Triethylborane Sr 71 - An SR-71B trainer in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California in 1994. A second raised cabin is for the instructor.
The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a long-range, high-altitude Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft designed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation.
Triethylborane Sr 71
The SR-71 was developed in the 1960s by Lockheed's Skunk Works division as a black project of the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft. American aerospace engineer Clares "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many innovative aircraft concepts. The shape of the SR-71 is based on the shape of the A-12, which was one of the first aircraft to have a reduced radar cross section. Originally, Curtis LeMay requested the A-12 bomber variant, but the program was intended for reconnaissance purposes only. For the reconnaissance role, the mission equipment includes signals intelligence devices, side-looking airborne radars, and a camera;
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The SR-71 was longer and heavier than the A-12, allowing it to store more fuel and a two-seat cabin. SR-71 entered service in January 1966.
During aerial reconnaissance missions, the SR-71 operated at high speeds and altitudes (3.2 and 85,000 feet, 25,900 meters), allowing it to avoid threats or burn out.
If a surface-to-air missile was detected, the standard evasive action was to accelerate and outrun the missile.
On average, each SR-71 can fly once a week due to the long turnaround time required after mission recovery. A total of 32 aircraft were built; 12 people died in the accident, none of them were missing.
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In 1989, the USAF retired the SR-71 primarily for political reasons; some were briefly revived in the 1990s before being retired a second time in 1998. NASA was the last operator of the Blackbird, using it as a research platform, retiring it in 1999.
Since the retirement of the SR-71, a combination of reconnaissance satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); Lockheed Martin is developing a proposed UAV successor, the SR-72, and is scheduled to fly in 2025.
The SR-71 previously held the world record for the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft, held in 1976 by the related Lockheed YF-12.
Lockheed's previous spy plane was the relatively slow U-2 designed for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In late 1957, the CIA approached Lockheed about building an unspecified spy plane. Called Archangel, the project was led by Kelly Johnson, a director of Lockheed's Skunk Works in Burbank, California. Work on the Archangel project began in the second quarter of 1958, with the goal of flying higher and faster than the U-2. "A-10" came out at the head of 11 successive designs prepared in 10 months. However, despite this, its shape made it vulnerable to radar detection. After a meeting with the CIA in March 1959, the design was modified to reduce the radar cross section by 90%. On February 11, 1960, the CIA awarded Skunk Works a $96 million contract to build a dozen A-12 spy planes. The shooting down of Francis Gary Powers' U-2 in 1960 demonstrated the vulnerability of the aircraft and the need for faster reconnaissance. Planes like the A-12.
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The A-12 first flew on April 25, 1962 at Groom Lake, Nevada (51st District). A third was built; Both variants were developed, including three YF-12 interceptor prototypes and two M-21 UAVs. The aircraft was supposed to be powered by the Pratt & Whitney J58 engine, but development was delayed so it was initially fitted with the less powerful Pratt & Whitney J75. The J58s were retrofitted as they became available and became the standard engine for all subsequent aircraft in the series (A-12, YF-12, M-21) as well as the SR-71. The A-12 flew over Vietnam and North Korea before being retired in 1968. The cancellation of the program was announced on December 28, 1966.
The SR-71 designation is a continuation of the pre-1962 bomber series; The last aircraft built in the series was the XB-70 Valkyrie. However, the Blackbird bomber variant was briefly designated the B-71, which was retained when the type was changed to the SR-71.
In later stages of testing, the B-70 was offered under the designation "RS-70" for the reconnaissance/strike role. When it became clear that the A-12 was much more capable, the USAF ordered a variant of the A-12 in December 1962.
This USAF version was longer and heavier than the original A-12 because its airframe had more fuel. The R-12 also had a larger two-seater cockpit and modified fuselage grooves. The reconnaissance equipment included signals intelligence devices, a side airborne radar, and a camera.
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The CIA A-12 was a better photo reconnaissance platform than the USAF R-12 because the A-12 flew slightly higher and faster.
During the 1964 election campaign, Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater repeatedly criticized President Lyndon Johnson and his administration for lagging behind the Soviet Union in developing new weapons. To counter this criticism, Johnson decided to reveal the existence of the YF-12A USAF interceptor.
And a USAF reconnaissance model from July 1964. USAF Chief of Staff Gerald Curtis LeMay preferred the SR (Strategic Reconnaissance) designation and wanted the RS-71 to be called the SR-71. Before his July speech, LeMay lobbied to change Johnson's speech to read "SR-71" instead of "RS-71." A media transcript released to the press at the time still had the RS-71 designation in places, prompting a story that the president had misread the aircraft's name.
To hide the existence of the A-12, Johnson referred to only the A-11, while revealing the existence of a high-speed, high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft.
Lockheed A 12 And Sr 71 Projects
In 1968, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara canceled the F-12 interceptor program. The special tools used to make the YF-12 and SR-71 were also destroyed.
The SR-71 is designed to fly in excess of Mach 3, with two crew members in tandem cockpits, with the pilot in the forward cockpit and the intelligence systems officer in the rear cockpit controlling surveillance systems and equipment and directing the navigation. mission flight path.
The entire aircraft was painted a dark blue, almost black, to increase internal heat production and act as camouflage against the night sky. The dark color gave the plane the nickname "Black Bird".
Although the SR-71 employed radar countermeasures to evade interception attempts, its greatest defense was its combination of high altitude and extremely high speed, making it virtually invulnerable. Together with the low radar cross section, these qualities gave the air-to-air missile (SAM) site a very short time to acquire and track the aircraft from radar. By the time the SAM site tracks the SR-71, it is too late to launch the SAM and the SR-71 is out of range before the SAM can reach it. If the SAM site can track the SR-71 and fire the SAM in time, the SAM will extend almost the entire delta of its boost and support phases by the time it reaches the SR-71's altitude; At this point, you can't do much more than follow your ballistic arc. Mere acceleration would normally be enough for the SR-71 to evade a SAM;
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Changes in speed, altitude, and direction of the SR-71 by the pilots were also enough to break any radar lock on the aircraft by SAM sites or fighter jets.
With a sustained speed of more than Mach 3.2, the aircraft was faster than the Soviet Union's fastest fighter, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25, which also failed to catch up with the SR-71.
The use of titanium in most aircraft is limited by cost; it was used only on components exposed to the highest temperatures, such as exhausts and wing leading edges. In the SR-71, 85% of the titanium structure was used, with most of the rest being polymer composite materials.
The challenge led Lockheed to develop new manufacturing methods that have since been used on other aircraft. Lockheed discovered that it needed distilled water to wash titanium welds because the chlorine in tap water was corrosive; Cadmium plated instruments should not be used as they also cause corrosion.
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Metallurgical contamination was another problem; at one point, 80% of the titanium supplied for production was rejected on these grounds.
The high temperatures during the flight required special design and handling techniques. The main parts of the skin of the plank's wings were wavy rather than smooth. Aerodynamicists initially balked at the concept, viewing the aircraft as a Mach 3 variant of the aluminum-clad Ford Trimotor of the 1920s.
Heat would cause smooth leather to split or curl, while corrugated leather would expand vertically and horizontally, increasing its longitudinal strength.
The fuselage panels are designed to fit into the aircraft loosely on the ground. As the airframe heated up and expanded a few inches, proper alignment was achieved.
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Because of this, and the lack of a fuel containment system to withstand airframe expansion at extreme temperatures, the aircraft spilled JP-7 fuel on the ground.
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