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.
"Mr. Spicolli! Did you bring enough of that for everyone?"
Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting
Click on the thumbnail to see the fullsize picture.
Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting
I was torn up when the XB-70 went down. I was 11 and remember the dramatic photos of the accident (google pulls them up immediately). To this day it still sticks with me as a great tragedy, both for the people involved and for aviation in general. The XB-70 was quite a bird.
As to riding shock waves, I believe the tales that say the SR-71 was allowed to retire, not because satellites were a sufficient replacement, but because the Skunkworks had several other craft already in the air (or above it). The one that sounds the most plausible to me is the Aurora pulse engine driven shock wave rider. They even featured that one on JAG, which gets lots of DOD cooperation, so I bet it's close to being revealed. I wouldn't be surprised if that episode was done at the instigation of the DOD to spook Kim Jung Il, whether Aurora is real or not.
Kelly Johnson always had at least one more design hidden in the wings, waiting to go.
Mr. Hand!!!
"Kicking Ass for over 200 Years"
What, you never watched Star Trek (especially TNG)?? They used time travel as a plot point in every 3rd episode (easy to have terrible things happen if they "never happened" because Eddie's in the space/time continuum)
I certainly hope you are right about items "on the shelf". We have come to the brink and backed off too often. Example: I could have gotten really good odds against a decade moon landing in 1960, but if I set as granted Armstrong's footprint, and then told people we would go 30 years without going back (where are the lunar colonies), they'd have classified me as a certifiable consumer of green cheese. We need, as a country, as a race, as a planet, we need, budget be damned, to keep pushing that envelope. The moment you quit trying and growing, you start dying.
I saw the Blackbird at Dulles a year ago. One of my patients worked on it and saw that plane take off for its final flight to Dulles. He says they intended to get to Dulles 5 minutes faster than they achieved, but were slowed by a fuel pump problem that flight. It is already well worth a visit there already and the visit will improve with time as they plan to double or triple the number of planes displayed. There is a lot of vertical space left in the hanger and it is designed for three viewing levels. Sadly the Shuttle Enterprise had one leading wing edge removed - they used that to help sort out the Columbia disaster.
I saw the surviving XB-70 at its final resting place, Wright-Patterson in the 70s. Very impressive and the rest of the museum was awesome too. Depending on how you define "plane," I saw the other claimant for the title of fastest, highest flying and coolest "plane," the X15, back in the 60s. IIRC it was being trucked around on tour after its program had ended. But my favorite flying sighting has to be seeing Apollo 17 take off at night... from the beach in Miami. It was easy to see this red light curving upwards. We could even see when one of the stages separated. Dad has a long time lapse photo of it. Knowing there were people there and where they were headed was unforgettable.
Yup, you can always count on CNN to get the the facts straight....
Yes we do!
I have never read why you support illegals with such a passion.
Why?
I do notice that you say "your" guns not "our" guns. If you said nothing else, this is enough.
Another good book is 'Skunk Works' by Ben Rich. It covers not only the development of the SR-71, but that of U2 and the Stealth bomber.
What years were you there? I was there (as a D-brat) from the summer of '65 to the summer of '67. They held an open house when they got the first one and we all got to go see it. After that, seeing it flying around was a common occurrence.
I don't.
I support President Bush and oppose those who are attacking him for their own financial and political reasons, including the Buchanan/Tancredo type professional fund raisers who are exploiting the illegal immigrant issue with racist/xenophobic appeals.
I've spelled out my agenda several times in depth including HERE
President Bush is doing what he believes is best for America and I agree with him. It's as simple as that.
Well, she is certainly welcome to try.
However, I don't really need the guns. History shows that my folken
can get 'er done with farming tools if need be.
Even today, farming tools being what they are, say thankya.
Gladly we have some tech now.
And never in life think that we have forgotten a lick of it.
Let 'em try and see and bury the lot.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.