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| Interesting but little-known tidbit, there was actually discussion of making that final flight even faster, at Mach 3.5 instead of 3.2. The jet was capable of that if air temperatures were low enough to keep the temperature of the aircraft within limits. However it was decided the risk of an engine unstart at that speed (basically a compressor stall that sometimes happened when cones controlling the airflow into the engine) was not worth taking.
In any event, the Blackbirds themselves were not the reason for the program being shut down. At the end of their careers they were more reliable than ever and could have been maintained at reasonable cost. The expensive part was operating the fleet of specialized KC-135Q tankers around the world to support them. SR-71s didn’t go anywhere without gas, and lots of it. | |
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Sonic booms
