What is Digg?33 Comments
- kelway, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15 letters: D. A. R. Y. L.
- mellowyllw6, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The one in Seattle isn't correct.. it's way north of where it is. Regardless, I agree, the SR-71 is one damn fine-looking bird. To think that they created the first one in the 60's is unbelieveable. I went to the Boeing Museum in Seattle (weird city) a few weeks ago and a lady there told me that they leaked while on the ground, due to the spaces inbetween the titanium. The titanium got so hot in flight they had to make room for expansion. Pretty nuts, especially for being 40 years old. Makes you wonder what's up there now.
- rankinreb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0cool
- Elxx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Brilliant stories to read here about the testing of the SR's, and the fates of many of the planes. Very cool.
- link470, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I really like that find, some awsome shots. Thanks!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I thought they were brought out of retirement recently?
- adml_shake, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yeah no kidding. That thing can still kick every other planes ass in the speed department. A great piece of engineering.
- Nerdferatu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0xshaisu: Just for NASA research use and only four of them at that.
I'm pretty impressed with the level of biographical information provided for each plane. The Lost Blackbirds catagory especially:
SR-71B tail number 17957 suffered a double generator failure over Washington 11 Jan 1968. She managed to stay airborne nearly 1000 miles before crashing less than 10 miles short of the runway at Beale AFB, CA. Both student pilot Capt David Fruehauf and his instructor, Lt Col Robert Sowers ejected safely.
and
M-21 tail number 06941 was destroyed 30 Jul 1966 when the D-21 drone it was launching bounced off the inside of the mothership's shockwave and struck 941 near the wing root. Lockheed test pilot Bill Park and Launch Control Officer Ray Torick ejected safely over the Pacific, but Torick drowned when his flight suit took on water.
941 was the only Blackbird ever to launch a D-21, having done so three times prior to the crash. All future D-21 launches were from underwing pylons on B-52s. - pimpsallad, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Awsome dig
- CronicusX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I Saw A Real Live Blackbird :). It Was On The USS Intrepid.
- gwjc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Good digg! Those jets were just too cool for words.. I like this excerpt from their wikipedia entry: "The aircraft flew so fast and so high that if the pilot detected a surface-to-air missile had been launched, the standard evasive action was to simply accelerate. No SR-71 has ever been shot down."
- SpiderJ, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Not a problem at all. The more people who see it, the happier I am.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0They look like those 3 planes from Stealth.
- cal0001, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0the have the a faster plane but they are not going to say anything about it
- CronicusX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The SR-71 Is Currently The Fastest Plane.
- CronicusX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Or The X-43..Did They Accomplish Flying That Yet?
- mntpng, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Here is a wikipedia entry for this plane.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SR-71
My favorite excerpt: Due to the great temperature changes in flight, the fuselage panels were supposedly essentially loose. Proper alignment was only achieved when the airframe warmed up, due to the air resistance at high speeds, and the airframe then expanded several inches. Because of this, and the lack of a fuel sealing system that could handle the extreme temperatures, the aircraft would leak its JP-7 jet fuel onto the runway before it took off."
and this: "JP-7 is said to be more expensive than malt Scotch whisky,"
I have a confession to make. Apologies to my friend Rob for cracking into his account when I was 14. Your SR-71 poster on the wall was dead giveaway. Your password was predictably "blackbird". - jordan1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I live about 18 miles from the one in Oregon. I need to get over to that Air museum, they have the Spruce Goose there too. (Howard Hughes' friggin huge flying fortress fron that Aviator movie)
- bg_27, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0sweet dig
- 14azns, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0how do people find these things?
- emCee-ig, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0They're not listing the one at the Udvar-Hazy Museum near Vienna VA, very cool digg tho,
- cr4sh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Great digg, I absolutely love the SR-71. And cronicusx, the SR-71 is the fastsed aircraft to take off and land under it's own power. The X-43 I believe is faster but it is piggy-backed on another craft to a very high altitude and then "deployed".
Anyone that liked B1-B Lancers(also gorgeous machines and incredible feats of engineering) check out http://maps.google.com/maps?q=abilene,+tx&ll=32.411976,-99.850338&spn=0.011909,0.020262&t=h&hl=en
That's Dyess, AFB, near Abilene, TX. There's 19 B1-B's visbile in that photo, and if you scroll north a bit you will see several C-130 Hercules. Dyess' Linear Air Park is to the West along Arnold Blvd. and while these planes are harder to see they are certainly still interesting with 30 craft from as far back as World War 2.
I believe Dyess, AFB is home to the largest contingent of B1-B Lancer's in the world. - xpgeek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Thats kind of awsome. The SR-71 Blackbird was always my veryyy favorite plane ever since I was a little kid, and still is.
- MEvsYOU, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0damn look at that B-2 :b
- pythro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Yeah no kidding. That thing can still kick every other planes ass in the speed department. A great piece of engineering."
Planes that we know about. - johnnypinkeye, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0very nice
- hardcoredj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0SR-71 is in my family's history. My grandfather painted them. My father guarded them. I used to work in the same location where they were built and got to touch one as a child (a big 'no-no', but I was 6 at the time).
To say the Blackbird has a place in my family's hearts is a bit of an understatement. - Shadowe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Hey SpiderJ, Hope you don't mind me digging your site, I just thought it was too cool not to share.
David - JaredB, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Awesome, I drive by the SR-71 Blackbird everyday. It's only 4 blocks away from my house at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center. (Home of the Apollo 13 capsule and the Liberty Bell 7.)
http://www.cosmo.org/museums/index.html - Nygma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I grew by the one grounded at March AFB, CA. It's at the Field Museum currently and they usually have a ladder setup to allow people to sit in the cockpit. Truly awesome plane/experience.
61-7975
http://www.marchfield.org/sr71a.htm - SpiderJ, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I'm glad everybody's enjoying my Blackbird Spotting page. To address a couple of comments above:
The one at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center is here: http://gmaps.tommangan.us/index.html?bird=972
If the location of 940 at Boeing Museum of Flight is incorrect, would somebody who is sure of the location (photographic proof would be even better) please email me.
Tom - lightsource, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Wow, this is amazing, I thought it was fake at first, but it seems like everyone believes it.
- sewerhobo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I saw one too - the one in Florida
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