Top Speed 4,520 MPH

[moparedtn]

All I can say is those things are fast both old and new. Interesting thread guys! So let me empty out , hand be a bag and someone take me for a ride! Those things are awesome! The SR 71 has always fascinated me in its design and to think the was designed old school math, slide rule and logic is pretty far out. New stuff is far out I’d enjoy slobbering all over it for awhile ... neat stuff!

The SR-71 was one of those things that can make a fella proud to be an American. What an amazing machine!

 

[super-bee_ski]

All I can say is those things are fast both old and new. Interesting thread guys! So let me empty out , hand be a bag and someone take me for a ride! Those things are awesome! The SR 71 has always fascinated me in its design and to think the was designed old school math, slide rule and logic is pretty far out. New stuff is far out I’d enjoy slobbering all over it for awhile ... neat stuff!

Exactly
Believing the Blackbird was and is the fastest demonstrates "our" unwillingness to believe in the impossible, As we know now what was deemed impossible before can be realized with ambition and knowledge.
Much like Roger Bannister's 4 minute mile will never be broken
Or, the sound barrier can never be broken.

Speaking of which:
My Mom and Chuck..!
(That is General "Woody" Nolan in the background)

 

[Cranky]

hand be a bag and someone take me for a ride!

The only rides I got while in the AF was the flying commercial bus full of screaming military brats running up and down the isle on the way to Germany and the ride home in a similar bus that wasn't full of brats lol. On the way over, I asked a stewardess if would be possible to fly up front. She said there was no first class....and I said cockpit. She kinda raise up a little and said 'I'll go check'. Several minutes later she came and said ok. Cool beans! That turned out to be one of my better fights. It was a night flight and I had never seen the stars like that before and....it was pretty quiet except for some conversation with the cockpit crew. Don't remember if it was a 707 or a 720 though but don't think the 720 was being use for transatlantic flights. Another cool ride was in a 1938 Stearman biplane.

 

[67440chrg]

I couldnt tell one from another but I lived on a couple Air Force bases growing up and was very used to them overhead. Pretty sure I heard sonic booms too. My dad was in civil engineering and I got to go at night sometimes when he moved and set barricades on the flight lines. When you are 8 its cool to be out there and see some land a few lines over. Nothing technical here but great memories with my dad who is gone .

 

[copper67sat]

18 years on the Flight Test Team, 412TW Edwards AFB, AFFTC.
Just going to say " in my opinion"
Everything you stated can not be used when dealing with the F-22
1. ALL computer controlled
2. Each F-119 engine is rated at 38,000 thrust (wink, wink)
3. F-22 is composite, weighs in at 58,000, less that the Titanium dinosaur
4. SR-71 is old technology, ever been in one? I have.
5. F-22 is much newer tech, yes the new ATF 6th Gen. (it's out there, you will see it when they want you to) is superior.
7. The YF-23 was even faster than the F-22
8. The advanced composite airframe of the F-22 does not "temper or heat and distort"
9. The F-22 flies supersonic w/out using afterburner...Supercruise
10. The F-22 has multi angle thrust which "at speeds" is much like "Trim" on a powerboat engine..computers can "dial in" for optimum performance.
11. All I can say...hmmm, In my opinion, the SR-71 is not the "fastest."
12. Remember, the heavy and crudely made MIG 25 Foxbat could "hit" mach 3.2....

But seriously?
Did you not see Elon Musk's manned vehicle launch? Did you see that tech compared to the Apollo modules?
Do you honestly believe the old school SR-71 is faster?
50's technology can not compare with F-22 evolution. Period
Same as the tech in our cars today. Hell SUV's can cover the 1/4 mile faster than muscle cars of the 60's and have the AC on.

Now yes, I am a Fan of the old school SR-71, I saw and heard stuff never to be mentioned, and I never will...but all I'M saying, in my opinion "I think the F-22 can attain speeds faster than the SR-71"
Take it or leave it.

I worked on the Engineering development of the F119 engine in the F-22. It was not designed for operation above Mach 2.5, let alone 3+. Admittedly I have not been involved with that program since it went into production, but unless they made significant changes to the materials used, particularly in the fan/compressor, and the engine cycle itself, the F-22 will not operate at sustained speeds as fast or faster than the SR-71. Furthermore, the F-22 has a much lower operational ceiling (altitude) which makes flying that fast even harder due to aero heating in the denser atmosphere.

It is however significantly more advanced in technology than the SR-71, but it was designed for a very different mission. Air superiority vs. high speed, high altitude recon.

 

[copper67sat]

I wonder what the actual 'real top-speed was' for the SR-71 ?
Not what they claimed it is...
isn't mach-1 767mph/speed of sound (or close)
767 x 3.3=2531.1+ mph,
or is it mach-1 + 35% = 1.35 X the speed of sound = 1035.45mph
I may be confusing the 2
(if so that'd be 3416mph)
I thought they had claimed it SR-71 was more like 3500mph

I'm sure someone will correct me

You know what they tell US isn't always true, or is still classified
some for very good reasons too...

