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My favorite story about the Blackbird is how it was designed with heat and expansion in mind. On the ground to leaked fuel like a sieve[1][2], it was only once
by UI_at_80x24 8y ago
My favorite story about the Blackbird is how it was designed with heat and expansion in mind.
On the ground to leaked fuel like a sieve[1][2], it was only once it reached operational speed that the joints & frame heated up and sealed it, (thus requiring a refueling shortly after take-off).
[1] https://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/sr-71/ https://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/sr-71/
[2] http://physicsbuzz.physicscentral.com/2011/02/betrayed-by-heat-sr-71-blackbird.html http://physicsbuzz.physicscentral.com/2011/02/betrayed-by-he...
- rootbear 8y agoThe ground crews, I'm told, hated this plane because it leaked toxic fuel everywhere while on the ground and was otherwise a pain to deal with. These sorts of stories are what impress me about programs like this. No commercial product could ever be so expensive, so difficult, so wildly impractical. The military are practically the only ones who can do things like this, because the need is so great it justifies all the craziness. I work at NASA and we do crazy things like sending robots to Mars, but that seems tame compared to the insanity of something like the SR-71.
- Teknoman117 8y agoThe other major reasons they didn't load much fuel on the ground is that the engine fuel economy at low speeds and low altitudes was atrocious. After refueling, the crews would head for the cruising altitude as soon as possible.