The BlackBird 3-Times the speed of Sound
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The Lockheed SR-71 is an advanced, long-range, Mach 3 strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Lockheed YF-12A and A-12 aircraft by the Lockheed Skunk Works. The SR-71 was unofficially named the Blackbird, and called the Habu by its crews. Clarence "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many of the design's advanced concepts, with the SR-71 being one of the first aircraft shaped to reduce its radar cross section, although its radar signature could be tracked by contemporary systems unlike later "stealth" aircraft. A defensive feature of the aircraft was its high speed and operating altitude, whereby if a surface-to-air missile launch were detected, standard evasive action was simply to accelerate. The SR-71 line was in service from 1964 to 1998, with 12 of the 32 aircraft being destroyed in accidents, though none were lost to enemy action
General characteristics
* Crew: 2
* Payload: 3,500 lb (1,600 kg) of sensors
* Length: 107 ft 5 in (32.74 m)
* Wingspan: 55 ft 7 in (16.94 m)
* Height: 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
* Wing area: 1,800 ft2 (170 m2)
* Empty weight: 67,500 lb (30 600 kg)
* Loaded weight: 170,000 lb (77 000 kg)
* Max takeoff weight: 172,000 lb (78 000 kg)
* Powerplant: 2× Pratt & Whitney J58-1 continuous-bleed afterburning turbojets, 32,500 lbf (145 kN) each
* Wheel track: 16 ft 8 in (5.08 m)
* Wheel base: 37 ft 10 in (11.53 m)
* Aspect ratio: 1.7
Performance
* Maximum speed: Mach 3.2+ (2,200+ mph, 3530+ km/h) at 80,000 ft (24,000 m)
* Range:
o Combat: 2,900 nmi (5400 km)
o Ferry: 3,200 nmi (5,925 km)
* Service ceiling 85,000 ft (25,900m, 16 mi)
* Rate of climb: 11,810 ft/min (60 m/s)
* Wing loading: 94 lb/ft2 (460 kg/m2)
* Thrust/weight: 0.382
Concorde
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The Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde supersonic transport (SST) was the more successful of the only two supersonic passenger airliners to have ever operated commercially (the Tupolev Tu-144 being the other).
The development programme was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, with 20 aircraft built. The costly development phase thus represented a substantial economic loss. Air France and British Airways were subsidised to buy the aircraft by their governments, while other sales were blocked by the 1973 oil crisis and competition from the Boeing 747. However, overall, Concorde made very large operating profits for British Airways.
First flown in 1969, piloted by Andre Turcat,[2] Concorde service commenced in 1976 and continued for 27 years. It flew regular transatlantic flights from London Heathrow (British Airways) and Paris Charles de Gaulle (Air France) to New York JFK and Washington Dulles, flying these routes at record speeds, in under half the time of other airliners. Concorde also set many other records, including the official FAI "Westbound Around The World" and "Eastbound Around the World" world air speed records.
As a result of the type's only crash on 25 July 2000, world economic effects arising from the 9/11 attacks, and other factors, operations ceased on 24 October 2003. The last "retirement" flight occurred on 26 November that year.
Concorde remains an icon of aviation history, and has acquired an unusual nomenclature for an aircraft. In common usage in the United Kingdom, the type is known as "Concorde" rather than "the Concorde" or "a Concorde".
General characteristics
* Crew: 9
* Capacity: 92-120 passengers (128 in high-density Layout[69])
* Length: 202 ft 4 in[70] (61.66 m)
* Wingspan: 84 ft 0 in (25.6 m)
* Height: 40 ft 0 in (12.2 m)
* Fuselage internal length: 129 ft 0 in (39.32 m)
* Fuselage max external width: 9 ft 5 in (2.88 m)
* Fuselage max internal width: 8 ft 7 in (2.63 m)
* Fuselage max external height: 10 ft 10 in (3.32 m)
* Fuselage max internal height: 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
* Wing area: 3,856 ft² (358.25 m²)
* Empty weight: 173,500 lb (78,700 kg)
* Useful load: 245,000 lb (111,130 kg)
* Powerplant: 4× Rolls-Royce/SNECMA Olympus 593 Mk 610 afterburning turbojets
o Dry thrust: 32,000 lbf (140 kN) each
o Thrust with afterburner: 38,050 lbf (169 kN) each
* Maximum fuel load: 210,940 lb (95,680 kg)
* Maximum taxiing weight: 412,000 lb (186,880 kg)
Performance
* Maximum speed: Mach 2.2[71] (1,450 mph, 2,330 km/h[71])
* Cruise speed: Mach 2.04 (1,246 mph, 2,006 km/h)
* Range: 3,900 nmi (4,500 mi, 7,250 km)
* Service ceiling 60,000 ft (18,300 m)
* Rate of climb: 1,525 m (5,000 ft) /min (25,41 m/s)
* Thrust/weight: .373
* Lift/drag ratio: Low speed- 3.94, Approach- 4.35, 250 kn, 10,000 ft- 9.27, Mach 0.94- 11.47, Mach 2.04- 7.14
* Fuel consumption for max. range (max. fuel/max. range): 46.85 lb/mi (13.2 kg/km)
* Maximum nose tip temperature: 260 °F (127 °C)
Future Planes 5 time the speed of Sound
Son of the Concorde
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apan and France are to work together to develop a successor to the retired supersonic jet aircraft Concorde.
Companies from the countries will split an investment
of $1.84m-a-year for research over the next three years, Japan's trade ministry said.
The agreement to develop the new passenger plane was signed at the Paris Air Show, Japan added.
The new plane will have 300 seats and cut the flight time between New York and Tokyo to six hours, reports said.
Japan's trade ministry also said the two sides would work at solving the problems that plagued Concorde, such as noise and high-fuel consumption.
Successful tests
"This is truly significant industrial co-operation," Japan's trade minister Shoichi Nakagawa said in a statement.
"Bringing their respective advantages together... should lead to the ability to offer highly advanced aircraft and services in the future."
Concorde
In depth: Farewell Concorde
The ministry added that Japan had successfully tested an engine that could theoretically reach speeds up to five times the speed of sound.
Concorde flew at mach 2 - twice the speed of sound. It never recouped the huge amounts invested in it by the time it was taken out of service, after 34 years, in 2003.
However, French airline Air France was one half of the Concorde team, and the country will bring its own technological knowledge of the supersonic jet to the table.
The deal also represents a break with Japan's habit of working with US groups in the industry.
"To research closely in this area with the Europeans does represent something new," said Yoshio Watanabe, an official with the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies which is heading the new initiative in Japan.
However, while Europe's Airbus is currently the world's biggest commercial airliner maker, US group Boeing said it was placed to beat its rival.
Market battle
Scott Carson, Boeing head of sales, predicted it would overtake Airbus's four-year lead during the year.
He added that the advance was thanks in part to the creation of a new unit that helps airlines fill gaps in its fleet, which Boeing put in place after losing orders from "a company or two late last year".
The beefed-up sales team has helped Boeing win a number of key orders as it waits for its new 787 Dreamliner to roll off the production line, with companies such as GECAS replacing Airbus jets with Boeing aircraft.
The twin-aisle Dreamliner will not start flying commercially until 2008.
Airbus and Boeing have been involved in a bitter struggle for orders since a slump in the industry began in 2001.
The two are also locked in a trade row over alleged levels of state funding, which has been taken to the World Trade Organization.
