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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

#121

Post by ithkuil »

bombcar wrote: post #119
ithkuil wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Any idiot can build a bridge that stands, but it takes an (computer assisted?) engineer to build a bridge that barely stands"

It's actually an interesting problem from a "total effort" viewpoint. There's zero reason to design a kitchen to last 100 years if the average one will be remodeled in 7 and even the oldest won't go past 20. But other things can be designed to last significantly longer, and be used way past their "original expected lifespan" - many of the buildings in Europe, for example, have lasted centuries.

True.

That said, w.r.t old buildings, selection bias may play a significant role, perhaps bigger than intentions

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

#122

Post by scottyah »

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #29
ye-olde-sysrq wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

>satellite imagery "This one cool trick makes spy agencies hate him" https://www.harborfreight.com/tarps

That only helps if you're trying to hide the paint job of the object under the tarp

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

#123

Post by [deleted] »

greggsy wrote: post #35
andrewflnr wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt they were absolutely convinced it was real, but still pretty hilarious. https://www.businessinsider.com/bruckheimer-china-moved-sate...

“The Navy told us that a Chinese satellite turned and headed on a different route to photograph that plane.” I can only assume that China publish their targeting on some Twitter account? What ludicrous statement.

[deleted]

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

#124

Post by bombcar »

ithkuil wrote: post #121
bombcar wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually an interesting problem from a "total effort" viewpoint. There's zero reason to design a kitchen to last 100 years if the average one will be remodeled in 7 and even the oldest won't go past 20. But other things can be designed to last significantly longer, and be used way past their "original expected lifespan" - many of the buildings in Europe, for example, have lasted centuries.

True. That said, w.r.t old buildings, selection bias may play a significant role, perhaps bigger than intentions

And maintenance costs, too. You may have a bridge that's 100 years old but you're paying 1/10 a new bridge in maintenance every year - not noticeable.

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

#125

Post by snovv_crash »

mardifoufs wrote: post #80
davidu wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The world hates that the US is the world police, but then constantly demands the US be the world police.

There is a huge difference between patrolling international tradeways or helping nato allies, and invading or violating foreign countries on a whim with absolutely 0 consequences.

I hate to be cynical, but if they don't do the other stuff as well, what's in it for them?

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

#126

Post by mardifoufs »

CircleSpokes wrote: post #103
4gotunameagain wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, nobody presented evidence that Libya was behind the La Belle bombing. If you think that some shady arm of US intelligence isn't capable of such a heinous false flag operation, I urge you to read more history. Now I'm not saying it was one, I'm saying we have no idea who was behind it.

Because real life isn't a TV show. That isn't how national security agencies work. They don't dump raw intelligence to the public. The US knew it was Libya obviously, and the data released since then has proved that. Hell even the Stasi & the soviets knew it was Libya. Again this isn't a TV show. No country needs permission to react to an attack against them by another state like Libya.

I guess we should just trust when the Chinese or Russian agencies come up with their conclusions too, then.

And yes, the US is a democracy and russia/china aren't. But that doesn't seem to have made the US any more trust worthy when it comes to not being prone to baseless war mongering. And the US population seem to be pretty excited to vote over and over again for (or at least, it used to be) war hawks or even outright war criminals. Bush was re-elected in 2004 after outright lying about an incredibly destructive war, so it seems like democracy isn't an argument for trusting the US more on these matters. I guess Americans and westerners in general (mostly) don't live with the consequences of those wars so it's very easy to handwave demands of actual proof by saying that life isn't a movie, or that it was all done with good faith(tm).

But for muslims and the MENA region in general, those arguments just don't resonate well with us at all.

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

#127

Post by mardifoufs »

snovv_crash wrote: post #125
mardifoufs wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a huge difference between patrolling international tradeways or helping nato allies, and invading or violating foreign countries on a whim with absolutely 0 consequences.

I hate to be cynical, but if they don't do the other stuff as well, what's in it for them?

Well for one thing the US genuinely seems to be a lot less imperialistic these days. I mean, not militarily at least, I'm sure they are still involved in all kinds of meddling but with less military muscle flexing. It started with Trump but Biden seem to thankfully have kept the same less-interventionist policy. So I guess they have found a way to not do the other stuff, thankfully.

I guess it could just be a return back to the mean from the absolutely, unashamed military imperialism of the 1980s- early 2010s.

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

#128

Post by mardifoufs »

rocket_surgeron wrote: post #110
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 SR-71s were over Libya in 1986 because the Libyan secret service detonated a bomb in a Berlin nightclub, killing 3 and wounding hundreds, ten days prior. "oh yeah well what abou.." With all due respect, stop.

Ah yes, the US said so. You should probably look into the actual investigations and events before telling other people to stop. Almost no european country agrees with the conclusion of the US government (that bombed libya in a matter of days, before any investigation started to begin with).

A government that was back then almost frothing at the mouth at any occasion to blame everything on the libyans, to a comical degree. Which was well known, and also the reason why most european countries did not agree with the intervention that we are discussing

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

#129

Post by noefingway »

Every time the SR-71 pops up, it's brings back a memory of seeing it do a flyby at Dulles Airport. IIRC it was supposed to be the last flight as the program was ending. This is probably 1989. I didn't know about it until the day of the event so I didn't have my camera with me.

I think my entire engineering department and a bunch from the production floor (about 15-20 of us) went over to the airport to see the bird. Back then you could drive up to and park at the upper departure level. So there we are, waiting... Someone brought a portable scanner along and was listening to air traffic control, so we knew when it would pass over.

First thing we heard was the sonic boom as it passed over (I believe this flight set the west coast to east coast speed record.) After some interval of minutes we heard which direction it would be coming from. All other landing and take off traffic was suspended while the bird circled the airport. Then turned a made a low level (like about the height of the tower) really slow. We got a really good look at it. He hit the afterburners, and took off. I've never seen anything move that fast. It practically disappeared, like something out of a movie jumping into hyperspace. Absolutely incredible, no matter how much I read about the SR-71 and the program, I'm just in awe of the designers and engineers that made it happen.

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

#130

Post by calmoo »

If anyone has a vague interest in this airplane - I would highly reccommend seeing it in the flesh, it is probably the most incredible piece of machinery I have seen. I have seen two different ones, one in the Seattle flight museum, and another in a flight museum in Riverside, CA.
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