max altitude and Mach 1

Pete S., I dont mind long answers at all, I will in all likelyhood read your
message a number of times and glean every spec of knowledge I can from it.

--



Curiosity killed the cat, and I'm gonna find out why!
"Scott Ferrin" wrote in message
...


Sorry for the long answer. That sometimes happens with short
questions.



Maybe you could answer a question I've had for a long time. If you
look at the SR-71's inlets from the side they seem to be pointing
somewhat down. I took this to mean that since it seems you'd have to
have the inlet lip on a circular inlet perpendicular to the airflow to
maximize it's efficiency, that at cruise speed and altitude the
Blackbird would be flying at an angle of attack such that the inlet
lip would be at 0 degrees AOA. At that angle the exhaust would exit
in a somewhat downward direction. So my question is is that setup to
maximize the altitude potential (because thrust would be directly
aiding lift)? Do ALL aircraft fly at a certain angle of attack at
their maximum altitude? Is the only reason you see these things on
the Blackbird because it's designed to spend most of it's time in
those conditions? Would a Blackbird's max altitude also be at Mach
0.9?

Thanks.