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user-inactivated  ·  3784 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: ISINGLASS: the Mach-22 Mcdonnell-Douglas followup to the SR-71 that never flew

Reminds me a little bit of the X-33. I saw the post earlier about your book; you got me beat. I have a signed copy of Sled Driver that I will part with only when I am in the grave... maybe. _Sled_driver_ sits on my bookshelf next to a copy of 'The Right Stuff signed by 10 of the men who landed on the moon (I've missed Irwin and Scott). come to think of it, I should probably will those books to the local college or library so that they don't fade into dust when I am gone.

They built the SR-71 without CNC, without CAD programs, without calculators (slide rules, my god does anyone else on this site know what those are?), without 3D printing, and custom made wind tunnels that were considered National Secrets in the same line as nuclear weapons data. This, to me at least, is what makes the plane a legend.