4 ms·
Ironically, the plane was dripping, much like the misshapen model had assembled in my youth. Fuel was seeping through the joints, raining down on the hangar flo
by ilamont 4y ago
Ironically, the plane was dripping, much like the misshapen model had assembled in my youth. Fuel was seeping through the joints, raining down on the hangar floor. At Mach 3, the plane would expand several inches because of the severe temperature, which could heat the leading edge of the wing to 1,100 degrees. To prevent cracking, expansion joints had been built into the plane. Sealant resembling rubber glue covered the seams, but when the plane was subsonic, fuel would leak through the joints.
Wouldn't this be a major hazard on the ground?
- brianwawok 4y agoYou do what you gotta do. Spending millions per flight, you can have some guys in a golf cart with kitty litter follow the plane around the hanger.
- icegreentea2 4y agoYes. But also the fuel used was also very difficult to light (consequence of it's design requirements), so at least as a fire hazard, it was probably relatively well controlled. Uh health risks... shrug. The pilot is wearing most of a space suit. Who knows whats up with the ground crew though.
- saganus 4y agoIn the "Skunk Works" book they explain that you could throw a lit cigarette directly into a puddle of fuel and it would not ignite, due to the very high temps needed.
- 93po 4y agoCigarettes also won't ignite regular car gas
- pc86 4y agoYes but for a different reason - car gas because it's the vapors which ignite, so if you toss a cigarette on a fresh puddle of car gas you're going to have a very bad day. For planes it's due to the much higher temperatures required, the worst thing you'll do tossing a cigarette into a fresh puddle of jet fuel is burn your finger.
- knodi123 4y agoTotally counterintuitive, but yup. There ya go. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/XBfg1rwZKHk https://www.youtube.com/shorts/XBfg1rwZKHk
- meepmorp 4y agoNot as much as you'd think - by design, JP7 has a low vapor pressure and doesn't ignite easily. To start the engines in the SR71, they used the very pyrophoric triethylborane (spontaneously combusts at -20C).
- sbradford26 4y agoFun fact the SR71 was capable of in air refueling but it still required pyrophoric triethylborane to start afterburners which couldn't be resupplied in air. So total mission time was limited by that and not fuel.