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Sr-71 Blackbird

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posted on May, 5 2003 @ 05:06 PM
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Can it really do mach 9?????



posted on May, 5 2003 @ 05:50 PM
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Somehow that is not surprising. I know a guy who worked for the NSA (national security agency) during the time that the Blackbird was being used most heavily( late 1970's) and he said that they would get very wierd radar signitures from alaska flying down towards Russia.
He said he knew that it was the Blackbird because he would sometimes talk to his friend in Alaska who worked for the airforce.

[Edited on 5-5-2003 by omega1]



posted on May, 6 2003 @ 03:39 AM
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Allright here it goes:

NO IT CAN'T!!

The SR-71 max speed is around mach 3.3 maybe 3.4.
The nose and wings get so hot at those speeds, they glow red. During take-off the aircraft leaks oil and fuel.
The whole aircraft itself expands by an inch because of the heath, so all the leaks are sealed. Immediately after take-off the aircraft gets refueled by a special modified air-refueler.

THe USAF never released any info that would suggest the aircraft could fly mach 9. Neither the airframe itself can't handle those speeds, nor the fuel it uses can't provide enough thrust for a mach 9 cruise..



posted on May, 6 2003 @ 06:34 AM
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I have come across information which puts the SR-71's maximum speed at just over mach 4. The US military has never acknowleged a top speed for the SR-71. The fact that it was never risked in a direct overflight of the USSR ( unlike the U-2 ), could be taken to mean that it couldn't outrun the Soviet missiles of the time.



posted on May, 6 2003 @ 06:56 AM
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The fact that it was never risked in a direct overflight of the USSR ( unlike the U-2 ), could be taken to mean that it couldn't outrun the Soviet missiles of the time.


Actually, the U-2 is a SUBsonic plane. The SR-71 is more than three times faster that the U-2. So the SR-71 would have a lot more chance of outrunning a missile.

And that's not even an issue, the U-2 and the SR-71 flew/fly so high they were out of range of any missile.

The famous "U-2 incident" happened, because a missile exploded underneath the very fragile airframe. The metal on the wings, and other parts, are only a few times thicker than ordinairy tin foil...



posted on May, 6 2003 @ 07:12 AM
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I agree with all of what you have stated Zion. I was just trying to make the point that if it could have flown at mach 9 there would have been no risk to SR-71 overflights of the USSR.
Surely they would have used the SR-71 to overfly the USSR if it could fly at mach 9, rather than relying on grainy Corona photos.

Also I believe later versions ( 1970's ) of the SA-2 D/E had an altitiude of 120 000 feet.



posted on May, 6 2003 @ 10:25 PM
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I think that it can probably do around 3.3 because of the type of propulsion it uses.


[Edited on 7-5-2003 by omega1]



posted on May, 7 2003 @ 01:38 PM
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yeah that's what I sort of said too...
Anyway, I'm not quite sure if mach 3.3 is the maximum reachable speed with the jp-7 fuel the SR-71 uses...

They have used the same fuel for hypersonic reseach with scramjet engines.

A nice article about that...



I found more about the JP-7 fuel:



The development of the A-12 OXCART spyplane in the late 1950s created another problem for aircraft and engine designers. The high speeds reached by the A-12 would cause the skin of the aircraft to get hot. Temperatures on the OXCART ranged from 462 to 1,050 degrees Fahrenheit (239 to 566 degrees C). The wings, where the fuel was stored, had external temperatures of more than 500 degrees Fahrenheit (260 degrees C). Even with the lower flashpoint, fuel stored in the wings could explode. As a result, the engine designers at Pratt & Whitney sought a fuel with an extremely high flashpoint. Working with the Ashland Shell and Monsanto companies, the engine designers added fluorocarbons to increase lubricity (or slipperiness), and other chemicals to raise the flashpoint. The resulting fuel was originally known as PF-1 but later renamed JP-7. It was used only by the A-12 OXCART (and its sister YF-12 interceptor) and later the SR-71 Blackbird. JP-7 has such a high flashpoint that a burning match dropped into a bucket of it will not cause it to ignite.






