SR-72 Son of Blackbird

[Pocus]

Nothing beats the SR-71, especially when you consider what it was capable of for a plane designed in the 60s without the aid of computers (or very little anyway).

 

Sometimes I wonder what has happened to that visionary pioneering spirit that brought us planes like the SR-71 and programmes like the Space Shuttle.

There nothing really visionary about when you are at the state of heightened tension during the cold war era. It's more like a race to supremacy between the US and Soviet Union. Same goes for the space shuttle program.

 

With virtually unlimited funding from the federal government, scientists have all the resources they need to be creative.

 

I think after the collapse of USSR things start to slow down, starting with the cancellation of the RAH66 Comanche program...

[Mustank]

the old SR-71... such a beautiful bird

 

I bought my son a sr71

Transformer toy

[Icu]

Nothing beats the SR-71, especially when you consider what it was capable of for a plane designed in the 60s without the aid of computers (or very little anyway).

 

Sometimes I wonder what has happened to that visionary pioneering spirit that brought us planes like the SR-71 and programmes like the Space Shuttle.

 

Agreed. SR71's sleek design is way decades ahead of its time....

 

As for SR72, duh~*

[The_Bear]

Liddat?

But the B-52 is still 1st king because of 8 jet engines. And a more awesome wingspan.

[JackRabbit]

actually the Tomcat was also a beautiful bird. The swivel wings were so cool.

 

Agreed. SR71's sleek design is way decades ahead of its time....

 

As for SR72, duh~*

 

agree.. the SR72 design looks so meh.

But the B-52 is still 1st king because of 8 jet engines. And a more awesome wingspan.

 

 

comparing the B-52 to the WWII B-17 Flying fortress, the flying fort had a more garang look, with all the guns bristling all over the plane.

whole fleet of B52s mothballed in some desert:

 

[Icu]

I wouldn't compare B52 to B17 as the latter is a prop version. That's like comparing apples to oranges.

 

But I also like the Tomcat (used to follow Macross anime...)

[Toothiewabbit]

But the B-52 is still 1st king because of 8 jet engines. And a more awesome wingspan.

Seldom chut Tomcat card to challenge, for fear of losing it

[Sucker]

Ya lor, 1 hour of paper work is to do 1 min of work. haha... A bit of exaggeration..

 

 

 

Not just the SR-71, but people went to the moon on the strength of such low-tech. Reportedly the computer onboard the "Eagle", the lunar module that made the landing on the surface of the moon, had less memory / processing power than today's calculator!

 

I think nowadays the so-called pioneering spirit has been crushed by the weight of kiasu procedures, ISO compliance, risk assessments, workplace safety and health, etc. etc. etc. ... red tape, red tape and more red tape.

 

[Atrecord]

I remember playing the "trump" card game when I was a small kid in primary school.

 

There were "tom-cat" and "blackbird". Any one belong to the same era?

 

BTW, where to get such game cards nowadays? There are cards for cars too. The kids would get the cards and compete with each other for engine capacity, horse power etc and the winner would take the cards.

 

Those were the days.

 

Yes yes... i was a fanatic at that. Got dunno how many for planes: other than tomcat whose speed was second only to blackbird, still got eagle, 747, B52, B1 etc...

 

Then got warships, where Nimitz' 280,000 cc displacement was top until Enterprise came along...

 

and got rally cars, where ferrari and porsche won for speed but one citreon was the widest...

 

even got for bikes, soccer world cup players, where the only player i saw was Dalglish, cos all others had retired...

 

i actually bought so many of them, think more than 20, then brought them to school to play after exams (it was allowed), but somehow it got stolen/lost in the class cupboard :-(

[Shull]

SR71 is a fuel guzzler... but still a very beautiful n sexy aircraft!

 

The heat travelling at Mach 3+ are so much that the designers have to design the body panels which are slightly smaller, so that during the cruising speed, the panels will expand until it fits nicely.

 

That has the unintended effect of the SR-71 constantly leaking jet fuel at room temperature..

[Vega]

 

whole fleet of B52s mothballed in some desert:

 

wow!! US built so many B-52!!

[Shull]

actually the Tomcat was also a beautiful bird. The swivel wings were so cool.

 

 

Too bad when they retire the F-14, they destroy every single aircraft and it's spares so that none will fall into the hands of the Iranian Air Force.

[The_Bear]

 

Yes yes... i was a fanatic at that. Got dunno how many for planes: other than tomcat whose speed was second only to blackbird, still got eagle, 747, B52, B1 etc...

 

Then got warships, where Nimitz' 280,000 cc displacement was top until Enterprise came along...

 

and got rally cars, where ferrari and porsche won for speed but one citreon was the widest...

 

even got for bikes, soccer world cup players, where the only player i saw was Dalglish, cos all others had retired...

 

i actually bought so many of them, think more than 20, then brought them to school to play after exams (it was allowed), but somehow it got stolen/lost in the class cupboard :-(

I still keep mine. Its somewhere in the house. $1 per pack for the chiong ones. Actual Top Trump must buy from department store. $2+ per pack with plastic boxes, too luxurious for my limited annual income in the early 80s.

[Fireball0088]

 

Too bad when they retire the F-14, they destroy every single aircraft and it's spares so that none will fall into the hands of the Iranian Air Force.

 

So sad... F14 is the nicest fighter of all the fighters

[Enye]

Seldom chut Tomcat card to challenge, for fear of losing it

 

can choose to chut card meh

 

if i remembered correctly, must shuffle your own deck and its always the first card against opponents' first cards?

 

the pain of losing a 1st king during a game to another....

[The_Bear]

 

can choose to chut card meh

 

if i remembered correctly, must shuffle your own deck and its always the first card against opponents' first cards?

 

the pain of losing a 1st king during a game to another....

 

Then the constant argument of a given statistic. Should a smaller value or bigger value win? Bigger wingspan > smaller wingspan, why is a bigger wingspan better? Same problem with weight. Heavier car > lighter car. Now then we know...

 

Too bad when they retire the F-14, they destroy every single aircraft and it's spares so that none will fall into the hands of the Iranian Air Force.

 

The good 80s when every service had a 2 different aircraft in every role. Then came the multi-role fighter that replaced everyone (see FA-18), even the F-15E, to a certain extend. Surpassingly to reduce cost but the current cost for each unit of these multi-role fighters are higher than the 3 units they replaced. So which is the correct way to do it? One F-14 + One A-6 = One FA-18?

[Enye]

 

Then the constant argument of a given statistic. Should a smaller value or bigger value win? Bigger wingspan > smaller wingspan, why is a bigger wingspan better? Same problem with weight. Heavier car > lighter car. Now then we know...

 

 

wah you still can argue over each specification ah

 

for children, larger numbers always win regardless

 

some specification i didn't even understand. turboprop engines vs jet engines?...Geez

 

[Shull]

The good 80s when every service had a 2 different aircraft in every role. Then came the multi-role fighter that replaced everyone (see FA-18), even the F-15E, to a certain extend. Surpassingly to reduce cost but the current cost for each unit of these multi-role fighters are higher than the 3 units they replaced. So which is the correct way to do it? One F-14 + One A-6 = One FA-18?

 

Have to look at logistics and maintenance side also. Keeping spares for 1 plane is easier and less nightmare than 3 planes. And you can keep higher number of the same parts. Crew training also easier and cost less.