I love the F-22 & F-35's, but I don't know much
I even have a cup from someone who worked on it/them
to prove it

sorry for the shitty photos
View attachment 1145436

View attachment 1145438

from a buddy

Mission patches/test flights etc., are badass
View attachment 1145439

Mach number, M, is the ratio of velocity, V, to the speed of sound, a - M = V/a. Speed of sound is a function primarily driven by the square root of the temperature - the higher the temperature, the higher the speed of sound. The number you quoted is representative of "a" at sea level. Air temperature drops with altitude so the speed of sound at 80k ft (rough SR-71 cruise alt) is much lower than at sea level; hence higher Mach at altitude for a given velocity.

 

[super-bee_ski]

The only rides I got while in the AF was the flying commercial bus full of screaming military brats running up and down the isle on the way to Germany and the ride home in a similar bus that wasn't full of brats lol. On the way over, I asked a stewardess if would be possible to fly up front. She said there was no first class....and I said cockpit. She kinda raise up a little and said 'I'll go check'. Several minutes later she came and said ok. Cool beans! That turned out to be one of my better fights. It was a night flight and I had never seen the stars like that before and....it was pretty quiet except for some conversation with the cockpit crew. Don't remember if it was a 707 or a 720 though but don't think the 720 was being use for transatlantic flights. Another cool ride was in a 1938 Stearman biplane.

Hmmm,
"Good Front end" allowing you to do that
Cool!



Gee, a Stearman?
Even better!

 

[super-bee_ski]

Gentlemen,
All I'm saying is:
1. You will not hear or see verification of this, it is my opinion.
2. You will never hear or see the truth, as advanced technologies are protected.
So, yeah, the SR-71 was and still is the Top Dog!


but gee, the Mig 25 flew Mach 2.5+ ???? in 1972?

 

[coronet68mx]

All flown right here in my back yard....
Edwards AFB
Muroc Dry Lake bed.....

i always wanted to ask you because maybe you are the only person I can ask this, what does it feel to be supersonic?

 

[patrick66]

My slow jet is the E-3. A whopping .93 Mach. Four antique jet engines, slow AF, but she is one sexy beast with that big roto-hooter on top. Been all over hell in them.

Pictured below - a recent Mars mission...LOL.

 

[747mopar]

My boy was impressed. This is from the Air Force Armament Museum down towards Pensacola from our vacation this year.

He also like this bad boy!

 

[747mopar]

18 years on the Flight Test Team, 412TW Edwards AFB, AFFTC.
Just going to say " in my opinion"
Everything you stated can not be used when dealing with the F-22
1. ALL computer controlled
2. Each F-119 engine is rated at 38,000 thrust (wink, wink)
3. F-22 is composite, weighs in at 58,000, less that the Titanium dinosaur
4. SR-71 is old technology, ever been in one? I have.
5. F-22 is much newer tech, yes the new ATF 6th Gen. (it's out there, you will see it when they want you to) is superior.
7. The YF-23 was even faster than the F-22
8. The advanced composite airframe of the F-22 does not "temper or heat and distort"
9. The F-22 flies supersonic w/out using afterburner...Supercruise
10. The F-22 has multi angle thrust which "at speeds" is much like "Trim" on a powerboat engine..computers can "dial in" for optimum performance.
11. All I can say...hmmm, In my opinion, the SR-71 is not the "fastest."
12. Remember, the heavy and crudely made MIG 25 Foxbat could "hit" mach 3.2....

But seriously?
Did you not see Elon Musk's manned vehicle launch? Did you see that tech compared to the Apollo modules?
Do you honestly believe the old school SR-71 is faster?
50's technology can not compare with F-22 evolution. Period
Same as the tech in our cars today. Hell SUV's can cover the 1/4 mile faster than muscle cars of the 60's and have the AC on.

Now yes, I am a Fan of the old school SR-71, I saw and heard stuff never to be mentioned, and I never will...but all I'M saying, in my opinion "I think the F-22 can attain speeds faster than the SR-71"
Take it or leave it.

We attend the Cleveland air show every year, those F22's are awesome to see in action. They demonstrate the slow speed abilities and crazy maneuverability with the thrust vectoring.. they even poked at the sound barrier where you could see the disc forming around the nose. Our favorite is still the Warthog, that thing is hell on wings!

 

[copper67sat]

Yeah,
Well...correct and incorrect..
38,000 Lbs Thrust X2 Is higher than the SR-71s
Not saying you are incorrect...
But same as saying:
The 426 Hemi in Richard Petty's 1966 car can never go faster because the Hemi can not produce anymore speed.
Now, take same...exact same Hemi and put it in a Daytona or a Superbird, now what do you have.
1. Take for instance the design of the SR-71 compared to the design of the F-22
What air vehicle do YOU think has a Lower RADAR Cross section?
Correct: the F-22
This means more aerodynamic, less drag etc.