[Edited on 7-5-2003 by Zion Mainframe]



posted on May, 7 2003 @ 05:11 PM
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yeah........good point



posted on May, 8 2003 @ 07:26 AM
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"said that they would get very wierd radar signitures from alaska flying down towards Russia"

Hehe...yup. I lived in Alaska at the time, and my father worked for the Coast Guard, and then later Lockheed. I once saw an SR71 being hidden in a Coast Guard hangar (though I didn't know what it was at the time...it's actually what sparked my interest in UFOs)



posted on May, 9 2003 @ 01:11 AM
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You are correct.

Developed for the USAF as reconnaissance aircraft more than 30 years ago, SR-71s are still the world's fastest and highest-flying production aircraft. The aircraft can fly more than 2200 mph (Mach 3+ or more than three times the speed of sound) and at altitudes of over 85,000 feet. As research platforms, the aircraft can cruise at Mach 3 for more than one hour. For thermal experiments, this can produce heat soak temperatures of over 600 degrees (F). This operating environment makes the aircraft excellent platforms to carry out research and experiments in a variety of areas -- aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, thermal protection materials, high-speed and high-temperature instrumentation, atmospheric studies, and sonic boom characterization.

One of the first major experiments to be flown in the NASA SR-71 program was a laser air data collection system. It used laser light instead of air pressure to produce airspeed and attitude reference data such as angle of attack and sideslip normally obtained with small tubes and vanes extending into the air stream.

The first of a series of flights using the SR-71 as a science camera platform for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory was flown in March 1993. From the nosebay of the aircraft, an upward-looking ultraviolet video camera studied a variety of celestial objects in wavelengths that are blocked to ground-based astronomers.

The SR-71 has also been used in a program to study ways of reducing sonic boom overpressures that are heard on the ground much like sharp thunderclaps when an aircraft exceeds the speed of sound. Data from the Sonic Boom Mitigation Study could eventually lead to aircraft designs that would reduce the "peak" of sonic booms and minimize the startle affect they produce on the ground. One of Dryden's SR-71s is now being used for the Linear Aerospike SR experiment, or LASRE, in which the unique aerospike engine being developed for the X-33 Reusable Launch Vehicle is mounted on the back of the SR-71.

Dryden has a decade of past experience at sustained speeds above Mach 3. Two YF-12 aircraft were flown at the facility between December 1969 and November 1979 in a joint NASA/USAF program to learn more about the capabilities and limitations of high speed, high altitude flight. The YF-12s were prototypes of a planned interceptor aircraft based on a design that later evolved into the SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft.

The aircraft are 107.4 feet (32.73 m) long, have a wing span of 55.6 feet (16.94 m), and are l8.5 feet (5.63 m) high (ground to the top of the rudders when parked). Gross takeoff weight is about 140,000 pounds (52253.83 kg), including a fuel weight of 80,000 pounds (29859.33 kg). The airframes are built almost entirely of titanium and titanium alloys to withstand heat generated by sustained Mach 3 flight. Aerodynamic control surfaces consist of all-moving vertical tail surfaces above each engine nacelle, ailerons on the outer wings, and elevators on the trailing edges between the engine exhaust nozzles.

The two SR-71s at Dryden have been assigned the following NASA tail numbers: NASA 844 (A model), military serial 64-17980, manufactured in July 1967, and NASA 831 (B model), military serial 64-17956, manufactured in September 1965. From 1991 through 1994, Dryden also had another "A" model, NASA 832, military serial 64-17971, manufactured in October 1966. This aircraft was returned to the USAF inventory and was the first aircraft reactivated for USAF reconnaissance purposes in 1995.

Data from the SR-71 high speed research program will be used to aid designers of future supersonic/hypersonic aircraft and propulsion systems, including a high speed civil transport.

www.dfrc.nasa.gov...

If the SR-71 Blackbird can fly at an average speed of Mach 3. I'm quite surtain it could push to 4 or maybe 5.
It was designed to do 9 after all.


[Edited on 9-5-2003 by barba007]



posted on May, 9 2003 @ 02:25 AM
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You are correct.


That you for pointing that out...


And I was fully aware of all the facts about the SR-71, I run a military aircraft website myself. But thanks for the info anyway.


But I have to disagree on your last statement:




If the SR-71 Blackbird can fly at an average speed of Mach 3. I'm quite surtain it could push to 4 or maybe 5. It was designed to do 9 after all.


