Blackbird Fans ; Here Is Something You Don't See Everyday

[willie-pete]

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/the...LEvIIML0QaR448TJax7p9Fef6WLmg38ke24PovnhwGFXk




" Taken on Jul. 6, 1972 the interesting photo in this post features Boeing 747 N1352B (also known as RA-001, N1352B which was the first Boeing 747 ever built) refuelling SR-71 Blackbird 955.

Noteworthy, N1352B was retained by Boeing and used as a test aircraft, and as a research platform for ongoing system developments with the 747 series.

As told by Paul F Crickmore in his book Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond the Secret Missions (Revised Edition), in 1970 General P. K. Carlton, commander of the 15th Air Force, became interested in extending SR-71 missions to fully encompass the concept of ‘global reach’. "



Also an interesting video in the link.

[pipedreams]

need fixey.....................?

 

[DrB]

picture no workey for me...

[willie-pete]

I told you guys up front in the title;

 

Blackbird Fans ; Here Is Something You Don't See Everyday

 

 

 

Try this.

 

 

 

[tadbart]

Hard to believe that thing was flying in the 1970s. Seeing what we have out there now, it's truly awe-inspiring to think of what the SkunkWorks are playing with nowadays.

[Al Czervik]

20 minutes ago, tadbart said:

Hard to believe that thing was flying in the 1970s. Seeing what we have out there now, it's truly awe-inspiring to think of what the SkunkWorks are playing with nowadays.

Indeed.  It was designed in the late 1950s.  The A-12 derivative officially made its first flight in 1962.

[willie-pete]

7 minutes ago, Al Czervik said:

Indeed.  It was designed in the late 1950s.  The A-12 derivative officially made its first flight in 1962.

 

Shhhh !

 

We don't speak of the Oxcart.

 

 

Edited November 8, 2020 by willie-pete

[Cheygriz]

I remember reading about the "YF-12A" in Airmen magazine back in 1964. Shortly before I mustered out.

[willie-pete]

1 hour ago, Cheygriz said:

I remember reading about the "YF-12A" in Airmen magazine back in 1964. Shortly before I mustered out.

 

The predecessor of the SR-71. It was a missile armed interceptor version of the A-12. A few were built for testing but it never got fully funded due to the cost of the Vietnam War.

[GT4494]

Does anyone else have recollections about the first shuttle flight?

Rumors floating at work was that an SR was sent aloft and did an inverted picture run on the shuttle. The pics were used to give engineers a idea of where and how many tiles the orbitor lost.  With the cameras and lack of atmosphere there is enough truth that it might really have happened. 

We got it through "backdoor" sources in our Palmdale branch.

Just wondering...

 

Edited November 8, 2020 by GT4494

[Al Czervik]

3 hours ago, willie-pete said:

 

The predecessor of the SR-71. It was a missile armed interceptor version of the A-12. A few were built for testing but it never got fully funded due to the cost of the Vietnam War.

Bunch of old geezer slide rule jockeys, er, I mean engineers that have to at least be in their mid to late 80s at this point designed the beautiful machine.

[MO Fugga]

One of the coolest things that ever had wings.

[willie-pete]

5 minutes ago, MO Fugga said:

One of the coolest things that ever had wings.

And one of the cooler things about it was the start cart.

 

https://www.456fis.org/STARTER_CARTS.htm

 

" The AG330 starter cart was developed exclusively for the Lockheed Blackbird family's Pratt & Whitney J58 turbojet engines. The cart used two Buick Wildcat V-8 racing engines, each of 425 cubic inch displacement. Together the engines produced over 600 horsepower and were tied to a common gear box to deliver torque through the vertical starter drive shaft to the J-58s. The aircraft engines had to be spooled up to at least 3,200 rpm for starting and ignition. "

 

 

 

 

 

[MO Fugga]

5 minutes ago, willie-pete said:

And one of the cooler things about it was the start cart.

 

https://www.456fis.org/STARTER_CARTS.htm

 

" The AG330 starter cart was developed exclusively for the Lockheed Blackbird family's Pratt & Whitney J58 turbojet engines. The cart used two Buick Wildcat V-8 racing engines, each of 425 cubic inch displacement. Together the engines produced over 600 horsepower and were tied to a common gear box to deliver torque through the vertical starter drive shaft to the J-58s. The aircraft engines had to be spooled up to at least 3,200 rpm for starting and ignition. "

 

 

 

 

 

I learnt something...

