How the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Works
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- Опубликовано: 26 апр 2024
- An intensive and thrilling look inside the SR-71 Blackbird, one of aviation's absolute greatest legends.
Special thanks to Air Zoo Aerospace & Science Museum ( / airzoo , retired SR-71 Pilots Jerry Glasser and Buz Carpenter, and Arnie Gunderson (retired Pratt & Whitney J58 PM).
CREDITS
Jacob O'Neal - Research, script, narration, 3D modeling / animation, music
BEHIND THE SCENES
If you'd like to see how I made this video. I show my research sources, pdfs, images, etc., and also the model creation process, animating, rendering, and more:
• How I reconstructed th...
MUSIC
I composed the background music specifically for this project. Listen to "Blackbird" on my soundcloud:
/ blackbird
PATREON
/ animagraffs
SOFTWARE USED
I use Blender 3D to create these models. It's free and open source, and the community is amazing:
www.blender.org/
0:00 Intro
03:18 Aerodynamics of supersonic flight
08:13 Radar cross section
10:18 J58 Jet Engines
15:49 Inlet spike
20:39 Engine supporting features
23:12 Start carts
23:48 Fuel system
26:48 Flight control surfaces
33:11 Landing gear
34:20 Cockpits
34:47 Front cockpit
45:07 Rear cockpit
46:08 Cockpits (cont'd)
47:15 Flight suit
49:32 Reconnaissance equipment
53:20 Hero shot
54:11 Credits
54:22 Epilogue 
Наука
Special thanks to Air Zoo Aerospace & Science Museum (ruclips.net/user/AirZoo), retired SR-71 Pilots Jerry Glasser and Buz Carpenter, and Arnie Gunderson (retired Pratt & Whitney J58 PM). It's an absolute honor to work with folks as legendary as the subjects I cover!
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.
The fact that this is free is such a privilege. The quality of your videos is second to none. Amazing work.
Agree
True. But don't forget if it's free, then your the product.
Bravo Amen
Well said.
Careful, RUclips may catch on.
As a mechanical engineer, I can't begin to express how much value your videos bring to young minds. With the internet filled with misinformative AI generated videos, your videos give me hope in the future of tomorow. On behalf of all of us.. thank you Jake and please never stop what you are doing. They will use your videos for hundreds of years to teach the future generations, well done my friend!
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
“Just outrun the missiles” is the most badass flex in history
"The missle has become tired and is feeling sleepy weepy" 😂
I'm an SR-71 nerd and for the longest time I couldn't help but watch anything Blackbird related. After a while, I hit my point of satiation. I've watched dozens of documentaries about this plane. I got it. So i stopped watching as much stuff about this plane, ignored this video in my feed a few times.
But finally my inner nerd won and I'm 8 minutes in. I gotta say, holy crap dude, this is incredible. How everything is named, highlighted and shown in detail... Just incredible. It makes so much sense. It also demonstrates how dang smart the engineers were.
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.
I've been a pilot for 30 years, I have never once been able to explain the SR 71 with such clarity. I've never heard anybody explain it well. This is one of the most complex airplanes to understand. And you made it so simple a child can understand it. Very skillfully done my friend.
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!
Oh god we are in for a treat
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
Bro how the hell did you even begin to put this together. My dad and Uncle worked on these many decades ago and love to tell me stories about it. Now I get to show them how it actually all worked through your video. Thank you. What a gift.
I was an Avionics Communications specialist (328x0) stationed at Beale AFB and worked on these fantastic machines. This video provides such great insights on so any of the items we knew about this jet but graphically explains how and why it works. For instance I knew that the Nacelles produced greater thrust than the afterburners but couldn’t exactly explain how it was done. Further we were in contact with the crew from launch to recovery and could hear the grunts and pauses when a SAM launch was detected and evasive maneuvers were underway sometimes resulting in the “inlet unstart” you spoke of. I believe that modifications were made when an unstart occurred that forced the ruddervators to the opposite direction to prevent the possible loss of consciousness for the crew by reducing the impact of their helmets hitting the sides of the cockpit.
You did a great job of describing the engine starting process and the twin (Buick 400?) engines revving - sounded incredible and was especially exciting when the TEB was injected for the green flash that occurred! Comm specialists were among a few that were present for preflight testing and this was a treat to be a part of! Fantastic work!
