S.J.

C Institute of Technology ,chikkaballapur

Department of Aeronautical Engineering

Subject: Aircraft Propulsion

Subject Code: 17AE43

Case Study
Topic : Lockheed SR-71
 INTRODUCTION
SR-71 is a strategic reconnaissance aircraft that was
developed by Lockheed and its Skunk Works
division and was operated by the United States Air
Force
Designed by Clarence Kelly Johnson and was in
service with the U.S air force from 1964 to 1989.
Out of 32 aircrafts that were made 2 were use by
NASA until 1999.Now all the aircrafts have been
moved to museums.
 AERODYNAMICS
• operated at a maximum speed of Mach 3.3 at an
altitude more than 85,000 ft
• Delta wing featuring two engine nacelle mounted
at mid-semi-span with leading edge sweep angle
52.626°
• Cantilever design with modified bi-convex
section of 2.5% chord ration.
• Rudders mounted on the nacelle and canted to
15°.
 STRUCTURE
• Has circular cross section and semi-monocoque
construction.
• 93% of the structure is made of Titanium and its
alloy(Beta B-120) whose tensile strength is upto
91000kg.
• Blended chines running from nose to wing
leading edge
• Much of internal space is occupied by fuel
tanks(12,000 gallons)
• Tricycle landing gear consists of two three-wheel
mains and one steerable twin-wheel nose unit
 AVIONICS
• Astro-jnertial navigation system,air data
computer, automatic flight control system
• Tripple display indicator giving out digital
readouts
• Flight detector system and reconnaissance
sensor system. Electro magnetic and photo-
optical sensors attached along the chine
 ENGINE
• Pratt and whitney J58(JT-11-D20) which is
a bleeb by-pass turbo-ramjet engine
• Able to operate above 400°c CITs
• Developed maximum thrust of 34000lb
thrust at the afterburner at sea level
• Thust to weight ratio at cruise is 5:1
• JP-7 type of fuel is used(8000 gallons per
hour)
• Inlet has spikes that are unlocked at higher
altitudes and machine number . maximum
inlet pressure ratio is 40:1.contributes up to
54% of thrust.
• Nine-stage, axial flow single rotor with 6:1
pressure ratio compressor utilized a
compressor bleed bypass system at high
Mach.(bypass at 4th stage)
• Annular compressor with 8 duplex fuel burner
• 2 stage turbine supported by bearings.steel
casing type with hollow nozzle vanes
• Ejector nozzle is an integral part of airframe it
has a primary nozzle . ejector nozzle can
contribute from 0-28% of total propulsive
thrust