What is Digg?167 Comments
- CupBeEmpty, on 10/12/2007, -7/+343Its not a real, working aircraft carrier, and neither are the planes. Its a museum that is permanently parked on a pier off of Manhattan. SR-71 blackbirds could not fly from or land on aircraft carriers.
Its the USS Intrepid: http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/
Its undergoing renovations right now and they have webcams that you can watch from. A very cool museum. - MackDiesel2010, on 10/12/2007, -1/+63That is the USS Intrepid, a floating aircraft museum in New York City. It's called the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum and I can assure you that the blackbird did not land on the carrier.
- onelikeseabass, on 10/12/2007, -35/+82@b00le
They most certainly are satellite photos. There are quite few very high resolution satellite imaging systems from the private sector in orbit around the earth.
I, for one, welcome you to 2007. - b00le, on 10/12/2007, -0/+41legendxx, onelikeseabass, thanks, but I've been working in the satellite remote sensing business for more than 10 years and do, in fact, know what I'm talking about. You can identify the High-Resolution satellite imagery on Google because it is ©DigitalGlobe. The low-res imagery is Landsat. This is aerial photography. If you ask politely (if you know what that means) I will put up the QuickBird image of the Intrepid for comparison.
No, they can't read a newspaper through a window, except on television or in the movies, where you can also get live video from orbit and other absurdities. - dknighton, on 10/12/2007, -1/+41Umm...b00le was indeed correct:
http://www.bluesky-world.com/
Link for the company that provides Google with high-rez aerial photography. Took me all of 30 seconds to look at the imagery copyright on the bottom of the photo, then do a Google search for the company.
Just a suggestion, but you know-it-all types who believe everything you see on '24' might want to double check your statements before you parade into the digg comments and make total ass-hats of yourselves. - miken1157, on 10/12/2007, -0/+26The SR-71 is the coolest plane ... EVER. (at least I think so)
- n3r0, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23reminds me of an SUV in a parking lot, you know, the jerk who manages to wedge his hummer next to a civic so the guy who owns the civic can't even open his door.
- calhoun, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19Technically, that's an A-12
http://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/a-12/ - Walt65, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12I would like to visit that museum.
- dhichens, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Yes, the SR-71 is still the fastest air breathing manned a/c that has ever been developed. There have been other X-planes that have gone much faster and higher, but they were powered by rockets so they don't count. The US has developed the SCRAMjet and they have recently tested it successfully. This was not a manned flight however and the vehicle was destroyed on purpose after the flight by crashing it into the ocean (I think it was the ocean). So the SR-71 is still King.
In the book Skunk Works (already mentioned previously, great book) I believe Ben Rich talks about going back and taking a look at the SR-71 design using supercomputers etc, but they couldn't come up with anything that would significantly alter/improve its performance. I'm sure there are a number of things they could do to optimize it but none of that would be a significant change. Is it so hard to believe that a group of men, who were the absolute best in the business, came up with a great design based on their own hard work and natural intuition?
However, with the advent of satellites and the fall of the Soviet Union, we really do not need the Blackbird or anything quite like it. It was grossly expensive and inefficient and required a huge logistical support structure. Satellites can do almost as good of a job (I don't care what you think you "saw" iet2004, satellites don't do FMV and they're not real time. You were probably looking at a Pred feed.) and they aren't at a risk of being shot down every time they take a picture. And no, they can't read Marlboro on a pack of cigarettes either.
And one last interesting fact about the SR-71. It was built almost entirely out of titanium and Russia was the worlds largest supplier of titanium at the time. So the Top Secret jet built to spy on the Russians was built using Russian materials.
Now go ahead and digg me down because my post is way too long. - zonk3r, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12Actually it's an A-12, not an SR-71. They are similar aircraft but the A-12 came first and was later replaced with the SR-71. When the Intrepid comes back from being reconditioned I highly recommend going there, it's a lot of fun.
I also recommend going to Beale AFB if you are into spy planes. I now live about an hour from there and go to their annual airshow and it's awesome (also highly recommended). Beale is special in that it has very long runways designed for planes like the U2 and Blackbird. I put a link here of Google Maps so you can see they have an SR-71 as well as a D-21 drone.
