Thread

1. 0xbadcafebee · 1790728000 · focus · HN ↗

   To give you an idea how ridiculous this is: to start each engine, they made a cart out of two Buick V8 engines tied together - so four V8 engines to start the plane. Those V8 engines were long since out of production, so at one point they went around the country, to every junkyard, buying up every one of those V8s they could find, so they would have spares to start planes up in different places. If an SR71 had an issue and landed at an unusual airport, they had to fly the start cart and other equipment to that airport to start the plane again. Everything about this plane is expensive and one-of-a-kind. It's a hot rod that goes to space.

   1. AnimalMuppet · 1790729766 · focus · HN ↗

      Rather than re-engineer the cart to use a different block? I mean, I guess when a part reaches end-of-life, your first move is to buy as many as you can, before you try to re-engineer things so it isn't needed, but... horsepower is horsepower. Torque is torque. It shouldn't be that hard to replace...

      1. mrheosuper · 1790742254 · focus · HN ↗

         Can the plane just carry....the starter ?, it's another 200-300kg of payload, may affect the max range, etc, but much more convenient.

         1. joha4270 · 1790753076 · focus · HN ↗

            Most jet planes do carry a starter with them (in the tail usually) so the fact the SR-71 doesn't suggests the tradeoffs wasn't worth it

            1. m4rtink · 1790761407 · focus · HN ↗

               Military fighter jets quite often had external starters to save weight.

               1. HelloNurse · 1790762075 · focus · HN ↗

                  The weight corresponds to a significant amount of fuel or missiles etc., or significantly better radars or other systems.

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