SR-71 Blackbird Flight Manual

by ibejoeb • 16 years ago

68 23 16 years ago

Saw this the other week (I think its been posted to hacker news before). It's actually surprisingly easy to understand, even for private barely-trained pilot's.

rosser• 16 years ago

I'm sure I wasn't the first to see it, but I posted it last Thursday. I'm not surprised it didn't get any traction, though; the Dow was busy eating its own head around the same time.

ibejoeb2• 16 years ago

I'm pretty sure there's a section in here about nose-dives...

ibejoeb2• 16 years ago

Hoping to find a model for X-Plane to try this out on...

jrockway• 16 years ago

X-Plane comes with the SR-71 by default.

SpacemanSpiff• 16 years ago

WARNING: This discovery cost me about 3 days of productivity a couple of years ago ;)

jacquesm• 16 years ago

Hm, frustration, none of the pages work for me, they come up with a blank image.

timcederman• 16 years ago

It uses PHP to serve the images from a database - e.g. http://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/manual/3/display.php?file=3-8.... Going to the image manually shows this:

The Database Must Be Down.

ehnus• 16 years ago

My favorite section is emergency procedures which contains gems like this:

"If both the A and B hydraulic systems fail as indicated by illumination of the A HYD and B HYD warning lights and confirmed by loss of A and B hydraulic pressure and deteriorating control effectiveness:

1. Eject"

aperiodic• 16 years ago

This plane never ceases to astound me.

It was so fast the standard evasive maneuver when it was shot at was simply to increase speed. There was just no missile that could catch it.

During flight, the plane would heat up so much from friction that it would expand significantly–as a consequence, the plane leaked fuel on the ground, since the fuel transfer system only fit together right at 600 degrees Fahrenheit.

Truly a marvel of human ingenuity.

johnswamps2• 16 years ago

I've been reading "Skunk Works" (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0316743003), which talks about the development of the SR-71 and other planes (such as the U-2 and the stealth bomber) at Lockheed's Skunk Works facility. It's a good read. I think it may have been suggested by another HNer.

jlangenauer• 16 years ago

I read this a few years ago. Quite a few years ago, come to think of it. It makes you wistful for those time when such a small group of skilled engineers came together to make incredible, physical things.

What we all do with code doesn't even come close.

justlearning2• 16 years ago

you should watch James May(top gear)as he goes to the edge of space in one of these: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6cZLfK4Zjk

pmjoyce• 16 years ago

That's a U-2, not an SR-71

justlearning2• 16 years ago

thank you for correcting. I thought they were from the same 'family'. too late to delete my comment.

schwit• 16 years ago

I take it the parts that remain classified contain the max speed and altitude?

harshpotatoes• 16 years ago

Now I really want to watch The Right Stuff again.

mos1• 16 years ago

It's on Netflix streaming. I'd say you owe me 3 hours, but I liked it.

Gambit89• 16 years ago

I'll just leave this link here...

http://gizmodo.com/5511236/the-thrill-of-flying-the-sr+71-bl...

evgen• 16 years ago

A better excerpt of the "king of speed" story from Sled Driver stuffed into the middle of that article is here:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.aviation.stories/browse_t...

watmough• 16 years ago

Caught part of a MILT channel show from 2002 about the SR-71 / Lockheed Skunkworks.

One thing I hadn't seen before was this... an unmanned drone, launched from the back of an SR-71, at Mach 2. What a country!

http://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/d-21.php

SR-71 Blackbird Flight Manual

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