Here's some linkage:
http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/intrepidmuseum/aircraft/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-12_OXCART
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_M-21
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=beale+afb&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=18&ll=39.145659,-121.431075&spn=0.0026,0.006952&t=k&iwloc=addr - geislert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10I wish the rest of you would work harder at finding a fresh story like, "SR-71 replacement, Aurora, found on Google maps in mall parking lot". Until then I guess I will have to visit the museum in NYC.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10You'll have to wait 2 years. It's undergoing rennovations in New Jersey. :(
- dlown77, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8The Intrepid isn't there at the moment. It was towed to New Jersey last month for repairs, which itself was big news in New York because it was stuck in the mud it was sitting in and it took them several weeks to get it free.
- Spathiinc, on 10/12/2007, -9/+16Bool is partially right, there are no *commercial* satellites in orbit that can capture images that high of resolution. Currently, the highest resolution available are from Digital Globe's QuickBird satellite, which can capture 0.6m color (pan-sharpened) images.
For perspective, the image of the aircraft carrier looks like it is about 6in resolution. - Arkavus, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10I don't think he was implying that it had landed on the aircraft carrier.
Cool picture though, probably pretty awesome museum. - halavais, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Fun museum. Here's a pic up close...
http://flickr.com/photos/halavais/252930967/ - legendxx, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8the zoom-out button is a wonderful thing
- DrDabbles, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8@CupBeEmpty
Thank GOD someone beat me to it. I almost spit my coffee when I read the headline. It is literally impossible to land an SR-71 on an aircraft carrier, and even more impossible to take off from one. - Konrad9, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6This imagery doesn't do it justice.
Seeing that beast in person... it's just incredibly impressive.
As are the rest of the airplanes, ofcourse. There's a harrier on the elevator, and a submarine on the other side of the pier. - dibsmjf, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6The book is "Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed" by Ben Rich, it's a thoroughly good read and available from Amazon and other book vendors. Ben Rich was Kelly Johnson's right hand man and took over running the Skunkworks after Johnson's retirement. The book is goes into enough detail to satisfy the technically minded without getting bogged down in aerodynamics and also relates the human side of the Skunkworks' projects, including some very humorous bits-including a homemade hydrogen production plant within the grounds of Burbank Glendale Pasadena Airport...
For those more interested just in the SR-71, I recommend highly "Sled Driver: Flying the World's Fastest Jet" by Brian Shule and "SR-71 Blackbird: Stories, Tales and Legends" by Rich Graham. The former tells the tale of one pilot's life with the SR-71, including his own amazing in-cockpit photography, the latter is a collection of stories and experiences from former flight-crews. - inarguable, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4 Does anyone honestly believe that the SR-71 BlackBird is still the fastest aircraft ever built? According to the FAI record books, it is...but think about this - the SR-71 first entered service in 1964 (the precursor OXCART YF-12A program first took to the air two years before that), meaning it was designed in an era well before the supercomputer existed to allow for complex computational modelling, well before the incredibly advanced (comparatively speaking) aeronautical/aerodynamics leaps we have made since, well before the modern composite construction material and techniques - you get the idea. Then, you take a look at the hundreds of billions of dollars spent in the last forty years on the US AF's 'black' projects procurement budget, and it isnt hard to start imagining that they have some pretty freak ***** flying out there at AREA 51 that is entirely earthly in origin.
It is not even beyond the pale to suggest that the DoD may have a prototype, or possibly even operational, asset that is capable of flying to low earth orbit and back. Hell, the DoD's space budget is far larger than that which NASA is afforded, and while a good chunk of it no doubt goes towards the optical/radar imaging and SigInt satellite programs, that doesnt account for even half of the dollars spent.
- ohearn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Yep, I work on the base in Huntsville that NASA uses part of. I pass by the SR-71 everyday driving down I-565. It is a beautiful plane. From a tech point of view it still holds a lot of records (half of which are still classified on it's exact specs), and even more impressive when you think that the technology behind it was all made in the 60's.
- Rickler, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5@b00le
Don't worry your right, it's an aerial image. All of Google's close up images are aerial. The people who think it's a satellite are the same people who think their cell phone uses satellites. - SickPupster1968, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The museum is a fantastic place to visit in NYC. Where else would you get an aircraft carrier, a SR 71 Blackbird, a submarine and Concorde all in one place?
I have visited it twice now and enjoyed it each time.
www.intrepidmuseum.org - VAXcat, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7 Any plane can land on a carrier...once...
