NASA's Secret Plan to Fly the SR-71 Again: A Former Engineer Reveals the Real Reason
Former SR-71 engineer talks NASA's Blackbird revival program
Tim Conners, former lead propulsion engineer for NASA's SR-71 program, discusses the space agency's quiet effort to revive Tail 844, the Blackbird that vanished from Armstrong Flight Research Center. He believes NASA is developing a high-speed engine test bed, not chasing aerodynamics data, and reveals that power-on testing could begin soon. Conners, who worked on the aircraft in the 1990s, also shares that he was never formally asked to join the team but wouldn't turn down the offer.
If somebody approached me to work it, I don't think I could turn them down.
- rkagerer
I almost skipped the videos embedded in this article, but they are well curated gems. A few tidbits I found amazing:
- 800°F (and above) was the temperature of their cooling air
- the engine ran too hot for electronics, so they designed a hydraulic mechanical computer responsible for regulating various inputs
- the roar from the two external 400 cubic inch Buick V8 engines originally used to start the aircraft was so irresistible to the hotrod enthusiasts running them that they sometimes neglected to disconnect in time before the starter engines overran RPM limits and "puked their guts out under the airplane" - they had to buy up so much replacement stock as to deplete every single junkyard across the USA of that particular model (so the story goes - probably hyperbole but a fun tale!)
- taffronaut
In the 90s, NASA refurbished and extensively modified a mothballed supersonic Soviet-era Tu-144. The modifications included fitting different (Tupolev) engines. The total cost was $350M. It was used as a flying laboratory.