cyphur

iTrader: (10)

LOL....sorry for the confusion Cal. Wasn't referring to you.

sb427f-car, your point was proven, i didn't say it wasn't.

my point was, when using something as evidence for an arguement, its best not to leave any pertinent facts out. just b/c people are gearheads doesn't mean they spend time reading declassified documents about the US' Blackbird project

now thats something i didn't know. good deal

Cstraub

iTrader: (1)

If some of you want light connecting rods then I would suggest you get Jager Aluminum rods. Considering you don't have run bearings with them, you can run a minimal of .0005" clearance on the rods, they average around 415 grams per 6" rod and they are around $250 each, they're cheap compared to "unobtainium".

sb427f-car

I've never read one single declassified document on the Blackbird, only some decent aerospace books and I've caught some specials on Discovery, History, ect. So...it's all good.

I can grill pretty good, but imagine grilling @ 130k+ ft back at ya. BTW, I've seen one of the mothballed 71s out @ Dayton in the national air force museum. It's one thing to see in a photo or vid., but it's awe inspiring in person. Yet we digress...back to the topic.

Cal

iTrader: (1)

[back off topic]
Same here; I work for the Air Force, but all I've learned about the SR-71 was from the same sources you listed. I second what you said about seeing one in the flesh; we have one here at the Air museum at Hill Air Force Base. It's quite a large aircraft, in fact, it's the largest single-crew member aircraft ever built (another record.) Of interest to car gear-heads, the starter motor for this plane is a pair of 455 Buick engines with Holley carbs! No, they're not mounted on the plane, it's a stand-alone roll-up cart. They run in tandem at full throttle just to start one jet engine, then they roll it to the other side to start the other jet engine.

soslo

iTrader: (12)

Wow, if you can go from NY to LA in 35 minutes, where do you have to go to have a 'long flight' that requires you to bring food along?

Cal

iTrader: (1)

They were usually flying over the Solviet Union, in big, lazy circles 200 miles across, to try and tempt the Rusians to fire a missle at them. Then they would simply out run the missle - the ultimate insult to the Rusians, just to **** them off. The aircraft could literally fly faster than a bullet.

Edit:
They didn't operate them at top speed all the time; with most jet engines that wastes a lot of fuel. SR-71 engines convert from turbine mode to ram jet mode at high altitude and high speed. The inlet airflow is diverted around the compressor on the front end to accomplish this. Ram jet engines must be moving at supersonic speeds to even operate.

A turbojet engine is similar to an automobile turbocharger; it has a compressor that is driven by a turbine. About the same compression ratio as a car engine is required.

sb427f-car

HAHA, I had forgoten about the Buick engines! I thought they were a two member crew.


Well...I was going to post up something...I forget exactly where I heard it...maybe I was wrong though when I said NY to LA in 35 minutes. But...here is what google dug up.

http://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/records.htm

sb427f-car

Yeah, that's it. It's also known as "super cruse." I knew it had a technical name. Cal...you remember where I heard that figure from? I can turn it up on google. Using it and working the math out...it's REALLY fast. Faster that the ones that turned up...BY A BUNCH!

Cal

iTrader: (1)

One man crew, but a few two-seaters were built as trainers. That's the kind we have at Hill AFB; it's a "rare bird."

Cal

iTrader: (1)

I've heard the 35 minite figure also . . . the story I heard was the top speed was classified, and until this trip hit the news, few people realized how fast the aircraft really was. It was a give-away with simple math. Probably intentional; not to give away the top speed, but to say to the world, "hey now you know it's at least this fast."