SR-71 Presentation -- Reminder & Last Chance

Not that I'm too savvy about this, but what I recall the Columbia shuttle
burned on reentry, and at that stage the shuttle would be mainly a glider
with very little onboard fuel?

I believe Big John's SR-71 question was referring to the Challenger
explosion -- not the Columbia re-entry break-up.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
You mean an SR-71 allegedly flew through the area the shuttle had just
flown through? Or did I missinterpret what you wrote above.

The way I read the original message, it was the explosion that consumed the
oxygen, not the normal combustion of the fuel. That is, when the Shuttle
exploded, the hydrogen fuel tanks (contained within the main fuel tank)
released their contents, the hydrogen subsequently burned all at once,
consuming enough oxygen in the area to cause the SR-71 engine problem.

So, the normal operation of the Shuttle rocket engines isn't relevant to
that question.

It still sounds like BS to me. I doubt that any oxygen-poor area would
exist beyond the visible area of smoke left from the explosion, and so the
SR-71 pilot would have had to fly through a visible area of contamination.
Either there's one really dumb SR-71 pilot out there (hardly seems likely),
or the story is just a fabrication.

Pete

I was at the cape watching that very sobering sight that morning..
There was so much debris flying though the air when it exploed there
would be no way something could have flown anywhere close to the area
and not hit some trash. If I rememeber correctly NASA would not even
launch helicopters to the area for over an hour cause stuff was still
falling out of the sky and that crap would have taken down a rescue
vehicles. That was a sad day in space flight for sure...

Ben
www.haaspowerair.com

The space shuttle is a rocket and carries all the "air" it
uses (liquid oxygen) and doesn't burn "all the air out of an
area" so I'd say the story is a real urban legend.


"Big John" wrote in message
...
| Jay
|
| Believe I asked you this question before but you didn't
have the
| chance to ask Bill.
|
| A friend (?) of mine here in Houston was on a console when
the Shuttle
| blew up after launch. He said that a '71 was also lost
because the
| shuttle fuel burned all the oxy out of air in a large area
and '71
| flamed out and crashed.
|
| I never was able to validate this story. When you see Fox
please ask
| him if it is true (I don't think so as ascent trajectory
is kept clear
| of aircraft for safety on launches).
|
| Would love to hear his stories but am to far away and
don't travel
| well any more.
|
| Be sure the flags are up this Memorial Day for those who
are no
| longer with us.
|
| Big John
|
`````````````````````````````````````````````````` ``````````````````````````````````````````
|
| On Mon, 29 May 2006 12:34:13 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
| wrote:
|
| To those of you who have reserved a seat for Bill Fox's
talk about his years
| working as a project manager at the Lockheed Skunk Works
during the
| development of the SR-71 Blackbird (7 PM tomorrow --
Tuesday -- night),
| please arrive around 6:30 PM. Seating is limited and by
reservation only,
| so please (for a change!) don't bring a bunch of friends.
|
| ----clip----

BTW, they have an SR 71 in the lobby of the Cosmosphere in
Hutchinson, Kansas and you can walk up and touch it. It is
under going a restoration, but is pretty complete.
http://www.cosmo.org/ It is just a few miles west of the
airport KHUT on 11th Street.


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:9TBeg.753493$084.540702@attbi_s22...
| To those of you who have reserved a seat for Bill Fox's
talk about his years
| working as a project manager at the Lockheed Skunk Works
during the
| development of the SR-71 Blackbird (7 PM tomorrow --
Tuesday -- night),
| please arrive around 6:30 PM. Seating is limited and by
reservation only,
| so please (for a change!) don't bring a bunch of friends.
|
| HOWEVER -- due to a couple of last-minute cancellations,
we do have TWO
| seats available. If you're at all interested in hearing
Bill's talk, please
| email me ASAP at The talk will
be held in our
| small theater (in lieu of "Movie Night") inside the Alexis
Park Inn &
| Suites, 1165 S. Riverside Drive, Iowa City, IA 52246
|
| Bill is a fascinating guy. If you've ever wondered about
ANYTHING to do
| with the SR-71, or the inner workings of the Skunk Works,
or Area 51 (he
| went on to run the super-secret Groom Lake facility later
in his career),
| this is your chance.
|
| Blue skies!
| --
| Jay Honeck
| Iowa City, IA
| Pathfinder N56993
| www.AlexisParkInn.com
| "Your Aviation Destination"
|
|