Msg#:18489 *AVIATION* 01/25/92 22:44:00 (Read 0 Times) From: DEAN ADAMS To: ALBERT DOBYNS Subj: SR-71 DATA AD> I'm interested in seeing what the researcher's handbook has in it. OK, here is the best of what I have picked up... Lockheed SR-71 Supersonic / Hypersonic Research Facility Researcher's Handbook Volume I Executive Summary This handbook provides information on use of the SR-71 for basic and applied research, theoretical or applied development, testing and evaluation of material or equipment, in any field of user interest in the supersonic/ hypersonic arena. The purpose of this handbook is to provide an overview of the capabilities and limitations of the SR-71 as a high altitude, high Mach, research, development, and test and evaluation (RDT&E) platform Primary Function .................High Speed Test Platform Speed ............................More Than 2,000 Miles Per Hour (Mach 3.2) Altitude .........................Above 80,000 Feet Number of Engines ................Two J-58 Turbojets with Afterburners Range ............................More Than 2,000 Miles Crew .............................Two: Pilot and Test Engineer Dimensions: Span ...........................55.6 Feet Length .........................107.4 Feet Height (Parked) ................18.5 Feet Weight .........................143,000 Pounds Flight Envelope - Maximum Performance Mach 3.2+, Altitude: Above 85,000 Feet - Airspeeds 310 - 450 KEAS (Normal) 500 KEAS (Extended) - Dynamic Pressure Range: 325 - 847 lbs/sq.ft - Heat Soak: Over 600 F for 60 minutes - Remain at Mach 3.00: Over 60 Minutes Per Sortie Flight Profile-Maximum Range - Total Time: ~ 100 Mins - Mach 3.0 Time: ~ 64 Mins - T/O Gross Wt: 140,000 lbs - T/O Fuel: 80,000 lbs Flight Profile - Maximum A/B Cruise - Total Time: ~ 83 Mins - Mach 3.0 Time: ~ 48 Mins - T/O Gross Wt: 140,000 lbs - T/O Fuel: 80,000 lbs Extended Flight Envelope - Development - Beyond 3.2 Thrust/Drag: Not An Immediate Limit Inlet Temperature, Aerostability, and Hot Structure Considerations Engineering/Flight Qualification Required - Equivalent Airspeed Beyond 500 KEAS Engineering/Flight Qualification Required Demonstrated Integration - Lockheed Skunk Works Has Demonstrated Highly Successful Systems Engineering/Integration On The SR-71 Optical Film Cameras (Visual and IR) Imaging Radar Systems ELINT Air-to-Ground Data Linking Analog and Digital Recording Devices Design of Real-Time Satellite Data Link Design of a Global Position System (GPS) Captive Test Of Radar For Reentry Vehicle Laser Communication Successful Tests and Demonstrations - Overland Sonic Boom Characterization - Shuttle Re-Entry Flight Path Emulation - Extended High-Heat Profile - Digital Automatic Flight/Inlet Control Development - Advanced Sensor/EW Interoperability - High-Altitude Turbulence Characterization - High-Temperature Structure And Thermal Protection Materials Other RDT&E Testing Potential - CFD Code Validation - Laminar Flow Control Experiments - Upper Atmosphere Characterization - Inlet/Engine Compatibility - Sonic Boom Evaluation/Propagation - High-Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) Component Evaluation - Sensor/Processor Experiments - Endothermic Fuel Testing Msg#:19737 *AVIATION* 01/28/92 16:27:52 (Read 0 Times) From: ALBERT DOBYNS To: DEAN ADAMS Subj: REPLY TO MSG# 18489 (SR-71 DATA) Great stuff!! Is there more? Msg#:19165 *AVIATION* 01/25/92 23:19:00 (Read 0 Times) From: DEAN ADAMS To: ALBERT DOBYNS Subj: RE: NASA'S NEW NUMBERS AD> to take a trip west: gotta get pictures of them with their new numbers! I just noticed a nice picture in the Jan 13 AW&ST (page 56), of the new NASA #831 SR-71B refueling from KC-135 #53135 right over Edwards... Msg#: 9492 *AVIATION* 02/01/92 23:46:00 (Read 0 Times) From: DEAN ADAMS To: ALBERT DOBYNS Subj: REPLY TO MSG# 4841 (SR-71 DATA) AD> Great stuff!! Is there more? Yea, I picked up the second half of this data. Lockheed SR-71 Supersonic / Hypersonic Research Facility Researcher's Handbook Volume I Executive Summary Internal Payload Provisions: - Large Payload Compartments/Bays Abundant Electrical Power: 60KVA, 115/220V, 400Hz Abundant Cooling Air: More Than 30 Pounds Per Minute, 35 Deg F Air More than 150 Liters LN2 Available Accessible Through Large Doors/Hatches Existing Payload Upload/Download