Posted on 01/20/2023 3:43:38 AM PST by Libloather
There are an unending number of interesting facts about the SR-71 Blackbird, probably the coolest aircraft ever produced by any Air Force, anywhere in the world. It’s the only airframe that’s made of 85% titanium, titanium that was purchased by the CIA from the Soviet Union – the country the aircraft was built to spy on. It’s capable of cruising at more than three times the speed of sound at 85,000 feet – and that speed and altitude are its only defenses.
**SNIP**
It’s also the only Air Force aircraft ever made with the “SR” designation. The reason for that is actually a mistake made at the White House in 1964.
If one were to go back in time and look at the press conferences, manuals and other material related to the SR-71 Blackbird and the revelation of its existence, they might not notice anything was ever flubbed by the President of the United States. A deeper look into the speeches made by the president that year shows that Johnson may have made a slip-up, but his loyal military officers simply changed the name of the bird to suit the president’s flub.
**SNIP**
On July 25, 1964, President Johnson gave a speech to the American people to tell them about this state-of-the-art spy plane the United States had been using against the Soviet Union. The White House stenographer, apparently confused by earlier references to the RS-70 Valkyrie, wrote “RS-71” in the White House transcript. President Johnson’s speech itself, however, called it the SR-71. The fact that the program was declassified that day makes it even hard to go back and get a definitive ruling on its intended designation.
(Excerpt) Read more at wearethemighty.com ...
I have heard a few stories of over pressuring an airplane fuel system from the central fueling point and rupturing components. Ever see or hear of that?
Of course the 71 was a leaker but worse so on the ground supposedly until it got hot and sort of sealed up. Burning at the rate it did and leaking didn’t do much much for range so kept the tankers busy. How many did it take for a mission?
They used triethylborane in the JP7 as an oxidizer to get it to burn. It was injected from a separate tank into the fuel stream.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JP-7
I just learned from this article that there was a Shell insecticide called Flit that was used in the fuel and it became in short supply because of that.
Everything in the airplane was special from the gas in the tires to the lubricants.
If I believed in such things I would think that the SR-71 design was delivered to Lockheed by space aliens or on stone tablets to Kelly Johnson when he went up into the mountains for inspiration.
The mid-50s were an unbelievable time for aviation advancements and all done with slide rules, Friden calculators, drafting tables and wind tunnels and brilliant engineers.
I think this leads to an SR-71 pilot’s story - Brian Shul.
I was in training at Castle AFB, flying the B-52’ in raw Spring of 1964.
We were making touch and go landings at Edwards AFB and tower asked us to extend our downwind leg in order to “get a fighter on the ground.”
We extended and turned base when tower told us to.
When we turned onto final approach, we were behind a fast airplane that looked like a C-119 because of the twin vertical stabilizers. It was moving much faster than we were and, by the time we landed, it was out of sight, probably in a nearby hanger.....Later that month, Johnson disclosed the new “YF 12A!”
One of Mrs. JimRed’s cousins was a Blackbird pilot. Retired USAF Colonel now.
That was awesome. Thanks
KC-10A BOOMER...thank you for your service.
I always liked refueling behind the KC-10A. Every time I asked for extra gas they always had some to give.
On my first ocean crossing with KC-10s, I was lead of a 6 ship of F-4Es. We rendezvoused with the tanker over Boston. The tanker refueled all 6 of us from Boston to Lands End, England. From there, we flew to Ramstein AB, Germany. The KC-10 returned to the U.S.
Regards,
FtrPilot
... USAF Chief of Staff General Curtis LeMay preferred the SR (Strategic Reconnaissance) designation and wanted the RS-71 to be named SR-71. Before the July speech, LeMay lobbied to modify Johnson's speech to read "SR-71" instead of "RS-71". The media transcript given to the press at the time still had the earlier RS-71 designation in places, creating the story that the president had misread the aircraft's designation....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird
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