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The SR-71 Spy Plane Was So Fast, It Outran Every Missile Fired at It
War is Boring ^
| December 5, 2013
| Dario Leone and David Cenciotti
Posted on 12/05/2013 5:28:31 AM PST by C19fan
Until Lockheed Martin finally builds the SR-72 Mach-6 spy plane it announced in November, the iconic SR-71 Blackbird, capable of flying three times the speed of sound, remains the fastest warplane ever flown operationally.
So fast that no missiles fired at it had a chance of hitting.
When the U-2 spy plane was built in the 1950s, its designer Clarence Kelly Johnson already knew that it would be vulnerable to enemy defenses.
(Excerpt) Read more at medium.com ...
TOPICS: History; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: aerospace; blackbird; darioleone; davidcenciotti; lockheedmartin; sr71; u2; usaf; warisboring
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To: G Larry
Alternatively..you can could attend a Georgia Tech
football game This flyover cost the two pilots ( Tech alums) their wings..
61
posted on
12/05/2013 8:41:02 AM PST
by
ken5050
(Benghazi investigation update: "The plot thickens, like Hillary Clinton's ankles.." (longfellow")
To: rktman
Well said. And well even before the SR, we produced the X-15.
62
posted on
12/05/2013 8:43:26 AM PST
by
ken5050
(Benghazi investigation update: "The plot thickens, like Hillary Clinton's ankles.." (longfellow")
To: KarlInOhio
Nice list, especially considering that I had always heard an F4 was designed to turn jet fuel into noise with flight as a mere side effect.The F-4 is proof positive that you can make anything fly with a big enough engine.
63
posted on
12/05/2013 8:43:41 AM PST
by
IYAS9YAS
(Has anyone seen my tagline? It was here yesterday. I seem to have misplaced it.)
To: Syntyr
Better to die than sound bad on the radios. This is true.
64
posted on
12/05/2013 8:45:05 AM PST
by
xone
To: PIF
There is a misconception on anti-aircraft missiles.
They do not chase the target, they go to where the target
will be when they get there.
A Nike Hercules intercepted another Hercules and both were over 3000 MPH.
To: C19fan
The operation capacity J-58’s couldn’t be reached without the SR flying apart.
To: blam
I’ve been wanting to go there for years. You just sealed the deal!
67
posted on
12/05/2013 10:39:52 AM PST
by
uncommonsense
(Liberals see what they believe; Conservatives believe what they see.)
To: saleman
Think Saturn V. Saw Apollo 14 on the pad two days before launch God I wish I could have been there for the launch, friends said it was awesome who live near the Cape.
68
posted on
12/05/2013 12:18:58 PM PST
by
sarge83
To: Syntyr
69
posted on
12/05/2013 12:23:59 PM PST
by
bobby.223
(Retired up in the snowy mountains of the American Redoubt and it's a GREAT life!)
To: Syntyr
That was a great story from Sled Driver. Thanks for posting that. I’m going to have to go back and read that book again, and remember when I was proud to be an American.
To: SampleMan; Dan(9698)
Maybe it didn’t fly at mach 5, but then it must not have done 3,500kts either. Just going by what others claimed it’s speed was.
Predictions are just that. Not a certainty. Maybe it will catch up at the right intersection, maybe not, Pilots have a funny way of being unpredictable in such a situation.
71
posted on
12/05/2013 12:59:04 PM PST
by
PIF
(They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
To: smaug6
kts = nautical miles per hour.
72
posted on
12/05/2013 1:02:53 PM PST
by
PLMerite
(Shut the Beyotch Down! Burn, baby, burn!)
To: Jack Hydrazine
“I know a retired flight traffic controller who clocked it at 3500kts. Go figure.”
3500kts is way past Mach 3. Is he sure it was an SR-71 ?
73
posted on
12/05/2013 1:06:09 PM PST
by
PLMerite
(Shut the Beyotch Down! Burn, baby, burn!)
To: PLMerite; Jack Hydrazine
No 3500 kph (kilometers per hour) is about 2175 mph. That might be what he meant.
74
posted on
12/05/2013 1:08:58 PM PST
by
PLMerite
(Shut the Beyotch Down! Burn, baby, burn!)
To: PLMerite
75
posted on
12/05/2013 1:10:10 PM PST
by
PLMerite
(Shut the Beyotch Down! Burn, baby, burn!)
To: PIF
We call those sea stories. A bit of exageration improves the telling.
I used to teach SAM avoidance. The inability to fly over SAM sites is what ended the B-58, the B-70, and ultimately changed the B-1A into the B-1B.
76
posted on
12/05/2013 1:12:49 PM PST
by
SampleMan
(Feral Humans are the refuse of socialism.)
To: hoagy62
With the exception of the radio equipment that I didn’t have, you just described word for word the flyby at Edwards AFB, I think in the late 1980s. Great memory ... thanks!
77
posted on
12/05/2013 2:30:12 PM PST
by
Fast Moving Angel
(A moral wrong is not a civil right: No religious sanction of an irreligious act.)
To: PLMerite
Nope. He specifically said 3500 knots per hour.
78
posted on
12/05/2013 7:58:42 PM PST
by
Jack Hydrazine
(Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; me = independent conservative)
To: PLMerite
Yes, it was the SR-71 he tracked on his radar.
79
posted on
12/05/2013 7:59:15 PM PST
by
Jack Hydrazine
(Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; me = independent conservative)
To: Syntyr
Outstanding .. thanks ! d:^)
80
posted on
12/05/2013 8:09:15 PM PST
by
tomkat
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