PSH & SR-71 Blackbird
#4
the only 'cooler' Aircraft to me is the XB-70 bomber down at Wright-Patterson- sadly its squirrelled away back in the R/D hanger where you can barely see it now...Seeing a SR up close and thinking something that big can fly faster than a 30-0-6 bullet is almost hard to believe- seeing that mammoth beautiful white bomber with 6 of those engines, and similar top speed though is kinda a jaw dropping thing...woulda been cool to have seen them fly. The XB70 used to sit outside, then was the centerpiece in the modern flight gallery until a new curator came along and decided to paint the buildings black inside and make a sinister cold war hanger with rails around all the aircraft out of what used to be a bright/wide open 'look up in the wheelwells' type of
place...The R/D hanger is still that way- The YF12A (CIA's version of the SR71- it had guns) had a folding lower fin that the SR's did not- you can see up in there where the titanium skin had chaffed at all the wiring near the hinges...kinda goofy maybe, but I thought it was kinda cool to see- this stuff is still 'gotta get the job done' and butt splices/tape/whatever still pops up once in a while I held my camcorder back inside the X15's engine, could see all the fuel inlets(like showerheads almost) sadly there was also a empty coke can in there though too- somebody should have their butt kicked for that, stuff like that is probably why now you cant get too close up in the museum... Wright Patt I think is still the coolest museum around...
Hey that picture is huntsville aint it? been there/saw that- when I was down there they were erecting the mockup of the SaturnV- only had the first stage up but sheesh- that thing was freaking huge! I assume the Saturn V is complete now- if so, how many miles away can you see it from ?
place...The R/D hanger is still that way- The YF12A (CIA's version of the SR71- it had guns) had a folding lower fin that the SR's did not- you can see up in there where the titanium skin had chaffed at all the wiring near the hinges...kinda goofy maybe, but I thought it was kinda cool to see- this stuff is still 'gotta get the job done' and butt splices/tape/whatever still pops up once in a while I held my camcorder back inside the X15's engine, could see all the fuel inlets(like showerheads almost) sadly there was also a empty coke can in there though too- somebody should have their butt kicked for that, stuff like that is probably why now you cant get too close up in the museum... Wright Patt I think is still the coolest museum around...
Hey that picture is huntsville aint it? been there/saw that- when I was down there they were erecting the mockup of the SaturnV- only had the first stage up but sheesh- that thing was freaking huge! I assume the Saturn V is complete now- if so, how many miles away can you see it from ?
#5
Thread Starter
The Mustang Source FOUNDER
Joined: January 29, 2004
Posts: 9,887
Likes: 11
From: Vestavia Hills, Ala.
Yeah, that's Huntsville, my home town. The Saturn V replica is up, the real one is layed down in stages in the building behind it. You really can't get a feel for the size from the photos. I think it's 228 feet tall.
#6
NTTAWWT
Joined: January 27, 2007
Posts: 14,453
Likes: 35
From: That town you drive through to get to Myrtle Beach
that's my favorite plane ever
to give you an idea of how big it is, here's a pic of the chief designer werner von braun, standing next to only one of the 5 f-1 engines that powered the Saturn V
to give you an idea of how big it is, here's a pic of the chief designer werner von braun, standing next to only one of the 5 f-1 engines that powered the Saturn V
#9
Awesome pics Brad!! Took the kids up there once a couple of years ago and saw that very plane. Too cool!! I used to be stationed at RAF Mildenhall where the SR-71 operated from, all I can say is, WICKED!!! To see one of them accelerate down the runway is something else!! Oh, and btw, the A-12/SR-71 was designed in the early '50's.
#11
Thread Starter
The Mustang Source FOUNDER
Joined: January 29, 2004
Posts: 9,887
Likes: 11
From: Vestavia Hills, Ala.
#14
I grew up in Huntsville and my dad worked for NASA. I was there at the Space and Rocket center when they moved the Saturn V in. It was an awsome sight!!
#16
the only 'cooler' Aircraft to me is the XB-70 bomber down at Wright-Patterson- sadly its squirrelled away back in the R/D hanger where you can barely see it now...probably why now you cant get too close up in the museum... Wright Patt I think is still the coolest museum around
#18
thanks for the pic, makes me want to go back just to see the 'fake' one- so hard to imagine something so huge was needed to haul a couple tons on its journey. At KSC in Florida, they have the 'other' leftover restored/inside now- the coolest thing besides the jaw dropping size is they have a really cool scale model with all the cutaways on one side- by far the most impressive piece of work Ive ever seen- the crew that built that model had some major talent.
#20
According to Wikipedia, which is never wrong, it was 363 feet.
hmm...just had to check- did a quick search, found most sites say 363 feet, but according to this old NASA thing it was 365...
http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/saturn_apollo/lab.pdf
we got our 'worldbook encyclopedia' set back in '71, I'm sure it was 365 in there too, but who knows - in any event its pretty freakin big