- airshowfan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Well, it's settled, then. ;]
I managed to find an old version of the "all the Blackbirds on Google Maps" page and I almost have it working on my website:
http://airshowfan.com/gmaps/
When you click on each Blackbird listed on the right, a drop-down area should appear with a paragraph about that Blackbird, its current location, and the source of this info. But I know barely enough javascript to get the page to work at all, but gimme a little while longer and I'll probably get those drop-downs to work... - Madcowz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Everything bar the Carrier at Duxford Air Museum in Cambridge (UK)!
http://duxford.iwm.org.uk/
Used to live a few miles from it and spent hours watching the wwII aircraft flying around our house. Include the B17.
Lovely place.
But that one in NYC looks superb.
thanks for the link. - zoid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Here's the A-12 at the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=space+rocket+center+huntsville&ie=UTF8&z=19&ll=34.712201,-86.654309&spn=0.001244,0.00203&t=k&om=1 - TheMadTurtle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I'm more interested in the weird light-colored thing that looks like it's under water, just down and to the left of the aircraft carrier...
- ohearn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It's the fastest thing the government has admitted to having. It's true top speed has still never been disclosed publically that I know of. There are some accounts of other governments tracking it that would place it a good bit faster than the US ever admitted to. This is not just pulled out of my ass; I work in military aviation, but never specifically with the SR-71.
- sundancekid503, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3To really put the size into perspective you should see the SR71 absolutely dwarfed sitting under the wing of Hughes Spruce Goose at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in Oregon. Very cool museum.
- mutatron, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3You dummy, you clipped the wing of that F3-B! Not such a good parking job after all.
- IEatHamburgers, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I read that it used to be the RS-71 before he botched it, but we're arguing semantics.
- umdigger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I've been there, and it's designated as an A-12, not a SR71...not to be a technicality monger.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2So this begs the question... If an SR-71 can't land on an aircraft carrier, how did they get it there, in pieces?
- Konrad9, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Yes, mhenecke. His an idiot.
- LostOnion, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Was Bigfoot with you when you did that?
- MackDiesel2010, on 10/12/2007, -15/+17That's what I said
- MacGyver2210, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2From what I've heard(unverified) the SR-71/A-12 leak fluids like a sieve because the pieces of the plane go through such extreme expansion at the high speeds and altitudes it reaches. I've heard that until the plane actually takes off, it is pretty much just constantly cycling fuel, oil, etc in to refill what is lost, and when it reaches certain speeds or altitudes the parts expand to seal the engine system.
- datastorageguy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Originally named the SR-17...LBJ butchered the name when the plane was introduced to the media by calling it the "SR-71" Just a tidbit of info I picked up on the History channel.
- lauridsd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You want to see a ton of sweet Air Force aircraft? Including every presidential aircraft used since the beginning of powered flight (with the exception of the current 747s)? Go to Wright Patterson Air Force Museum In Dayton, OH.
The Blackbird is there, among hundreds of others..and the museum is free! - vroom101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2SR-71 Blackbird pics
1. http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/SR-71/Large/EC94-42883-2.jpg
2. http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/SR-71/Large/EC92-09241-1.jpg
3. http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/SR-71/Large/EC93-03092-5.jpg
4. http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/SR-71/Large/EC92-09241-2.jpg
5. http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/SR-71/Large/EC94-42883-4.jpg - VAXcat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2 Well, the USAAF (which became the USAF) once launched a goodly number of B-25s off a carrier, en route to a little sightseeing hop over Tokyo...
And the army once landed a Marine Hercules C-130 on a carrier...largest and heaviest plane to ever land on a carrier. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3They moved the Intrepid for repairs. You can see the plane at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn now.
- TellarHK, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I'm actually on a road trip now, that's taken me to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum and next to the Huntsville US Space and Rocket Center museum. I'll get to see an SR-71, and an A-12 on this trip. And yes, I planned it that way. The Smithsonian's SR-71 is one hell of a beautiful bird whereas the one at the former Castle AFB in California almost made me want to cry. They keep it outside and in the weather.
- umdigger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You are correct. I did leak fuels while stationary due to the material expansion at operating conditions.
- JDoggqx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Please stop spamming Digg.
- jrconn00, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Yes it is a museum, and its not actually parked there anymore. They had tug boats pull it to NJ where it is undergoing renovations
- Elias1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2live.com aerial photos
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=40.764371~-74.00017&style=o&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=329867
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=40.764371~-74.00017&style=o&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=329932
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=40.764371~-74.00017&style=o&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=1632102
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=40.764371~-74.00017&style=o&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=2740042 -
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