Best Model Plane Ever

Knew a guy(my old boss) that was ground crew for the blackbird. Platinum o-rings, he confirmed that they leaked fuel real bad, take-off was always followed by in air re-fueling. Those engines got more efficient with altitude and the heat generated at mach3 would swell everything up and close the built in tolerances. One of my favorites and the German did it right. Did they ever de-clasify the performance numbers on her? Prolly one or two put away somewhere, just in case.
 
RidgeRunner said:
Knew a guy(my old boss) that was ground crew for the blackbird. Platinum o-rings, he confirmed that they leaked fuel real bad, take-off was always followed by in air re-fueling. Those engines got more efficient with altitude and the heat generated at mach3 would swell everything up and close the built in tolerances. One of my favorites and the German did it right. Did they ever de-clasify the performance numbers on her? Prolly one or two put away somewhere, just in case.
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Last I checked they didn't publish the numbers and said they wouldn't until it was "officially" decommissioned. Also as far as I know you still aren't allowed around the rear of the fuselage.

Crazy fact about the SR-71, at +-40K ft it actually burns less fuel the faster you go.........
 
I was able to walk right up to one(SR71) and the SAC air museum in Omaha(I highly recommend it if you're in Omaha). I don't know if it was supposed to be at ready access as they were in the middle of moving to a new facility. I walked all around it, even putting my hands on it. i was surprised that it seemed smaller than I thought it was, Pretty cool. They had B58 that looked brand new that was roped off
 
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