An hour long Animagraffs video? And on the SR71?! Yes!
Another outstanding video Jake!
Holy fuck we all came to comment this before even watching 😂
Exactly
55 min on the most badass plane ever designed, engineered and produced. Instant like and watch
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
This video should be part of national archives. Excellent work.
I was just saying to myself that I have never seen a more detailed documentary in my life.
Absolutely peak.
If there was an award for the best made / best edited RUclips video. This would win it.
20min in , and I realized why I’m still watching, you talk slow, and have pauses in between sentences, it lets me to think and comprehend what I’ve just heard, thank so much for that, just that is gold, finally a narrator that gets it!!!!
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.
As a former fuel system repair specialist that was attached to the 9th SRW, my friend you did an awesome job.
Over 6 decades old and it looks as futuristic as ever.
My grandfather worked for Lockheed Skunk Works at Area 51 back in the 60s and helped build the engines that power it. Considering it was designed in the 50s and flew in the 60s it's absolutely inconceivable how the engineers at Lockheed designed this masterpiece of aerodynamics using slide rules and drafting paper. I'm sad I never got to talk to him about it, but it still remains one of my all time favorite aircraft.
Seeing just how beautifully complex things like the engines or control mixer are and how gracefully they operate is a true testament to the brilliant minds and cutting edge mechanical engineering of the Blackbird. It's very difficult to deny that the SR-71 is one of the greatest aircraft of all time.
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 🙄
"Every part of this masterpiece is designed for its mission goals" is probably the most eloquent and concise summary of this amazing engineering marvel.
The engineers did this without today's tech and modeling capabilities. Just incredible engineering and ingenuity.
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.
Dear Animagraffs, you're right, there can never be "too much material online" when it comes to the subject of the SR-71 Blackbird. And even if this field of study was indeed saturated, there would still be room for your beautiful illustrations and clear concise explanations because there is no channel - on the whole of the internet - that can deliver what you bring to the table. The professional teaching material (created with profits in mind) wouldnt have a chance of delivering the clarity that you do.
Bravo, again, on such beautiful work that it feels like a crime to watch it for free. Im not in a position to pay for what its worth, so please consider this small token to be just a thought gesture of my appreciation.
One of the best videos ever posted to RUclips. Unbelievable.
Seconded.
thirded!
Italian here. You know, American exceptionalism gets a bit much sometimes - but there two things that do show that exceptionalism: jazz, and the SR-71. It’s such a feat of engineering, and sheer power, it impresses me more than any other bit of technology. It’s so… analog. So overengineered. It’s made for people to gawk at it and go “holy shit”, after all this time. Absolutely fantastic achievement - and your video had me with my jaw to the floor the whole time. Thank you so much!!!
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, RUclips, 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.
In the mid 80’s, I was at Avial in Burbank, California to witness a test of a freshly rebuilt Allison 501 engine. Sitting to one side on a stand was a strange looking engine. When I asked, they told me it was an engine from an SR-71, and was one of two they were rebuilding. They weren’t allowed to let me see the one in the shop, but they were happy to give me a close up look at the one on the test stand. They even let me watch as they ran it in the test cell. It was one of the best workdays I ever had. Very, very cool.
What fascinates me the most about the Blackbird is that they managed to create it mostly with hand-drawings/sketches/blueprints without a CAD software, cfd simulation software etc
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
Wow.. the production values & work that went into this... dang.
It will never cease to amaze me that the greatest, fastest, most strikingly beautiful aircraft ever made was created with slide rules and drafted by hand.
They didn’t have the benefit of computational fluid dynamics, CAD, 3D printing, 5+ axis CNCs etc. Yet, despite all that, it’s still unmatched over half a century later.
An incredible feat of genius engineers, visionaries and machinists.
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.
NEARLY AN HOUR WITH YOUR ATTENTION TO DETAIL?
WOW!
Thank you mayne...
That mixer alone is a marvel of analog computing, I can't imagine the amount of calculations that went into that. The fact that the aircraft was designed likely without CAD software is another statement to the incredible intellect behind the Blackbird project.
