Xref: utzoo rec.aviation:12989 sci.space.shuttle:2596
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!ukma!rutgers!att!cbnewsl!sw
From: sw@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (Stuart Warmink)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation,sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: SR71 to be retired October 1st, rumors regarding SR-71
Message-ID: <278@cbnewsl.ATT.COM>
Date: 16 Mar 89 19:05:27 GMT
References: <524@gonzo.UUCP> <1475@petsd.UUCP> <13987@elroy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov> <976@nbife.NBI.COM> <1993NU052179@NDSUVM1> <320@carroll1.UUCP>
Reply-To: sw@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (Stuart Warmink)
Organization: Interface Systems at AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 17

In article <320@carroll1.UUCP> dtroup@carroll1.UUCP (Dave Troup) writes:
>	You are correct, the skin of the '71 looks like a congrued surface. As
>	the skin heats up during flight, it expands and smoothens out. [...]

As the wing-span itself won't change much (it is mostly the skin which gets hot),
the corrugations will actually get bigger as the skin expands!
Perhaps another reason they exist is to increase the surface area available for 
radiating the heat away...but then again, more heat will be generated in the first
place...

Something else to ponder about - the SR71 is very dark coloured, and Concord is 
white for the same reason: to stay cool, so to speak!
-- 
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"PENTAGON OFFICIALS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT  |  Stuart Warmink, Whippany, NJ, USA
AN ANTIMATTER SHORTAGE"  ("WHAT'S NEW")  | sw@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (att!cbnewsl!sw)
-----------> My opinions are not necessarily those of my employer <-----------