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Mach 3.5 Over Libya in an SR-71 Blackbird

thesr71blackbird.com

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Re: Mach 3.5 Over Libya in an SR-71 Blackbird

#41

Post by closewith »

igravious wrote: post #22
mardifoufs wrote: post #14

I love stories about America violating sovreign airspace, especially when they use such a cool plane. The entire world is truly their own backyard!

The days of America violating sovereign airspace are drawing to a close, thankfully. “The United States-initiated aerial bombing of targets inside the borders of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah which took place on April 15, 1986, was met with substantial and immediate criticism by the world community. The positive reaction from the U.S. congress and the American public was not shared by much of the world. Arab nations de…

> The days of America violating sovereign airspace are drawing to a close, thankfully.

They're still overflying Afghanistan and who knows where else.

Re: Mach 3.5 Over Libya in an SR-71 Blackbird

#42

Post by closewith »

ye-olde-sysrq wrote: post #24
JustSomeNobody wrote: post #16

Amazing what engineers were able to do (build aircraft like the SR-71) before computers came along and made them less productive.

I know you're being glib but I assume the reason we didn't do any more Blackbirds is because normal satellite imagery got good enough that it didn't make as much sense to keep building these crazy things. Does anyone remember that satellite photo Trump leaked of that iranian missile silo? https://www.npr.org/2019/08/30/755994591/president-trump-twe... This one ^ I'm just guessing that if they showed it to Trump unpro…

> I know you're being glib but I assume the reason we didn't do any more Blackbirds is because normal satellite imagery got good enough that it didn't make as much sense to keep building these crazy things.

Most likely because of cost and missile technology catching up. After all, the U2 is still in active service, so the satellites aren't a perfect replacement.

Re: Mach 3.5 Over Libya in an SR-71 Blackbird

#43

Post by vlovich123 »

cfeduke wrote: post #38
vlovich123 wrote: post #27

The dates in the story are confusing me. > My first encounter with the SR-71 came when I was 10 years old in the form of molded black plastic in a Revell kit. > Twenty-nine years later, I stood awe-struck in a Beale Air Force Base hangar, staring at the very real SR-71 before me. > In 1962, the first Blackbird successfully flew, and in 1966, the same year I graduated from high school, the Air Force began flying opera…

My thinking is high school graduation could be as early as 16 but more likely 17 or 18, so 1966 - 18 = 1948 (or 49 or 50). 1983 would be 35, though by the author's own math he'd be 39. I think its probably safe to discount "10 years old" memory for the Revell kit; I can't seem to find when the kit began production (because the Internet is about buying things) - but in order for high school graduation to be at age 18…

I’m not familiar with this space. Is a Revell kit for a top secret plane that hadn’t even been designed something that happened/happens commonly?

The author says the motivating incident was the U2 shoot down in 1960 which was the motivating incident for the engineer to start designing it. How would the author be playing with it then?

Misdirect about the kid part to enhance the story? Maybe they had the kit later in life and retrofitted it into a “destiny” theme?

Re: Mach 3.5 Over Libya in an SR-71 Blackbird

#44

Post by dghughes »

geocrasher wrote: post #25

Indeed, Mach 3.5 is the declared top speed in this story, but higher speeds are implied. The Mach eases to 3.5 as we crest 80,000 feet... Screaming past Tripoli, our phenomenal speed continues to rise... I realize that I still have my left hand full-forward and we're continuing to rocket along in maximum afterburner... The TDI now shows us Mach numbers, not only new to our experience but flat out scary. He mentions u…

Also incredible most of the titanium came from the USSR but through indirect routes and suppliers with the Soviets being unaware.