[tadbart]

3 hours ago, GT4494 said:

Does anyone else have recollections about the first shuttle flight?

Rumors floating at work was that an SR was sent aloft and did an inverted picture run on the shuttle. The pics were used to give engineers a idea of where and how many tiles the orbitor lost.  With the cameras and lack of atmosphere there is enough truth that it might really have happened. 

We got it through "backdoor" sources in our Palmdale branch.

Just wondering...

 

I never heard that, but is sure is plausible. Both craft were wonderful engineering achievements. I sure do miss the Shuttle.

[janice6]

3 hours ago, willie-pete said:

And one of the cooler things about it was the start cart.

 

https://www.456fis.org/STARTER_CARTS.htm

 

" The AG330 starter cart was developed exclusively for the Lockheed Blackbird family's Pratt & Whitney J58 turbojet engines. The cart used two Buick Wildcat V-8 racing engines, each of 425 cubic inch displacement. Together the engines produced over 600 horsepower and were tied to a common gear box to deliver torque through the vertical starter drive shaft to the J-58s. The aircraft engines had to be spooled up to at least 3,200 rpm for starting and ignition. "

 

 

 

 

 

I believe my leaf blower has the same requirement.

[willie-pete]

Biggest differences between the A-12 and the SR was the dual seating on the SR on the left vs. the single seat in the A-12 on the right.

 

[MO Fugga]

1 hour ago, willie-pete said:

Biggest differences between the A-12 and the SR was the dual seating on the SR on the left vs. the single seat in the A-12 on the right.

 

Nothing that awesome should have only one seat. Nobody to back up the stories.

[blueiron]

The A-12 Archangel was somewhat of a pointless aircraft. As an interceptor, no Soviet bomber was a viable competitor. The Tu-95 was slow and cumbersome. The Tu-22 had short legs and was barely supersonic. Even the supersonic Tu-160 strategic bomber introduced in the 1970s and then re-introduced in 2017, would be no match for it.

With the lack of a strategic bomber threat, it made way more sense as a recon aircraft with a RSO in the second seat.

[willie-pete]

Another story from Brian Shul in " Sled Driver "; how slow can the SR-71 fly.

 

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/story-behind-famed-sr-71-blackbird-super-low-knife-edge-pass/

 

 

[MO Fugga]

On 11/8/2020 at 11:41 PM, willie-pete said:

Another story from Brian Shul in " Sled Driver "; how slow can the SR-71 fly.

 

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/story-behind-famed-sr-71-blackbird-super-low-knife-edge-pass/

 

 

Pucker factor 11.

[willie-pete]

“ Don’t ever do that to me again”.

 

[holyjohnson]

On 11/8/2020 at 3:39 PM, willie-pete said:

And one of the cooler things about it was the start cart.

 

https://www.456fis.org/STARTER_CARTS.htm

 

" The AG330 starter cart was developed exclusively for the Lockheed Blackbird family's Pratt & Whitney J58 turbojet engines. The cart used two Buick Wildcat V-8 racing engines, each of 425 cubic inch displacement. Together the engines produced over 600 horsepower and were tied to a common gear box to deliver torque through the vertical starter drive shaft to the J-58s. The aircraft engines had to be spooled up to at least 3,200 rpm for starting and ignition. "

 

 

 

 

 

i wonder if 'TV' Tommy Ivo has a Patent on the 2 Buick Idea....

[blueiron]

Brian Shul - the sole SR-71 pilot that was "excommunicated" from the HABU club.

[railfancwb]

On 11/8/2020 at 3:39 PM, willie-pete said:

And one of the cooler things about it was the start cart.

 

https://www.456fis.org/STARTER_CARTS.htm

 

" The AG330 starter cart was developed exclusively for the Lockheed Blackbird family's Pratt & Whitney J58 turbojet engines. The cart used two Buick Wildcat V-8 racing engines, each of 425 cubic inch displacement. Together the engines produced over 600 horsepower and were tied to a common gear box to deliver torque through the vertical starter drive shaft to the J-58s. The aircraft engines had to be spooled up to at least 3,200 rpm for starting and ignition. "

 

 

 

 

 

Link had no pictures for me this time. So from a visit to Hill Aerospace Museum in Utah...