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!5 incredible facts about the SR - 71
This is a good example of what the older generation can do. The best the young folks have done so far is that high priced hunk of junk they call the F-35 (www.odometer.com) Plus d'info...
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The story alludes to a top speed of mach 3.4, higher than any official accounting. However, from reading anecdotal evidence, and my own personal experience of having tracked this plane at between 2250 - 2290 mph (1966, unauthorized BUIC tracking), I do believe this is more likely fact than fantasy. The altitude returns from radar equipment was at its max elevation of 92K. The altitude may not have been reliable, but the speed was quite accurate.
Nice pictures, but really nothing new there. It is a very cool aircraft. I'll point out that the fuel used was JP-7, not JT-7 as stated in the article, and that most missions involved multiple re-fuelings. The USAF maintained a fleet of somewhere around 100 KC135Q tankers dedicated exclusively to servicing the SR-71. Leakage rates of the aircraft were known values (drips, not gallons).
Nil in the air, all on the ground
Agree on the photos. Simply a beautiful bird, in all respects.
Every fact about the SR-71 is incredible.
