Forum: Military Aircraft of the Cold War

WR-ALC C-5 hydraulics. Now everything is tiny!

F-16.net Sponsor

Yes, compared to the C-5 I am sure it is Smile

Cool stuff though....those gear are huge I think

Look around, they get overhauled in Ogdon. Check 'em out.

The next two F-117s to retire (803 & 820) have been sent to Tonopah Friday, 23 March. No word on when the last two for the fiscal year are going or which ones they are.

Have they made any force changes yet in manpower? If not life will be good for a while.

As far as I know, there are no manpower cuts predicted for the flightline at all. Once the 9th AMU comes home from their AEF rotation, they will join the 8th AMU and form the 89th AMU. It should still be pretty easy for a while... at least until our F-22s get here.

Great airframe, I know I will miss them. Always figured I would retire off of the F-16, but I managed to make it out the door at Holloman, and before any of the jets. Hope the F-22 continues to carry the torch.

Any news on the tailnumbers and delivery date to Tonopah of the last two F-117s being retired this fiscal year?

Thanks for the help.

When I read of the retirement of 807, I may shed a tear. Crying or Very sad

cutlassracer wrote:

Don't expect to see any real info on them anytime soon. Remember how long the SR-71 has been gone, and we still don't know exactly how fast or high it flew.

Cutlassracer

The SR flight manual (including what is normally referred to as the -1-1 'performance appendix') was declassified about 15 years ago and published by Motorbooks.

It has also been scanned and put on the web: http://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/manual/

So we've known for quite some time what the figures were for the Sled.

I have also seen copies of the F-117 flight manual in the collections of fellow enthusiasts.

Steve,

Yep, the SR-71's been public for a while, but I was surprised to see that the A-12's flight manual is now available direct from the CIA here Shocked

! Be forewarned, it's something like 18MB if you want to check it out Wink

.

Parrothead

Thanks for the link. I love the hand-drawn performance charts!

Steve,

No problem at all Cool

!

I've been at the Road Runners reunion most of today and will return tomorrow for some more fun Very Happy

! I had an incredible time talking for quite some time with James Eastham (YB-58, A-12, YF-12A, SR-71 pilot) and though I can't remember his name, I got to chat with the guy who drew those performance charts Smile

.

Have a great day!

parrothead wrote:

the SR-71's been public for a while...Be forewarned, it's something like 18MB if you want to check it out

As an aviator I must ask, Does anyone REALLY want to read a Dash 1 that badly? Laughing

Pubs suck! They're extremely useful, but they suck!

Those who know, know what I mean. Wink

TC wrote:

parrothead wrote:

the SR-71's been public for a while...Be forewarned, it's something like 18MB if you want to check it out

As an aviator I must ask, Does anyone REALLY want to read a Dash 1 that badly? Laughing

Pubs suck! They're extremely useful, but they suck!

Those who know, know what I mean. Wink

TC,

YES Thumb

! Especially when it's something as black and cosmic as Oxcart!

Of course, it's also easier when the work connection (DS-3) is used on one's lunch break - thank God for thumb drives Wink

For those of you who like the A-12 and SR-71, here's a little something I found while perusing the CIA website's FOIA reading room. Ever wonder what the true capabilities of the A-12 and SR-71 were? Yeah, so did I. Thanks to the CIA, we now have those numbers presented in an easy to read format Smile

! Click here for the figures and here for the whole comparison document Cool

. The speed was limited by inlet temperature more than anything with a max temp of 800 degrees faherenheit according to a conversation I had with A-12, YF-12A and SR-71 pilot Jim Eastham a couple of days ago. IIRC, that equated to about Mach 3.2, but excursions to Mach 3.3 and possibly 3.4 were possible if the mission required and it was authorized by the right authority figure (going from memory of the A-12 Dash 1 here).

Back nearly On Topic

, here's a little challenge for y'all. Take a look at the attached photo below with the cloud and stuff. The challenge is this - where was this artwork originally found, what program was it from, and why was it only seen periodically in a break room?

Actually On Topic

, I was talking with Pete Merlin (aviation historian) who said that they're taking the wings off of the F-117s when they get to Tonopah for storage so they can fit three in each hangar. This raises a question for me - are these jets being held in flyable storage and if so, how do they do the periodic engine runs and such? If they're not in flyable storage, is there some sort of a plan to reactivate them and how long would it take to do so?

Have fun!

Forum: Military Aircraft of the Cold War

First six F-117s sent to Tonopah "Boneyard"