cazalea
[Seiko Moderator]
21021
Saturday fantasy: SR-71 and B-52
SR-71 Blackbird
Let's just say it's Saturday morning, the chores are done, and we need to take a look at the state of affairs of the planet. Rather than open the newspaper (on our iPad), we walk to the hanger.
We fire up these two Buick Wildcat V8 engines and let them warm a bit.
using these two handles, we pull the flex cable out of the start cart and plug it into our aircraft. We go back to the cart, slowly rev the motors up to 3400 and let the turbines spin up.
We walk around checking the aircraft - it's one of only 32 so we don't want to make any mistakes handling the fastest air-inhaling (non-rocket) aircraft in existence
We check the fuel - it needs only 1/4 fuel load to take off (to reduce the roll distance) and we will refuel as soon as we are in the air. Then we have about 2 hours flying time or a bit less if we want to be frisky.
Climb into the cockpit
Our pal climbs in the back, taking care to dump his coffee over the side before entering
We decide no more snakes are necessary today, so we leave the armaments at home.
We flip the ignition switches, and in a half-second the entire back pasture is toast.
On 28 July 1976, SR-71 serial number 61-7962, piloted by then Capt. Robert Helt, broke the world record: an "absolute altitude record" of 85,069 feet (25,929 m). On that same day SR-71 serial number 61-7958 set an absolute speed record of 1,905.81 knots (2,193.2 mph; 3,529.6 km/h), approximately Mach 3.3.
Let's talk about another one. The B-52D Stratofortress. The Fortress in the Stratosphere. Boeing built 742 of them, between 1952 and 1962.
This is one big mutha of an aircraft. I walked the fuselage - 65 paces. It has 8 turbine engines hanging from its main wings.
But oddly, the landing gear is very narrow and located in front of and behind the bomb bay doors. So tiny "training wheels" on the wingtips protect if from burying a wingtip in the tarmac.
It costs the taxpayers about $10,000 in maintenance per flight hour to keep this monster in the air.
Where the 70,000 lbs of payloadwas once is still carried. The newest refit allows for up to 8 nuclear weapons, or 40 cruise missiles in a single aircraft.
Pick your weapons.
Only 8 wheels support a quarter million pounds of aluminum and fuel.
Yes, it has guns (and a gunner) in the back. In case of emergency, the gunner ejects out of the back, the pilots go out the top, and the bomb crew go out the bottom.
[The following images from Wikipedia]
We fire up these two Buick Wildcat V8 engines and let them warm a bit.
using these two handles, we pull the flex cable out of the start cart and plug it into our aircraft. We go back to the cart, slowly rev the motors up to 3400 and let the turbines spin up.
We walk around checking the aircraft - it's one of only 32 so we don't want to make any mistakes handling the fastest air-inhaling (non-rocket) aircraft in existence
We check the fuel - it needs only 1/4 fuel load to take off (to reduce the roll distance) and we will refuel as soon as we are in the air. Then we have about 2 hours flying time or a bit less if we want to be frisky.
Climb into the cockpit
Our pal climbs in the back, taking care to dump his coffee over the side before entering
We decide no more snakes are necessary today, so we leave the armaments at home.
We flip the ignition switches, and in a half-second the entire back pasture is toast.
On 28 July 1976, SR-71 serial number 61-7962, piloted by then Capt. Robert Helt, broke the world record: an "absolute altitude record" of 85,069 feet (25,929 m). On that same day SR-71 serial number 61-7958 set an absolute speed record of 1,905.81 knots (2,193.2 mph; 3,529.6 km/h), approximately Mach 3.3.
An SR-71 flew from New York to London 3,462 miles (5,571 km), at 1,807 miles per hour (2,908 km/h) in 1 hour 55. This is about Mach 2.72, including deceleration for in-flight refueling. Peak speeds during this flight were likely closer to the declassified top speed of Mach 3.2+. For comparison, the best commercial Concorde flight time was 2 hours 52 minutes and the Boeing 747 averages 6 hours 15 minutes.
