Blackbird take off

The wet floor in the hanger was fuel dripping from the tanks.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
The wet floor in the hanger was fuel dripping from the tanks.
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Correct, new a chap some years back who was stationed in the place where they were, he said big puddle under them, tanks and expanion joints closed with heat at altitude also had to be refueled at about 30.000 feet for there long trip.
 
I heard it a few years ago but well worth repeating Bill :D :D
 
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When I look at this plane, place it in it's birth decade and look at all the other plane designs of it's era, I can't stop wandering about Roswell and a lot of reverse engineering or even worse, direct alien cooperation :cool:. The same with the electronic evolution timeline :whistle:
 
HTF said:
When I look at this plane, place it in it's birth decade and look at all the other plane designs of it's era, I can't stop wandering about Roswell and a lot of reverse engineering or even worse, direct alien cooperation :cool:. The same with the electronic evolution timeline :whistle:
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Change your name to W.T.F.
 
HTF said:
When I look at this plane, place it in it's birth decade and look at all the other plane designs of it's era, I can't stop wandering about Roswell and a lot of reverse engineering or even worse, direct alien cooperation :cool:. The same with the electronic evolution timeline :whistle:
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Here are a gathering of alien craft at Dayton Ohio.

IMG_0562.jpeg
 
I remember a story from 2 blackbird (IRC) pilots. Doing MK2 over the Atlantic they were asked to change course because of their proximity to Concorde that was also flying transatlantic on a similar route. Although several miles apart the 2 planes were basically flying side by side for a while, the American Blackbird pilots were actually quite humbled by the fact that their aircraft contained just 2 people wearing something akin to a space suit and being mask fed oxygen while Concorde contained over a hundred, dressed in everyday clothes and were fine dining and drinking champagne.
 
Interesting little article;

How did pilots of the SR-71 Blackbird prevent the aircraft from leaving contrails over 65,000 feet?
The SR-71 Blackbird was designed to fly at Mach 3.2, or more than three times the speed of sound, and at altitudes up to 85,000 feet. At such extreme conditions, the air temperature was very low, around -60°C, and the air pressure was very low, around 0.9 psi. This meant that the air was very dry and could not hold much water vapor.
The SR-71 had two powerful Pratt & Whitney J58 engines that used a special fuel called JP-7, which had a very high flash point and low vapor pressure. The fuel was also used as a coolant for the engines and the airframe, which heated up due to aerodynamic friction. The fuel was circulated through heat exchangers and then sprayed into the engines’ afterburners, where it ignited and produced thrust.
The SR-71’s engines had a unique feature called “ejector nozzles”, which allowed them to operate efficiently at both subsonic and supersonic speeds. The nozzles consisted of two concentric rings: an inner ring that could move forward and backward to adjust the exhaust area, and an outer ring that had slots to allow air to enter the exhaust stream. The air entering the slots created a shock wave that increased the pressure and temperature of the exhaust gases, making them expand faster and produce more thrust. The air also diluted the exhaust gases, reducing their water content and making them less likely to form contrails.
The SR-71 pilots had to carefully monitor the engine performance and adjust the nozzle position to avoid contrail formation. They also had to avoid flying through clouds or areas of high humidity, which could trigger contrail formation. They used a device called a “contrail light”, which was mounted on the tail of the aircraft and projected a beam of light downward. If the light reflected off a contrail, the pilots would know they had to change their altitude or speed.
One example of a close encounter with a Soviet fighter occurred on Oct. 6, 1986, when an SR-71 was flying along the coast of Murmansk. The pilot, Ed Yeilding, spotted a long white contrail coming towards him at lower altitude. He realized it was a MiG-31 interceptor, one of the few aircraft that could reach the SR-71’s altitude. He raised his periscope and saw that he was also leaving a contrail behind him. He knew that the MiG-31 pilot could see his contrail as well and might try to fire his missiles at him if he crossed into Soviet airspace. He decided to stick to his planned track and get his pictures while depending on his speed and altitude for survival. The MiG-31 came as close as eight miles before running out of airspeed at 65,000 feet.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
The wet floor in the hanger was fuel dripping from the tanks.
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Are you sure? The pilots looked as if they were wearing nappies to me. Quite appropriate I think, I would s..t myself if I went in one of those.

Curious? at 1:57 there is a lady lying prone on the top of the ladder with her head in the pilot's lap. Educate me please, what is she doing? I'm only an innocent young Christian man, I know nothing about fast airplanes and what a pilot has to undergo to fly one.

At 9:58 I see the headlight. I could do with a couple of those on my 1999 Transit.
 
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gasgas said:
Are you sure? The pilots looked as if they were wearing nappies to me. Quite appropriate I think, I would s..t myself if I went in one of those.

Curious? at 1:57 there is a lady lying prone on the top of the ladder with her head in the pilot's lap. Educate me please, what is she doing? I'm only an innocent young Christian man, I know nothing about fast airplanes and what a pilot has to undergo to fly one.
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Happy to help GG

https://www.reddit.com/r/WeirdWings/comments/yovp6c/the_sr_71_not_weird_but_whats_weird_about_it_is

I expect she was either giving the pilot a BJ or giving him a hand with his space suit connections etc you rude little boy.
 
So that's what I need to do in my Transit. Drive it at Mach 2 and 30,000 ft and the fuel will stop leaking. I'll tell the MOT man that's what I do.
 
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