SR-71--Now my Cobra feels Flaccid!

[lovehamr]

Originally Posted by olddog

I do not think the SR71 dodged many missiles.

Well the author called it a gentle turn and increased speed, not jinking with the fighters. Speed and altitude were its primary defensive weapons. You have to remember as well that during Operation El Dorado Canyon they were able to shoot down one of our F111s in the Gulf of Sidra and that puppy is no slouch in the speed department.

Originally Posted by olddog

At over 1 miles per second a SR71 was likely gone before anyone new it was there. At more than 15 miles up you need a fricking ICBM to reach it. By the time you can launch such a missile, the SR71 will be in another hemisphere.

Just because it was high and fast doesn't mean that it was invisible.

Originally Posted by olddog

Libia did not have a SAM that could climb to near outer space. No way did Libia fire on a SR71.

What do you call the SA2 Volchovs that also shot down a U2? Granted not as effective against the SR71 but you wouldn't want to hang around and put it to the test either. Then there was the SA5 Vega, a Mach 8 high altitude AA missile with more than enough capability to get to an SR71 if the crew wasn't alert.

Originally Posted by olddog

I don't think a SR71 would have needed a second pass to get the needed pictures.

The whole reason de'tere for an aircraft with those capabilities is so you don't have to try and get your intelligence from a satellite with its fixed flight path. If they needed shots that they didn't get and they thought they could on another pass with reasonable safety I'm sure that they would. I definitely wouldn't Monday morning QB those guys.

Originally Posted by olddog

I question that the SR71 had afterburners.

Two Pratt and Whitney J-58 axial-flow turbojets with afterburners, each producing 32,500 pounds of thrust. Shown below in action.

Originally Posted by olddog

I boubt military air craft ever ask civilian radar to give them a ground speed reading, and I damn sure do not think a SR71 would have. If they did, I think thier flying days would have been over. Well maybe they could have gotten a job flying rubber dog $hit out of some third world $hit hole in a prop plane.

I found a long time ago that, even though I consider our pilots the most professional in the world, one should never underestimate a pilot's ego.......especially a fighter pilot.

Originally Posted by olddog

I do not think a SR71 at altitude makes a sonic boom. Did you ever hear a space shuttle go over head?

Of course it makes a sonic boom! And yes so does the space shuttle when it's in the atmosphere and going faster that the speed of sound.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_boom

Mr. Wizard out