[Prophet in the wilderness]

I had a person tell me, that he worked on the SR - 71 black bird, and he told me that they had to use V - 8 car engines to start the engines on the Blackbird, and many a time, they would ruin those V - 8 car engines just starting the plane, is that true ?

[spower]

Yes, the plane was started with V-8 car engines!

[Indy Pendance]

I also heard they leaked a lot of fuel.

[MarIboro]

2 442 ci v8s on a platform. It had a seat in the middle with a 4 speed synchronized gearbox and uncorked headers on the motors. Loud as hell.
It was used to bring the turbines up to a high enough RPM to start. Worked on the SR-71 in 1975.

[FreedomAvatar]

Yes, in the early models. Later on the SR-71 was fitted with a pneumatic start.