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In 1990/91 I was stationed at a base that once was a home for the SR-71. By the time I got there, though, they'd been retired. Some of the spoken-word mytholog

In 1990/91 I was stationed at a base that once was a home for the SR-71. By the time I got there, though, they'd been retired. Some of the spoken-word mythology that was shared with me by some of the AF elders: * Each flight cost about $1M * The SR-71 was so loud and created such massive sound waves, the crew chiefs had to be really far away from the ship when talking to the pilots inside so that their internal organs wouldn't be damaged... * The engine cowling of the Blackbird would get so hot that the metal would be slightly transparent, where you could see moving parts _inside_ the engine. * All of the pilots wore astronaut suits. Worth noting all the above could be entirely false. But it made a big impression on me.

NortySpock 7y ago
Point 3 goes against normal behavior of hot metals, which emit infrared or visible light as they get hotter. It's called black-body radiation, and it's why iron and steel glow in a blacksmith forge. The "moving parts" may be due to heat waves moving through the air (see also: mirage at a distance)
- serf 7y ago
  >Point 3 goes against normal behavior of hot metals, which emit infrared or visible light as they get hotter. You're right. People refer to it as 'transparent' because it begins to glow the same color as the jet plume under afterburner use. https://gizmodo.com/this-is-an-image-of-the-very-last-test-of-the-pratt-w-1484943138 https://gizmodo.com/this-is-an-image-of-the-very-last-test-o...
- ncmncm 7y ago
  Differential heating could give the illusion of transparency; really it would just be the metal glowing brighter where something hotter is on the other side.
greatcircle 7y ago
I wonder how the pilots managed to consult this manual while wearing big bulky astronaut gloves. There's so much raw data in the manual, I can't imagine they were expected to memorise it all. Though I'm sure you need to have a very good memory to qualify as an SR-71 pilot.

NortySpock 7y ago

Point 3 goes against normal behavior of hot metals, which emit infrared or visible light as they get hotter. It's called black-body radiation, and it's why iron and steel glow in a blacksmith forge. The "moving parts" may be due to heat waves moving through the air (see also: mirage at a distance)

serf 7y ago
>Point 3 goes against normal behavior of hot metals, which emit infrared or visible light as they get hotter. You're right. People refer to it as 'transparent' because it begins to glow the same color as the jet plume under afterburner use. https://gizmodo.com/this-is-an-image-of-the-very-last-test-of-the-pratt-w-1484943138 https://gizmodo.com/this-is-an-image-of-the-very-last-test-o...
ncmncm 7y ago
Differential heating could give the illusion of transparency; really it would just be the metal glowing brighter where something hotter is on the other side.

greatcircle 7y ago

I wonder how the pilots managed to consult this manual while wearing big bulky astronaut gloves. There's so much raw data in the manual, I can't imagine they were expected to memorise it all. Though I'm sure you need to have a very good memory to qualify as an SR-71 pilot.