SR-71 Static Display by junge1
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Description
After driving through Nappa and Sonoma to Stockton I made a point to stop at the Castle Air Museum in Merced the following day to take a picture of a B-36. The aircraft on static display were so closely parked together and the whole place seemed not too well tended that I decided to move on, except taking another look at this SR-71 that was on static display outside the museum grounds.
This photo clearly shows stealth technology, i.e inward canted vertical stabilizers, the shape of the fuselage, and radar absorbing 'black' paint, incorporate in this aircraft designed in the 50s and first flown in 1962.
I estimated the diameter of the engines to be about 5ft. They look bigger in diameter than the fuselage.
For details on engine specifics see my earlier upload of this aircraft.
Also visible is the triple main gear, tires filled with nitrogen and painted white to deflect heat generated by friction on the aircraft skin during flight.
This picture was taken on 22 September 2008.
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Comments (21)
cool shot and look like you can eat there too looking around
Great capture and interesting information!!!
That's an impressive one !
EXCELLENT!!!!!
Very interesting picture and information! Super capture :)
Wow, what a place to park this baby....just kidding. I can see the stealth tech. It is amazing what they can do now a days. Great shot. Aloha
The rubber compound for the tires is actually filled with aluminum powder to conduct heat away from the wheels/brakes and dissipate it to the air. As for the nitrogen, race cars, airliners and even my dad's Prius use nitrogen because it is a very thermally stable gas which helps keep the SR-71's 415psi static tire pressure under control. Castle is one of the best outdoor collections I've seen (I'm in Napa) but the help is all voluntary and there is never enough :(
I spent some time in 1968 collecting data on Bombardier-Navigator raining at Castle. The FB-111 simulator was brand new and flghts were being eliminated from the syllabus. Navigators were being taken out of all Air Force aricraft and replaced by pilots especially in F-4's. I only know the guys who maintained the engines on this one and it was after they were discharged.
Ah, one of my all time favorites. Wonderful shot and great information on the beautiful SR-71.
Excellent capture my friend.
sehr schönes Foto von dem riesigen Flieger!
Interesting photo and informations!!! Thanks! :)
nice technological shot.
Wonderful capture, Excellent well done..
I have just recently recieved an email from a friend of a friend which give a very good indepth story about this plane from someone that actually piloted one(allegedly). It had quite a few picks of it attached as well. If you are interested Sig or anybody else even, site mail me with your email address and I will forward a copy of it. This is the last sentence from that email. "On her final flight, the Blackbird , destined for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, sped from Los Angeles to Washington in 64 minutes, averaging 2,145 mph and setting four speed records." It is a pity that this one has been overshadowed by the trees, still and excellent capture of this once top secret bird. Superb work. Bravo!!!!!
Cool!!! Splendid shot!!!
excellent pov you chose. the admission versus quality exhibits does not always align
What a wonderful piece of aircraft! I would love to go to an air museum!
cool shot of this plane !
excellent POV
Great POv of one of the coolest planes ever built. I often see planes in "scratchy" condition when they are left outdoors on static display. They should either be well maintained or moved in doors!