Hats of to them

Hey Jake, can you do a front loader next? I always wondered how that big hinged steering system worked (ig. if it was hydro-mechanical or purely hydraulic). As well as how they are powered; Are they diesel mechanical or diesel electric? Do they use a spiral transmission like a snowblower or a traditional geared transmission? Are they AWD, 4WD, or RWD? I’d love to see all the systems up close. Great work again! Keep it up

Next Molten Salt Nuclear Reactor!!

now do a video where you show americans got their ROI

Dear Animagraff, the work that u put in is mind boggling, with each video I am amazed by the amount of details and technical understanding. And explain it to the public with easy to follow animations. I love each one of your videos, myself I am an aircraft maintenance technician and I admire this video. Keep up the good work.

You said it perfectly, but I’ve been around since the RS-71 😉😆

Interesting to note the pilot's take on this Vid. I agree is excellent. More, the best such I reckon I've ever seen. Being an amateur, it means not much I guess - me noting, as far as I can see, complete lack of mistakes. The thing is, some vids out there, make basic enough errors, even a know little like me, can spot 'em ;)

thank you

This guy should be making these for all branches military mechanics school

@@hotstepper887 I read your posts, but they are long and after awhile it’s difficult to absorb it all. I agree that Russian military equipment is more advanced than the West portrays it to be as a whole, but not just the US portrays. That’s how it should be - Called propaganda. Everyone does it, including Russia. Russians are very experienced with military equipment, not newcomers to the playing field. I will say that few of us actually have all of the specs on any recent military creations. That’s why it’s hard to do a 1 for 1 comparison. Look at how long it took for us to get more info on the SR-71. I wouldn’t be so confident about what anyone knows about the F22. Just like you may not know all the specs for Russia equipment. It took a long time for the B2 to be revealed. There’s a lot we don’t know. Back to the subject, this wonderful video is about the SR-71, not anything else. Let us enjoy the blackbird in all of its glory!

Agree

True. But don't forget if it's free, then your the product.

Bravo Amen

Well said.

Careful, KZfaq may catch on.

"The missle has become tired and is feeling sleepy weepy" 😂

Well said and great comment.

Completely agree.

They didn't call it the skunkworks for nothin

Awesome Video, and hats off to the Skunk Works for designing this plane without computers. Even the flight computer was designed by hand.

@@bgaguy1 Computers have destroyed engineering.

Bad choice. Promoting US military, who drain US tax base, while supporting genocide in the Middle East. As Americans suffer.

I've never clicked on a video faster

This is exactly what I said…I was like ohhhh mannn here we go.

@@DudeWhoSaysDeez exactly

O yes

The engineers who built this plane in the 1950s did it using slide rules. The computers then were about as advanced as scientific calculators today. Incredible.

Kelly Johnson and crew over at skunk works were absolute geniuses.

Wonder why didn't Chinese copy this plane back then? Guess no Chinese engineers work at Lockheed Martin that time. Also, no computer to hack. LOL!!!

​@@simbatortie9684 Well, they may have actually been able to get the needed titanium directly from the Soviet Union instead of having to acquire it through multiple shell companies as the CIA so cleverly did. However, I don't think they would have been able to afford it lol. I think that would have likely been their first hurdle. The second, even _if_ they had access to the complete blueprint, they wouldn't have had the engineering know-how at the time to pull it off, as you said. Kelly Johnson, and the Skunk Works guys were (and still are) on another level. Also, it definitely helped to have the full power of the CIA at their disposal for the budget, and the completely legitimate sourcing of titanium from our enemy that definitely wasn't being used against them by engineering & building most advanced reconnaissance plane ever to spy on them with. 😏🤣

I wander how many are willing to learn these days sometimes

Holy fuck we all came to comment this before even watching 😂

Exactly

I can’t just watch this while I’m driving like a regular video; this requires my full attention!

This isn’t the A12 archangel vid😅

And yet Concorde did all this on the daily while gracefully carrying 100 champagne sipping passengers.

