SR71 Blackbird

[Gearhead]

These German dudes built this , a scale model SR71 Blackbird , they built the engines , retractable landing gear ,  a lot of work went into this awesome rc  aircraft .

Check it out ..............

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=SDbQ5xvsrIU

[FiEND]

that's pretty awesome.  i saw one fly.  was escorted by an CF/18.  something i'll never forget.

[hps4evr]

i remember getting to see one in person at the nasa space camp when i was a kid. that is one wicked plane to see in person. the one in this vid is nowhere near the same speed as a real one

[Vinman]

i remember getting to see one in person at the nasa space camp when i was a kid. that is one wicked plane to see in person. the one in this vid is nowhere near the same speed as a real one

I saw one a couple of years ago in Mobile, Alabama. It was de-commissioned and on display, the corner of one wing had about a foot missing. It looked like it was built out of carbon fibre or similar material.

 Impressive to say the least

That model is cool.

Vince

[dunl]

Titanium skin only.  No carbon fibre, as it wouldn't stand up to the heat.

In fact, the titanium on these planes became stronger after flight, as the intense heat strengthened the material.

[Vinman]

Here's a bit of trivia I bet few people new:

The original designation for the aircraft was the RS-71. However when the aircraft was announced by Lyndon B. Johnson on February 29, 1964, Johnson accidentally switched the letters for the name of the aircraft, which forced Lockheed to instantly change the name of the aircraft

[dunl]

Here's a bit of trivia I bet few people new:

The original designation for the aircraft was the RS-71. However when the aircraft was announced by Lyndon B. Johnson on February 29, 1964, Johnson accidentally switched the letters for the name of the aircraft, which forced Lockheed to instantly change the name of the aircraft

That's a new one to me...neat little tidbit.  

Here's another one....when ejecting, the crew member would fall about 15,000 feet before the parachute opened.  The reason was that as they fell, they would slow down from over Mach 3, allowing their suit to cool down before opening the chute and immediately burning it off.

[FiEND]

hrm.. kinda like laundry day for Nathan's underwear.

all i ever knew was it is fast and leaks fuel until it warms up during flight and the metals expand to seal everything.  amazing it's that old.