SR-71 engine

[richkat]

Check out this very cool video on just how the nacelle/engine work....Rich
The secret engine technology that made the SR-71 the fastest plane ever

[paperengineer]

Wow that's cool! Happy 50th birthday Sr-71!

[Pgtaylorart]

Awesome video. Thanks for sharing, Richcat.

I like how after he finishes explaining how it works he says "not so complicated, huh?". Yeah right, the math involved in the airflow intake alone would stop most people in their tracks. I have a hard enough time designing a properly shaped paper cone! Lol

[piginapoke]

Excellent video. Many thanks

[willygoat]

I was just looking at these marvelous pieces of engineering in person this afternoon! Great video by the way.

[murphyaa]

The cool thing is the engine got more efficient the faster it went. Top speed wasn't limited by engine power, but by the airframe's endurance. And the airframe also got stronger after each flight.

[murphyaa]

My Dad's favorite story to tell about the SR-71 (he worked on the astro-inertial navigation system back during the Vietnam War) was the time one had an engine fail during take off. The pilot fire-walled the other engine, pointed it straight up, and the crew bailed out at 2000 feet a few seconds later.

Another thing that proves the power of the engines is that when they died, their weight actually pulled the plane tail first into the ground.

Even now, the official top speed and altitude is a secret. It's always listed as "Mach 3+" and "85,000+ feet altitude", and Dad still has things he won't talk about due to secrecy.

[paperengineer]

That must be frustrating having a credible source readily available but you can't use it! Imagine how much he knows...

[Mechanic]

Originally Posted by murphyaa

Another thing that proves the power of the engines is that when they died, their weight actually pulled the plane tail first into the ground.

I have to politely disagree, at best it's an improper statement. With the exception of modern fighters that have been designed to be unstable, all airplanes have a center of gravity that makes them inherently stable. While there are a variety of situations that can make the center of gravity shift too far aft, fuel management being one of the most common, and certainly very important in SR-71, simply losing power wouldn't make the plane plummet tail first into the ground. Barring something like the plane coming apart, where the densest piece(s) would likely hit the ground first, or a relatively stable uncontrolled situation like a flat spin, when an aircraft does depart controlled flight and tumbles it could hit the ground at any attitude.

If you are referring to the effects of an "unstart", while being a violent event that did lead to the literal disintegration of one SR, they were otherwise survivable and not uncommon. If I read correctly (SR-71 Online - Blackbird Losses), there were two SR's that were lost because of dual engine flameout (that were otherwise flyable), but they both crashed essentially because of loss of control due to loss of hydraulic pressure.

[mldixon]

Great Link.
Thanks for all the information...