great job Dirk
**** DONE: 1/72 Revell SR-71 Blackbird 17978, Playboy Bunny
- Thread starter dirkpitt289
- Start date
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- Thread starter
- #102
dirkpitt289
Master Sergeant
Thanks guys, next stop landing gear and dull cote. 
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Really looks the biz Dirk, nice work.
kgambit
Tech Sergeant
Great job dirk.
- Thread starter
- #105
dirkpitt289
Master Sergeant
Thanks guys. It means a lot coming from this group
Man...that looks real good...
T Bolt
Colonel
Real nice Dirk!
- Thread starter
- #108
dirkpitt289
Master Sergeant
I applied the flat cote last night. Next steps is to apply some more weathering and fuel streaks across the fuselage. After that install the landing gear and the hatches for the crew. After all the detail and work that went into the cockpit and crew I decided to open it up.
- Thread starter
- #109
dirkpitt289
Master Sergeant
After looking over tons of photos, both the original and new episodes of Great Planes featuring the SR71 and one thing that stood out on the operational blackbirds was the fuel streaks across the fuselage. So arming myself with a pipit , Future, Poly scale Flat and a can of compressed air I went to work.
next step will be to add the landing gear
next step will be to add the landing gear
vikingBerserker
Lieutenant General
That's a cool idea!
B-17engineer
Colonel
Good idea Dirk!
T Bolt
Colonel
Looks very realistic Dirk!
Great idea, looks good!
- Thread starter
- #114
dirkpitt289
Master Sergeant
Thanks guys
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
I like it
Crimea_River
Marshal
Cool!
- Thread starter
- #117
dirkpitt289
Master Sergeant
Well gentlemen I believe this will be my last entry for this build. Tomorrow i will post the final photos. Till then here is what i got for you. Lets take one last spin in the Blackbird shall we?
First off some more photos and info.
At blackbird speeds and temperatures, oxygen becomes explosive and can spontaneously ignite in the tanks and fuel lines. In order to prevent this, all 6 fuel tanks are purged with pure nitrogen before being filled. The blackbird also carries 260 liters of liquid nitrogen in 3 dewars. This nitrogen expands into its gasous form as it is pumped into the fuel tanks to top them off as fuel is consumed. Without the nitrogen, the empty fuel tanks would cavitate from the increased pressure when returning to lower altitudes to refuel.
She's looking a little wet and worn out isn't she? I know there is a joke in there somewhere but I'll keep it clean.
Back to the model
With the landing gear and assembled it was time to put the finishing touches in place and all that is left is the canopies. First the RSO [Steve]
Then the pilot [jack]
Lastly using some Micro Kristal Klear I made the lens behind the RSO position.
I'm calling this one done. It's not perfect by any means but to me its a fitting final tribute to 17978 "The Rapid Rabbit." As for the real Rapid Rabbit she was lost on Thursday, July 20, 1972, while attempting to land at Kadena AFB during extreme crosswinds. The braking parachute failed to slow the aircraft, forcing pilot Denny Bush to turn the landing attempt into a touch-and-go and try for a second go-round. He released the chute, took off, and attempted another landing.
Normally the braking chute is used for all landings to assist in slowing the aircraft, although under good conditions the brakes can do the job themselves without the assist. Having an extremely long runway (or dry lakebed like at Edwards AFB) for such landings doesn't hurt either.
However, the chute becomes extremely important during high-speed landings -- even with empty fuel tanks, the blackbird still weighs more than 2 fully-loaded dump trucks; she has almost no drag due to her low profile; and because of the high temperature imparted during flight, her brakes lose efficiency and have difficulty stopping her completely when landing at high speeds (which are necessary when landing with high crosswinds).
In other words, she was doomed.
On the second attempt, Bush could not slow the aircraft down in time and she ran off the end of the runway, breaking the main landing gear and damaging more than just the paint on her underside. He and his RSO Jimmy Fagg escaped serious injury, but 978 was a total loss. She was buried under a berm at the end of the runway, which is called "Habu Mountain" or "Habu Hill" depending on who you ask.
The story of the Rapid Rabbit doesn't end there. During the restoration of 975, March Field Museum's restoration manager Shayne Meder (MSgt-Ret, USAF) discovered that the left rudder of 975 was once the right rudder of 978, the "Rapid Rabbit." Rudder sharing is not unusual in and of itself. The left and right rudders are interchangable, and new rudders are not to be had thanks to McNamara ordering all blackbird tooling destroyed in February 1970. Parts were often taken from decommissioned airframes or salvaged from wrecks when possible.
Well that's it boys. I hope you enjoyed the ride. I can honestly say I enjoyed the company and comments. See you all in the BoB Group Build
First off some more photos and info.
At blackbird speeds and temperatures, oxygen becomes explosive and can spontaneously ignite in the tanks and fuel lines. In order to prevent this, all 6 fuel tanks are purged with pure nitrogen before being filled. The blackbird also carries 260 liters of liquid nitrogen in 3 dewars. This nitrogen expands into its gasous form as it is pumped into the fuel tanks to top them off as fuel is consumed. Without the nitrogen, the empty fuel tanks would cavitate from the increased pressure when returning to lower altitudes to refuel.
She's looking a little wet and worn out isn't she? I know there is a joke in there somewhere but I'll keep it clean.
Back to the model
With the landing gear and assembled it was time to put the finishing touches in place and all that is left is the canopies. First the RSO [Steve]
Then the pilot [jack]
Lastly using some Micro Kristal Klear I made the lens behind the RSO position.
I'm calling this one done. It's not perfect by any means but to me its a fitting final tribute to 17978 "The Rapid Rabbit." As for the real Rapid Rabbit she was lost on Thursday, July 20, 1972, while attempting to land at Kadena AFB during extreme crosswinds. The braking parachute failed to slow the aircraft, forcing pilot Denny Bush to turn the landing attempt into a touch-and-go and try for a second go-round. He released the chute, took off, and attempted another landing.
Normally the braking chute is used for all landings to assist in slowing the aircraft, although under good conditions the brakes can do the job themselves without the assist. Having an extremely long runway (or dry lakebed like at Edwards AFB) for such landings doesn't hurt either.
However, the chute becomes extremely important during high-speed landings -- even with empty fuel tanks, the blackbird still weighs more than 2 fully-loaded dump trucks; she has almost no drag due to her low profile; and because of the high temperature imparted during flight, her brakes lose efficiency and have difficulty stopping her completely when landing at high speeds (which are necessary when landing with high crosswinds).
In other words, she was doomed.
On the second attempt, Bush could not slow the aircraft down in time and she ran off the end of the runway, breaking the main landing gear and damaging more than just the paint on her underside. He and his RSO Jimmy Fagg escaped serious injury, but 978 was a total loss. She was buried under a berm at the end of the runway, which is called "Habu Mountain" or "Habu Hill" depending on who you ask.
The story of the Rapid Rabbit doesn't end there. During the restoration of 975, March Field Museum's restoration manager Shayne Meder (MSgt-Ret, USAF) discovered that the left rudder of 975 was once the right rudder of 978, the "Rapid Rabbit." Rudder sharing is not unusual in and of itself. The left and right rudders are interchangable, and new rudders are not to be had thanks to McNamara ordering all blackbird tooling destroyed in February 1970. Parts were often taken from decommissioned airframes or salvaged from wrecks when possible.
Well that's it boys. I hope you enjoyed the ride. I can honestly say I enjoyed the company and comments. See you all in the BoB Group Build
Last edited:
B-17engineer
Colonel
Fantastic Dirk!
Good stuff Dirk! 
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Nice one Dirk.
