USAF YF-12 (SR-71) reading!
 

Obviously, this document belongs here...somewhere!

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/p...main_YF-12.pdf

I'm not sure why.

An adequate summary is Chapter Seven:Lessons Learned on page 43.

Tufts on page 40.

Nice PDF, I've re-posted in another forum.

blackbird
 

I felt fortunate to have 30-months around the YF-12A at Eddies Airplane Patch,pumping JP-7,some of it into the plane.:p

I'm a purple 115/145 AVGAS man, personally...

I'm told that, when standing still, the fuel just seeps out of the thing. Something about the way the panels fit to allow for heat expansion?

-soD

purple
 

Young and dumb as some of were,we used the 115/145 for parts cleaner.My body fat is probably saturated with lead.:o

seeps
 

I became a bit upset the first time I refueled the thing,and the crew chief was pretty amused when I went to a lot of trouble to get his attention and tell him that his bird was leaking.'one of those f n g moments.
He said that under flight conditions the things tightened up and sealed up 'n not to sweat it.
The guys in the spacesuits never seemed to be bothered by it,so I learned to relax around 'em.

We used it to "wipe-down" our planes after every flight so the engine mechanics could *see* IF and from WHERE the oil leaks were.

However, it DID leave a nice WHITE exhaust pipe in my '65 MG Midget and NEVER had any engine knock or ping (ha,ha).

Air flowing forward @ supersonic speeds ... makes you wonder what air can't do !

Startled the NASA boys.


Blackbird air park, Palmdale :