The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

If you're curious about the development of Oxcart as well as Area-51, check out Amy Jacobson's Area 51 book[1]. Appears like a solid detail of Skunkworks and spy plane history.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Area-51-Uncensored-Americas-Military/...

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#5

Post by syntaxing » Fri, Sep 13, 2019, 2:33 AM UTC

I know it's toxic but from a technical aspect, that is really cool. I remember reading that the Apache Helicopter (I think?) can redirect it's exhaust internally temporarily to become invisible to heat seekers. Some of these technologies are super fun to read about.

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#6

Post by skunkworker » Fri, Sep 13, 2019, 2:36 AM UTC

If you haven't read it, Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed by Ben Rich is a pretty fun read into the U2, A-12 Oxcart, SR-71, Sea Shadow and other craft. And has a lot of good stories from pilots.

But the ultimate SR-71 book would be Sled Driver: Flying the World's Fastest Jet.

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#7

Post by tlb » Fri, Sep 13, 2019, 2:37 AM UTC

> It’s also not clear from the available records how much [cesium] was necessary per gallon of [jet fuel]

Come on, you lazy reporter! Go find a jet engine and some cesium and a radar reflectometer and make a graph of reflectance vs. cesium content.

Presumably, some engineer at Lockheed in the late 50s got exactly that assignment, with a budget. There would be a notebook with a table of numbers and a hand-drawn graph. Those would be amazing to see.

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#8

Post by galangalalgol » Fri, Sep 13, 2019, 2:47 AM UTC

skunkworker wrote: post #6

If you haven't read it, Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed by Ben Rich is a pretty fun read into the U2, A-12 Oxcart, SR-71, Sea Shadow and other craft. And has a lot of good stories from pilots. But the ultimate SR-71 book would be Sled Driver: Flying the World's Fastest Jet.

The sr-71 gets all the glory but go look at some of the aircraft that lost competitions. The convair kingfish that lost to the 71 was decades ahead. It lost for a number of reasons, some valid, some not. The f-22 competitor was super interesting as well.

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#9

Post by vvanders » Fri, Sep 13, 2019, 2:55 AM UTC

syntaxing wrote: post #5

I know it's toxic but from a technical aspect, that is really cool. I remember reading that the Apache Helicopter (I think?) can redirect it's exhaust internally temporarily to become invisible to heat seekers. Some of these technologies are super fun to read about.

Some of the stuff to restart the afterburners was pretty nasty too. I think it was one of the hypergolic families if I remember correctly.

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#10

Post by 1986 » Fri, Sep 13, 2019, 2:57 AM UTC

skunkworker wrote: post #6

If you haven't read it, Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed by Ben Rich is a pretty fun read into the U2, A-12 Oxcart, SR-71, Sea Shadow and other craft. And has a lot of good stories from pilots. But the ultimate SR-71 book would be Sled Driver: Flying the World's Fastest Jet.

I actually just finished reading Rich's book, it's both interesting and entertaining.