That's not to say that this isn't interesting or educational (far from it), but my schedule is kind of starting to wear me down. I'll be glad when this is over and I can have some time at home with my wife again. As it is, I don't get to do much goofing off. Perhaps that will change in the future.
Enough about that. We finished up the aerodynamics portion of the Aviation Science course today. We'll be taking the Aviation Science exam on the 22nd. I'm not too concerned about it. The Jeppesen study guide is the source for most of our exam questions, so there's no reason for me not to rock these exams.
I learned that the SR-71, my favorite aircraft since I was a child, leaks fuel when on the ground.
But the craft flies so fast, that the air friction heats up the entire plane, causing enough expansion to seal the leaks. This was an intentional design.
Apparently, they put just enough fuel in the SR-71 to get it to a refueling altitude, then refuel it in the air, and they either dump or burn the rest of the fuel before landing so they don't have to clean up any leaks.
This thing is like magic, and it always blew my mind as a kid. The fastest, highest, longest flying aircraft. It looks like a knife from outer space.
Today, it's outdated, and likely to be completely scrapped. Satellites can do its job better, faster and with less risk.
The SR-71 still looks to me like it shouldn't be able to even fly.
We also learned about shockwaves, sonic booms, and how and why air condenses around vortexes around the airframe.
If the humidity is high enough, sonic booms become visible as the rapid depressurization of air around the shockwave drops the temperature of the air, which momentarily condenses invisible water vapor into visible water vapor.
Like so:
Anyway, neat stuff!
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