Comments by "Keit Hammleter" (@keithammleter3824) on "Primal Space"
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Did Primal Space make a lot of this up? At 4:27 it says that the Concorde's normal white paint was so that it radiated heat better. Actually, to get rid of heat the best you need a black finish. But a black airplane would be hard to market. Painting it blue should have improved heat loss.
An advantage of white paint is that the pigment can be titanium dioxide, which will not fade, regardless of time, temperature, and ultraviolet light (which is strong at high altitudes).
If the plane was limited in speed, it would be because they used a paint designed to be easily removed (possibly by simple water washing) after filming the commercials - paint that would come off due to friction and/or heat at the normal speed.
The SR-71weeped fuel because it was designed for low weight, so the wing skin is also the fuel tank - there is no internal tank or bladder. The tanks/wings were supposed to be sealed with a flexible sealant, but when the sealant deteriorated, the aircraft very slowly oozed fuel. The USAF just didn't think the expense of taking it apart and fixing it was warranted. It didn't leak anywhere near as much as portrayed and it didn't leak for the reason given in this video. I've seen USAF aircraft on the ground, and leaks of various sorts are not uncommon.
Why did the SR-71 have a matt black finish? Partly to make it hard to see at its normal high altitude, and partly because it gets rid of heat the best.
Incidentally, there are a lot of urban myths about the SR-71, due to its secret nature. The fuel leak due to expansion design is one, the US having to buy titanium from the USSR is another (The biggest ilmenite producer in the world is Australia, which is also a significant producer of rutile).
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Did Primal Space make a lot of this up? At 4:27 it says that the Concorde's normal white paint was so that it radiated heat better. Actually, to get rid of heat the best you need a black finish. But a black airplane would be hard to market. Painting it blue should have improved heat loss.
An advantage of white paint is that the pigment can be titanium dioxide, which will not fade, regardless of time, temperature, and ultraviolet light (which is strong at high altitudes).
If the plane was limited in speed, it would be because they used a paint designed to be easily removed (possibly by simple water washing) after filming the commercials - paint that would come off due to friction and/or heat at the normal speed.
The SR-71weeped fuel because it was designed for low weight, so the wing skin is also the fuel tank - there is no internal tank or bladder. The tanks/wings were supposed to be sealed with a flexible sealant, but when the sealant deteriorated, the aircraft very slowly oozed fuel. The USAF just didn't think the expense of taking it apart and fixing it was warranted. It didn't leak anywhere near as much as portrayed and it didn't leak for the reason given in this video. I've seen USAF aircraft on the ground, and leaks of various sorts are not uncommon.
Why did the SR-71 have a matt black finish? Partly to make it hard to see at its normal high altitude, and partly because it gets rid of heat the best.
Incidentally, there are a lot of urban myths about the SR-71, due to its secret nature. The fuel leak due to expansion design is one, the US having to buy titanium from the USSR is another (The biggest ilmenite producer in the world is Australia, which is also a significant producer of rutile).
1