just too ridiculous to even contemplate let alone argue over g-forces created by it

The space shuttle and all space re-entry vehicles travel at speeds exxcess of Mach 14.

that's different... one is traveling through space where there is no gravity there for no g-forces so friction does not opppose the acceleration. the other falling from space where speed has already been gained and gravity assists in acceleration.

we are talking about plane flying, with gravity in affect and the friction of air at its nose. lateral acceleration.

i just have to belive that it can go faster than mach 3. didn't the x-15 reach over mach 6? The military just will never tell us their weapons true capabilities. If i had a royal flush i want my oponent to think i have a weak hand.

Well sorry stealth spy for that brahmos comparison but the site author said he would soon post another article about the black planes.Do visit his site from time to time.I know its hard to believe that the sr 71 can go mach 14 but remember this" truth is always stranger than fiction" and open your minds.Dont think about using earthly tech.We have maglev trains which can go to 600mph and soon break the sound barrier then why not having a sr71 plane breaking mach 14.The only way sr 71 can break mach 14 is that it is a hybrid plane meaning part jet plane and part anti gravity plane.

And how does AGRAV give you ability to go mach 14 without melting your wings off? Or even help the engines propel the plane to mach 14?

Originally posted by northwolf
And how does AGRAV give you ability to go mach 14 without melting your wings off? Or even help the engines propel the plane to mach 14?

Ramjet mach 5
Scramjet mach 10+

I know the engine stats, but anti gravity has nothing to do with top speed... and SR-71s engines can't theoretically work at 10+mach speeds... scramjets could, but they ain't scramjets,..

RaiderJose asks: "Didn't the X-15 reach over Mach 6?"

Yes. The X-15A-2, modified for maximum speed flight from the original X-15 configuration, made one run at Mach 6.7. It was so badly damaged by heating that it was retired and never flew again.

This airplane was built of inconel-X and rocket powered. It was only capable of brief bursts of high-speed, not high-speed cruise like the SR-71.