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
As an aerospace engineer this is by far the best explanation of how this aircraft works. Loved every bit of the video 🔥💯
Take time and design its next three steps forward, you’ll have fun! A. J. C., III
The level of thought, dedication, and hours spent on this project is impressive. You should be proud of this video.
If any aircraft ever deserved this level of explanation, SR-71 is it. The Blackbird was a marvel of innovation and brute strength. Thank you for this.
I served in the US Air Force for 21 years on active duty and my first duty station was Okinawa, Japan, in 1989, and the SR-71 Habu was there and it was amazing watching it fly. The SR-71 Blackbird is my all time favorite plane and I learned a few things I did not know before from watching your video. Very informative. Keep it up!
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
With years of experience as a technical illustrator for numerous NASA and DoD projects with major contractors like Martin Marietta, Sikorsky, and others, I am truly impressed by your outstanding presentation. The visual impact achieved through the use of a solids modeling approach to illustrate the relationship of moving components along with the strategic use of color to highlight key areas throughout the narrative simplifies complex subject matter, making it more accessible to audiences less familiar with physics and engineering. Your amazing work is as exceptional as the craft itself, my friend!
The quote at the end was beautifully perfect.
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! This showed up in my recommended yesterday, and I thought «no way I'm watching an hour-long vid about this», yet I sat through it all and was begging for more.
My dad, who was an aviation enthusiast, died at 49 y.o. in 94 (I was 18) and when I was a kid, I bought a model kit of that plane for him, and it sat proudly on his dresser until he passed. I've always found that aircraft fascinating and so did he. When the internet came along, I found out it was even MORE impressive than I ever thought. To build this with the limited means available back in the day was nothing short of a miracle.
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.
People think that the pyramids were too challenging for humans to have engineered and built. I’d like to show them this video.
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’m a jet engine mechanic and I have seen the back bird in person many times. It’s a really long big bird, thank you so much for the awesome detail of the way ahead of its time aircraft. Everyone that was involved are not of these earth, so many advanced technology was build to make the sr71 happen. I’m going to shared these video with all my friends and family that are interested in aviation.
Simply a masterpiece, an astonishing mix of technology, art and superb commentary.
This aircraft is even more impressive considering it first flew in 1966. It was a step of almost alien technology. But the quality of this video is also unbelievable. I've been an airline pilot since 1989, and this was, without a doubt, the most detailed video, among those not exclusively for pilot training, that I've ever watched. It's way above the level of a documentary. My sincerest congratulations to you for the unbelievable work done
I've seen my share of SR-71 videos, this is THE MOST detailed one by far. Most creator mention the tidbits with the engine spikes and the panel gap issue, but I've never seen someone explain in detail the flight controls mixer. Great job!
Is there an Emy award for outstanding doc. Videos.. you win young man..great job.
This video is so great ❤️ Had a poster of a Blackbird on my wall as a kid, now as an adult to experience such an amazing end to end documentary in so much technical detail... Really an absolute gift. Thank you!
My uncle flew the blackbird out of Barksdale AFB in Bossier La.
I got to go see the last take off out of there back in the late 70's. It was an awesome thing to watch.
I am 70 years old now and I can close my eyes and still see it in my minds eye as it roared of the runway in to the sky.
American ingenuity at its best.
This is the most beautiful aircraft mankind have ever built.
Thanks for all the hardwork that you’ve done.
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.
And to think this fabulous machine was conceived by Kelly Johnson and his team in the early 60s! The best detailed overview of this aircraft so far. Thanks!
The format, content, graphics and explanations are the best of any documentary I've ever seen
An absolute masterpiece of engineering and my favorite aircraft ever. Kelly Johnson, the leader of the Lockheed Martin "Skunkworks" was a genius.
I met an SR-71 Blackbird pilot at a flight-school presentation once, and he had some very cool stories to tell about the airplane.
This video was amazing and showed me a number of things I had never even heard of on the SR-71.
Remember, this airplane was made in the 1960s, so imagine what kind of amazing thing they have now!
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.
The plane and the video breakdown are nothing short of remarkable!!! How the engineers figured out all of the aerodynamic, physics and other intangibles for this work of art is astonishing.
