[China Clipper]

Years ago, At the SAC Museum up near Omaha, NE, they used to have the SR-71 Blackbird engine displayed on the floor.

I remember taking the time to place ONE FINGER on the front (intake) side of the engine, and rotating the ENTIRE ENGINE with just finger pressure.

To me it was an incredible example of how well balanced those engines must have been!

[mabarker1]

As Col. Potter would have said “there’s not enough OOOOOOOOO’s in smooth to describe that.”

The engineer was talking about the fan blades were made with linear crystals lining up in the metal so they can measure and control the stretch of the blades at heat and speed.

I’m guessing that the bearings were incredibly smooth as well. Although the engine was only spinning around 8,000 rpm.