Time to reactivate the SR-71?

[**DONOTDELETE**]

We should just threaten to recommission the SR-71, just to make the Chi-Coms a little edgy. IMHO, they still don't have anything that will reach a Blackbird at cruise level and speed. Smile, you're on candid camera!

[The_Sonarman]

I think bringing back the BlackBird is a good idea, even beyond the current Chinese mess.

Unless, of course, "something else" is already flying covert photorecon, and "the public" just doesn't know about it (ie. Black Manta, whatever) .....

[The_RANDy_Corporation]

Good point Sonarman. One wouldn't think they would just do away w/ Blackbird unless there was something out there to take its place.

[Hottjohn]

Sonarman: I tend to go with the indication that there is something else out in the sky. I understand that the SR-71 was in the sky beginning around 1960. If it was only decommissioned a few years ago, there has to be some reason why our military dinally got around to it. My guess is that there is something pretty neat out there and we won't see it for another ten or fifteen years.

[The_Sonarman]

Randy,

I would certainly hope the military / government wouldn't just cast aside such an asset, without a replacement (either acknoledged or unacknowledged) already in-place and operational. I know the military has once cancelled the support of the SR-71 flights, only to have Congress restart it. Since then, as I understand, only Nasa is now flying the BB (they have one or two, if memory serves).

I "accept" the commentary I've read that running the BlackBirds was getting too expensive. However.... expensive as compared to what?..... lacking a photo recon bird? Running recon with satellites (much more expensive)? I recall running the entire fleet of BlackBirds cost some 250 million a year. I compare that with the mere cost of just one of these satellites (500 or more million each).... not to mention the cost of boosting a satellite to orbit (easily tens or hundreds of millions more). BlackBirds "expensive to operate", my uneducated ass....

Satellites alone "don't make it". The orbits are predictable, and "the bad guys" know those orbits (ie. when to hide things from known satellite passes). Photo recon birds and their flights are unpredictable, and can view from angles satellites can not, as well as lower altitudes).

I am just a layman on these subjects, but even I, a common lout, can understand this.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

The recon ops for the SR-71 were canceled in 1990, I believe, and the TR1A became our only recon bird. The TR1-A is an updated U-2, al la Francis Gary Powers incident, but is no match for the SR's capability.

The TR is designed to reconnoiter from the side, precluding the need for violation of any foreign airspace, a task the SR cannot accomplish. Hence, it was a cheaper provider of info on the smaller countries we had perceived as a threat.

Big hint here, China isn't small. We need the Blackbird or a worthy hyper-Mach aircraft with a tiny radar profile to fly missions OVER a country. Damn the notion of violation of airspace, nothing else flys that high anyway and it isn't really "air" at that altitude anyway. And show our opponent some nice photos, just to keep them in check.

[The_Sonarman]

http://freeconservatives.com/pics/members/sonarman/sr71a.jpg

[ 04-09-2001: Message edited by: Warlady ]

[Warlady]

Kind of mean lookin' ain't it?
http://freeconservatives.com/pics/members/sonarman/sr71landed.jpg

[ 04-09-2001: Message edited by: Warlady ]

[Warlady]

http://www.angelfire.com/oh2/airplane/images/sr71spint2gif.GIF

[The_Sonarman]

Well, WL, this plane is actually classed a fighter/bomber. As I recall, it holds another distinction.... being the largest fighter jet on earth, as well.

I always liked the pretty BlackBird. The Russians and Chinese hate it. Why? They know what it is, and what it represents.... US overflights (with impunity) over their airspace.

[The_RANDy_Corporation]

I love it. I think the SR-71 is a thing of beauty!

[Warlady]

I think I'm in love. Let's go fer a spin.

[2nd_Amendment]

Even if the Aurora Project resulted in something better than the SR-71 there's still no reason not to fly the Blackbird. You get double recon, and you get the PR/intimidation without jeapordizing the security of your new recon vehicle. If you do turn up anything interesting via Aurora you just say "Looky! The Blackbird did it again."

And, as I posted elsewhere, so long as we're willing to put in electronics and engine maintenance we're talking about an airframe with theoretically no limit on its life expectancy.

Klinton killed it because he was Klinton and the SR-71 was the best. He couldn't tolerate such a thing for the military. Pure and simple.

[The_Sonarman]

I don't know if there is any Aurora, or a Black Manta, or whatever. Rumors fly fast and furious, speculating if there is an advanced (currently black) advanced recon bird.

An advanced recon bird is absolutely within our present capabilities. I would say it would have to be a "stealthy" bird first and foremost, rather than something higher or faster than the SR-71. An unseen recon platform is more valuable than an observable "higher and faster" bird.

We already have two (known) operational stealthy military aircraft, that being the F-117A and the B-2 bomber. The F-22 aircraft is also stealthy, with several testing in the prototype phase. Surely, the US could (and probably should) build a stealthy recon bird.

[2nd_Amendment]

Well, let's just say that the Aurora Project was real. So is *Pulse* propulsion. Now whatever came of it under the Klintoon admin, well, that's a good question.

