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Originally posted by schuyler
, some of the stuff you "see" isn't really there.
Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by schuyler
Are you sure it was a Blackbird and not an A-12? Several of them on display (like the one at NASA in Huntsville) are A-12s, usually mislabled as SR-71s. If you don't know what you're looking for it's hard to tell them apart.
This M-21 is a unique variant of the A-12, the earliest Blackbird type. Built for a CIA program code-named "Tagboard," the M-21 carried unpiloted vehicles for intelligence gathering. These drones were intended for launch from the M-21 "mother ship" for flights over hostile territories. Design features of the M-21 include the second seat for the Launch Control Officer and the launch pylon on which the drone is mounted.
The Museum's M-21 was built in 1963, and is the sole surviving example of its type.
Originally posted by crazyewok
I have always thought that some of the less nutz and bolts UFO sighted have been something diffrent to aircraft. Man made but diffrent. Optical illusion, holograms, decoys obviously all have defence uses and seeing as I could rig something up in my back yard for a few hundred quid that could have my neigbourhood running about Im sure the US (And it seems UK) Defence industry that has access to billions have some amazing stuff.
Originally posted by schuyler
These things were rated, i.e.: the public (cough) speed (cough), at Mach 3.3, which is something like 2300mph or so, ...
Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by mbkennel
The newer aircraft have IR suppression systems it's believed. So if you can confuse the optical system into thinking that the aircraft isn't there, and you have an IR suppression system that keeps it from locking on at any kind of range, then you don't need to use flares as often as in the past.
This is why I love this game. It's better than chess with the move and countermove.
Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by mbkennel
The newer aircraft have IR suppression systems it's believed. So if you can confuse the optical system into thinking that the aircraft isn't there, and you have an IR suppression system that keeps it from locking on at any kind of range
Originally posted by mbkennel
Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by mbkennel
The newer aircraft have IR suppression systems it's believed. So if you can confuse the optical system into thinking that the aircraft isn't there, and you have an IR suppression system that keeps it from locking on at any kind of range
"any kind of range"? I don't believe that. Lower observability sure, but unlike radar stealth, there is some minimum total emissions. Friction and combustion still make heat, you can't change the laws of physics. If you want to gain energy & altitude you have to burn.
You can try to modify it from one bright dot to a more diffuse blob.
Originally posted by schuyler
These things were rated, i.e.: the public (cough) speed (cough), at Mach 3.3, which is something like 2300mph or so, but their range was less than 3,000 miles, so basically they could stay aloft for an hour before they had to find a tanker fast.
One story was when one was snooping over Libya when Ghadafi threw up a few SAMs against it. Apparently the pilot wasn't as worried as his RIO (Radar Intercept Officer) who said something like,
"Don't you think we'd better step on the gas here pretty quick?" They did and wound up overshooting their rendezvous with their tanker over Gibraltar and were half way across the Atlantic before they could get themselves turned around. I've been in a speed boat and over shot my turn before, but doing it in a Blackbird must have been awesome.