May everyone have a safe and happy day celebrating armed citizens refusing to be disarmed and instead overthrowing an oppressive and tyrannical government.
Enjoy Independence Day and remember those without which you would be a Subject and not a Free Citizen.
I studies the shadows under the SR-71s and there seem to be a few puddles. They just hosed the leaking fuel off into the grass at the edge of the runway at Kadena. We'd park along Highway 58 to watch them take off. They'd be just off the ground and then go straight up into the sky until they were out of sight. Awesome aircraft.
The engines for it were like black magic, analog design, a turbo jet at low speeds, turbo ram jet at high speeds, using the inlet spike and bypasses to generate most of the power. Even at full speed, the air flow thru the turbine engine had to be subsonic and a lot of the power was developed by a very efficient after burner. Interesting Video Explains how SR-71’s J58 Turbo-Ramjet Engine Works - The Aviation Geek Club The Secret Behind Success Of The World’s Fastest Aircraft: The Engine Nacelles Of The SR-71 Blackbird And some thoughts on the titanium used in the aircraft. The most amazing part of this aircraft is that it was really a set of work arounds for the first long range Mach 2 + aircraft and the engines were the first ever designed to operate in that Mach area. Kelly Johnson pulled off some neat tricks as did the engine designers. Funny but the SR71 as well as Dornbergers X-15 and Dynasoar were so far in advacne of their times that 60 years later Musk et al are just catching up.
I read many years ago that if they could properly seal at normal temperatures they would fail when the aircraft was at speed, so they were designed to let thermal expansion complete the seal. Pretty sweet for an aircraft designed with sliderules and paper. I believe all these years later they are still too fast to be taken down by missiles. Oregon monkeys are fortunate to be able to see one close up at the Evergreen Air and Apace Museum in McMinnville. You can even walk up some stairs so you can see inside the cockpit.
I worked the air surveillance radar site just a few feet West of Beale AFB in NorCal. There was an SR-71 and U-2 wing based there and I would occasionally catch a glimpse of a Blackbird taking of and doing that rapid near vertical climb out. I was told that once they reached altitude they were nearly out of fuel and a tanker was there to meet them...
Brothers and Sisters , Be safe and enjoy the guests this day . Yes SR-71 was a bird of engineering to have Sub and Super sonics , Converging and Diverging ducts.. Sloth
