As to Satellites ... They have so many limitations don't EVER believe it when ANYONE tells you they can "DO THE JOB." Your BS meter should be bent around the peg when you hear that. They are good, they are VERY good, they are Unbelieveabley good, BUT NO WHERE near the END-ALL. Not even close.
Unfortunately, I think they are going to start doing drones that have long loiter times over the battlefield of choice and are stealthy enough that they are hard to detect. By doing that, if we lose one, we don't have the possible liability of a living pilot to tell the tale and cost us in politics ala Gary Powers.... I personally would love to see the SR-71 still fliying despite what you may have interpreted from the above. Why do you think I have traveled around and have seen 8 of the SR-71s currently on display in museums? LOL Working where I do and in the programs I do work in, I know a lot about the capabilities of drones and am amazed at their capabilities. Heck, even with off the shelf components that you can buy at Best Buy, you can come up with one heck of a reconnaissance setup. You would just need an airframe to put it on.....I am talking about that from experience, and it wasn't to follow my GF around via RC plane
Are you allowed to post pictures of the ones you've seen in museums? Where can I take one for a test drive?
I have more than a few original copies given to my father shortly after they were taken Amazing photography, and some WACKY aircraft
Here's a pic of one I took back over Thanksgiving weekend 2007 in DC: http://img139.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp01fo1i-7895/loc781/18099_IMG_0259_122_781lo.JPG
This is a GREAT website to visit re: SR-71 http://www.wvi.com/~sr71webmaster/sr-71~1.htm List of all the A-12, YF-12As and SR-71s....where they are or where they crashed, etc: http://www.blackbirds.net/sr71/srloc.html
Unfortunately, that link doesn't work. Awesome links to lots of great photos and information! Thank you! I really want one of these things!
I uploaded to another site so try this. If this doesn't work, I'll just email it. http://img148.imageshack.us/i/img0259sq.jpg/
Awesome! Thank you! I assume you didn't post it because you're not subscribed, so I hope you don't mind me posting it. If you want me to take it down, I will. Thanks for the picture! Image Unavailable, Please Login
I didn't post it because I wanted the hi-res to go up. I have a few more I can email you (although each photo is like 3mb, lol).
That's cool! I would love to see more! My e-mail address is [email protected]. By the way, in case anyone in this forum was wondering, the road-going version of the SR-71 is for sale right now on eBay.
In looking for some other engine stuff I ran across this slide show on the SR-71 engine. Interesting stuff in here on the whole system actually works. Pretty amazing since it was designed in the mid-to late 50's. The lube temps and fuel temps are considered hot even today. They don't talk about the lube but is it wasn't diluted at low temps it turned into hard crumbly stuff http://www.enginehistory.org/Convention/2005/Presentations/LawPete/SR-71Propulsion2.pdf
Here is a painting I did of the SR-71. Titled "Above and Beyond", it was fun to paint all those subtle sensual curves. Also met some interesting people who were involved with the aircraft. Just imagine what we must have now out there at Area 51. Enjoy! Image Unavailable, Please Login
How have I missed this thread? Guess I need to check the AviatorChat area more often. About ten years ago I was writing a book on the SR-71. It has never materialized, at least to this point. But I was able to hear some incredible stories about the Jet from some of the crew. To even get the engines started required TWO Buick 455ci engines which were called Start Carts. If the SR-71 ran into a situation and needed to make an emergency landing in the middle of nowhere it might take a few days to get all the necessary crew and the supporting equipment in place to simply have the Jet be able to take off again. A good friend of mine runs the www.sr-71.org site. He hasnt done as much with it in the last few years as RL has taken over, but when he started that site years ago he was simply a teenager. He has probably forgotten more about the SR-71 than I have ever known and he is STILL less than 30 years old. I have managed to visit a number of the SR-71s and A-12s that are on display. There were only 12 A-12s ever built, four of those crashed and only eight remain, three of those are in Alabama. The A-12 was primarily operated by the CIA and was the first of the Blackbird aircraft. It was actually lighter and slightly smaller than the SR-71. It also had a higher performance envelope and operated really under the radar. The YF-12 was the fighter version and there were three of those built. I think only one still exists. It was capable of firing accurately at targets more than 100 miles away with deadly accuracy. Politics kept it from becoming an operational aircraft. The SR-71 was originally to be designated RS-71, but during a press conference Lyndon Johnson mentioned the aircraft and accidentally inverted the letters R and S and since noone would dare correct the President or want to make him look bad it was easier to simply invert the letters to the now well-known SR-71. In total there were three operational bases for the SR-71. Beale AFB was the training base then crews were assigned to Kadena AFB or Mendenhall AFB in the UK. This does not count anything that ever happened or did not happen at Groom Lake. The name HABU comes from a poisonous snake found around Kadena AFB. The snake is solid black just as the jet is. The Jet actually became more efficient the faster it went. It was designed to use the force of the sonic boom to propel the jet forward faster. Consequently, the faster it went, the more fuel efficient it went. It was also the first "stealth" aircraft and apparently had a tiny radar cross-section. This happened obviously from a late 50s/early 60s design. I know a lot more about the topic, but this is basic broad knowledge that may be fun to read. PDG
Hi Bob, The painting is oil on linen. Sold the original a number of years back through Virginia Bader, I think she sold it to an attorney. Mike.