Deep thinking, daydreaming, rethinking, night dreaming and nightmares! Oh what fun, they must have had! A. J. C., III 20 Apr 24
As a pilot and fan of the SR-71, this video is just amazing. Perhaps a little slow paced but it takes a while for the brain to understand the breathtaking three-dimensional animations. @animagraffs should be nominated for whatever the RUclips award is for technical and aesthetic excellence.
I’m starting to wonder which is more amazing; the plane or this damn video. It’s amazing. Seriously this is legit amazing content. Blown away.
Vantastic work!! I am a retired USAF veteran that worked on the flightline as an electrical technician. You deserve an award for your efforts. Thank you.
The most beautiful machine ever built, imo.
My father was a USAF air traffic controller during the Vietnam War. His stories of the SR-71 Blackbird captivated my imagination like little else as a young boy. Thank you for bringing this engineering marvel to the public in such astounding clarity and detail.
Best, SR-71 rendition I've ever seen. I work for the Museum of Flight in Seattle and we have a brand new unused inlet spike in the warehouse up at Paine Field. I wish they'd display it with one of the engines at the main museum.
Your rendition of the spike back to the engine is close to perfect.
The BEST explanation of a plane we’ve all admired for years !!
A gift to all aviation enthusiasts. Thank you.
If we had this level of fidelity and detail when we did MCE, I cant comprehend the possibilities I personally could've achieved. This video deserves 100 million views. And to the minds that built this machine's every component; We are not the same *hat tip*
TECHNICAL ADDENDUM:
I am adding clarification for technical details as experts chime in. Please do remember: we share beautiful knowledge with patience on the channel. Good teacher = patient teacher. Contribute, but be on point or I'll probably prune the chatter.
*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
I don't know what's more impressive, your effortless breakdown of the Blackbird, or the incredible engineering that originally went into it?
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
I have no aviation background whatsoever and the explanation and the animation for the mixer is amazing. You describe it perfectly and the illustrations work in combination with the explanation to make me feel like I'm an expert on it. Very, very well done. My hats off to the chef!
İf 3d modeling and animating is a new language for human kind, you are one of the first translators of this language. What a great work. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Your videos never cease to amaze. That hour flew by at Mach 3.2!
Didn't expected THAT amount of new and precise information! Thought I've seen everything about the SR-71 back and forth, but this was really awesome. Thank you so much for all the work!
I'm a pilot and avation enthusiast. You managed to not only impress me, but to teach me a few new things. Your content is so very well researched, presented perfectly and highly educational - way beyond of most that we can see and find today. Thank you very much!! Keep it up!
It's one thing to watch a video on it, and it's another thing to see it in person. It's such a beautiful craft, and HUGE - much bigger than I thought
This is incredible. Thank you.
The level of engineering here is almost unbelievable. Amazing Machine, and an equally impressive level of explanation. Been an SR Fan forever and never knew alot of this mechanical info.
What an insanely detailed video, and what a quality in production. This is simply amazing. It is pure knowledge, and for free.
The fact that a machine like the SR71 Blackbird exists at all is nothing short of a miracle. The fact it was being designed and created in the early 1960s is absolutely astounding.
The complexity of the many, many different systems that make up the Blackbird would be a very tall task to conquer even today with the assistance of AI, digital 3d modeling, computer simulations, and 60+ years of accumulated experience/data. In the late 1950s to the early 1960s, none of that was available. Every single piece of every single component, that made up every single system in the Blackbird had to be painstakingly and manually designed, modeled, prototyped, tested, modified, retested, and eventually certified as a final production spec component. The number of man hours and the amount of dedication necessary to accomplish this feat is absolutely mind boggling.
This excellent video helps to put into perspective what we as a species is capable of accomplishing if we just put in the effort. If you're honest with yourself, regardless of where you may stand regarding the politics, morality, or justification of the SR71 Blackbird, the fact that it exists is both extremely impressive and very humbling all at the same time.
17:11 For me, the most important part of this video and currently the best explanation possible to understand the concept behind the ram-jet effect and how this mind-bending engine works!!! No one was able to explain this as good as you did! Congrats for such achievement!
