From: skunk-works-digest-owner@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu To: skunk-works-digest@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Subject: Skunk Works Digest V4 #61 Reply-To: skunk-works-digest@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Errors-To: skunk-works-digest-owner@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Precedence: bulk Skunk Works Digest Friday, 12 November 1993 Volume 04 : Number 061 In this issue: Re: D-21 Arrived !! Re: Mach 3.5+ Re: D-21 Arrives CBS TONIGHT! CBS Show IS On Tonight Re: CBS Show IS On Tonight See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the skunk-works or skunk-works-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dadams@netcom.com (Dean Adams) Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1993 00:38:40 -0800 Subject: Re: D-21 Arrived !! Larry says... >I just received word last night via phone that Seattle Museum >of Flight's D-21 just arrived! Great news! I guess they are probably the first... >The initial poop on all this is that it doesn't look like the drone that >Lockheed was trying to send them, which was a drone that had actually flown >on their M-12 (captive flight only of course). Was that one out at D-M with all the rest? I wonder what the snag was. >It's great that this thing is finally here! Evidently, Minn. ANG will be >getting theirs as well. I'm not sure if the USAF Museum has already gotten >theirs. I also heard recently that the AFFTC Museum/Blackbird Airpark D-21 is "ready", but they are still trying to arrange for an aircraft to transport it. How did SMOF get theirs? ------------------------------ From: dadams@netcom.com (Dean Adams) Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1993 01:22:09 -0800 Subject: Re: Mach 3.5+ Mary says... >The US Air Force has a numbering system for the various manuals that go >with each aircraft model. They all have the same main number and the >various types are indicated with a suffix, separated by a dash. That is, >somenumber-suffix. The pilot's manual always has a suffix of 1. Hence, >Dash 1. And in this case, we were talking about "SR-71A-1" ^^ >The US Navy calls the pilot's manual the NATOPS Manual. I can never >remember what NATOPS stands for, but it's something vaguely like Navy Test >and Operations. Someone here will know and post the correct translation, >of course. Well, if you insist. :-) NATOPS -> Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standardization program. >By the way, I think the tactical manual (the classified bits for fighter >aircraft) is a Dash 1A, but I'm not certain. I've only looked at one a >few times and couldn't spend a lot of time with it as I had to do >the security rag with it (couldn't make copies, couldn't take notes, >couldn't leave it unattended, etc). Hmmm... that sounds right, but of course i've never seen one of those. :> The performance data supplement (also often classified), is the "-1-1". - -dean ------------------------------ From: larry@ichips.intel.com Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1993 11:52:15 -0800 Subject: Re: D-21 Arrives Larry says... >>I just received word last night via phone that Seattle Museum >>of Flight's D-21 just arrived! >Great news! I guess they are probably the first... I thought someone said the USAF Museum already had theirs. I don't really know. I don't have time today to call there. >>The initial poop on all this is that it doesn't look like the drone that >>Lockheed was trying to send them, which was a drone that had actually flown >>on their M-12 (captive flight only of course). >Was that one out at D-M with all the rest? I wonder what the snag was. Yes it arrived from D-M. Nuts! I forgot the serial no. again. Maybe it's #523. I'll check. >>It's great that this thing is finally here! Evidently, Minn. ANG will be >>getting theirs as well. I'm not sure if the USAF Museum has already gotten >>theirs. >I also heard recently that the AFFTC Museum/Blackbird Airpark >D-21 is "ready", but they are still trying to arrange for an >aircraft to transport it. How did SMOF get theirs? I don't know. I'll ask tonight when I call them with my schedule. It also looks like this bird is missing the thermal blanket. According to the Marquardt guy, the thermal blanket was an upgrade. That's another aspect to this particular bird that we will get answers to. According to the Marquardt guy, the prep. steps basically make sure that there are no classified things left onboard as well as no items dangerous to the public. Evidently the TEB tank is supposed to be removed. We are hoping that the ramjet engine, which is removeable, is all there. There were also mods performed in the ramjet combustor that are evidently easy to tell. For example there was a torch added in the combustor on the later birds evidently, or some such. Evidently, this can be seen from the tailpipe. Oh well, I can't share too many details yet because all I know is from short conversations and I won't see the bird for the first time till this weekend (I hope). Larry ------------------------------ From: dadams@netcom.com (Dean Adams) Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1993 15:47:07 -0800 Subject: CBS TONIGHT! Attention Skunkers... CBS News is running their Aurora story right NOW. Hopefully you can still catch it on your local stations. If you miss the regular news, you might still be able to catch the report on their overnight news show... - -dean ------------------------------ From: larry@ichips.intel.com Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1993 15:50:41 -0800 Subject: CBS Show IS On Tonight Hello, I just received news from the midwest that the CBS show on the Groom Lake land grab, AURORA, and the SR-75 is on tonight! A friend in the midwest saw it. So fire up those machines! Larry ------------------------------ From: C.R.Harding@massey.ac.nz (Craig Harding) Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1993 14:02:40 +1200 Subject: Re: CBS Show IS On Tonight larry@ichips.intel.com wrote: >I just received news from the midwest that the CBS show on the >Groom Lake land grab, AURORA, and the SR-75 is on tonight! Very interesting. A little more skeptical than the ABC item, but a little=20 more depth (Bill Sweetman interview and mention of the land grab). They had= =20 better footage of the model itself as well, I liked the "NRO" logo on the= XR-7!! -- C. ------------------------------ End of Skunk Works Digest V4 #61 ******************************** To subscribe to skunk-works-digest, send the command: subscribe skunk-works-digest in the body of a message to "listserv@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu". 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