@@michaelc3977would it be possible to use a double hull. Inner aluminum hull at 30 °C so that passengers don’t sweat too much and an outer hull made of titanium. The tail is cold and made of aluminum. The titanium hull is attached there. Behind the nose a ceramic ball bearing and a watt linkage align the hulls similar to a suspension in a car. Dampers and springs in included. Rudder, and ailerons can also be made of aluminum

The 747 bowing is the best jet and has made more money sir.get your facts straight

Take time and design its next three steps forward, you’ll have fun! A. J. C., III

Plus the voice is not irritating

same for me i watched it almost entirely without hesitation

This is so true when I think about it. Brilliant cadence to the narrator thank you

funny you mention that. i cant watch videos anymore where the creator removes every little pause in their speaking, so it sounds like a 10 minute long sentence. I just can't do it. I find myself holding my breath while they talk because it seems like they aren't breathing.

I'm pretty sure "the narrator" is the writer/creator. I would hope he "gets" it. But yes, superb work. One of the very best.

Basically what I tell the salespeople at the Apple Store when they insist my 2009 Mac is too old 😁

The story of how the got a hold of the titanium (sourced from the USSR of all places), and how they moved large assemblies of the plane around from factory to factory during construction, in secret is amazing as well. My Dad has stories of being an ATC during that time period, my avionics teacher has other stories of that time as an Army airman.

Or did they? Firstoff, I totally share the sentiments you expressed =] I just wanted to purpose that a lot of tech was extremely advanced in the 60s, and its development and power has been deliberately disseminated for particular reasons. AI is one such tech which I know for a fact was being used 14 years ago, so it must have had a pretty deep history beyond that =]

@@Krahazik That's super interesting,! I'm gonna seek more of that kind of info on line now.

I heard that some modern engineers used computers to study this plane design ,and it was almost perfect :)

That just goes to show that... When a particular type of people are pushed to the limit (protect an ideology) they will do what would otherwise have been impossible...this is in the context of this amazing reconnaissance vehicle during the cold war

Couldn't agree more... This video is explained perfectly yet still extremely challenging to understand without several passes. That also excludes the fact that this video is an explanation of a system that was already designed, not one being designed for the first time To think that engineers innovated so many different areas of this system in the 60s is incredible... While the jet was a military weapon and not a civilian one, it's technological marvels like this that inspire generations to come. It's just sad that the cold war was the excuse for massive RnD investments to create these. I think at heart the engineers don't care about the wartime use, but want to make the most innovative and perfect systems possible. It's simply that the threat of the cold war gave near unlimited budgets to military RnD allowing creations like this. The space race was presented to the public as a purely humanitarian effort to explore space but in reality was funded for the ability to launch nuclear ICBMs. The XB-70 Valkyrie (supersonic strategic nuclear bomber, similar in goals to the SR71 Blackbird) was canned because of the innovations of ICBMs, meaning the project funding got scaled back significantly. Even the origins of the Internet come from ARPANET, which was part of the Department of Defences Advanced Research Projects Agency... GPS, Nuclear power generation... I could go on... The point is that many of the most groundbreaking technological innovations seem to originate from Cold War military RnD, even if the military application wasn't immediately obvious. We shouldn't need war as an excuse to invest into RnD, and we shouldn't rely on the private sector to innovate these solutions. Do you think SpaceX and Blue Origin would exist if not for the already achieved innovation and inspiration done by NASA in the 50s and 60s? The fact It took another 60 years for a private company to put a car in orbit should be a good indicator 😄

@@ex59neo53 it wasn't almost perfect it was perfect and they went on to say that no improvement could be made Computers make things faster for skilled people and possible for unskilled people but they don't change the outcome otherwise at least not until AI starts designing things

Bruh, the engineers and technicians had to basically live in a wind tunnel for a few years. No other way to be so precise on the hull design without seeing the air movement in real time.

They used to say that Kelly Johnson could "see air". Greatest aircraft designer of all time.