I'm just an industrial designer, but this kept me as entertained as an engineer. Especially the wing controls mechanism... It's like seeing a work of clockwork. So simple but so complex at the same time. Without a doubt my favorite part of the entire explanation, but the rest is no waste 55 minutes flew by! Excellent way to segment everything, Your level of 3D modeling in Blender, animation, etc. is excellent. For explanatory purposes you could make it even simpler and you took the trouble to make it so detailed in parts, shapes and colors... You deserve more than a like or a view. Thanks from Spain.
Great work Jake!...fantastic work..I am an old timey CAD guy and I get how much work it was doing this...BRAVO MAN!
This is an incredible channel that presents information in much better fashion than others.
The engineers that developed this aircraft were wizards when the date of deployment is taken into account.
Mechanical engineers build weapons. Civil engineers build targets.
Well done to you. Six years ago, I was a design engineer working at NASA/JSC and using CAD software. Your work is mind blowing and is far better than I could have ever produced. Thank you for showing us how the SR-71 did its thing. P.S., not only the visual content, but the hardware explanation was top notch.
I’ve seen, touched and watched the SR-71 fly, but never seen a video with such amazing detail and information about this incredible aircraft.
Thank you so much for sharing this with us. This 75 yr old is yet again awe inspired by this pre-computer designed plane.
Man… I bet you even remember the smell. Wish it was me that had that opportunity. A. J. C., III
My son is 9 and wants to be a NASA engineer when he grows up. He really likes your videos, especially the P-51 Mustang. Thanks for all you do 🧠 ❤
I watched this during school (specifically lunch and free time) and somehow this taught me more than school did in one day. I’m utterly amazed.
This kind of engineering and mechanical knowledge is generally lacking in school.
People tend to learn more from things they're interested in than being forced to learn about things they aren't. School seems like sucks but it nice to have knowledge later in life.
I am a former U.S. Navy CPO avionics tech that worked on F-14 A/A+/B/D Tomcats. Although the Tomcat will always hold a special place in my heart, I have an equal fascination with the SR-71, the A-10 and the WW2 era F4U Corsair. Your video about the SR-71 was so, so informative. I found the detail on the pitch/roll blender/mixer assembly awesome! I’m sure this alone took a lot of time and effort! I am now a new subscriber, thanks so much for bringing to life an elegant but vulgar display of power! 😎
Pantera would agree. A. J. C., III
The most impressive plane ever made, to this day! Before computer simulations etc etc. I rank this above the space shuttle.
Incredible video, thx! I've seen countless videos about the Blackbird, but this is one of the absolute best! Thank you again. The SR-71 is my favourite plane of all time. It played a crucial role dismantling the Cold War. I can't even begin to imagine flying this, let alone during an active mission over the Soviet. Several missions were actually fired at, sometimes multiple SAMs, but this beauty just said "ADIOS MUCHACHOS!".
An amazing feat of engineering, but also a work of art. Probably the most stunning plane ever made and I salute those who made it and those who operated it. 🦋🦋🦋😊
You know… Kelly Johnson had actually saw a UFO that was close to that shape some years before he designed his craft. Amazing what inspiration can do to the mind. A. J. C., III (completely factual)
Not only were your graphics amazing, your explanation of the systems was very accurate. You did your homework.
25 years ago I walked around one of these on an aircraft carrier on the Hudson River in NYC....I was is awe then as I am now....brilliant video...amazing machine...
This is just amazing. I've been obsessed with this plane my entire life, it's just the brighest example to summarize how awesome and beautiful mechanic engineering can be. I think I knew more than a lot about the SR-71, but this thing you made kept me literally jaw dropped like a child for 55 minutes straight. You sir are an artist. Thanks for everything you've gifted to all of us.
Not liking this video should be considered a criminal act.
Thank you for creating amazing graphical animations that required hundreds of hours of work for educational purposes across all ages.
What's amazing, is that they've designed it on paper!
I know I'm just repeating what most of the others already wrote but...your videos are incredible. The level of detail and understanding the mechanics is just beyond believe. Just brilliant. I've noticed few imperfections you fixed on-flow but that makes you even more reliable. Thank you for this stuff.
