Mach 3 facts
While investigating facts about Mach 3, I found out little known, but curios details like:
The windshield of the SR-71 Blackbird can reach a temperature of over 600°F during flights at mach 3. It had to be made of quartz and was ultrasonically fused to the titanium hull in order to handle the stress.
Navigating by the stars is still used, the SR-71 (the fastest ever manned airplane) used a computer to automatically track the stars giving it <300m accuracy at Mach 3+. It could even track stars during the day.
In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across. Here are 28 of the best facts about Mach 3 I managed to collect.
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The SR-71 was able to maintain its heading within 1,000 feet at Mach 3 by using a navigation system that tracked a series of 61 stars using a sensor capable of detecting them in broad daylight.
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The USA tested a nuclear-powered cruise missile in 1961 at Jackass Flats, NV that would hug the terrain at mach 3. During its flight to the target, the missile would have deafened, flattened, and irradiated anyone in its path. The project was cancelled in 1964.
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The SR-71 Blackbird navigated using technology that relied on the position of stars and it was accurate to within 90 meters while cruising at mach 3
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Once the SR71 Blackbird accelerated to mach 3, it only required about 30% throttle to maintain that speed. (ctrl F "mach")
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Before the interceptor version of the SR-71 ever flew, there was a program to create a Mach 3 interceptor using the same engines as the B-70 Valkrye.
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In the 1960s the CIA developed Tagboard, a supersonic resonance drone launched from the back of the M-21 (SR-71 predecessor) at Mach 3. It carried a high-resolution camera over a preprogrammed path, then released the film for mid-air retrieval, after which the drone would self-destruct.
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The SR-71 Blackbird leaked fuel until it went fast enough that friction from the air heated the titanium body panels of the aircraft to the point that they expanded, sealing the gaps between them that enabled the aircraft to function at speeds above Mach 3.
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Ejection at Mach 3+ from the SR71 at attitude wasn't just possible, but less dangerous than ejecting at Mach 1 at lower altitudes
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of Clarence Johnson, the aerospace engineer who helped create "the first production aircraft to exceed Mach 3, the first fighter capable of Mach 2, as well as the first U.S. fighter to exceed 400 mph, and the 1st operational U.S. jet fighter."
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NASA used the prototypes from the cancelled interceptor version of the SR-71 to make "a major achievement in fluid dynamics research". They mounted a liquid nitrogen cooled sensor package under the aircraft, then blew the insulation off of it at mach 3... in order to test their simulations.
What is true about mach 3?
You can easily fact check it by examining the linked well-known sources.
According to an old top secret report, the SR-71 was only limited to mach 3 because of the limits of its own fuel tank sealant. It could also take a picture up to 20 mile wide, and from up to 80 miles away depending on the model of camera the aircraft was given.
The J-58 engines that powered the famous SR-71 in mach 3+ flight were responsible for only for about 20% of the total thrust generated in the engine nacelles. - source
A 1949 request by the USAF for an advanced jet plane to intercept the new Soviet intercontinental bombers led to the development of the Republic XF-103, a spectacular design for an advanced plane capable of Mach 3. Technical problems and costs meant it was never built. - source
“Rocket” Joe Walker was the 1st civilian ever to fly into space, and 1st person to break Mach 3 and Survive - source
On 26 April 1971 a United States Air Force (USAF) SR-71 Blackbird jet crewed by "Lt. Col. Thomas B. Estes, USAF, aircraft commander, and Maj. Dewain C. Vick, USAF, reconnaissance systems officer, made a record-breaking 15,000-mile nonstop flight, at times attaining speeds in excess of Mach 3."
According to the declassified SR-71 pilot handbook, the SR-71 would tend to overshoot its cruising altitude if it was climbing at cruising speed, since it cruised at Mach 2.8 to Mach 3. Acceleration actually increased as it gained altitude, and the throttle became "quite responsive".
The United States Air Force SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance jet "flies between Mach 3 and Mach 4."
In the cold war the US had a supersonic plane that could fly over Mach 3 and was faster than Soviet's anti-air missle. It was mainly manufactured as an intelligence spy plane and at first the Soviet's thought it was an malfunction of their radar systems when they first spotted the SR71.
Glass breaks at the incredible speed of 5,250 KMPH or 3,262 MPH or 1,458 Meters per second or Mach 4
Project Pluto - A Nuclear Powered Ramjet Doomsday Weapon - Designed to destroy every city along the coast of a country - Powered by a nuclear reactor it flew at mach 3 a low altitude so it couldn't be shot down - Dropping a dozen nuclear bombs & irradiated the air through sonic booms.