Provisions Payload Bay Capacities: Payload Vol (Cu ft) Typical payload Max Dims in Bay (inches) Bay Each Bay Weight (Each Bay) - Typical Mounting A (Nose) 23 550 lbs 30 X 30 X 75 C 7.2 150 lbs 24 X 24 X 16 D 12 230 lbs 11 X 17 X 80 K & L 29.2/Bay 900 lbs 16 X 17 X 92 M & N 21.7/Bay 200 lbs 18 X 18 X 49 P & Q 32.0/Bay 340 lbs 18 X 18 X 90 S & T 22.7/Bay 400 lbs 18 X 18 X 62 Internal Payload Deployment: - High Altitude, High Mach Missile Launch Demonstrated GAR-9 (Phoenix Type) Launches Altitudes from 65,000 to 76,000 feet Target Aircraft Was From 500 To 40,000 Feet Internal Carriage Piston Eject All But One Of 7 Launches Successful (Failure Caused By Missile Gyro Failure) Modification Potential: - Aircraft Can Be Modified To Accomplish: Internal Carriage: Free Flight Deployment External Carriage: Captive Experiments External Carriage: Free Flight Deployment External Carriage - Captive: - Experiments Designed For SR-71 Integration Suggest Potential Of Aircraft For Future Experimental Payloads Reentry Vehicle Sensor On Half Body High-Altitude/High-Mach Air Particulate Sampler Full Scale Supersonic Nacelle Air Particulate Sampler: W1 W2 Filter Approach Flow Rate Inlet Exit Velocity - Maximum SCFM Width Width FPS 708 5.43 1.00 177 1000 7.68 1.71 258 Upper Surface Flow Field Local Flow Conditions Are Uniform Within A Large Region In The Expansion Dominated Flow Above The Aircraft External payload Deployments - D-21 Supersonic Drone. 5 Successfully Launched At Mach 3. - Advanced Concepts - Hypersonic Research Vehicle. Studied But Not Developed - Upper Or Lower Deployment Possible Msg#:11067 *AVIATION* 02/04/92 21:50:00 (Read 1 Times) From: DEAN ADAMS To: ALL Subj: NASA SR-71/YF-12 DATA (1/2) Here is a four page fact sheet I recently picked up at the Dryden PA office. It has a lot of interesting information about current and past Blackbird activities at NASA Ames-Dryden... --------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA Facts Ames Research Center Dryden Flight Research Facility SR-71 "The Blackbird" Three SR-71 aircraft have been loaned to NASA by the U.S. Air Force as testbeds for high speed, high altitude aeronautical research. The aircraft, two SR-71A's and the only SR-71B pilot trainer aircraft in operation, are based at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, Calif. Developed for the U.S. Air Force as a reconnaissance aircraft more than 27 years ago, SR-71's are still the world's fastest and highest-flying production aircraft. The aircraft can fly more than 2200 mph (Mach 3+ or more than three times the speed of sound) and at altitudes of over 85,000 feet. This operating environment makes the aircraft excellent platforms to carry out research and experiments in a variety of areas -- aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, thermal protection materials, high-speed and high-temperature instrumentation, and sonic boom characterization. Data from the SR-71 high speed research program will be used to aid designers of future supersonic/hypersonic aircraft and propulsion systems. Beneficiaries of this data include a future high speed civil transport and the National Aero-Space Plane (NASP) program. Program Management The SR-71 program at Dryden is part of NASA's overall high speed aeronautical research program, and is expected to involve many NASA research centers, and other government agencies. Project manager at Dryden is David P. Lux NASA Flight Crews Each NASA crew consists of a pilot and a flight engineer. Currently assigned as SR-71 project pilots at Dryden are Stephen D. Ishmael and Roger E. Smith. Flight engineers are Robert E. Meyer and Marta Bohn- Meyer. The Meyers are the first husband-wife team of aeronautical engineers on flight status at Dryden. Both pilot-engineer crews have trained for many hours in the SR-71 flight simulator at Dryden to become thoroughly acquainted with aircraft systems and operational procedures. The simulator is the same unit used by Air Force personnel at Beale AFB, Calif., before the SR-71s were retired from military service in 1990. As military aircraft, SR-71's had a crew of two -- a pilot and a reconnaissance systems officer. Mach 3 at Dryden Dryden has a decade of experience at sustained speeds above Mach 3. Two YF-12 aircraft were flown at the facility between