Ah, fantasies ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
B-52D Stratofortress
Let's talk about another one. The B-52D Stratofortress. The Fortress in the Stratosphere. Boeing built 742 of them, between 1952 and 1962.
This is one big mutha of an aircraft. I walked the fuselage - 65 paces. It has 8 turbine engines hanging from its main wings.
But oddly, the landing gear is very narrow and located in front of and behind the bomb bay doors. So tiny "training wheels" on the wingtips protect if from burying a wingtip in the tarmac.
It costs the taxpayers about $10,000 in maintenance per flight hour to keep this monster in the air.
Where the 70,000 lbs of payload
Pick your weapons.
Only 8 wheels support a quarter million pounds of aluminum and fuel.
Yes, it has guns (and a gunner) in the back. In case of emergency, the gunner ejects out of the back, the pilots go out the top, and the bomb crew go out the bottom.
[The following images from Wikipedia]
Mrs Cazalea and I were able to view these two aircraft at the March Field Air Force Museum in Riverside, CA. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday and well worth a visit if you are nearby.
I had seen the Blackbird many times, but this was my first B-52 "in the flesh" and it was awesome. To imagine this thing flying ... well as we stood there gawking at it, a 747 took off from the runway adjacent to us. And while that is a monster, it didn't look all that big compared to this plane.
If you are interested, please let me know and I can do a follow-up post with some of the other 60-70 aircraft we inspected.
Cazalea
Saturday fantasy: SR-71 and B-52
SR-71 Blackbird Let's just say it's Saturday morning, the chores are done, and we need to take a look at the state of affairs of the planet. Rather than open the newspaper (on our iPad), we walk to the hanger. We fire up these two Buick Wildcat V8 engines...
More please!!!
I love these older aircraft, as they really were game changers with regards to the course of history. The U2 spy plane is one that I also love reading about - watching the James May (BBC ex-Top Gear presenter) youtube clip showing the journey into low atm...
Thank you for this detailed visit...
Shame on humankind, that cannot produce better planes, after all those years. Cheers, Nilo
Good point!
I do wonder though if there is a successor to the blackbird that is still understandably classified. Although with satellite technology it might not be necessary.
Please do the follow-up
and thank you for showing two legendary aircrafts Cheers D P.S. Dr. Strangelove is superb movie
I just watched the trailer for Dr Strangelove
It must be 40 years since I\'ve seen that movie. Time for another viewing. Cazalea
More Aircraft at the March Field Air Museum
Here's the view as you exit the freeway and approach the March Field Museum: I'll walk you through some of the exhibits: Yes, those are MIGs behind the B-29 There were actually quite a lot of visitors on the chilly Thursday morning we visited. Notice the ...
Great photos....
of great planes, I was not aware of this museum so thanks for this report, I am confident I will take the time to visit the place! And even though I have seen the SR-71 numerous times myself, I have not seen it in a setting like that where you can even cl...
WOW ! Congratulations on your purchase !
Owning a Blackbird must be very special ! What's the highest speed you reached with it ? ;-)
I haven't run it yet, still looking for a refueling partner ...
Trouble is, this tanker isn't fast enough. The Blackbird would fall out of the sky trying to fly slow enough ... I have flown a SPEEDBIRD though but I sold it. :-( ...
Quiz time! Great post, now to see who's on their game....
Your first photo: SR-71 Your last photo: P-38 What person do these two aircraft have in common? ( Hint: One of my heroes! )
I must admit that I give credit to Ben Rich
Project manager for propulsion and heat management systems for Skunk Works. Without him the SR-71, F117, and U2 would have not been possible. This is not to undermine K. Johnson work by any means, but it is neat to know the men "behind the scenes". Sincer...
Gosh how can i have missed this post!
I never go to the timeout section! Thanks a lot cazalea for these stunning pictures. The SR-71 is my favorite aircraft, i used to have a tiny model of it when I was a child. This plus alphajets flying daily over my home made my an aircraft addict! I reall...
Beauties!
I\'m heading to Seattle next week and the museum of flight is in the plans. Cheers PAt