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the SR-71 leaking fuel on the ground was not a design flaw. it was designed to be operated at speed where things would expand to fill in. if they were filled in
by dylan604 10mo ago
the SR-71 leaking fuel on the ground was not a design flaw. it was designed to be operated at speed where things would expand to fill in. if they were filled in on the ground, they'd have no place to expand at speed/temps. the risk assessment was that it was better to leak fuel on the ground rather than blowing up at speed/temp
- mmooss 10mo agoRight, it was risk management. I doubt that leaking fuel would be acceptable risk management for a commercial passenger plane at a public airport. Obviously they could have designed something that could expand and contract if they thought it was worth it.
- lazide 10mo agoThey designed special fuel that wouldn’t catch on fire under normal circumstances. Also, this was done because airframe skin temps exceeded 400F during flight due to the high speeds.