Cool presentation. Did you know that in order to withstand the tremendous pressures of the heat it generated flying that fast, the Blackbird was built with gaps between each of the sheets of its skin? It was so the sheets could expand to join snugly at the intended speed and altitude. And that because of that it had to fly immediately after being fully fueled, because the fuel would begin to leak through the gaps. It's a shame it was retired; no plane (that we know of) has ever flown as high, as fast nor served so flawlessly in its intended mission. It was so fast it could render bullets fired at it ineffectual.
I remember my skipper telling us , way back, that the blackbird was so damned fast that it would shoot itself down. That's why they didn't outfit it with guns!! Anyway, I suppose the satelittes of today made it expendable.
That was a beautiful aircraft for its time but one of the most expensive aircrafts ever built .I hear that stealth technology evolved from it. It was retired because we are now using predator type of aircraft which are totally remote controlled and is much more economic and flies at a higher altitude and does not have to worry about g forces .The latest models have stealth capability built in.
Actually, the predator aircraft are capable of medium altitudes. The blackbird flew at over 83,000 ft. The recon work for the predator is to locate the enemy over the next hill or ridge, that sort of thing. It does carry certain types of ordinance for an immediate strike if needed or simply for target aquistion for other weapons. Not that it doesn't do some kind of recon work that the blackbird did but the blackbird pretty much did it all. Comparisons of the 2 are that the blackbird had a speed of mach 3.2, 83,000 ft altitude with a 2900 mile range. predator aircraft, and I'm sure some vary a bit, generally fly only at low speed, around 80 mph at 25,000 feet with a 400 mile range. Also, the predator aircraft were used back in the 80s, mainly with the cIA at the time while the blackbird was retired in 1998. but I think today's satelittes has more to do with it's retirement. The satelittes can see it all from their vantage point and when they're not directly overhead where needed, then the predators can offer an advantage there.
Global Hawk has an working altitude of 65000 feet .Its more a replacement for the U2 than the Blackhawk .You are right And of course satellites are the primary surveillance weapon today . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RQ-4_Global_Hawk
That plane is possibly the most all time awesome aircraft ever. I used to have a Tshirt with the blackbird on it as a kid.
this is all true as you say but I didn't consider the global hawk since the blackbird was retired about 3 years before the global hawk was deployed. Still, this new UAV is just the ticket for when the satelittes are not directly overhead. I am impressed with the global hawks range and endurance along with it's altitude ceiling. Not many aircraft operate that high normally.
