1st Stealth Aircraft. Fast Too!

Wow, after a brief online refresher research session I didn't realise the thing was 85% titanium.

Learn something new every day.

it was 100% fast!!

And the jet fuel it used, JP7, was very unique. You could throw a lit match into a bucket of the stuff and it would not ignite. The had to inject a chemical additive into the engine, near the ignitors, to make it flash.

Firstly, I am personally a huge fan of this aircraft, always was, always will be.

Secondly, it achieved things that no other aircraft can even get near, and I sincerely doubt, even in the future, will be achieved, even with computers and modern technology.

I personally (not knowing all the ins and outs) do not believe that Satellites will be able to do the whole job as they are simply too predictable in most cases....the SR-71 was and is completely unique and for the enemy, unpredictable!

I have an old friend in Florida, who looked after them during his time in the USAF, he has intimated to some even more astounding qualities than are generally made public.....I keep them quiet too, I might add, "just in case!"

But, I disagree completely about it being the first stealth aircraft. The USA had flying wing aircraft, both propeller and jet, in the late 40's, early 50's, that first alerted the USA that aircraft could be made stealthy, and these aircraft were not really "intended" to be such.....

You can read here more about the designs:-

Northrop_YB-49

Where the following sentence can be read:-

Design work performed in the development of the YB-35 and YB-49 nonetheless proved to be valuable to Northrop decades later in the eventual development of the B-2 stealth bomber, which entered service in the early 1990s.

The Nazis had an aircraft in development, during WW2, called the Horten if I remember correctly, that exhibits many of the attributes of the B2 Bomber.

See here:-

Horten_Ho_229

Where you can read the following comment:-

Since the appearance of the B-2 Spirit flying-wing stealth bomber in the 1990s, its similarities in role and shape to the Ho 229 has led many to retrospectively describe the Ho 229 as "the first stealth bomber".

So I am not alone in my thoughts there and probably the Horten HO 229 design was used in early US designs.....Hey! The USA did the same with the V2 rockets taken back to the USA as well as their designer!!

There are also line drawings and pictures of the aircraft to be seen, online at that link.....

The Horten aircraft were acquired by the USA at the end of WW2 and various parts etc., can still be seen in some aircraft museums in the USA even today.

IRC, the SR-71 had a Radar Absorbing Material (RAM) paint coating on it's surface to significantly reduce it's Radar Cross-Section Signature (RCS). I believe the paint additive was referred to as "Iron Ball".

Kelly Johnson was the man!!

Kelly Johnson, my HERO!

are you sure? I don't think he was a "cement guy"

Yes, I'm sure. I grew up around US Air Force fighter aircraft....my late uncle flew F-105G Wild Weasel mission over North Vietnam.

And my kid brother was a fighter jock in the USAF and later in the New Jersey Air National Guard, having flown F-4E, F-106A, and lastly F-16C.

Carbonyl iron. Commonly called ferrite, these coated balls are still used.

Or were a few years ago.

We used to spray it on the inner surfaces of HF electronic circuit cavities to reduce interference.

It was flat black, as applied.

Never worked on stealth aircraft.

What is amazing about this plane is that it is late 1950's technology and goes Mach 3+. It makes me wonder what we have flying out of Skunk Works and other bases in the desert.

I heard a "Sled" pilot, Major Brian Shul, speak one time and he had some cool stories to tell, nothing that would have been classified but just interesting things he experienced while flying.

Then we have the "Aurora", a hypersonic aircraft that the DOD, DIA, SRO, and CIA will never acknowledge exists.

LMAO!!!!!

Don't let Killery Klingon know, because she may e-mail this secret with the Russians and Chinese intercepting it.....