Re: Mach 3.5 Over Libya in an SR-71 Blackbird

#45

Post by ben7799 »

dghughes wrote: post #44
geocrasher wrote: post #25

Indeed, Mach 3.5 is the declared top speed in this story, but higher speeds are implied. The Mach eases to 3.5 as we crest 80,000 feet... Screaming past Tripoli, our phenomenal speed continues to rise... I realize that I still have my left hand full-forward and we're continuing to rocket along in maximum afterburner... The TDI now shows us Mach numbers, not only new to our experience but flat out scary. He mentions u…

Also incredible most of the titanium came from the USSR but through indirect routes and suppliers with the Soviets being unaware.

Which is really odd, as Titanium is not that rare.

Are we sure that story about the Titanium coming from the USSR is accurate?

Re: Mach 3.5 Over Libya in an SR-71 Blackbird

#46

Post by whalesalad »

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #16

Amazing what engineers were able to do (build aircraft like the SR-71) before computers came along and made them less productive.

My grandfather was an OG at the Skunk Works from the time where it was first established. He started at the Burbank plant and followed to Palmdale. He worked on a lot of those legendary projects and still has a ton of his old illustrations. This was a question of mine too - why was there so much innovation at such breakneck speed and why have things changed? His feeling is that it was a cultural one. In the early days of the Skunk Works, people felt and operated like it was the most secretive and important element of their lives and had a tremendous amount of pride for their work. He said that over time it began to operate less and less like a sidecar "elite unit" of engineering etc... and started to get integrated more into the rest of Lockheed. Then the culture began to fell apart because the bar was not as high.

Re: Mach 3.5 Over Libya in an SR-71 Blackbird

#47

Post by ben7799 »

vlovich123 wrote: post #27

The dates in the story are confusing me. > My first encounter with the SR-71 came when I was 10 years old in the form of molded black plastic in a Revell kit. > Twenty-nine years later, I stood awe-struck in a Beale Air Force Base hangar, staring at the very real SR-71 before me. > In 1962, the first Blackbird successfully flew, and in 1966, the same year I graduated from high school, the Air Force began flying opera…

A bunch of this doesn't make much sense to me either, the SR-71 was revealed to the public in 1966. That would make him born in 1956. He would be 30 in 1986, which makes sense, but the the 29 years later part doesn't sound right.

I built an SR-71 kit as a kid. But I was born in 1977. I wish I still had it. I put a ton of work into it.

The model manufacturers did scoop the reveals at some points, but they were never that accurate. I had an "F-19 Stealth Fighter" kit I built as well. It had significant differences from the F-117 when that became public.

Re: Mach 3.5 Over Libya in an SR-71 Blackbird

#48

Post by throwmeaway1212 »

ben7799 wrote: post #45
dghughes wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also incredible most of the titanium came from the USSR but through indirect routes and suppliers with the Soviets being unaware.

Which is really odd, as Titanium is not that rare. Are we sure that story about the Titanium coming from the USSR is accurate?

It's a fairly well known and documented story, do you have anything similar in evidence rather than just conjecture?

Re: Mach 3.5 Over Libya in an SR-71 Blackbird

#49

Post by smburdick »

ben7799 wrote: post #45
dghughes wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also incredible most of the titanium came from the USSR but through indirect routes and suppliers with the Soviets being unaware.

Which is really odd, as Titanium is not that rare. Are we sure that story about the Titanium coming from the USSR is accurate?

I think it's mostly anecdotal (I have heard it too, but I can't think of where)

Not a metallurgist, but if I had to guess it was hard to find in large enough quantities at the time. I also understand that it's a lot harder to work with than say aluminum or steel

Speaking of which, King Louis served his guests with aluminum silverware, since at the time it was more valuable than gold due to the difficulty of extracting it at the time, despite its abundance.

Re: Mach 3.5 Over Libya in an SR-71 Blackbird

#50

Post by smburdick »

scrlk wrote: post #2

It's a shame that the book that this story came from - Sled Driver by Brian Shul - is out of print. The SR-71 speed check story is another good read: https://www.thesr71blackbird.com/Aircraft/Stories/sr-71-blac...

And it looks like they all cost hundreds: https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?kn=Sled%20Dri...
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