December 1969 and November 1979 in a joint NASA/Air Force program to learn more about the capabilities and limitations of high speed, high altitude flight. The YF-12s were prototypes of a planned interceptor aircraft based on a design that later evolved into the SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft. Research information from the YF-12 program was used to validate analytical theories and wind tunnel test techniques to help improve the design and performance of future military and civil aircraft. The then-developing American supersonic transport project would have benefited greatly from YF-12 research data. The aircraft were a YF-12A (serial 935) and a YF-12C (serial 937). They logged a combined total of 242 flights during the program. A third aircraft, a YF-12A (serial 936), was flown by Air Force crews early in the program. It was lost because of an inflight fire in June 1971. The crew was not hurt. The YF-12s were used for a wide range of experiments and research. Among the areas investigated were aerodynamic loads, aerodynamic drag and skin friction, heat transfer, thermal stresses, airframe and propulsion system interactions, inlet control systems, high altitude turbulence, boundary layer flow, landing gear dynamics, measurement of engine effluents for pollution studies, noise measurements, and evaluation of a maintenance monitoring and recording system. On many YF-12 flights medical researchers obtained information on the physiological and biomedical aspects of crews flying at sustained high speeds. From February 1972 until July 1973, the YF-12A was used for heat loads testing in Dryden's High Temperature Loads Laboratory (now the Thermostructures Research Facility). The data helped improve theoretical prediction methods and computer models of that era dealing with structural loads, materials, and heat distribution at up to 800 degrees (F), the same surface temperatures reached during sustained speeds of Mach 3. SR-71 Specifications & Performance The SR-71 is a delta-wing aircraft designed and built by Lockheed. They are powered by two Pratt and Whitney J-58 axial-flow turbojets with afterburners, each producing 32,500 pounds of thrust. Speed of the aircraft is announced at Mach 3.2 -- more than 2000 mph. They have a range of more than 2000 miles and fly at altitudes of over 85,000 ft. As research platforms, the aircraft can cruise at Mach 3 for more than one hour. For thermal experiments, this can produce heat soak temperatures of more than 600 degrees (F). The aircraft are 107.4 feet long, have a wing span of 55.6 feet, and are 18.5 feet high (ground to top of rudders when parked). Gross takeoff weight is about 140,000 pounds, including a fuel weight of 80,000 pounds. The airframes are built almost entirely of titanium and titanium alloys to withstand heat generated by sustained Mach 3 flight. Aerodynamic control surfaces consist of all-moving vertical tail surfaces above each engine nacelle, ailerons on the outer wings, and elevators on the trailing edges between the engine exhaust nozzles. The three SR-71's at Dryden have been assigned the following NASA tail numbers: NASA 831 (B model), military serial 64-17956, manufactured in September 1965; NASA 832 (A model), military serial 64-17971, manufactured in October 1966; NASA 844 (A model), military serial 64-17980, manufactured in July 1967. Development History The SR-71 was designed by a team of Lockheed personnel led by Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, at that time vice president of the company's Advanced Development Projects. The Advanced Development Projects is commonly referred to as the "Skunk Works". The basic design of the SR-71 and YF-12 aircraft originated in secrecy in the late 1950s with the aircraft designation of A-11. Its existence was publicly announced by President Lyndon Johnson on Feb. 29, 1964, when he announced that an A-11 had flown at sustained speeds of over 2000 mph during tests at Edwards, Calif. Development of the SR-71's from the A-11 design, as strategic reconnaissance aircraft, began in February 1963. First flights of an SR-71 was on Dec. 22, 1964. The YF-12's were experimental long-range interceptor versions of the same airframe and were first displayed publicly at Edwards on Sept. 30, 1964. -nasa- December 1991