More Sled?

"Sled" ??

The "Sled" is an affectionate term for the SR71 Blackbird...hence the title of this thread..."The Sled".
I dig all the machining stuff mate, but am far more interested in Lance's awesome project.
Any updates or new pics Lance?
Paul

Well.... while Lance is fishin for the pics... we can talk machines, yah?

Heh heh heh

No worries! How's winter treatin' ya?

Been a bit of a mixed winter down here really. Generally pretty cold, as witnessed by the good snowfalls up in all the snowfields this year, but nowhere near enough rain.

Looks like we're going to be in our 13th straight year of drought this summer, and we're already bracing ourselves for a worse fire season than that holocaust we had during Black Saturday in Feb this year.

How's things in Cal-a-forn-eye-aye?

BJ

PS - I used to chat to a chick who worked with BlackBirds...

I'll get the more detailed report on the web site build, but here's a nutshell:

* Got a couple more flights in, and recertified for the next year to boot.
* New retracts worked well, and the 6 disk brakes do an excellent job. Not only smooth stops, but holds to at least 75% of full power.
* Got inlets and bypasses in, and all held up well. Nothing collapsed in or blew apart. Don't have inlet spikes in yet.
* Glue to hold on the outer gear doors won't work (even had them aeropoxy'd on). Peeled one off when dropped the gear bending an aluminum hinge to boot. Have now installed bolts at all the anchor points of the larger outer gear doors on the mains.
* This thing is really starting to haul. The faster it goes, the more solid it feels. Next thing I know, it feels like all I'm doing is turning. Afterwards, Jerry, which was spotting for me, remarked that he didn't think he'd ever seen me fly a flight so fast before. With no inlet spikes in yet, I'm getting allot of drag from the intakes, which matches on what I'm seeing from the transmitter, in that from 75% throttle on up, really wasn't going any faster.... so.. when those go in, should have the upper quarter of the throttle open up, and this thing will really start to cook.

I should have a detailed update on the website in a few weeks.

Lance

Go Lance!

Any tips you may have regarding using hydraulic landing gear as opposed to air-powered wouldn't go astray...

I'm thinking of making my own cylinders and pump - now THAT should be a challenge.

"Blackbird singing in the dead of night...Take these broken wings and learn to fly"

BJ

...finally got the Mill and Lathe home. Getting them off the back of the trailer required lots of huffing and puffing, swearing, a little black magic and adroit acrobatics, and a LOT of luck.

With the help of two next-door neighbours and four 1m lengths of 1" water-pipe (for rails/wheels), I finally got them into position late last night.

Happy as a pig in poo...

BJ

The Lathe and Mill are pearlers. Lots to learn yet, but a real joy working with something that's simply 'good'...

Any Sr-71 related news?

Nup... that's why I'm treading water blabbing on about Mill's and Lathe's.. lol

Ok...ok...

Here's something to get you over your need for a fix of SR-71 until there's an update...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV82g...eature=related


BJ

hello, where can I get the plans for this plane.
greetings

For a bit of a diversion - does anyone have any plans for home-made RC Oleo struts (or anything else to do with Jet landing gear for that matter) ??

BJ

Large plans for an SR-71 at www.cmsmithplans.com

Heya Lance

Any news on your BlackBird?

I'm busy here learning how to use a Mill and a Lathe, and how to take a mould and cast a fuse etc etc on my 'project'.

Haven't seen any input on here for while, so I thought I'd pop by and say a quick 'hello'...

BJ

Got another update on the web site a week or so ago, related to the inlet spikes.

Was out last Sunday, and got 3 great flights on it, with the new spikes installed. It is really starting to haul now. The only thing left, aerodynamically wise, is finishing the gear doors, to close up the bottom. Vertical was good, although I was only pulling it up to about 45-60 degrees, to see what climb it had. Starting to have some fun with it now, now that most of the aerodynamic things are resolved. Also, finished fine tuning the balance. Most of the recent flights have been taking out 3 ounces of lead from the nose per flight, and the last couple of flights started to feel just about right. In the end, removed about one pound from the nose, from the conservative starting point.

Lance

wow i love that sr 71...i guess i have to build one for my self......i cant get no 1/8 scale model no where

I knew when we set out last Sunday we'd have a great day of flying, because I forgot my cameras, including video. Jerry was there to spot and got a good flyby shot on his.

Lance

Lance, do us a favor and remember the video camera next time. Spectacular!

Vspec - yanno, I'm the same way about the F-111. Love the thing to bits. I was fortunate enough to find a plug to use as a base. It wasn't exactly what I'd expected, and if I had my time over again, I'd probably build from scratch from the ground up.

But meh - I've come this far, so I may as well finish what I've got, then 'refine' it from there.

I guess what I'm trying to say in a round about way is "Nike - just do it".

There's so many people out there that would gladly pay a reasonable price for a basic glass 'kit' of the shell - why don't *you* be the one that makes them?

I'm doing the best I can with the skills I've got - and so long as what I can cast from the moulds is a reasonable quality, I'm sure there'd be a few people out there that would help me recoup some of my costs by purchasing a 'kit' from me.

And if not, at least I can say "I built that". Myself.

Why not give it a go?

BJ

For those interested in scratch-building one of these babies, here's an interesting vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAl9xuapVT0

BJ

Added to my favorites.

Seems like everytime I [link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjRmhxqWmVU]leave*[/link] RCU to go to bed, someone posts a [link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N31eEXjNAUU&feature=related]great video[/link] like the one above which makes waking up to a bright new day and coming back on here all worth it. Thanks for the vid.

That's an amazing aircraft, and that gentleman is very talented. [sm=shades_smile.gif]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1250fZuhUg&feature=related [/youtube]

Edit: * The song is [link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjRmhxqWmVU]"Goodbye"[/link] from the group SR-71 and the album Tommorow.

Check out this fantastic gallery:

http://www.habu.org/photogallery.html

Click on the pictures, and go on to hundreds of other interesting shots