Blackbird Still Holds The Transatlantic Speed Record From 1974

Blackbird Still Holds The Transatlantic Speed Record From 1974

By:


SR-71, Commonly Called the Blackbird, Still Holds Speed Record From 1974

The muzzle velocity of a high powered 30-06 rifle bullet is 2910 feet per second. The Blackbird can fly at 3226 feet per second. Of course, that bullet starts to lose speed as it leaves the rifle barrel, but the Blackbird continues to fly at MACH 3+ and then accelerates faster, with each of its engines producing the power of 45 locomotives!

Developed during the middle of the cold war, the Lockheed SR-71 was designed as a reconnaissance aircraft that could fly fast enough to avoid being shot down by Russian aircraft or missiles. Initially developed as the A-12 for the CIA, the aircraft evolved and adapted many times over the 30 years it was in service.

The SR-71 was designed to fly more than three times the speed of sound. Beyond the sleek aerodynamics needed, one of the biggest challenges was developing an engine that could fly at such speeds. Rocket-powered aircraft could fly faster, but a rocket engine doesn’t need to worry about ingesting air, mixing it with fuel and then igniting the mixture to create thrust.

The challenge of an air-breathing jet engine, is the air must be traveling slower than Mach 1, the speed of sound, when it enters the engine. If supersonic air does reach a jet engine, the result is known as an “unstart” and the engine stalls and needs to be restarted in flight. Big problem if you’re flying over the Soviet Union with fighter planes chasing after you.
Because of the speeds flown by the SR-71, a much more complex inlet was needed to control the airflow. It has a spike-shaped cone located at the front of the air inlet that could be moved back and forth to control where the supersonic shock wave would enter the engine.

By carefully monitoring the aircraft speed, atmospheric conditions and engine parameters, the pilot could adjust the spike along with a series of doors. By doing this, a shock wave could actually be positioned in such a way that it would act as a speed bump of sorts and slow down the incoming air to Mach 0.6, the ideal speed for air to enter the jet engine.
The result was air would enter the inlet at approximately 2,100 mph, and within 20 feet, it would slow down to a speed of 600 mph. This didn’t always go according to plan, and unstarts would happen. Pilots describe the unpleasant event as a violent jerk to the side of the stalled engine and continued shaking, along with unwelcome noises until the engine could be restarted.

But, the result of all this complex air-inlet management was an engine that could push the SR-71 faster than any other jet aircraft. The official top speed was Mach 3.2, although pilots inadvertently flew as fast as Mach 3.5. Typical speeds would be around 3.0.

In 1974, on a flight to the Farnborough Air Show outside of London, Maj. James Sullivan and Maj. Noel Widdifield flew the SR-71 Blackbird from New York to London in 1 hour, 54 minutes, 56.4 seconds. The 1,806 mph flight still holds the transatlantic speed record between the two cities.

By comparison, the Concorde typically flew from New York to London in around three hours, and a 747 makes the trip in about six hours. The SR-71 did get a bit of a running start, because to time the trip, it flew through an imaginary gate over New York and through another imaginary gate over London to determine the time, but the SR-71 also had to slow down for refueling over the Atlantic behind a special Boeing KC-135Q tanker.

At the end of the Farnborough Air Show where the SR-71 was on display for the first time outside of the United States, it set another record on the way home. This time it flew from London to Los Angeles a distance of 5,446.87 miles in just 3 hours, 47 minutes, 39 seconds. The flight required two refueling slow-downs, as well as other speed zones when flying over major U.S. cities.

A Blackbird also set the coast-to-coast record when it flew from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. in 64 minutes, 20 seconds in 1990.
The last flight of the SR-71 took place on October 9, 1999.

A Blackbird stands on display at the Pima Air Museum in Tucson, AZ, in fact you walk under it to enter the museum. If you are ever near Tucson, stop in and take a look at the futuristic-looking plane.

About the Author:
My family and I have lived in Tucson, Arizona since 1978. The Pima Air Museum is in Tucson, where you can tour many of the old planes. It is a great museum, and the "bone yard" of all the old military planes is also in the same vicinity. It is not too far off of I-10 that runs through the city, so if you're traveling through, it is an easy stop.

http://ShoesCombat.com
http://ShoesCombat.com/about-us



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


Tags: , , ,

|

Loading...
Related....
Videos...

Recent Aviation Articles

Comments

Still can't find what you are looking for? Search for it!

Loading

Site Navigation:

Copyright 2005-2011 ArticleSnatch, LLC - All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service.