SR-71 Blackbird / Aurora

Originally posted by MPJay
So rumors of Mach 3.5 to 4 are totally false.

In the Ben Rich Skunk WOrks book, one of the pilots talks about getting a erronious mach reading and when analyzing the data it was found to have been flying at Mach 3.35, needless to say the wiring was found to be almost burnt through. They got really lucky because they had severely overheated the airframe

Yes, i remarked on that in another thread several days ago, but that's not normal flight conditions, accidental excursions don't count. If it can't sustain that speed or do so without damage, such speeds are irrelevant.

No that is not true most fighter jets can only sustain mach 2 with their afterburners on for a few minutes and their cruising speed is subsonic unless your flying the raptor so the top speed means the fastest it has ever gone and 3.35 counts as the fastest it has ever gone, according to the pilots.

If you can qualify a maximum speed of a airplane as a speed it did endangering not only itself but the pilot sure it did go that fast. Allowable speeds were Mach 3.17 normal, 3.2 max cruise, 3.3 if compressor inlet temp was kept below a certain amount as i've posted a page or so ago. Suicidal speed is not the same as safe speed.

Absolutely fascinating and educational thread!

I would like to pose a question, that I'm not sure if I read anywhere, or if this particular aspect of the SR-71 was declassified. (Forgive my complete ignorance on the matter, but) did it have 'remote piloting capabilities'?
I don't believe I read any specs on its' handling and/or other attributes, other than speed, climb, or weight to thrust ratios.

The SR-71 did not, nor did the Aurora or YF-12s. Not only that, I'd recommend you read the ARP Thread if you want details on Aurora.

I'd say read the flight manual, its available online and you can buy it from certain places......there's even a 100 meg pdf file that has the whole thing....my favorite one of all

www.sr-71.org...

[edit on 29-7-2004 by MPJay]

in 1995 they retired the blackbird.10 months later they actived 3.they retired them becaused they ate up fuel.it is impossible for a ram jet to reach mach 20 .the auroa is still being updated today.

Kelly Johnson wanted the SR-71 to have a drone that would drop behind enemy lines to gather more info they even designed one but the Air Force wasn't interested.

Also Chuck Yeager went supersonic but it was not safe when he did it they were unsure so like you said its suicidal so I guess the top speed Yeager reached didn't count but wait it did now why is that?



[edit on 30-7-2004 by WestPoint23]

The D-21 drone did exist, it was part of the precursor programe the CIA ran, a couple 2 seater A-12, NOT to be mistaken for an SR-71 were modified to carry this drone, several attemps were made to launch at Mach 3, a couple were successful, one the drones engine "unstarted" and it crashed into the Blackbird breaking its back. I have the video of this, truely frightening. Aferwards the D-21 drones were carried on B-52, only one mission i think was successful and it was abandoned as satellites were coming into their own.

To answer the X-1 statement they had a pretty good idea it would work, the whole idea of changing from elevator to moving the whole horizontal stabilizer fixed that. Chuck joked to Jack Ridley before the flight that the codeword of a sucessful flight was to make fun of a broken airspeed indicator. As he passed the Mach he said "this Machmeter has gone screwy on me". The difference between a Blackbird topping out at Mach 3.3 and an X-1 going Mach 1.06 is just incremental differences in its flight test program, that X-1 flight was the first of many supersonic flights it did, the SR's performance was after an exhaustive flight program which determined what it could, and could not do safetly.

[edit on 29-7-2004 by MPJay]

It doesn't matter if its safe or not just the top speed it proved that it could go that fast and im sure it could have gone faster but then it would burn up but nevertheless in the textbooks it doesn't say safest top speed it says top speed

Originally posted by MPJay
The D-21 drone did exist, it was part of the precursor programe the CIA ran, a couple 2 seater A-12, [edit on 29-7-2004 by MPJay]

You can check out the last M-21 / D-21 combo at the Seattle Museum of Flight. Funny little bit of trivia, one of the B-52's launched a D-21 over China it never came back. Years later a CIA agent Showed Ben Rich of the Skunk Works a black composite panel that the a friendly KGB agent had given the CIA. It seems that one of the drones ended up in Siberia due to a autopilot malfunction.

Wow, I left a while but now I am back. It seems my post went far. But now it is abandoned So much I missed!

with the Raptor's top speeed it can only go to Mach 2.0 Thiss is because the Raptor does not have variable inlets or high-heat alloys or titanium to sustain high temps in the Mach 2.0+ area. The F-15 can go to Mach 2.5, but it has to remove all external fuel tanks and carry only a couple of missiles to go this fast so the performance trade off is negligible. The internal weapons improve both radar and aerodyunamics because the Raptor's engines provide more than enough power.

Back to the SR-71 I think that it still has tons of potential and that Aurora is not necessary. New engines could be developed from the ATF program, new materials could improve weight, radar, and aerodynamics. New computers and inlet controls could improve the performance of the plane. Neew cameras, radars, or even a LADAR could provide tons of data over a large area that would otherwise be too dangerous.The Blackbird could also illuminate a target with a laser designator or plot a GPS signal, and then dump the coordinates to planes in theatre through a JTIDS.

The Aurora is 100% speculation. Just like everything else, we'll find out what came after the Blackbird in 10-20 years or so.

Originally posted by MooMix3
Some say the SR-71 was replaced by the Aurora, but how can you people belive that there is an Aurora? It is said to go up to Mach20 and the fastest we got is Mach7. Do you think it exists and can go that fast or do you belive that it exists and doesn't go that fast? I thought the SR-71 was great though and could have gone a couple years more because it is cheaper than sattelites.

Aurora is an abortion sailing clinic
Yeah I know it was a sub's name as well

Originally posted by TURBINE50
The Aurora is 100% speculation. Just like everything else, we'll find out what came after the Blackbird in 10-20 years or so.

I'd say it's a bit more then speculation, what with it being on a budget next to the SR-71 and B-2 (if I remember correctly) with billions of dollars designated to it over many years.

However, exactly WHAT was involved in the program is speculation. Circumstantial evidence points to a Blackbird replacement.

Originally posted by American Mad Man

Originally posted by TURBINE50
The Aurora is 100% speculation. Just like everything else, we'll find out what came after the Blackbird in 10-20 years or so.

I'd say it's a bit more then speculation, what with it being on a budget next to the SR-71 and B-2 (if I remember correctly) with billions of dollars designated to it over many years.

However, exactly WHAT was involved in the program is speculation. Circumstantial evidence points to a Blackbird replacement.

You are correct The Aurora first entered the Black Aircraft world when it showed up on a P-1 or procurement budget, and attached to the phrase "air-breathing reconnaissance." In the February 1985 budget.

I would hate to be the guy that left that name of the budget form

the project code named "Aurora." $80 million were spent on these Black Projects in 1986 and about $2.3 billion by 1987 before disappearing from sight

As stated in the December 18, 1989 issue of Aviation Week and Space Technology, officials close to the program have indicated that "Aurora is so black, you won't see anything about it [in public] for 10 or 15 years. Here we are in the year 2004 and have not heard anything.

I think we are very close to hearing about the Aurora from the goverment.I think we might get a picture and a name no stats. If we get any stats expect them to be alot lower then what the plane really does.

www.geocities.com...

[edit on 5-9-2004 by ShadowXIX]

I think the Aurora is a black version of the X-33. The runway could be thalong one at Groom Lake (area 51).

Too many triangle sightings at area 51 and the lack of a jet to take the place of the blackbird is also something strange. So I think Aurora is more than speculation, and all of the donut on a rope contrails too. Remember folks the F-117 wasn't made public until 10 years after it entered service
.