This is a video I could have only dreamed of since I was a boy. I was a crew chief on the KC-135 Stratotanker and always found myself in such awe of this aircraft and its technical ability, especially for the day it was designed. So much information I never have seen or heard since my fascination with this airplane began all those years ago. Thank you for taking the time to produce this content and share it. A+
Thank you for your service. I was curious what’s your duties and role was as crew chief. Also, what was one thing you found fascinating or incredible in your day-to-day? I don’t mean the pester. I’m just curious, i.e. why I’m here.😂
Thank you! I have a deep love for aviation so everyday with the aircraft was special. I particularly enjoyed flying with the flight crew and watching the fighters like the Thunderbirds invert and fly away after aerial refuelings.
The job of an aircraft crew chief is maintaining a single aircraft through launch, recovery, inspection and troubleshooting for maintenance cycles. The aircraft gets signed over to the crew chief from the pilot between flights.
Гениальные инженеры. Это я вам как инженер, разрабатывающий двигатели, говорю. Не то, что вёдра, которые сейчас проектировать приходится. Выглядит как самолёт 18 поколения на фоне того, что сейчас у нас делают.
Your diction, delivery, and explanations are remarkable. I have been flying for half a century as a pilot and advanced flight instructor. I've seen the SR-71 live in its day, behind its top secret veil. I thank you for deciphering my life-long mysteries about the airplane.
I have just enough knowledge of 3-D cad to have a pretty good idea what it took for you to create this. I have never seen anything so well done on RUclips or any other format. I am simply astonished by the quality and clarity of this video. You are the Carl Sagan of aeronautics and this video is a masterpiece!
this is f'ing incredible, so I really have no room to make any comments. I worked for a retired Sled Driver and worked for several years with a retired RSO. The stories are mind-blowing but your level of research is incredible, especially the nuances of the J58. The mixer is, indeed, one of the most beautiful mechanical designs I've ever seen.
I would only add that a "continuous side wind" is really a "crosswind" -- they make flying so much fun 🤣.
The most amazing thing about the SR-71 is the time period in which it was designed. I honestly believe that level of brilliance is why there are so many silly "ancient astronaut theorists" :)
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.
What a paradox; such an intricate, complex and extremely advanced technological development, just fueled by the most lower of human pasions; the desire for competition and dominance.
That section on flight control surfaces and the mixer was beautiful. How they achieved this in the 60s was utterly mind blowing. Takes me 2 hrs to put a basic Lego model together lol. And that’s with instructions they were doin it on the fly.
Me, airplane nerd: wow this is the best presented and informative explainer of this aircraft ever! Very easy to understand and digest, and also appreciate the amazing engineering for things like the control mixer...Me, VFX/3D artist/animator: oh shit. I work on shots that are only a very few seconds long - AT MOST, and with simple camera moves. Moving the camera this way, for what must be THOUSANDS of camera positions...oh the f-curves! And managing the sheer number of 3D parts and their visibility. This is a MASSIVE project - you are either mad or a mad genius to attempt it. Kudos upon kudos. I can think there are a few museums that would certainly license this for their displays.
Let me just say thank you to Jake and animagraffs. This video is simply gorgeous! I’ve been waiting for 58 years (!!) for something like this to exaplane how this extraordinary masterpiece of aeronautics and mechanics is made and works. I really appreciate your work and I extremely enjoyed seeing it. Thank you again.
I've never seen such a brilliant explanation of the blackbird , there are quite a few videos out there, but none are as thorough and detailed like this. Thanks.
This is awesome! I got to see the Blackbird SR-71 a couple times as a kid at airshows. I was always amazed. Great job here!!
Possibly one of the best information videos I've come across so far on RUclips/anywhere . What a fantastic watch from start to finish. Thank you 👍
Jake, you’re awesome. Thank you for doing this. Every one of your videos is superb. If you are doing this alone than it’s even more impressive. This detailed research and understanding is truly brilliant.
I don't have enough words to say how beautiful this animation is!
An impressively comprehensive, thorough and enjoyed production Jake! Thank you!
This was, without a doubt, the best video about the inner working on the Blackbird that I have ever seen! Hands down! I typically watch ones on the abilities of the Blackbird. But I am a civilian without an engineering background so I don't really "know" the inner workings of aircraft. Thus broke thingd down in a way that was nor patronizing or simplistic but not assuming of a level of knowledge and background that would cause things to be missed or lost. If I am your intended audience, you nailed it!