Oxcart Project

[snafu]

On FoxNews, two Area 51 engineers talked about some of their stories. Great information on this site.

https://roadrunnersinternationale.com/

[StoleIt]

Yeaaa that website looks like its a scholastic level source to boot!!!

[Guest Krabs]

For those wondering, this is the interview:

https://www.foxnews.com/video-search/m/2209...e.htm#q=area+51

And this is a great source of real info on the A-12/SR-71:

https://www.amazon.com/Skunk-Works-Personal...d/dp/0316743003

[brickhistory]

CIA's Oxcart History (U)

Less than 20 years after WWII, and they are doing Mach 3+.

[BQZip01]

CIA's Oxcart History (U)

Less than 20 years after WWII, and they are doing Mach 3+.

Quote from a backseater in the SR-71 (YF-12's follow-on...)

You've never been lost until you've been lost going Mach 3...

[Dead Last]

On FoxNews, two Area 51 engineers talked about some of their stories. Great information on this site.

https://roadrunnersinternationale.com/

Great find, thanks for the site...

Burned the better part of my afternoon/evening looking over the sites.

cheers

[drewpey]

https://gizmodo.com/5581881/the-first-flight-of-the-cias-own-secret-blackbird

[HuggyU2]

Yet another great airplane, gone by the wayside.

Sure wish I could have flown it... for a year or so.

[MKopack]

I only had an opportunity to see two 'live' SR's. One as a twelve-year old at the Andrews airshow in 1980 (61-7964) where I had my shoes soaked in JP-8, and the second when we had one IFE into MacDill in the late 80's (61-7979). That one I ended up standing up on the bird during the preflight, and next to the marshaller as it left chocks. I'll never forget the noise as the pilot put the coals to it at the end of the runway - or the burner flames as he lit, and departed, after making a pass down the flightline...

[afnav]

I had a chance to sit in the RSO seat of one at Beale just after they retired them. Years later, I was amazed at how similar the look and feel was to the B-52 I flew. I guess it goes to show you don't need glass (and billions in cost overruns) to do the mission well.

We'll never see airplanes like that again. The acquisition system as it is now would never allow it. Instead of building something that is feasible for a good price, the defense industry builds something we don't need and convinces us that we must have it no matter what the cost, and then charges us ten times more than the originally contracted price.

Possibly one way to fix it? Prohibit anyone over the rank of O5 from working in the defense industry. My building is packed to the gills with former GO/FOs 'consulting' for defense firms and pushing the exact capes of systems their companies are making. I worked in J8 and watched them come and go daily. It's worse when they haven't worn a uniform in 20+ years and drool at the conference table during briefings.

[Alpharatz]

The sad part is that it's not just the "defense" industry but just about every industry...cooking the books..gold-plating products...."me too..me-too" drug copies that might work or might not. Defense is just especially good at munching on the Federal grand tetons..Meanwhile what the whole DOD needs (a new tanker) lounges in acquisition hell....now I forgot the topic....oh yeah, once saw an SR puke a fuel line mid-air...stream of fuel 3-4 miles long and a dash for the ground.

...........excuse me, is that petroleum surging out of there or are you just glad to see me?...

I had a chance to sit in the RSO seat of one at Beale just after they retired them. Years later, I was amazed at how similar the look and feel was to the B-52 I flew. I guess it goes to show you don't need glass (and billions in cost overruns) to do the mission well.

We'll never see airplanes like that again. The acquisition system as it is now would never allow it. Instead of building something that is feasible for a good price, the defense industry builds something we don't need and convinces us that we must have it no matter what the cost, and then charges us ten times more than the originally contracted price.

Possibly one way to fix it? Prohibit anyone over the rank of O5 from working in the defense industry. My building is packed to the gills with former GO/FOs 'consulting' for defense firms and pushing the exact capes of systems their companies are making. I worked in J8 and watched them come and go daily. It's worse when they haven't worn a uniform in 20+ years and drool at the conference table during briefings.