December 26, 20214 yr https://interestingengineering.com/the-worlds-fastest-planes-successor-will-reach-over-4600-miles WILL reach that speed. "Will", really? Given that the SR71 was already flying before anybody had a clue, do you guys think it's already in the sky doing it's thing?
December 26, 20214 yr Since when did Lockheed Martin's Skunk works ever provide timelines for up and coming super secret spy planes? I think we can safely say that this thing is already hitting the stratosphere, and probably has been for some time. Christopher Low AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU / 64GB DDR5-6000 RAM / 12GB Nvidia RTX 4070 Super GPU / Gigabyte X870E Aorus Elite Wifi 7 / 1+2TB Samsung Evo Plus M2 Nvme UK2000 Beta Tester
December 26, 20214 yr Author 1 hour ago, Christopher Low said: and probably has been for some time. Yep, me thinks the same. For a long time now the so called "doughnuts on a rope" con trails have been seen, reminiscent of a pulse detonation engine. Not to mention seismographs that have measured shockwaves from a rapidly moving aircraft. SR71, B2, F117... all have flown well before being revealed to he public. In fact the F117's used to fly out of, I think it was Edwards, and practice locking their laser designators on the roofs of people houses, with nobody aware the aircraft existed.
December 26, 20214 yr When I was 'guard bumming' in the Colorado Air National Guard I arranged for myself to go to a two week supply school at Beale Air Force Base in California. One afternoon our instructor escorted the class to the flightline where we could see the SR-71s and U-2s up close. The SR-71 was smaller than I thought it was. The chine was only about shoulder high and I could easily put my hand on it. Another thing I didn't know was when the SR-71 was on the ground it leaked fuel. I was told it typically refueled shortly after takeoff and then when to it's Mach 3 or whatever speed. That caused the plates in the wing to expand and seal the tanks. The entire time I was there we saw U-2s doing touch and goes. Noel The tires are worn. The shocks are shot. The steering is wobbly. But the engine still runs fine.
December 26, 20214 yr Author Yep, leaked indeed. Very non-volatile fuel though. You could drop a match in it and the match would go out.
December 27, 20214 yr Leaked like a sieve when the wings were cool. A now defunct, local aviation museum near me had one on static display. Really neat looking and, yes, not as big as I thought it would be. My computer: ABS Gladiator Gaming PC featuring an Intel 10700F CPU, EVGA CLC-240 AIO cooler (dead fans replaced with Noctua fans), Asus Tuf Gaming B460M Plus motherboard, 16GB DDR4-3000 RAM, 1 TB NVMe SSD, EVGA RTX3070 FTW3 video card, dead EVGA 750 watt power supply replaced with Antec 900 watt PSU.
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