Obscure but interesting fact thread

[andyBeaker]

when the SR71 Blackbird was going at fullchat (Mach 3.2) it consumed as much air in one second as two million people inhaling one breath each.

Supplementary fact - 80% of its thrust at full chat was provided solely by air passing through the jet motors that was compressed but not ignited.

 

[derek kelly]

How fast can you go with all the hot air you expunge?

 

[Squag1]

How fast can you go with all the hot air you expunge?

You just not nice at all

 

[Cougar377]

You just not nice at all

Feckin' funny though.

 

[JayTee]

How fast can you go with all the hot air you expunge?

From what end?

 

[derek kelly]

From what end?

You mean is he faster going forwards or in reverse.

 

[johnboy]

Go on then, I'll play along.
A ducks quack does not echo.

 

[Pow-Lo]

My turn:

A buzzard is the only bird that farts.

 

[andyBeaker]

@derek kelly

The human equivalent of a wet blanket

 

[derek kelly]

@derek kelly

The human equivalent of a wet blanket

Very useful in case of fire.

 

[derek kelly]

A sparrow can kill an Eagle......if it sticks in it’s throat.

 

[andyBeaker]

The U2 spy plane generates so much lift that it cannot land by the use of gravity in the normal way - it has to be flown into the ground and forced to stay there, effectively a controlled crash. If it were to land using gravity it would have slowed to the point of stealing and dropped out of the sky. It generally takes three or four times the amount of runway to land compared to the largest airliners and requires the support of a chase car to assist in a successful landing.





The F117 stealth bomber has the radar reflection of a 3mm ball bearing. When it was being evaluated by the CIA they could not pick it up on their radar screens even though they could physically see it going over.

 

[johnboy]

That's one awesome photo, however I did hear that the RAF followed one on radar all the way over the Atlantic when one came for a flyby at Farnborough airshow one year.

 

[andyBeaker]

That's one awesome photo, however I did hear that the RAF followed one on radar all the way over the Atlantic when one came for a flyby at Farnborough airshow one year.

Bet someone working in RAf radar told you that!!

There was one instance apparently when a fastener on the outside of the aircraft had not Ben installed correctly and it produced a massive radar image. One of the issues Skunk Works had to overcome was that they could make the plane's electronic signature disappear but the pilots head was visible on radar screens!!

 

[Centaur]

Bet someone working in RAf radar told you that!!

There was one instance apparently when a fastener on the outside of the aircraft had not Ben installed correctly and it produced a massive radar image. One of the issues Skunk Works had to overcome was that they could make the plane's electronic signature disappear but the pilots head was visible on radar screens!!

Feckin bighead.

 

[derek kelly]

My Father a flight sergeant in the RAF during the wowa spent much of the time secretly developing radar in a unit above wigfalls on Roundhay road in Leeds.
After the war he was put forward for an MBE, he refused it & that was the end of his promotions.

 

[andyBeaker]

Not sure how it stands today but part of the ethos on the F117 Stealth thinking was that it would take detection systems an estimated forty years to catch up.

Skunk Works also developed a stealth ship but it never went into production.

 

[Jaws]

Been mentioned a few times but always worth an outing
When they first ran top speed tests on the Honda Blackbird, the rider was asked why he kept feathering the front brake
He assured everyone he def was not !
They eventually found it was the wind pressure on the brake lever
Which is why, right through the entire production run from 1996 to 2008,the front brake lever is a different shape to the clutch lever, having a tapered leading edge

As far as I know, this was never replicated on any aftermarket levers, so is a good way to spot if the bike has ever had to have a cheap replacement for any reason

 

[Pow-Lo]

Evel Knievel was given his name as a teenager by a jail guard following being locked up for some form of ragamuffinery. In the same cell was a fellow yob called Knofel, so the guard named them Evil Knievel and Awful Knofel (Knievel liked the name but changed the Evil to Evel).

 

[Lee337]

The U2 spy plane generates so much lift that it cannot land by the use of gravity in the normal way - it has to be flown into the ground and forced to stay there, effectively a controlled crash. If it were to land using gravity it would have slowed to the point of stealing and dropped out of the sky. It generally takes three or four times the amount of runway to land compared to the largest airliners and requires the support of a chase car to assist in a successful landing.