R/C SR-71

74 points by skotzko 14 years ago | 24 comments

starpilot 14 years ago |

There are many RC models of unique aircraft. Here's one based off the Horten brothers' flying parabola: http://static.rcgroups.net/forums/attachments/1/6/2/3/6/1/a1.... The Hortens were WW2 german aircraft designers who specialized in flying wings.

This RC SR-71 of course doesn't implement the most technically challenging features of the actual aircraft: ramjet propulsion and titanium skin. It's a very cool looking toy though.

sliverstorm 14 years ago | |

(Also its top speed and flight ceiling, the handling of which posed unique challenges for the time)

ronnier 14 years ago |

I highly recommend a visit to the Museum of Flight in Seattle where you can see a real SR-71 Blackbird. It doesn't look like it came from this planet, gave me the chills thinking about the people who created it.

astrodust 14 years ago | |

Or when they created it. The first manned flight was in 1903. In less than sixty years we had this plane. That's unbelievable.

ortusdux 14 years ago | | |

Few things about that plane that are not amazing. There is an engine on display at the aforementioned exhibit in Seattle. Every tube on the outside runs in a 'Z' configuration instead of just a straight line, because the engine grows 6 inches longer at full operational temperature.

peterwwillis 14 years ago | | |

What's more unbelievable? After 48 years we don't have anything that comes close to it and we don't even fly them anymore.

masklinn 14 years ago | |

> I highly recommend a visit to the Museum of Flight in Seattle where you can see a real SR-71 Blackbird

There's also one at the Pima Air and Space museum, near Tucson, AZ. Considering that and a minuteman silo are the only things worth seeing within 100 miles of Tucson (kidding, but not by much, the "Landmarks of Tucson" article on wikipedia is 10 entries long, with 3 entries actually in Tucson), I'd recommend keeping it for when you need to go to this hellhole, and doing more interesting things in or around Seattle.

bkev 14 years ago | |

Very cool museum; they have some incredible stuff. However, the "Blackbird" you mention isn't actually an SR-71, it's an M-21 - a variant of one of the CIA's A-12's (the SR-71's predecessor).

http://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/lockheed-m-21-blackbi...

If you're in Seattle and have an opportunity, visit the Museum's restoration facility at Paine Field in Everett (at the opposite end of the runway for the 747/widebody factory.) It's a nondescript warehouse manned mostly by super kind volunteer retirees. Unlike the roped-off museum experience, at the restoration facility you can touch and pick up things. The last time I was there I held a Merlin piston in my hands. So cool.

greedo 14 years ago | |

The Strategic Air and Space Museum in Ashland Nebraska has one as well.

__float 14 years ago |

I think calling it a drone is a bit misleading. It's a radio controlled model aircraft.

ethank 14 years ago |

Such a beautiful plane. I got the chance to see the second to the last flight of the NASA SR-71 at Edwards AFB in I think 2001 or 2000. The airplane is other worldly, loud as hell and simply beautiful.

They did a full Mach 3 overhead pass (at 50k feet I think) and also a bunch of slow and high speed passes before it landed and it did a close up crowd taxi-by. The engines at idle have a unique noise, different than any other jet they had.

From the front its a higher pitch noise due to the fact that you're hearing the eddies off the compressor (the engine had no slow RPM fan like most military jets), and from the back like the worlds largest hair dryer.

At take off, it sent up a rooster tail of dust from the runway that went for a half mile.

Sad that they retired the bird. Kelly Johnson was a super hero engineer.

alevans4 14 years ago |

Impressive. My initial reaction watching the clip is that he got the sound right (loud). I've stood near the runway as a real Blackbird took off and could feel my chest rattle from the sound as it rolled by.

quinndupont 14 years ago |

That's pretty amazing, however, the title is a bit misleading. He made an RC Blackbird replica: not a drone, not life-size, not immune to radar, not weaponized, thus not a Blackbird.

micheljansen 14 years ago |

That is just amazing. When I was a kid, I loved to read about high-tech aircraft and space ships and I recall that the SR-71 was known for being hard to handle at low velocities and altitudes (something about the shape of the plane). I wonder if the same is true about the small version. It looks easy enough in the video.

shazow 14 years ago |

Wow, the most impressive thing is that he actually managed to land it while controlling remotely. That must have taken a lot of experience and skill.

I'd feel more comfortable writing some autopilot landing code for the thing than to trust myself to not ruin months of work.

ceejayoz 14 years ago | |

Remote control aircraft hobbyists get pretty used to weeks/months worth of work smashing into trees, the ground, etc. That's why you start off on the small, cheap projects first.

ajray 14 years ago |

RC Aircraft nerd here. This is very cool, but not at all uncommon (while this particular model is, making scale remote-control versions are not). Pulse-jet aircraft are some of the coolest things you can fly, but need a big field (for safety reasons).

runjake 14 years ago |

"Drone" implies autonomous, or pre-programmed planned flight. This is an RC aircraft. Cool, nonetheless.

__float 14 years ago | |

This was my immediate reaction as well. But with a bit of consideration, I don't really think this is the case. Interesting connotation though.

geuis 14 years ago |

There is no need to capitalize the word garage in the title. Also, the title should indicate this is a video.

georgieporgie 14 years ago |

I'm surprised the aerodynamics work at scale and slow speed. Very nice work! (Incidentally, I'm always amazed at the eyesight these guys seem to have, I'd have no idea which way it was pointed)

watmough 14 years ago | |

If you have enough power, almost anything will fly.

$100 (US foam kit, order electronics etc., straight from HobbyKing in Hong Kong) or so and few evenings work and you can make something like this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPATzx-Nx-4

Just google for 3D foamies, I have one and it's enormous fun. Can be flown like a regular r/c aircraft also, not just for stunts, and they will carry keyring cameras easily, just tape it on.

georgieporgie 14 years ago | | |

My personal favorite flying oddities are the lawnmowers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNWfqVWC2KI

The reason that the SR-71 surprised me is that it seems like it doesn't have that much wing area (which is probably somewhat counterintuitive given the length), and it wasn't flying at a significant upward angle like those foamies.