@@lanbldr Hall Hibbard, Johnson's Lockheed boss, referring to Johnson's Swedish ancestry, once remarked to Ben Rich: "That damned Swede can actually see air." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Johnson_(engineer)

Right? Long productive days at rows of drafting tables. A lot of cigarettes, a lot of coffee, with team lead Kelly Johnson, Lockheed Skunk Works, under CIA direction ... What a team. The greatest generation, USA's finest hour.

it was how EVERYTHING was done for hundreds of years if not thousands regarding every leading tech of any era...it is sad to hear someone say that considering software has only really been around proper for 40 odd years. Most everything in the world was put there pre computers, they are the future world and not the one you live in for at least still 75% of engineering that is greater than 40 years old.

@@Cloudminster No other piece of tech compares, designing something to cruise as the border of known physical limits at the edge of space is insane to do just offhand

The video or the Blackbird?

I could imagine American exceptionalism is pretty tiresome. I know you don't know because you listen to jazz, but basically all of aviation is all American. Everything else is just a copy. We invented all of it. All of it. All of it. All of it. All of it. And also, we've got about two dozen aircraft that are as complicated or more complicated than the SR 71. 2/3 of which were invented when Europe was still trying to figure out deodorant and dental care. The computer you use, the phone you are using now, the Internet, KZfaq, what the hell isn't because of American exceptionalism is more the question. I've never heard of an Italian space shuttle.. or an Italian XB70. Every other good aircraft to come out of Europe heavily involved the Brits. And even then they maintain very close ties to American Aerospace, which gave them the skills and knowledge. You can't just take technology that was completely invented by somebody else, add 10% of your own ideas, and then take credit for the whole thing turn around and balk at the people who gave it to you. You should show more respect for the people who gave you your entire modern life. I will, however, give you credit for pizza, crime and a strong hair oil industry.

​@@InvertedFlightYou lost me at "I know you don't know because you listen to jazz" - what a weird assumption to make about someone, true or not lmao. Much as it is indeed true that modern technology, civilian or military, has (largely) indeed come out of America (let's pretend post-war Germany and Japan don't exist, and the the Industrial Revolution didn't start in Britain) - the type of sentiment you bring forward, with having to discredit everything and everyone else, and for good measure throw in a couple of fantasticly racist remark, is EXACTLY why the rest of the world rolls their eyes at Americans (or at least, those that come forward this way to strangers), regardless of objective (and largely only technological) merits. Also, don't forget Leonardo Da Vinci was conceptualising flying machines WAY ahead of any technology that would be available for the following few centuries, while Europeans (mostly Italians, at that time, go figure) were still trying to figure out if they had landed in India or not by crossing the atlantic ;) And as far as "people who brought me modern life" - they also brought a fascist coup attempt in the early '70s, to Italy (hi CIA!), so yeah, I'll keep my opinions about American exceptionalism. The SR-71 is great tho! And I'm typing this while listening to Bill Evans, thanks for him too!

@@InvertedFlightHoly shit, what an incredibly unhinged and American diatribe 😂

@@GabrielMisfirewithout us inventing the ships, they would have never built the SR-71 nor the iPhone...

@@InvertedFlight Who invented the jet engine? The british. first commercial jetliner? The british. Who invent the rocket? The germans. Who invented the computer? The british. You're actually insane. Americans may have mass produced and improved these things and have invented many great things too, no doubt, but invented them? Plain factually wrong. Your american exceptionalism is showing.

Seconded.

thirded!

The power of the pencil and a slide rule!

This was my favorite peice to learn about. I can't believe how ingenious we as human can be.

@@KingRed36 that was the triumph of the Skunk works, the right environment for good ideas to flourish. My father was briefly an engineering lecturer. His boss said that if you want to train good engineers, surround them with good engineering.