2. The SR-71 is equipped with inlets that modulate or reduce Air coming in at High Speed...correct "copper67sat"?
Well, the F-22 has multiple designs that were NOT available in 60s
FADEC correct? If you know the F-117 Pratt & Whitney engine, then you understand the purpose of the two FADEC Units
Fully Automated Digital Engine Control...Computer Controlled
CORRECT?
But: you still say.."the F-22 does NOT have the moveable engine inlet cones to reduce flame-out at high Mach numbers superbee_ski!"
And you would be correct in this matter.
But what the F-22 does have is/are provisions to allow the massive rush of Air coming in at Mach level to be diverted and exited within...controlled ALL buy Supercomputers.
And no, I was not an aircraft mechanic, I have trouble wrenching on my 69 S/C Rambler and my 70 Superbee

Again, yup...
no one will ever break the 4 minute mile !
no man or machine will ever fly faster than the speed of sound
the SR-71 is the fastest plane ever and always will be!

PS: I have been less than 10 feet from the Raptor at 100 percent full engine performance (many times)
My job was Instrumentation/Telemetry
I saw the data

Now, back to the OPs train of thought...
X-15 and the X pilots

It was mentioned in the movie "First Man" that Neil Armstrong "skipped" re-entering the Atmosphere!
( I met him once)
The flight corridor was (and still is) From the Colorado river, Laughlin NV to the Tehapachi Mountains, 30 miles west of Edwards AFB.
Lots of Sonic booms daily here.

All good discussion, but it's not really about thrust vs drag. The F-22/F119 limits are more about the material choices and the engine cycle itself. At cruise speeds, the J-58 engine in the Blackbird turns into a turbo-ramjet with most of the incoming air bypassing the turbomachinery and dumping into the augmentor where it is mixed with the JP-7 fuel and burned to make thrust. Why? Because of thermodynamic limits. The incoming air at M3+ has a fairly high stagnation temperature. The compression process, both in the inlet and in the fan/compressor increase the temperature further. That leaves little room for additional temperature rise due to combusting the air with fuel. Bypassing the rotating parts takes away that additional temperature so that heat can still be added in combustion to make thrust. You would melt the fan blades in the F119 at those conditions and it won't make thrust. I could go on, but it would require much more discussion that is better suited to an engineering class than a car forum lol.

Suffice to say they are all cool aircraft to me and marvels of engineering for their time. Kudos to the pilots that operate these machines and those who designed, built and maintained them.

I got to see Brian Shul speak at a corporate function once. Absolutely the coolest presentation I have ever seen and his stories are incredible.

 

[Cranky]

Hmmm,
"Good Front end" allowing you to do that
Cool!



Gee, a Stearman?
Even better!

I have a BIL that owns a maintenance hanger at a local small airport and he reskinned the wings on the Stearman and think a new engine was hung on it too. After a couple of checkout flights, he was about to take it up again but this time wasn't going to do any rolls or loops like on the flight up earlier so it could be checked for oil leaks. My FIL called me and said the owner of the bird was going up empty and said to get my butt down there if I wanted a ride. Heck yeah. I got just in time to hear my BIL gripping at him for doing the rolls etc because he didn't feel like waiting around all afternoon to do a final check. Well, we stayed up for a good hour lol but did do some pylons. Something that gave me a second thought though was the owner was wearing coke bottle bottom glasses.....but he said he could see fine

 

[patrick66]

Yup, we hit perhaps .9 coming in from The So Pac
Jet stream

View attachment 1145753

View attachment 1145756

View attachment 1145757

Snoopy crewdawg! Been on your jet one time. Very interesting.

 

[super-bee_ski]

My slow jet is the E-3. A whopping .93 Mach. Four antique jet engines, slow AF, but she is one sexy beast with that big roto-hooter on top. Been all over hell in them.

Pictured below - a recent Mars mission...LOL.

View attachment 1145750

Quack Quack......

 

[super-bee_ski]

My boy was impressed. This is from the Air Force Armament Museum down towards Pensacola from our vacation this year.View attachment 1145758

He also like this bad boy!View attachment 1145759

Cool pics
My "Bud" while stationed at Hill AFB Utah witnessed from 5 miles away the M.O.A.B Detonation, using telemetry devices to test the Blasts..
His story about it is incredible!
Thank you for sharing this Great pic!

 

[super-bee_ski]

Snoopy crewdawg! Been on your jet one time. Very interesting.

Hmm, you Piqued my interest...????

 

[super-bee_ski]

I have a BIL that owns a maintenance hanger at a local small airport and he reskinned the wings on the Stearman and think a new engine was hung on it too. After a couple of checkout flights, he was about to take it up again but this time wasn't going to do any rolls or loops like on the flight up earlier so it could be checked for oil leaks. My FIL called me and said the owner of the bird was going up empty and said to get my butt down there if I wanted a ride. Heck yeah. I got just in time to hear my BIL gripping at him for doing the rolls etc because he didn't feel like waiting around all afternoon to do a final check. Well, we stayed up for a good hour lol but did do some pylons. Something that gave me a second thought though was the owner was wearing coke bottle bottom glasses.....but he said he could see fine

OMG!
You have got to be so happy for that ride!
They were so "over built"!
So much capability
To this day the are worth a fortune!
A "Radial"
So cool Cranky
Yeah, they are so "Highly Prized" and all are Documented....
A Stearman registry exists, like the 68 Hemi Darts!

 

[Ironbuilt]

Thank you for all of the interesting information @super-bee_ski