https://theaviationgeekclub.com/u-2-vs-sr-71-former-usaf-avi...Why the SR-71 was retired over the U-2 which is still in service today:
> For a mission over a target in the Middle East with the planes based in England, [the SR-71] needed to have multiple airliner size aircraft in the air to support it.
> It was not capable of taking off with a full load of fuel (or rather, not advisable for many reasons), so in order to take off, there had to be a tanker waiting in the air to top it off once it got airborne.
> It would then make a high speed run to the target zone where it would meet up with another tanker before doing its Mach 3 run over the target. It would then need to tank up again once the recon run was done for the trip home, and then there would still be a tanker in the air on standby in case it needed gas before landing or in case it needed to divert for weather or something.
> So that’s a minimum of 4 airliner sized support aircraft, including all of their parts, fuel use, and crew, flying out of a minimum of 2 different bases just to make a single SR-71 operational mission happen.
> And that’s on top of all the crew, fuel, parts and mechanics just to operate the SR-71.
This sounds like dev hell, and yet a viable dependable product.
I wonder how many big corps operate the same behind the scenes.
Why the SR-71 was retired over the U-2 which is still in service today:
> For a mission over a target in the Middle East with the planes based in England, [the SR-71] needed to have multiple airliner size aircraft in the air to support it. > It was not capable of taking off with a full load of fuel (or rather, not advisable for many reasons), so in order to take off, there had to be a tanker waiting in the air to top it off once it got airborne.
> It would then make a high speed run to the target zone where it would meet up with another tanker before doing its Mach 3 run over the target. It would then need to tank up again once the recon run was done for the trip home, and then there would still be a tanker in the air on standby in case it needed gas before landing or in case it needed to divert for weather or something.
> So that’s a minimum of 4 airliner sized support aircraft, including all of their parts, fuel use, and crew, flying out of a minimum of 2 different bases just to make a single SR-71 operational mission happen.
> And that’s on top of all the crew, fuel, parts and mechanics just to operate the SR-71.
This sounds like dev hell, and yet a viable dependable product. I wonder how many big corps operate the same behind the scenes.