It seems incredible
that despite the advances over the last few decades in terms of engines,
aerodynamics and materials, no manned aeroplane has broken the world air speed
record set by this amazing plane back in 28 July 1976. The SR-71 set a speed of
2193.167mph which has not yet been beaten. Last year I built the
Meteor Mk4 which set the world speed record in 1945 and again in 1946. Compared
to the Blackbird it shows the huge difference aviation over 30 years, a
time equal to how long the Blackbird has since
held the record. The markings were hard to find as I believed this unique
aeroplane would be in the Smithsonian or similar institution but it is
infact in Warner Robins air museum in Georgia. The museum web
site does say the plane first flew in 1965 and retired in
1990 etc
but not that it holds the record,
which I find very strange.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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The kit was built pretty
much from the box. Canopies were set down to preserve the lines of the plane and
this meant the kit detail was sufficient. A lot of surface detail was sanded off
and replaced with shading. The nose probe was made detachable and the upper fins
were not glued on in order to improve transportability. After I pinned down which serial took the record,
I modified the kit decals to get 958. Two
planes were prepared for
record runs and each had the white
cross to assist with measuring from the ground. I painted the lower surfaces
white and masked the cross before spraying the black. Insides of the engines
were done in white as per the Duxford example. Tyres
were done with aluminium as was most of the rest of the undercarriage legs and
wheel wells.
Interestingly I found the FS
number for the colour is actually dark blue, but I painted
mine black
anyway. It
was very hard to photograph as it is so smooth no matter how many coats
of matt it has, it still has a
sheen in the pictures.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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I did notice on a
recent visit to Duxford in the UK that the nose actually has quite a bulge on
the chine just infront of the windscreen. I'm not sure if this is on all planes
or if this is part of the detachable / interchangeable nose
system.
Colin
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