Posted on 02/05/2005 3:15:15 PM PST by Indy Pendance
Edited on 02/05/2005 3:17:49 PM PST by Lead Moderator. [history]
The coolest spy plane ever built, SR-71. I was watching Modern Marvels on the History channel last night. This aircraft broke all kinds of international speed and altitude records which still have not been beaten today. It was nothing for them to fly at 80,000 feet and it was a piece of cake to fly at about mach 3, or about 2100 mph. For those of you old enough, remember the sonic boom days? About 750 miles would create a sonic boom, or a doppler effect.
Here's the question, this plane was so fast, it was faster than the earth's rotation. What would happen with time over a long sustainable period of flying time? If it goes faster than the earth's rotation long enough, will it be ahead of time when it lands, or likewise in the opposite direction, will it go back in time. Do you think Einstein has an answer? Saturday night ponderings.
However, from a "civil time" perspective, a nominal form of "time travel" occurs whenever one crosses the international date line. But this form of "time travel" is simply a function of the relabelling of timepoints according to civil rules governing timezones and dates, not actual "time travel" as measured by an atomic clock.
From what I understand the Aurora has taken the place of the SR-71, but its still all classified, and the plane "Does not in fact" exist. All the public has to go by is puffs of smoke, a contrail of sorts we beleive came from what is called a "pulse wave detonation" propulsion system. You can probably find out more inforation if you Google it.
No dear, I'm just being a FReeper.
What about Freiden calculators?
Cool! Tell you pop there are folks out there today that admire his work!
my Daddy helped design and build this aircraft .
Did your dad work at the Skunk works?
http://home.insight.rr.com/skunkworks/
Seriously, the USA rocks!
No, I didn't read that you lost your luggage. Sorry.
Just think, I didn't charge you for this. Life could be worse. LOL!
I was wrong in that statement, said so early on.
lol
I thought the YF-12 was the proposed fighter derivitive of what ended up as the SR-71. The thing I remember about that plane was that, first, it was faster than bullets, literally, so they couldn't arm it with guns. Therefore they came up with a missle specifically for it's use. Though they dropped the fighter variant, they kept the missle for other planes and dubbed it the Phoenix.
A couple of folks who should know have told me that's wrong. A couple who should know have told me that's the way it was. It still gets the point across about the planes speed.
I saw the SR-71 in person in what I understand to be one of the first times it was shown to the public. We were visiting a friend at Travis AFB who was waiting for a MAC flight to his home in Hawaii. He was retired due to injuries in Vietnam and could fly free, but he was waiting for weeks because it was in the middle of the PATCO strike, so anyone who could fly MAC was and a retired Marine grunt was WAY down the list. They had an airshow up a Travis so we used the excuse to go spend time with him ("meet me under the wing of the B-52" were his instructions). That would have been in 1981.
They had the SR71 on display but kept the public about 30 feet away, behind ropes, with armed guards around it. The pilot (I think a Colonel) was at the rope line talking to the public. When asked how fast the plane could fly he told a story "he had heard, but couldn't vouch for." There is an internationally accepted speed record for aircraft set from a fixed point in international waters off of England to a fixed point off of New York. A Russian Mig was flying that route to set the record and prove the superiority of Soviet airplanes. About halfway across the Atlantic an SR-71 sidled up along side the Mig, the American pilot waved at his Russian counterpart, smiled and waved, then hit the afterburners. The SR-71 left the Mig far behind. The Russian turned around and went home at that point.
I bet the story is apocryphal, but I love it.
"There is talent and knowledge here."
No kidding. FR is amazing.
I was really waiting for a feasible answer!
So, if he walked in circles long enough, what would happen?
Hmm. Not enough rankor for 100% FReep though. ;)
Hey Man,
There is a SR at the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, KS. Truly beautiful!
MFO
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