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From: steve@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Steve DeJarnett)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation,sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: SR71 to be retired October 1st, rumors regarding SR-71
Message-ID: <9552@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU>
Date: 18 Mar 89 05:54:45 GMT
References: <524@gonzo.UUCP> <1475@petsd.UUCP> <13987@elroy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov> <976@nbife.NBI.COM> <1993NU052179@NDSUVM1> <320@carroll1.UUCP> <278@cbnewsl.ATT.COM>
Reply-To: steve@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Steve DeJarnett)
Organization: Lab Rat Rumpus Room -- Cal Poly SLO
Lines: 31

sw@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (Stuart Warmink) 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. [...]
>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!

	Uh, I do not think that heat radiation played much (if any) part in the
color scheme of either the Concorde or the SR-71.  The Concorde MIGHT be white
to help it NOT absorb as much heat, but the vast majority of the heat that is
generated by either of these planes is in the form of friction, and the color 
of the plane does not make any difference in how much friction there is (unless
the paint is really rough :-).

	The SR-71 is black mostly because it flies up in the upper-reaches of
the atmosphere, and will blend in (more) against the backdrop of space (if you
ever see one, you will notice there are NO markings on the underside).  The 
color may have something to do with the RAM (radar absorbent material) and
other Stealthy-stuff associated with it.  I suspect, however, that most of the
reason is to make it blend into the backdrop of space (when this plane first
flew, no Soviet planes could fly as high as it could, and with the black 
backdrop, it would be a lot harder to site visually).

>"PENTAGON OFFICIALS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT  |  Stuart Warmink, Whippany, NJ, USA
>AN ANTIMATTER SHORTAGE"  ("WHAT'S NEW")  | sw@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (att!cbnewsl!sw)

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