The Black Bird was bad ass

[bottlerocket]

yea I think so too, but I think the Mig 25 was built for the XB-70. It would be interesting to watch cause the Max Speed of a MIg 25 is Mach 3.2. The SR-71 has a top speed of Mach 3.3. Thats what it says in Wikipedia. It might go even faster than that

The Mig 25 came out before the XB70...

[pHILSANITY07]

The Mig 25 came out before the XB70...

I didnt know if that was true or not, if the rumor I heard is correct The Mig 25's engines are like a 1 time use engine. IDK if that is true or not.

[likeitfast55]

About three times the thrust actually, and about five times the loaded weight. Since the question was about acceleration, and F=MA, the MiG-25 has a good chance of out-accelerating the SR71. That is assuming that we have the correct values, which we probably don't.

There may be high-speed unmanned stealth drones out there being used by the CIA, but it's a pretty safe bet that the Blackbird series are the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft that have ever been, or will be, developed.

Anyone that thinks that slightly-stealthy manned Mach-3 aircraft are capable of gaining better intelligence than satellites is out of their f'ing mind.

Not just the speed. The altitude was a factor as well. The SR-71 boasts of fl8000, and 3m. The mig25 was made to match the speed of the Blackbird but not the altitude.

They would take a high speed run at the SR-71 to max altitude(dam neer coffin corner stall their planes!) and then fire missiles (air to air). The air to air was indeed way faster then the SR-71,combined with the speed of the MIG-25 made the Blackbird vulnerable for the first time.
One of my previous airlines I worked for, we had a D.O. (Director of Operations) Ross S. that was a sled driver and this was told to a few of us over scotch one evening.

There were fewer SR-71 pilots than astronauts!

R

[garycrist]

SR get all the press! Check out the videos of the B-70. Notice how the paint is burned off too! We could do so much back then too. In today's U.S.A. it will never happen.

[46Tbird]

The Mig 25 came out before the XB70...

...but it still came after the specification was developed for a Mach 3 intercontinental bomber.

[46Tbird]

SR get all the press! Check out the videos of the B-70. Notice how the paint is burned off too! We could do so much back then too. In today's U.S.A. it will never happen.

That's my favorite plane.

[likeitfast55]

The CIA developed a D-21 drone that went on TOP of the Blackbird and was one bad ass little plane. I think only a few(38) were built. Most crashed, one is on a Blackbird in Tunkwilla Washington(Boeing field).

http://www.sr-71.org/photogallery/blackbird/d-21/

[stevo]

Common misconception. Satellites are easy to avoid, they can be timed, and usually they can only photograph one location 1 maybe 2 times a day for a short span. ....

I watched a documentary a couple of weeks ago about the SR-71 that said, when they were testing the radar signature of the plane with a half sized model, they had a schedule of the Russian spy satellites fly-over times and would disassemble the model, bring into the building, then take it back out, and reassemble it after the fly-overs to continue testing. It said they had to do it several times during the day. They even went as far as painting the ground with dark paint (to make hot spots) shaped like some other plane since the Russian satellites used thermal-imaging, and the shadow of the radar test model would leave a cool spot on the ground shaped like the plane. Cool shit.

Stevo

[Taylor]

This thread is full of win.

[RWhite]

..........The problem with the SR-71 is they never wanted to retrofit the aircraft for live data transmission. The SR-71 still relied on film, which had to return to base, be extracted, developed, and distributed to commanders.

Many SR-71's carried much more than just optic devices for intelligence gathering. On many occasions, a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) was carried in the nose, also a ground mapping radar was used from time to time. Mission specific electronic equipment was carried on-board such as assemblies that would identify and store electronic signatures of Russian search and SAM radars identified during their flights. Many flights had these boxes that were built specifically for that one mission. As other missions required different information, these boxes were either reconfigured for the information required or totally new, one time use boxes for special missions were rapidly built for the various customer needs.

[pHILSANITY07]

how much fuel does it have in its tanks prior to takeoff. Ive heard that when the plane is on the ground it isnt fueled cause it leaks but when its in the air the leaks seal up.

[71chevellejohn]

Basically they were filled with enough to get them in the air and refueled completely.

Note the stain on the ground around the plane:

[pHILSANITY07]

i see now, thanks for the info

[bottlerocket]

Not just the speed. The altitude was a factor as well. The SR-71 boasts of fl8000, and 3m. The mig25 was made to match the speed of the Blackbird but not the altitude.

They would take a high speed run at the SR-71 to max altitude(dam neer coffin corner stall their planes!) and then fire missiles (air to air). The air to air was indeed way faster then the SR-71,combined with the speed of the MIG-25 made the Blackbird vulnerable for the first time.
One of my previous airlines I worked for, we had a D.O. (Director of Operations) Ross S. that was a sled driver and this was told to a few of us over scotch one evening.

There were fewer SR-71 pilots than astronauts!

R

Service ceiling for the later 25's was FL800

...but it still came after the specification was developed for a Mach 3 intercontinental bomber.

Yep thats correct. 4 years after the specs for the XB-70 were drafted, the requirements for the new Soviet interceptor were laid out.a

[Ncrowe]

One of my favorites, grew up on Beale AFB. Watching a Black Bird under full after burner wasn't an unusual sight but still something that made most people stop what they were doing for a few minutes. Especially at night or in the evening.