Building the Blackbird

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 11/30/2015 at 10:54 • Filed to: planelopnik

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The first three SR-71s being assembled at the Lockheed Skunk Works facility in Burbank, California. The maiden flight of the SR-71 took place on 22 December 1964, and Lockheed produced 32 Blackbirds (that we know of).

So. Much. Titanium.

Photo via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

TheHondaBro > ttyymmnn 11/30/2015 at 10:58

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What’s a Blackbird?

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > TheHondaBro 11/30/2015 at 11:00

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I'm fighting an urge to provide you with a link that you know all about.

TheHondaBro > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 11/30/2015 at 11:01

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I’m not really interested in knowing what a Blackbird is, as much as I am interested in knowing how fast it can go.

EL_ULY > ttyymmnn 11/30/2015 at 11:06

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did this plane ever serve?

Jcarr > TheHondaBro 11/30/2015 at 11:06

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We’ll never know.

NEVER.

Jcarr > ttyymmnn 11/30/2015 at 11:07

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This reminds me that I need to finish reading Skunk Works.

TheHondaBro > Jcarr 11/30/2015 at 11:08

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Will Blackbird jokes ever get old?

Will jkm7680 finally get an RS7?

Will Scoob finish his homework?

These questions and many others will be answered on the next episode of “Oppositelock.”

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > TheHondaBro 11/30/2015 at 11:24

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At least you could pick questions people cared about.

TheHondaBro > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman 11/30/2015 at 11:25

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Will SnapUndersteer be less salty?

mcseanerson > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 11/30/2015 at 11:38

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My wife gets me with these tricks all the time.

HammerheadFistpunch > ttyymmnn 11/30/2015 at 11:41

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FYI - 32 SR71 tail numbers were issued but at least one SR71 (the only SR71C model -17981) was actually built from a wrecked A12 rear and a static mockup of an SR front, which means that only 31 were originally intended to be SR71.

d15b > ttyymmnn 11/30/2015 at 11:43

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Still looks like it is from the future.

JKER > ttyymmnn 11/30/2015 at 12:07

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Looks like a Rebel base to me.

ttyymmnn > HammerheadFistpunch 11/30/2015 at 12:40

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Sounds like you’ve done your homework. Thanks for the info.

HammerheadFistpunch > ttyymmnn 11/30/2015 at 12:44

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“The Bastard”, as its nicknamed, is the one that’s on display at Hill AFB near me.

wiffleballtony > TheHondaBro 11/30/2015 at 15:49

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I second this request.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > ttyymmnn 11/30/2015 at 18:15

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Sweet, the side pods fold up to take the engines. I read skunk works last summer. It really puts this photo in context.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Jcarr 11/30/2015 at 18:16

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Do it. I really enjoyed it.

ttyymmnn > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 11/30/2015 at 18:16

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Sounds like I have some reading to do. You’re at least the second person who mentioned that book.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > ttyymmnn 11/30/2015 at 18:21

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They author of skunk works invented the movable cone in the front of the engine to solve the problem of how to get air into the engine at 80k feet and Mach 4.

coqui70 > ttyymmnn 11/30/2015 at 21:04

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Still ... it ain’t no Phoenix ...

f86sabre > ttyymmnn 11/30/2015 at 21:13

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You haven't read the Skunk Works? Send me your address.

ttyymmnn > f86sabre 11/30/2015 at 21:17

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I have not.

f86sabre > ttyymmnn 11/30/2015 at 21:19

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One of the interesting tidbits from the interview with Colonel Rich Graham who spent 15 years as a Blackbird pilot and wing commander was that the Soviet Union actually helped build the Blackbird:

“The airplane is 92% titanium inside and out.

“Back when they were building the airplane the United States didn’t have the ore supplies – an ore called rutile ore. It’s a very sandy soil and it’s only found in very few parts of the world.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

“The major supplier of the ore was the USSR. Working through Third World countries and bogus operations, they were able to get the rutile ore shipped to the United States to build the SR-71.”

http://www.mining.com/bbc-future-sr-…

f86sabre > ttyymmnn 11/30/2015 at 21:19

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Send me your address.

ttyymmnn > f86sabre 11/30/2015 at 21:27

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Fascinating. I had read somewhere that Lockheed rejected many of the shipments due to impurities, and that the SR-71 was 85% titanium.

ttyymmnn > f86sabre 11/30/2015 at 21:28

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Sent.

ranwhenparked > d15b 11/30/2015 at 22:23

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And 50 years from now, it still will.