Chapter 67 Blackbird Takes Flight

Two American pilots wearing high-altitude compensation suits were already sitting in the cockpit. This was the fifth day that the Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft had been on a mission. In the past few days, they had been flying at night, but today, they switched to daytime operations.

A few months ago, an EP-3 collided with a Soviet MiG-25 fighter and was forced to land at a Soviet base. Since then, the United States has been at a disadvantage.

This is simply intolerable for the United States. The U.S. commander on the island was furious. The Soviet MiG-25 has become the biggest threat to the United States!

What is the MiG-25 capable of? Isn't it capable of flying at three times the speed of sound? The United States also has such an aircraft! The American Blackbird is the crystallization of the United States' advanced aviation industry!

Therefore, the Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft was sent out to conduct reconnaissance activities over the Soviet Union! At the same time, it was also to investigate the Soviet military bases in the Far East and determine where the EP-3 was hidden by the Soviets.

Until now, Americans are still obsessed with the EP-3 and hope to get the plane back. What they don’t know is that the plane has been completely dismantled by the Soviet Union and can never be put back together. The Soviets are completely planning to default on their debt.

From Okinawa Island, head north, across the Korean Peninsula, and head straight to Vladivostok to scout the Soviet Pacific Fleet. Then head north to scout several air force bases along the way. After reaching Komsomolsk-on-Amur, turn east and return from the sky over Sakhalin Island! All the major military industries and military bases of the Soviets in the Far East were scouted!

At the same time, this was also a demonstration against the Soviet Union! I remember that a few days ago, the Soviet MiG-25 wanted to attack our Blackbird. The pilot was a little scared, fearing that the missiles would shoot him down. However, the missile flew away from a long distance. The Soviet missiles were the same as our early Sparrow missiles, just like uncontrolled rockets!

The huge auxiliary power vehicle was in place at the end of the runway, and began to power up the engines. Various switches were turned on, and with a roar, the two J-58 engines at the tail began to start. Amid the deafening roar, hot flames emerged from the tail.

All the instruments showed normal results, and Olmsted took a deep breath.

"Kadena, Kadena, Blackbird requesting takeoff." Olmsted picked up the radio and reported to the tower.

"Blackbird can take off, the nanny is in place." The command from the tower came through the headset.

The left hand gently pulled the operating lever backwards, and the roar of the tail became louder. The brake was released, and the huge body of the Blackbird slid on the runway in the blazing tail flame.

At the end of the runway, the Blackbird pulled up, and its huge fuselage spread its wings and flew into the sky.

Although both the MiG-25 and the MiG-25 were capable of flying at Mach 3, the Blackbird, made entirely of titanium alloy, actually had quite poor flight performance, especially in terms of fuselage strength. As a result, the Blackbird, which was originally intended to be used as a bomber, became merely a reconnaissance aircraft carrying various reconnaissance devices. Its overload resistance was quite weak, and its maneuverability was ridiculously poor, almost as poor as the U-2.

Climbing upward at a low angle, the Blackbird began to head towards the fixed airspace No. 13 to reunite with the nanny.

"Blackbird calling Nanny, Blackbird calling Nanny," Olmsted called over the radio.

"Altitude nine thousand, speed seven hundred, nanny is in position in airspace 13." A familiar voice came from the headset.

"Blackbird received." Olmsted flew along the route skillfully. When it climbed to nine thousand meters, it leveled the fuselage. In front of it, he could already see the KC-135 aerial refueling tanker.

Due to oil leakage on the ground, the Blackbird usually only fills up a small amount of fuel when taking off, and only refuels in the air after takeoff.

When the Blackbird flies at high speed in the air, the temperature of the fuselage will reach several hundred degrees. Ordinary aviation fuel will have natural risks, so the Skunk Works developed a special JP-7 fuel, which has a very high flash point to avoid spontaneous combustion at high temperatures. It also contains fluorocarbons to increase lubricity, and an oxidizer to make it easy to burn. There is even a cesium formula to disguise the radar signal of the exhaust gas. At the same time, this fuel is also extremely expensive. The fuel cost of SR-71 is as high as 30,000 US dollars per hour.

Moreover, this kind of fuel requires a special refueling machine to refuel. This flying nanny is specifically designed to serve the Blackbird.

Olmsted operated the huge Blackbird and slowly approached it. The refueling port on the top of the Blackbird was exposed, and another nanny service began.

At the tail of the KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft, the refueler carefully operated the handle. Through the observation window below, he could see the long refueling pipe getting closer and closer to the refueling port on the back of the Blackbird. Then, with a gentle contact, the refueling pipes docked and were sealed and pressurized.

"OK." The gas station attendant called out on the radio: "Refueling begins."

Other countries use a hose for aerial refueling, which is slow and requires superb cooperation from the pilot of the receiving aircraft. The U.S. Air Force uses a hard-hose refueling method, where the pilot of the receiving aircraft only needs to maintain a certain altitude, speed and heading, and the tanker will take care of the rest.

A steady stream of fuel flowed into the Blackbird's fuel tank, and soon, refueling was completed and the turn was stopped.

There were still a few drops of residual fuel on the back of the Blackbird, and fuel was leaking from the cracks in the fuselage. Every time it returned from a flight, the fuselage was almost always dirty.

All right, start accelerating! Olmsted expertly turned on the afterburners of both engines.

The Blackbird's official flight has begun!

As the speed increased, white mist appeared at the front of the blackbird, which was a sign that it was about to break through the sonic boom. The white mist became more and more, and finally became a sharp cone. With a short sound, the tip of the blackbird pierced through the white mist, and a cone-shaped white sonic boom cloud followed the blackbird forward.

Speed ​​up, keep speeding up!

The two J-58 engines were working at full speed, and the speed was getting faster and faster. The air intake cone at the front end of the engine began to move gradually backwards. During takeoff, the huge air intake cone gradually shrank into the air intake.

The speed continued to increase, and the altitude also continued to rise. At this time, it had flown over South Korea.

Altitude of 24,000 kilometers, speed of Mach 3.2, aiming at the Soviet Primorsky Krai!

The intake cone was completely retracted into the air intake duct. At this time, the J-58 engine had completely turned into a ramjet engine. The airflow passing through the air intake duct directly entered the afterburner behind the engine, burning and spewing out hot exhaust.

The temperature at the front end of the nose reached hundreds of degrees, the entire outer skin of the fuselage became smooth, and all the places where oil leaked were tightly combined together. However, a large sonic boom cloud followed outside the fuselage.