As an Aeromodeler over 40 years this mechnical mixer is lot more complex that those employed on models! What amazes me more is the NUMBER of linkages (bellcranks etc) requiring high tolerances to avoid 'slop' (dead stick) between pilot and tip elevons ... over long distances .... along and across an airframe that changes length significantly with temperature changes. A whole video could discuss how such problems are overcome. I have made simple (simple is better KISS) mechanical mixers for V tails, and and an analogue mixer with LM324 op amps (in the transmitter). Now of course modern radio control has all that built in digitally. Another interesting aspect is that (military grade) servos were not employed instead of all those linkages AND hydaulics. This could be for many reasons; MTBF in hostile environments, pilot preference, fire risk from electrio mechanical devices and power sources near fuel, long wire runs vulnerable to electrical counter measures or just plain resistance, to name but a few.

@@MrZoomZone Very interesting

The cuneiform tells us we didn't build the Great Pyramid. Furthermore it performed its multitasking design with 0 moving parts.

How did you come to get in contact with these legends that were a part of the SR-71 project?

I was just saying to myself that I have never seen a more detailed documentary in my life.

Absolutely peak.

Excellent detail and explanation of this incredible plane. My favorite aircraft since i was a kid, I’m 58 now😮. I have models and posters of it everywhere. I’ve watched a lot of documentaries on this but you have taken it to a new level, thank you for all the time and effort.

My grandfather worked for Northrop Grumman on stealth fighters

We truly do stand on the shoulders of giants. Salute to your ancestors.

Even as a 90/2000's kid, the Blackbird still has the look of sleek science fiction, and a legendary reputation that I can't help but respect, that machine is a monument to exceptional Aerospace design and ingenuity. That and I can't help but laugh knowing that the Titianum used to build the plane was (sneakily) bought from Russia, then used to make an aircraft they could never touch, Pilots watching missiles fail to catch them and fall behind in the wake of this plane as it screamed past at speeds most aircraft designers can only dream of achieving these days

Sure he did 🙄

What was your role there?

@@dannydaw59 chef

I had just joined the Air Force in Dec of 1983. After training and weld training at Chanute in IL. My first assignment was Kadena AB in Okinawa, Japan. I was assigned to the 376FMS (Field Maintenence Squadron) where I weld repaired KC135 & RC135 aircraft and support equipment. Lucky for me the welder for the 9th SRW took a month off before I was even certified as an aircraft welder. Despite that, I got to go the the Blackbird hangers and be their welder for a month. Then I got to fill in when he rotated back Stateside. So the last half of 1985. Needless to say I felt so honored to be one of rhe few to get to weld this back together after the punishment it took flying in thin air at mach3+. The most delicate and precise welding I have ever done in my life. I also fell in Love with the Okinawan people and the Island. Great memories!!! (I had a year long vocational training as a welder before joining the Air Force)

@@gregfrance1894 thats insane. Welding this kind of sensitive material knowing the pressures it had to take. I assume there was no room for welding accidents. "Let me grind it off right quick" type thing 😁🫣

That’s a deadly viper of a plane! A. J. C., III 20 Apr 24

Thank you for a VERY Excellent presentation! I have learned more about the SR-71 than ever before. The graphics are excellent. The narration is well-paced and in a pleasant voice. I have known about the aircraft in general terms, of course, for a very long time. I have been around and interested in aerospace systems almost all my life. My grandfather served in the British RAF from 1917 to 1947. My father served two years in the RAF, then worked for many years as an aeronautical engineer. When I was in the US Marine Corps, for a while I was stationed on Okinawa, and often saw the SR-71 E😮aircraft arriving or departing. But at that time we were not allowed to talk about them. The flying squadron was nicknamed "Habu" (a local deadly viper) and the aircraft had an image of the Habu snake on the tails.

Hart and cellar act killed our creativity

Most of the cool stuff is just growing old and falling apart as more and more people become incompetent and just plain stupid each year. The geniuses that made the blackbird are becoming more rare by the day and the growing Idiocracy of our society is well underway

SR-71 was not even the first KJ jewel :)

@@ex59neo53 Yeah. He designed the P-38 lightning. That's how he came to the attention of Lockheed and when the plane had some bad flight characteristics he figured it out.

