Area 51...

[Variance]

I get the feeling it's used to test some really top secret weaponry and all that but is there something more to it than that? :huh:

[network engineer]

Secret weponry. I believe in exterrestrial inteligence, but I find it unlikely that an alien civilization could travel the great distance to our galaxy. We do know that the f17 and the b2 were both tested there, as well as the f22. I'm willing to bet that we have some sort of aircraft that travels by distorting electro magnetic fields.

[Fijian]

if you have 10 minutes to read this...then its a brief history of Area-51..all you need to know, and then some!

http://www.desertsecrets.com/area51.html

[Sixty8panther]

Just imagine.... this plane was desinged in the late 1950s. Think about the kind of top secret crap they've got NOW!

BTW: after landing the SR71 is several inches wider than before takeoff... that's how much the elastic skin & titanium skelaton stretches from the intense heat of its Mach 3+ flight. This plane is absolutely amazing. I've had a chance to see one in person once but never in flight. :(

Now which Nerd will be the first to tell us about the "diamonds" trailing the afterburners?

http://www.staynehoff.net/sr71-shock.jpg



Some cool photos of the SR71

[Flybrian]

The SR-71 is the most fascinating aircraft likely ever created. The huge inlet nacelle cones on the intakes of the jets are necessary to 'convert' the engines from turbojet to ramjet function; positioned incorrectly, they cause the SR-71 to unstart in midair, causing an abrupt yaw to one side or the other. The aircraft didn't actually stretch; more accurately, the panels aligned themselves in flight due to the extreme heat at the SR-71's operating speeds. This meant that the plane would simply leak fuel all over the ramp when parked. But that's okay since the JP-7 fuel it used had an extrodinarily high flashpoint to prevent combustion in the heat of flight, so even dropping a match into a bucket of it wouldn't ignite it. It also trace Caesium compound mixed in to reduce the radar sig of the exhaust. Its said JP-7 was more expensive than an equal amount of malt whiskey. After the plane launched, it would 'warm up' the airframe and then rendezvous with a special KC-135Q for aerial refueling; that's how much fuel it burned on takeoff. Some more weird tidbits: the titanium skin actually grew stronger as it heated, the J-58 engines not only operate continuously on afterburner but become more efficient as the plane goes faster, and the exact airframe tolerences really are not fully known (at least what's declassified). Figures put Mach 3.44 as a max operating speed at which unstarts becomes a more serious issue. Note the X-15 rocket plane reached speeds of between Mach 5 and Mach 6.7. A few weird facts are that the titanium used to make much of the SR-71's skin actually originated from the USSR, the aircraft was really a very, very dark blue (not quite black), and - since this is a GM forum - the start carts used to power up the big J-58s were themselves powered by a set of two Buick V-8s. And, and as for the exhaust, its creating by the ramjet engine.

[balthazar]

Yah- the twin Buick V-8s were mid-'60s 425 V-8 nailheads: 680 HP total.

[Sixty8panther]

Two Buick V8s huh? That I did not know. I'd love to drop a nailhead 7.0 liter into a '32 Roadster. I'm sure it's been done but it woud be much more unique than a flathead or SBC. Edited September 18, 2005 by Sixty8panther

[balthazar]

"nailhead" <> "7.0 liter" Stop that... immediately... or else. Makes my skin crawl. It's like saying 'Mozart wrote really cool MP3s'. Plus: it's less precise a unit of measure. Yes, the nailhead Buicks have seen quite a few installations in Deuces over the years. Edited September 19, 2005 by balthazar

[razoredge]

"nailhead" <> "7.0 liter"

Stop that... immediately... or else. Makes my skin crawl. It's like saying 'Mozart wrote really cool MP3s'. Plus: it's less precise a unit of measure.

Yes, the nailhead Buicks have seen quite a few installations in Deuces over the years.

[post="16485"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Really Silv, your making my momma cry :( come on bro fly straight your creatin' a bit of yaw ! :)

401ci & 425ci ?????? Right ???????? I know its confusing because they were called after their torque numbers. Someone help me out here on that one.

I think I saw photos once of later 455 start carts too ?? Correct ??? Maybe they were 430's ??

Great info Fly, thats amazing stuff. I see why as a country we are broke however, its that damn JP-7