Just saw the SR-71 (1 Viewer)

[Mark Brewer]

Just got back from a field trip with my daughter 3rd grade class to the Evergreen Aviation Museum here in McMinnville OR. We saw the Spruce Goose, and saw various other planes..

But during lunch outside I got a great close up view of the SR-71. WOW!!!! Beutiful Airplane...
If anyone get's a chance to go, take it......

 

[KyleS]

I will have to make a trip up there Mark so that I can take another look at that sucker. I was able to see one when I was in NY about 4 years back but you guys are pretty close to Eugene.

KyleS

 

[Matt Stryker]

Theres also one in Mobile, Alabama at the USS Alabama for us southerners. Definitely the highlight of my trip there, especially the wacky silver tires.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Many consider this still to be the finest airplane ever designed and built. Sad to say, this 1964 black beauty still holds the speed records. I know spy satellite technology obsoleted the SR-71's mission, but I wish we still designed and built envelope-pushing aircraft of this sort.

 

[Keith Mickunas]

There's a space museum in Hutchinson, KS that has one in the lobby. A friend of mine told me about the place and we went down there. You walk in the front door and the SR-71 is up on pedestals and you can actually walk up and touch the nose. What a trip.

This museum, Kasnas Cosmosphere and Space Center is just something else. Its in the middle of nowhere in Kansas, and it has an amazing collection of space vehicles, Russian and American. The backup to Sputnik, some of the American capsules, either a backup or full scale mockup used by NASA of the lunar lander. Its the premier space vehicle restoration facility in the world. They even helped with the sets for Apollo 13 and restored Libery Bell 7. If you're ever in the area I highly recommend a visit.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

I wish we still designed and built envelope-pushing aircraft of this sort.

Who's to say we aren't still building such aircraft?

http://wave.prohosting.com/aurora85/

I saw the SR-71 on an overseas trip once, back when it was operational.....

 

[Nathan*W]

We have one here in Richmond, Virginia at the VA Aviation Museum. the link to the SR-71 is: http://www.vam.smv.org/blkbrdmenu.html

It's a 2 minute drive from my house, and is it ever pretty.

 

[Bryan X]

I saw the SR-71 blackbird at the Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio (Wright Patterson Air Force Base). They had a F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Figher on display too (among dozens of others). Very cool.

The great thing was these planes were sitting in a huge hanger and you could walk all around them and even underneath them!

 

[Jack Briggs]

Dennis, you really believe the Aurora exists? It'd be cool. It it's a hypersonic vehicle, the thing is essentially an air- and spacecraft.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

I can neither confirm nor deny the existance of such aircraft.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Don't plead the Fifth with me, you! (And I don't mean that Kleiber recording of the "Fifth".)

 

[Greg.K]

I saw the SR-71 blackbird at the Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio (Wright Patterson Air Force Base).

I worked at Wright-Patt when the museum acquired that SR-71, and got to see it do a low fly by right over my head before landing. An awesome sight.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

I saw a TV programme about the '71 once, saying that the plane had a small, slow fuel leak which they've never been able to fix. But, because of the low flammability of the fuel, they've never had to worry about it.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

To speak generally, the Federation of American Scientists take great pains with accuracy.

www.fas.org/irp/mystery/aurora.htm


With regards the fuel leak on the SR-71, IIRC the leak goes away when the metal in the plane expands due to the frictional heat of its great speed. They take off partly empty and are mid-air refueled almost immediately.

 

[Bryan X]

With regards the fuel leak on the SR-71, IIRC the leak goes away when the metal in the plane expands due to the frictional heat of its great speed. They take off partly empty and are mid-air refueled almost immediately.

That's correct. I found some more information on this:

There were two reasons for the fuel leak. The first was that during the design phase of the Blackbird, Lockheed was unable to find a fuel tank sealant that didn’t eventually break down from reduction caused by the fuel. The second reason was because of the aircraft’s tendency to stretch during high speed flight, sometimes up to eight inches (20.3cm), it had to be built with the expansion joints through which the fuel would leak. When the airframe was hot, it would stretch and seal the gaps and joints tightly, but once it cooled down after landing, it would shrink back to the original length and the gaps would re-open.

Apparently some Blackbirds leaked worse than others (and were known as ‘leakers’), and this is probably due to the fact that, because the aircraft were all virtually hand built, no two were identical. This leaking tendency influenced the operating procedure for all Blackbird models, which would launch with minimal fuel on board, and then top up from a tanker aircraft before proceeding to cruising altitude.

 

[Greg_R]

If you ever make it up to Boeing's museum of flight (in Seattle) you can see a M-21 and D-21. Combined they like an SR-71 with a third engine (mounted between and above the original 2). Check it out. Some of the tour guides up there are retired Boeing engineers and really know their stuff (they like to talk about 'their' planes)...

 

[Ashley Seymour]

Saw one close up at Hill AFB in Utah.

While stationed in Okinawa, I got to seem them take off and climb. With so many planes taking off there it was rare to ever notice one. When the SR-71 took off you could hear it and immediately looked up. It would send a shiver up my spine. Where I worked we all pretty much knew where they were going.

 

[Brian E]

I saw the SR-71 blackbird at the Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio (Wright Patterson Air Force Base). They had a F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Figher on display too (among dozens of others). Very cool.

If anyone is into aircraft and stuff I highly recommend a trip to Wright-Patt. They have tons of cool stuff there. Almost everything the USAF & Army Air Corp have used or tested throughout the years (from the Jenny to the YF-22) and a nice collection of Air Force One's from throughout the years. A great time.

 

[Dan D.]

SR-71 fans will have a chance to see another one on display when the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum opens their new, huge annex at Dulles airport later this year. I'm so there.

http://www.nasm.si.edu/nasm/ext/

 

[Philip_G]

the boeing museum is one of the finest I've seen.. but maybe I'm biased