Refuting blackbird folklore

On 1 Dec 2003 12:53:27 -0800, (Kevin Brooks)
wrote:

Scott Ferrin wrote in message . ..
On Mon, 01 Dec 2003 04:24:22 GMT, Chad Irby wrote:

(robert arndt) wrote:

Funny how the all-white Mach 3 XB-70 seemed to hold up to kinetic
heating all right... and that was just simple nuclear anti-flash
white.

They did that by using a fairly scary system of pipes that ran through
high-heat areas, and used the plane's fuel as a heat sink, combined with
extensive use of titanium in the worst spots.

Not to mention the 4000 gallon tank of water. (It might have been 4000
pounds not gallons but I'm fairly certain it was gallons. They also
had an additional tank with ammonia just in case the water ran out)

32,000 pounds of water sounds quite a bit excessive.

Brooks

Yeah that's why I thought too. The tank didn't look like it could
hold 4000 gallons either. Must have been 4000 pounds. I'd look it up
but the book is boxed up in the shed somewhere.

I'm fairly certain it was in this book

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0760...25#reader-page

but ti could have been any of a number of books. I have foru or five
on the thing (one of my favorite aircraft).