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Cold War (1950-1974)
Discuss the aircraft modeling subjects during the Cold War period.
Hosted by Tim Hatton
Dirks 1/72 SR-71 Blackbird #17978
Dirkpitt289
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Posted: Monday, May 17, 2010 - 03:58 PM UTC
To Keep The Peace They Flew Alone...Unarmed

"Reconnaissance in a Class of One"


History

When I think of the Cold War I can't help but think of high flying spy planes.

In 1957, plans were drawn up for a high flying reconnaissance spy plane, The CIA was the backer behind the project. They wanted something that could reach anywhere in the world in a matter of hours and have the photos lying on someone's desk by lunch.

The results was the SR-71 Blackbird or Habu. It was capable of an altitude of 90,000 ft. and Mach 3.2+ speed, faster than a rifle bullet. In 1968, the first SR-71s went into service at Kadena, AFB in Okinawa, Japan. The SR-71s also operated out of two other bases bases: Beale Air Force Base, California and Mindenthall, UK. Most of the missions were flown out of Kadena.

The plane was tough to land. Of the 32 Blackbirds built, 11 crashed on landing. On the other hand, it was safe to fly. Over 1,000 attempts were made to shoot them down, but not a single plane was lost to enemy action or mechanical problems. In 1968, a presidential order required that all molds and tools used to build the SR-71 be destroyed so that the plane could never be built by anyone again. This also meant that spare parts could not be made, so if there were any major problems, planes in storage would have to be cannibalized. In 1990, the SR-71 fleet was decommissioned at Beale AFB. Five years later, three of the planes were returned to service, but it cost $140 million a year to keep them flying. The Air Force felt the money could be better used, so the plane was taken out of service

The Model









SR-71 Fun Fact

Did you know The SR-71 Blackbird is the fastest aircraft in the world to take off under its own power.

Originally I wanted to do aircraft tail number 17972 "Charlie's Problem" which had a picture of a pregnant Lucy on the tail. Alas I can't locate the custom decals anywhere and I haven't progressed to the point where I can make my own.



So I will be going with one of the kit options, 17978, Playboy Bunny. Who doesn't like a playboy bunny? :oops:






Blackbird Specifications

Primary Function: Strategic Reconnaissance
Contractor: Lockheed-Martin Skunkworks
Crew: Two
Unit Cost: $34 Million per Airframe
Powerplant: Two Pratt and Whitney J-58 axial-flow turbojets with afterburners, each producing 32,500 pounds of thrust
Speed: over Mach 3.2 / 2,000 mph (3,200 kph)
Ceiling: over 85,000 feet (26,000 m)
Range: over 2000 miles (3200 km) unrefueled
Armament: NONE
Number of SR-71's built:50 Blackbird airframes of various designations

SR-71 Fun Fact

The Blackbird is painted with a black paint that consists of a pigmentation containing minute iron balls. These dissipate electro-magnetically-generated energy and effectively lower the chances of the plane being picked up by radar. The special black finish also wards off heat caused by high speeds and actually radiates significantly more friction-generated heat than it absorbs at cruising speeds of Mach 3

The Model
Going through the parts some things stand out.









David Clark S1030 Suit

A fully enclosed suit with a double zippered rear entry, it had enclosed feet at the bottom of the legs, full-length sleeves with metallic rings and a locking mechanism that acted as a connecting point for the gloves. The head opening had another metallic ring with a locking mechanism that served as a connecting point for the helmet. The second component was the helmet, the third were the gloves and the final component was the torso harness, which was part of the egress and survival systems that was worn over the suit itself. Standard flight boots were worn with the ensemble, the only difference being that the boots were a full 2 – 2.5 sizes larger to accommodate the feet of the suit when inflated.





SR-71 Ejection Seats



This photo doesn't do justice to the panels. The cockpit was painted ghost gray, the instruments and panels were painted black and then dry-brushed with aluminum.
Dirkpitt289
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New Jersey, United States
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Posted: Monday, May 17, 2010 - 04:22 PM UTC
The plan is to build this model with the cockpit open allowing people to view the interior. To liven things up a bit I choose to dress the crew in two different color flight suits. While the gold suits (Almost looks Orange in most photos) were the primary color suits there were others such as white brown and blue. The blue suit was and still is the primary color suit for U2 Pilots.



Pilots assigned their seats and strapped in using Tamiya tape









Thanks for looking
md72
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Posted: Monday, May 17, 2010 - 04:53 PM UTC
Dirk,

Looks good. Lots of luck with the additional details!
BTW is this kit 85-5810? I think I have this one, with the probe.
litespeed
Staff MemberNews Reporter
AEROSCALE
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Posted: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - 07:20 AM UTC
Hi Dirk
Excellent feature so far on one of my favorite aircraft. I have enjoyed reading the additional information. I cant believe some of the stuff thats been molded on the plastic. Best of luck with the build and keep us upto date with progress.
tim
Dirkpitt289
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Posted: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - 01:55 PM UTC
A story from an SR-71 Pilot

We trained for a year, flying out of Beale AFB in California, Kadena Airbase in Okinawa, and RAF Mildenhall in England. On a typical training mission, we would take off near Sacramento, refuel over Nevada, accelerate into Montana, obtain high Mach over Colorado, turn right over New Mexico, speed across the Los Angeles Basin, run up the West Coast, turn right at Seattle, then return to Beale. Total flight time: two hours and 40 minutes.
One day, high above Arizona, we were monitoring the radio traffic of all the mortal airplanes below is. First, a Cessna pilot asked the air traffic controllers to check his ground speed.
“Ninety knots,” ATC replied.
A twin Bonanza soon made the same request.
“One-twenty on the ground,” was the reply.
To our surprise, a Navy F-18 came over the radio with a ground speed check. I knew exactly what he was doing. Of course, he had a ground speed indicator in his cockpit, but he wanted to let all the bug-smashers in the valley know what real speed was.
“Dusty 52, we show you at 620 on the ground,” ATC responded.
The situation was too ripe. I heard the click of Walter’s mike button in the rear seat. In his most innocent voice, Walter startled the controller by asking for a ground speed check from 81,000 feet, clearly above controlled airspace.
In a cool, professional voice, the controller replied, “Aspen 20, I show you at 1,982 knots on the ground.” We did not hear another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast.

I believe this story came from Brian Shul's book, "Why I Fly"
md72
#439
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Posted: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - 02:02 PM UTC
I can't believe all that sthuff in the cockpit. It’s hard to remember that all that was developed before 1960. I worked with guys that had been doing contract work on the engines back in 1958. All they had to work with were specs and envelope drawings. And all of the drawings had the title blocks cut off so no one would know what company had done them.
Keeperofsouls2099
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Posted: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - 02:13 PM UTC
I'm enjoying jack and Steve good stuff Very informative thread I watch with interest.



Build On,
Justin
litespeed
Staff MemberNews Reporter
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Posted: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - 01:48 AM UTC
Hi dirk
Is that a drone that attaches to the top of the fuselage on one of the sprues?
tim
Dirkpitt289
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New Jersey, United States
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Posted: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - 02:01 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Hi dirk
Is that a drone that attaches to the top of the fuselage on one of the sprues?
tim



Yes it is. I don't believe I'll be attaching it to the SR-71 Unless I can find proof that this particular bird carried one.
dcandal
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Posted: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - 12:47 PM UTC
A very interest project Dirk
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