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Amazing what engineers were able to do (build aircraft like the SR-71) before computers came along and made them less productive.

dboreham 4y ago
That said, it did require computers retrofitted to the engines to make the plane safe. http://www.enginehistory.org/Convention/2014/SR-71Inlts/SR-71Inlts.shtml#:~:text=A%20computer%20control%20system%20is%20employed%20in%20the%20SR%2D71%20to%20position%20the%20bypass%20doors%20and%20maintain%20an%20inlet%20flowing%20normally%20at%20high%20performance http://www.enginehistory.org/Convention/2014/SR-71Inlts/SR-7....
- HPsquared 4y ago
  That task could have probably been done by a mechanical or analogue computer. Not sure I'd call that control system a full-fledged computer.
  - kens 4y ago
    Aerospace computers don't get any respect. The SR-71's DAFICS (Digital Automatic Flight and Inlet Control System) is a digital computer system with triple-redundancy. I bet your computer doesn't have that :-) https://doi.org/10.4271/851977 https://doi.org/10.4271/851977
MR4D 4y ago
Short of God, an engineer with a slide rule is the most powerful thing in the universe.
ye-olde-sysrq 4y ago
I know you're being glib but I assume the reason we didn't do any more Blackbirds is because normal satellite imagery got good enough that it didn't make as much sense to keep building these crazy things. Does anyone remember that satellite photo Trump leaked of that iranian missile silo? https://www.npr.org/2019/08/30/755994591/president-trump-tweets-sensitive-surveillance-image-of-iran https://www.npr.org/2019/08/30/755994591/president-trump-twe... This one ^ I'm just guessing that if they showed it to Trump unprompted in a briefing, it's unlikely that this is max zoom. And it's already crazy clear. And the article mentions: "Hanham also says that the European company Airbus has been experimenting with drones that fly so high, they are technically outside the atmosphere and thus operating outside national boundaries. But she says she doesn't know whether the U.S. has such a system." So I think we just got a bit better at radar deflection and flying really high to where the Blackbird doesn't make sense anymore.
- dsfyu404ed 4y ago
  >satellite imagery "This one cool trick makes spy agencies hate him" https://www.harborfreight.com/tarps https://www.harborfreight.com/tarps
  - scottyah 4y ago
    That only helps if you're trying to hide the paint job of the object under the tarp
- JustSomeNobody 4y ago
  > I know you're being glib ... Yes. But I truly believe we lost something with the dependence on computers for everything.
- closewith 4y ago
  > I know you're being glib but I assume the reason we didn't do any more Blackbirds is because normal satellite imagery got good enough that it didn't make as much sense to keep building these crazy things. Most likely because of cost and missile technology catching up. After all, the U2 is still in active service, so the satellites aren't a perfect replacement.
- Arrath 4y ago
  To be fair, we still fly recon missions with the U-2. Spy planes haven't entirely gone the way of the dodo, just the envelope-pushing madness that was the SR-71.
whalesalad 4y ago
My grandfather was an OG at the Skunk Works from the time where it was first established. He started at the Burbank plant and followed to Palmdale. He worked on a lot of those legendary projects and still has a ton of his old illustrations. This was a question of mine too - why was there so much innovation at such breakneck speed and why have things changed? His feeling is that it was a cultural one. In the early days of the Skunk Works, people felt and operated like it was the most secretive and important element of their lives and had a tremendous amount of pride for their work. He said that over time it began to operate less and less like a sidecar "elite unit" of engineering etc... and started to get integrated more into the rest of Lockheed. Then the culture began to fell apart because the bar was not as high.

dboreham 4y ago

That said, it did require computers retrofitted to the engines to make the plane safe. http://www.enginehistory.org/Convention/2014/SR-71Inlts/SR-71Inlts.shtml#:~:text=A%20computer%20control%20system%20is%20employed%20in%20the%20SR%2D71%20to%20position%20the%20bypass%20doors%20and%20maintain%20an%20inlet%20flowing%20normally%20at%20high%20performance http://www.enginehistory.org/Convention/2014/SR-71Inlts/SR-7....

HPsquared 4y ago
That task could have probably been done by a mechanical or analogue computer. Not sure I'd call that control system a full-fledged computer.
- kens 4y ago
  Aerospace computers don't get any respect. The SR-71's DAFICS (Digital Automatic Flight and Inlet Control System) is a digital computer system with triple-redundancy. I bet your computer doesn't have that :-) https://doi.org/10.4271/851977 https://doi.org/10.4271/851977

MR4D 4y ago

Short of God, an engineer with a slide rule is the most powerful thing in the universe.

ye-olde-sysrq 4y ago

I know you're being glib but I assume the reason we didn't do any more Blackbirds is because normal satellite imagery got good enough that it didn't make as much sense to keep building these crazy things. Does anyone remember that satellite photo Trump leaked of that iranian missile silo? https://www.npr.org/2019/08/30/755994591/president-trump-tweets-sensitive-surveillance-image-of-iran https://www.npr.org/2019/08/30/755994591/president-trump-twe... This one ^ I'm just guessing that if they showed it to Trump unprompted in a briefing, it's unlikely that this is max zoom. And it's already crazy clear. And the article mentions: "Hanham also says that the European company Airbus has been experimenting with drones that fly so high, they are technically outside the atmosphere and thus operating outside national boundaries. But she says she doesn't know whether the U.S. has such a system." So I think we just got a bit better at radar deflection and flying really high to where the Blackbird doesn't make sense anymore.

dsfyu404ed 4y ago
>satellite imagery "This one cool trick makes spy agencies hate him" https://www.harborfreight.com/tarps https://www.harborfreight.com/tarps
- scottyah 4y ago
  That only helps if you're trying to hide the paint job of the object under the tarp
JustSomeNobody 4y ago
> I know you're being glib ... Yes. But I truly believe we lost something with the dependence on computers for everything.
closewith 4y ago
> I know you're being glib but I assume the reason we didn't do any more Blackbirds is because normal satellite imagery got good enough that it didn't make as much sense to keep building these crazy things. Most likely because of cost and missile technology catching up. After all, the U2 is still in active service, so the satellites aren't a perfect replacement.
Arrath 4y ago
To be fair, we still fly recon missions with the U-2. Spy planes haven't entirely gone the way of the dodo, just the envelope-pushing madness that was the SR-71.

whalesalad 4y ago

My grandfather was an OG at the Skunk Works from the time where it was first established. He started at the Burbank plant and followed to Palmdale. He worked on a lot of those legendary projects and still has a ton of his old illustrations. This was a question of mine too - why was there so much innovation at such breakneck speed and why have things changed? His feeling is that it was a cultural one. In the early days of the Skunk Works, people felt and operated like it was the most secretive and important element of their lives and had a tremendous amount of pride for their work. He said that over time it began to operate less and less like a sidecar "elite unit" of engineering etc... and started to get integrated more into the rest of Lockheed. Then the culture began to fell apart because the bar was not as high.