Deep thinking, daydreaming, rethinking, night dreaming and nightmares! Oh what fun, they must have had! A. J. C., III 20 Apr 24

Beauty is on the eye of the beholder, however, Concorde is widely viewed as being a far more beautiful and technically impressive aircraft.

@@michaelc3977 your view doesn’t mean it’s “widely viewed”. Concorde is beautiful and impressive on its own, but Blackbird and Concorde are always the top 2 choices when it comes to the most beautiful aircraft, there’s no such big gap choosing which is the better.

@@michaelc3977 Really, they took a poll to see which people thought was more beautiful? Both the Blackbird and Valkyrie have the Concord beat.

*Regarding the "ramjet" or "turboramjet" qualities of the SR-71 engine and intake:* The bypass tubes at the J58 jet engine do indeed give the jet engine some "ramjet" qualities, since they're bypassing the combustor and turbine. However, it is not accurate to say it is a ramjet. From the J58 jet engine wikipedia page: "It was a conventional afterburning turbojet for take-off and acceleration to Mach 2 and then used permanent compressor bleed to the afterburner above Mach 2. The way the engine worked at cruise led it to be described as "acting like a turboramjet". It has also been described as a turboramjet based on incorrect statements describing the turbomachinery as being completely bypassed." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratt_%26_Whitney_J58 To be clear, we're talking about the *J58 jet engine* only! The *intake spike and bypass air* isn't ignited or burned in any way, so that part of the system is also not a ramjet. A commenter did, however, add some expert-level feedback to my research, which I'm grateful for: @banzaiib • 2 hours ago (edited) great video, but the bypass air doesn't, by itself, create thrust. That would violate the laws of thermodynamics. It's the pressure injection into the afterburner section where it is burned, that allows a ram-jet like boost in afterburner performance, that creates all the additional thrust at 2.2 mach and beyond. It turns the afterburner section into more of a rocket-combustion chamber. The ideal pressure at the nozzle exit is the same as atmospheric at the given altitude, if you can believe that, so the nozzle flexes to adjust the pressure and maximizes the outlet velocity.

The *bypass tubes* take air from the *4th stage of the compressor* as per the design. I just didn't feature that point as clearly in the video, but my model is correct. There's a manifold at that location, and the tubes connect further aft. See this screenshot I've taken from my model, with labels: imgur.com/KDEfylq

@RV6Pilot At 35:35 I have a correction: the map projector used 35mm film. There was a larger screen for the back seat. The front cockpit map was based on WAC charts with height, speed, and route. The film moved in sync with the plane’s speed. Part of my job was loading the map projectors for the next day’s flights and taking the projectors out to the planes.

@thomastegen8020 First of all great video. One major mistake in the artwork though. At 2:44 take a look at the image on the rudder. The jet has been photobombed by Oscar the Blackcats logo from the U-2 det in Korea. I’m sure the fellow Blackcats alumni will totally get a kick out of this 😂😂. Note for the creators, SR-71’s should be wearing a Habu. My (animgraffs) reply: "...I didn't spend as much time on the exterior details as the paint job was from a purchased model of just the exterior. Though I respect the accuracy check, because I know how particular such designations (numbers, decals, etc) can be."

@Animagraffs - As a tech_docs g33k who deployed VRML at its most primitive (early 1990s) ... I'm gob-smacked! This: I can imagine you getting together with Eagle Dynamics to do some work on their DCS models! ^5

While both achievements might not stand equal, they certainly compliment each other so well that it hardly matters, without the Masterwork of an Aircraft, we wouldn't have this masterpiece of a video

Man… I bet you even remember the smell. Wish it was me that had that opportunity. A. J. C., III

Pantera would agree. A. J. C., III

I don't know... These theories come to life because to some it is easier to scream "ancient space magic" than taking the time to understand things. What is mind boggling to me is, while we just have to understand it, NASA and skunk works basically had to come up with the problems, before they could even search for a solution.

The X15 was quite a speedster, the fastest plane, rocket plane that is, but rocket power is oranges and turbines are apples. A. J. C., III