It has throttlable afterburners. On most military jets of its era the afterburners are either on or off. The SR-71 needs to throttle the afterburners in high-speed turns, so that, for example, when making a right turn, the left engine gets a bit more boost than the right one. Making a high-speed turn without doing this could, in extreme cases, damage the fuselage.
You can "see" through the engine covers. The engines run so hot that the machinery literally "prints" its heat signature on the inside of the titanium engine cover in the form of glowing red and orange patterns that can be seen from the outside of the airplane: pumps, pipes, etc.
A friend who did consulting work for the Air Force told me that you could always tell where an SR-71 had been parked by the fuel stains on the pavement. The titanium panels are deliberately cut a bit too small; they fit together perfectly when the plane is hot, but back on the ground they cool off and fuel seeps out.
2 comments:
Cool stuff about the SR-71:
It has throttlable afterburners. On most military jets of its era the afterburners are either on or off. The SR-71 needs to throttle the afterburners in high-speed turns, so that, for example, when making a right turn, the left engine gets a bit more boost than the right one. Making a high-speed turn without doing this could, in extreme cases, damage the fuselage.
You can "see" through the engine covers. The engines run so hot that the machinery literally "prints" its heat signature on the inside of the titanium engine cover in the form of glowing red and orange patterns that can be seen from the outside of the airplane: pumps, pipes, etc.
A friend who did consulting work for the Air Force told me that you could always tell where an SR-71 had been parked by the fuel stains on the pavement. The titanium panels are deliberately cut a bit too small; they fit together perfectly when the plane is hot, but back on the ground they cool off and fuel seeps out.
The whole thing was designed with slide rules.
3rdP: I think you mean the hottest plane ever.
Turk: Nope, the whole thing was designed by the human brain.
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