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Originally Posted by diarmadhi
Nifty useless piece of random information.. The sr71 has a fuel line that runs under the wings that actually leaks aviation gas when its not moving mach 1+, this was done becuase an actual solid fuel line would burst from the air pressure generated by the high speed. SO any sr71 that is fueled and on the ground leaks gas.
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Yeah, it also leaked bad because they had to make valves to survive in the ultra-hot environment at Mach 3. Everything expanded and fit when it was going but was about as watertight as a window screen on the ground.
Quote:
Originally Posted by radz282003
Have you heard of the Valkerie? I forget the designation, but this one was a promising jet also; Mach 3+ bomber. I think the US produced a prototype, but it was scrapped thanks to Kennedy or someone in that era.
Too bad. This is a great discussion. (Sorry for  )  |
It was the XB-70. It was scrapped after an F-104 crashed into it during a photo-op flight. Plus, what is the point of a Mach 3 bomber? You cant drop anything out of it at those speeds during the days before guided munitions. And even if they were guided, do YOU want to drop LIVE ordnance into a Mach 3 freestream where air friction creates temperatures hot enough to melt lead (and thats a COOL temperature at those speeds, just think of a leading edge of a bomb fin). I think dropping HE into that hot of an environment is a bit...shall we say...risky.
I know the point was to dash in, and dash out, but...news flash...SAMs are faster than you and always will be, so when your bomb bays are open being a giant radar reflector, I'm fairly certain a SAM can get you before you close up and get too far.
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Originally Posted by CamaroSpike23
oh, and sidenote, there were unofficial claims by blackbird pilots of over mach 8.
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Yeah, unofficial, because it can't happen. The D-21 drone they piggybacked on the SR-71 may have been able to get around those speeds, but they scrapped that after it crashed into the Blackbird during a test flight so there's not much data on it, unofficial or otherwise.