just came accross this tonight and thought it was so cool, I had to share...
Did you guys know there is a link between the SR-71 "Blackbird" and Buicks??? I'm reading a book right now titled "SR-71 Revealed - The Inside Story" written by Col. Richard H. Grahm. Colonel Grahm was an SR-71 pilot, squadron commander and wing commander. For anyone who doesn't remember, the SR-71 "Blackbird" was *the* fastest and highest flying spyplane ever built. Actually, I believe the speed and altitude records set by SR-71's still stand today making the SR-71 the fastest airplane of any kind ever built. The "Blackbird's" official top speed was in excess of Mach 3 and, amazingly, the SR-71 went into serivce in the mid-60's and continued service into the '80's. The book is page after page of facinating information for anyone interested in the SR-71 or military aircraft in general.
So, on to the the good stuff...
The book goes into very specific details about every aspect of the SR-71 and the pilots that flew them. In chapter 6, Col. Grahm gives some specifc information about the engines used to power the SR-71. The SR-71 utilized two Pratt and Whitney J-58 turbojet engines. These engines and the fuel they burned were developed exclusively for the SR-71. According to the author, at full afterburner, maximum thrust, just *one* J-58 engine produced 32,000 pounds of thrust and consumed 65,000 pounds of fuel per hour - that's 1,083 pounds of fuel per minute!!! These engines are 20 feet long, 4-1/2 feet in diameter and weigh 6,500 pounds each! Anybody want to guess what the SR-71 ground crews used to start these monsterous engines?? If you guessed they used Buick engines, you'd be right! According to the author, in the early days of the SR-71, ground crews used what they called "the Buick" to start the SR-71's engines. What they had was actually not one, but two big-block Buick V8 engines (the author did not specify what displacement) on a roll-around cart. The engines were connected to a gear box which drove a vertical shaft. The vertical shaft connected directly to the bottom of the J-58 engines. The author goes on to comment on what a spectular sight it was to see and hear "the Buick" startup then run the J-58 engines up to their 4,000 rpm idle speed while parked in the hanger at night. Apparently, the engines had dragster style straight pipes and no mufflers. Eventually, "the Buick" was replaced by a pneumatic starting system.
Pretty cool hugh?
As another interesting sidenote, the author of the book, Colonel Richard Grahm, actually lives just to the North of me in Plano, Tx. I had the priveledge of meeting him and getting him to sign my copy of his book while at a small air show over in Addison earlier this year.
like I said, I just had to share this cool bit of info.
Did you guys know there is a link between the SR-71 "Blackbird" and Buicks??? I'm reading a book right now titled "SR-71 Revealed - The Inside Story" written by Col. Richard H. Grahm. Colonel Grahm was an SR-71 pilot, squadron commander and wing commander. For anyone who doesn't remember, the SR-71 "Blackbird" was *the* fastest and highest flying spyplane ever built. Actually, I believe the speed and altitude records set by SR-71's still stand today making the SR-71 the fastest airplane of any kind ever built. The "Blackbird's" official top speed was in excess of Mach 3 and, amazingly, the SR-71 went into serivce in the mid-60's and continued service into the '80's. The book is page after page of facinating information for anyone interested in the SR-71 or military aircraft in general.
So, on to the the good stuff...
The book goes into very specific details about every aspect of the SR-71 and the pilots that flew them. In chapter 6, Col. Grahm gives some specifc information about the engines used to power the SR-71. The SR-71 utilized two Pratt and Whitney J-58 turbojet engines. These engines and the fuel they burned were developed exclusively for the SR-71. According to the author, at full afterburner, maximum thrust, just *one* J-58 engine produced 32,000 pounds of thrust and consumed 65,000 pounds of fuel per hour - that's 1,083 pounds of fuel per minute!!! These engines are 20 feet long, 4-1/2 feet in diameter and weigh 6,500 pounds each! Anybody want to guess what the SR-71 ground crews used to start these monsterous engines?? If you guessed they used Buick engines, you'd be right! According to the author, in the early days of the SR-71, ground crews used what they called "the Buick" to start the SR-71's engines. What they had was actually not one, but two big-block Buick V8 engines (the author did not specify what displacement) on a roll-around cart. The engines were connected to a gear box which drove a vertical shaft. The vertical shaft connected directly to the bottom of the J-58 engines. The author goes on to comment on what a spectular sight it was to see and hear "the Buick" startup then run the J-58 engines up to their 4,000 rpm idle speed while parked in the hanger at night. Apparently, the engines had dragster style straight pipes and no mufflers. Eventually, "the Buick" was replaced by a pneumatic starting system.
Pretty cool hugh?
As another interesting sidenote, the author of the book, Colonel Richard Grahm, actually lives just to the North of me in Plano, Tx. I had the priveledge of meeting him and getting him to sign my copy of his book while at a small air show over in Addison earlier this year.
like I said, I just had to share this cool bit of info.