Personally I'm not so sure the SR-71 isn't all we really need anyway. It did incorporate the concept of stealth and could be made much "stealthier". Maybe simply building new ones with some obvious updates is the answer...but wait...there's a problem...

The Skunk Werks no longer knows how they built certain parts of the Blackbirds airframe. Interesting fact, that. Look at the SR-71, consider when it was built and the length of time involved in design prior to construction and consider the implications...

Gee, and we're angry at the ChiComs stealing tech...I wonder "who" we stole the Blackbird from... images/icons/grin.gif

[Rhino]

Clinton didn't kill the Blackbird. The Air Force offered it up on the chopping block on the absurd assumption that it would protect them from further budget cuts. They also listened to people who said satellites and the U-2 could do the same thing the SR-71 did. Boy were they ever wrong, and on both counts!

By the way, The U-2 and the TR-1 were the same airplane. The different designations were just a political thing. The TR-1 designation was dropped and they're all U-2s now.

I worked in the Strategic Reconnaissance Center when The SR-71 was cut, and during Desert Shield/Desert Storm. We were absolutely astonished when the claims about satellites were made, but we were overruled when we tried to refute them. I was one of the lucky few that got feedback from CENTCOM about their reconnaissance coverage over Iraq. I'd tell you what they had to say about the satellites, but our profanity filters would censor it. The U-2 was a star player, but could never come even remotely close to the SR-71's capability.

They won't come back. They're mostly gone now, and they were atrociously expensive to operate. NASA has four by the way, although I don't think all are maintained in flyable condition.

[ 04-10-2001: Message edited by: Rhino ]

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I would love to have seen the look on a Ch-com pilots face if he had tried to play with a blackbird!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FLASH OF LIGHTNING?

[The_Sonarman]

15 Oct 1997 President Clinton Kills SR-71 Funding with Line Item Veto

30 Oct 1998 Hq USAF directs termination of all SR-71 operations and subsequent disposal of the fleet

[Warlady]

Anudder1
http://freeconservatives.com/pics/members/sonarman/sr71b.jpg

[**DONOTDELETE**]

'Taint no pleasure craft, that Blackbird. First of all, you are wearing a semi-pressurized spacesuit for most of the flight. The flight starts with a monster climb to an immediate refuel where you take on a mission load at 300 KIAS. Not exactly easy task for a hyper Mach bird. Then you reach altitude and the monster J-58's are spooled to max, converting over to a hybrid turbine/ram jet once Mach 2 is reached. The compressor section is bypassed and the inlet cones (spikes) are positioned to maximize the diffuser section to maximize the ram compression. During this phase, there is often a condition known as an "unstart" and the rather large centerline offset of the engines induces a huge yaw, slamming you sideways. Time to restart that engine and have a go at it again.

Once you have broken Mach 2, you go on to mission altitude and trim the bird for best efficiency. Its a totally different beast now, actually drinking less fuel the faster you push it. Pilots who are running low on fuel shorten the mission by flying faster.

This plane is actually easier to fly than the U-2/TR1-A as its operational envelope is much greater. The U2 typically flew in a 2-3 KIAS window. Too fast, it goes transonic, wings shear and it becomes a lawn dart. Too slow, it stalls, then falls and goes transonic with the same effect. In effect, a U2 pilot is either climbing with power or descending without power for the entire flight. Thankfully the winds aloft are very predictable and most pilots are able to fly with little attention. Landing this beast is another story. Bicycle landing gear require a set of "pogo wheels" for take-off. These drop off at rotation so landing requires balance input from aileron control. Once the bird is too slow to balance, it drags the wing, something more in line with a sailplane.

As far as I know, the only SR's in service are being used for hyper-Mach engine research. I'm sure there are a few pilots left who wouldn't mind flying a few missions over mainland if only to snap a few picts of their military. Keep the Chi-coms on their toes.

[Warlady]

I believe it was the U2 my nephew used to pilot over N. Korea before he became a pilot for United Airlines. He said it used every muscle in your body to land it.
A really cool link to the SR-71 (http://www.wvi.com/~lelandh/sr-71~1.htm)

[ 04-09-2001: Message edited by: Warlady ]

[**DONOTDELETE**]

keith j and sonar, mothballed 71 for good?....u guys crack me up.

images/icons/wink.gif

[ThomasMore]

Re. the Aurora project. I've never been able to get anything real solid on it, but several years ago, Aviation Week & Space Technology wrote occasionally (and speculatively) about Aurora, and once even had a diagram that I saw. Reports described capabilities between Mach 5 and 8.

In the last three years, though, DEAFENING silence. Now not a word is written.

FYI, Aviation Week was often referred to as "Aviation Leak" due to the secrets which often got out on its pages.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Warlady:
[QB]Kind of mean lookin' ain't it?[]


That is one fine looking BIRD...totally awesome!! images/icons/grin.gif

[The_Sonarman]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>keith j and sonar, mothballed 71 for good?....u guys crack me up.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It appears that is the case (ie. mothballed for good). Most of the Blackbirds have been donated to various museums, etc. To reactivate more than a couple, would have to retrieve the birds from those museums. I understand the Smithsonian has one, BTB.