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News Link • Transportation: Air Travel
SR-71 is faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than 90 locomotives
09-01-2010
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http://mach3ti.com/
EACH OF THE SR-71 ENGINES PRODUCES THE POWER OF 45 LOCOMOTIVES! The muzzle velocity of a high powered, 30-06 rifle bullet is 2910 feet per second. The Blackbird can fly at 3226 feet per second. Of course that bullet starts to slow down as soon as it leaves the rifle barrel. The Blackbird continues to fly at MACH 3+ and then accelerates faster.
Introduction
You’re
nearly nineteen miles above the Earth, ripping through the upper
stratosphere at three and a half times the speed of sound.
You’re
keen concentration makes seconds seem like minutes. Like some sort of
futuristic Cyborg. You are the processing unit controlling a 107 foot
long, 170,000 pound titanium machine.
Atmospheric
frictional loads heat the crafts surfaces beyond 1000 degrees F. Your
“alien like” propulsion systems blast exhaust afterburner flames 150
feet out and stress the systems exotic alloys with 68,000 pounds of
thrust at 3,200 degrees F.
The
physiological support systems along with your astronaut space suit keep
your bodily fluids from evaporating away in a boiling instant.
You
are driving not a futuristic star cruiser but the sleek black, air
breathing, turbo ram jet powered, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.
America’s, United States Air Force, super secret reconnaissance aircraft.
In
1962, The Director of the CIA, Richard Helms recalled a midnight test
flight in the Nevada desert, later wrote: “The blast of flame that sent
the black, insect-shaped projectile hurtling across the tarmac made me
duck instinctively. It was as if the Devil himself were blasting his way
straight from Hell”.
Even today as the few remaining Blackbirds stand on display they command jaw dropping disbelief and breathtaking stares.
As
an SR-71, Code 42 Machinist, I was part of a select, elite team that
flew, maintained, and provided operations for our nations classified
surveillance program. I was privileged, humbled, and awed at the
opportunity to be part of, work, and maintain these magnificent marvels
of aviation.
The
one thing that I wish I could covey to SR-71 fans now and in the future
would be the experience to feel the Earth shaking rumble of the SR-71
Blackbirds.
Dan Freeman, TSgt, USAF (Ret) Tuesday, January 27, 2009
BLACKBIRD TITANIUM - BETA Ti 13V 11CR 3Al
Solution treated and artificially aged to refine the predominant phases within its microstructure.
The
result was a super alloy with characteristics far beyond Earthly
materials allowing for the creation of the World’s most incredible
aircraft.
This photo shows me holding in my bare hand a small shard of SR-71 Titanium, glowing RED HOT!
Try that with a piece of aluminum or stainless steel.
EACH OF THE SR-71 ENGINES PRODUCES THE POWER OF 45 LOCOMOTIVES
"The SR-71 BLACKBIRD"
1971 MACKAY TROPHY WINNER
"Most meritorious flight of the year"
April 26, 1971
SR-71A, 61-7968 was flown 15,000 miles non-stop in 10-1/2 hours.
1972 HARMON INTERNATIONAL TROPHY
"Most outstanding international achievement in the art / science of aeronautics"
July 27 / 28, 1976
3 SR-71's flown by 3 different crews set 7 world speed and altitude records.
100KM Closed Course at 2092 MPH / Altitude Record of 85,068.997 FT / 15 & 25 Straight Course at 2193 MPH
>DETAILS<
6 March 1990
SR-71A, 61-7972 set 4 speed records on its last flight to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
US Coast to Coast (2086 Nmi); 67 minutes 54 seconds at 2124.5 MPH.
Los Angeles to Washington DC (1998 Nmi); 64 minutes 54 seconds at 2144.8 MPH.
Kansas City to Washington DC (942.08 Nmi); 25 minutes 58.53 seconds at 2176 MPH.
St. Louis to Cincinnati (311.44 Nmi); 8 minutes 31.97 seconds at 2189.94 MPH.
On Sept. 1, 1974, SR-71A, 61-7972 flew from New York to London in
1 hour, 54 minutes, 56 seconds, smashing the previous trans-Atlantic speed record by nearly three hours!
Returning to the U.S. on Sept. 13, 1974, #972 established a world speed record of
3 hours, 47 minutes, 36 seconds for the 5,463 mile (8,790 km) flight from London to Los Angeles.
It outraced the sun, landing some four hours before the time of day it took off.
>DETAILS<
This is the mighty Blackbird's exhaust nozzle
The 9th Reconnaissance Wing proudly displays her heritage.
The men and women at Beale AFB did a fantastic job refurbishing SR-71A, 61-7963.
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