That's kind of a weird statement. There have been many articles about the temeratures of the wigs leading edges and the nose of the plane. They get superhot, if the SR could fly at around mach 9, think about the massive increase in temperature. The airframe woud get SO incredibly hot, it would most certainly change shape permentantly, and electronics inside the plane would get damaged by the heath.

Because the aircraft can cruise at mach 3+, that doesn't mean in can fly any faster...



[Edited on 9-5-2003 by Zion Mainframe]



posted on May, 26 2003 @ 05:34 PM
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The reason the U2 was hit by the russian missle was that gary powers had an engine flame out and had to drop altitude to restart the engine and the SR71 outran the missles as they had short fuel runs



posted on May, 26 2003 @ 10:10 PM
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Originally posted by Zion Mainframe


You are correct.


That you for pointing that out...


And I was fully aware of all the facts about the SR-71, I run a military aircraft website myself. But thanks for the info anyway.


But I have to disagree on your last statement:




If the SR-71 Blackbird can fly at an average speed of Mach 3. I'm quite surtain it could push to 4 or maybe 5. It was designed to do 9 after all.


That's kind of a weird statement. There have been many articles about the temeratures of the wigs leading edges and the nose of the plane. They get superhot, if the SR could fly at around mach 9, think about the massive increase in temperature. The airframe woud get SO incredibly hot, it would most certainly change shape permentantly, and electronics inside the plane would get damaged by the heath.

Because the aircraft can cruise at mach 3+, that doesn't mean in can fly any faster...



[Edited on 9-5-2003 by Zion Mainframe]


I accept your argument, though I have another question for you. What does "Cruise Speed" mean exactly?
I would say "Cruise Speed" means in simple terms, Flying Safely at a safe speed. Correct?
When I drive my car, I drive to the speed limit, though I could go double the speed limit if I wanted to.
Ponder that thought.




posted on May, 27 2003 @ 03:56 AM
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The term "cruise speed" mostly is used to indicate it's normal operating speed, which is mach3+, 2,000 mph or 3,219 kph.

It's top speed is actually not declassified to my knowleage, but it is said to be around mach 3.31 or 2,193 mph / 3,529 kph.


Anyway the mach number depends on the aircraft's altitude.



posted on May, 27 2003 @ 04:52 AM
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Yes Zion, Normal.
The Top speed is classified, still now, that the Aircraft has been operating for at least 20 years.
Do you think that the top speed whould be a little over Mach 3? When the top speed is still classified. I think that the U.S. Defence Dept. doesn't want to release the stage that they are up to in Aircraft speed developement.
Still I remain with my earlier argument the the top speed is at least greater than the cruise speed of Mach 3, maybe Mach 4-5.



posted on May, 27 2003 @ 05:11 AM
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Originally posted by barba007

Developed for the USAF as reconnaissance aircraft more than 30 years ago, SR-71s are still the world's fastest and highest-flying production aircraft.
-
If the SR-71 Blackbird can fly at an average speed of Mach 3. I'm quite surtain it could push to 4 or maybe 5.
It was designed to do 9 after all.

[Edited on 9-5-2003 by barba007]


Okay I have to disagree with the first part. There were only ever 3 Sr-71 Blackbirds ever made. Mainly due to the fact that the U.S. goverment neither had the interest for them nor the finance to fund such a high tech plane.

The Sr-71 was built for speeds. Discovery Channel had a program on the Sr-71 in which they stated that the Blackbird could go up to mach 3 & 4 in flight but no one was game enough to test it up to mach 9 due to the serve pressure it would have against an unprotected pilot.

You also have to remember that it was the 1970's and UFO interest had risen a fair amount. The U.S. could tell us anything and we would have to take thier word for it.



posted on May, 27 2003 @ 06:57 AM
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I'm sorry assassin your information is incorrect. There were 32 SR-71's built.

What I believe you are referring to is the armed version of the SR-71 designated YF-12A of which 3 were built.



posted on May, 27 2003 @ 07:23 AM
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Yes, Mad-S wins the prize. 32 S-71's and the 3 YF-12A's and, I think, 13 of the original A-12's.



posted on May, 27 2003 @ 07:26 AM
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Well, The SR-71 still holds the record for the highest- flying and fastest jet: 85,068.997 feet and 2,193.167 mph. This was on July 28, 1976.
It seems reasonable to assume that that was its top speed (allowing for altitude and variations of the sound of speed) - and that's Mach 3.3 or thereabouts.







 
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