Feb 2011 puzzles **16KB PIC**

[mediasponge]

Here's more of a trivia question:

In the movie and book, The Right Stuff, future astronaut John Glenn is introduced on a TV game show as having set a trans-continental supersonic flying record. It's fact, not fiction. Question: What aircraft did he set that record in and what aircraft holds it today? (No Googling!)

[AMATX]

Here's more of a trivia question:

In the movie and book, The Right Stuff, future astronaut John Glenn is introduced on a TV game show as having set a trans-continental supersonic flying record. It's fact, not fiction. Question: What aircraft did he set that record in and what aircraft holds it today? (No Googling!)

Hmmm, NO Google, eh?

* Uh, The Concord?

* 747 ??

* Gulfstream V ?

* Old prop job??

* None of the above

[Marin85]

Here's more of a trivia question:

In the movie and book, The Right Stuff, future astronaut John Glenn is introduced on a TV game show as having set a trans-continental supersonic flying record. It's fact, not fiction. Question: What aircraft did he set that record in and what aircraft holds it today? (No Googling!)

nVidia´s supersonic sled?

[rkawakami]

I'd have to guess and say that Glenn's ride was a F104 Starfigher and the current holder is the A12/YF12/SR71/Blackbird.

[AMATX]

There's a real Blackbird on display at that airplane museum up in Oregon. McMenville, or sumpin' like that. Saw it(and some other really neat stuff) a couple of summers ago. Pretty impressive in the flesh. I'd seen it on TV(Discover/History/etc), but never thought I'd actually see one in person.

Kinda puts a Gulfstream V to shame, doesn't it

[mediasponge]

nVidia´s supersonic sled?

LOL!

[sysiphus]

There's a real Blackbird on display at that airplane museum up in Oregon. McMenville, or sumpin' like that. Saw it(and some other really neat stuff) a couple of summers ago. Pretty impressive in the flesh. I'd seen it on TV(Discover/History/etc), but never thought I'd actually see one in person.

Kinda puts a Gulfstream V to shame, doesn't it

If you're ever in McMinnville, OR, yes, they do have an SR-71 Blackbird...but the real treat there is the one-of-a-kind Spruce Goose!

(We also have an SR-71 at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, along with a MiG-21, a previous Air Force One, etc...

[AMATX]

Yes, I walked into 'The Goose'. Rather remarkable, isn't it? Summer day, great weather, neat/attractive architecture to the building. Quite a nice setup there, in addition to lots of nifty airplanes. Great way to spend an afternoon.

[rkawakami]

Some SR71 photos (via Google Maps):

http://tinyurl.com/4khcp9h (Richmond, Virginia)
http://tinyurl.com/4pdu8cc (Palmdale, CA)
http://tinyurl.com/4hvqfay (U.S.S. Intrepid, New York)
http://tinyurl.com/4vyx9n4 (Castle AFB, CA)

[mediasponge]

Curious. The old thread got locked, and some of its content got migrated to a new one.

For the record, John Glenn's flight was in a Vought F8U-1 Crusader in 1957 at an average speed of Mach 1.1, the first transcontinental flight to average a supersonic speed. That record was surpassed later the same year. In 1962, a B58 Hustler shaved considerable time off the previous record. I had thought John Glenn's flight was the one in the B58, but no. The B58 record set in '62 officially stood until an SR-71 obliterated it in 1990 on its way to retirement in a museum. The B58 did it in 2 hrs, 1 minute and change. The SR-71 did it in 64 minutes! I love the comment about the SR-71 that said in response to a SAM launch, their standard evasive action was simply to accelerate...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transconti ... eed_record

I didn't say no Wikipedia.

[Harryc]

I love the comment about the SR-71 that said in response to a SAM launch, their standard evasive action was simply to accelerate...

Yeah, it was an awesome aircraft. 64 minutes coast to coast (Avg. 2,124 mph (3,418 km/h)) is mind blowing. As a comparison, the Concorde SST max cruising speed is Mach 2.04 (around 1350mph)

[mediasponge]

Yeah, it was an awesome aircraft. 64 minutes coast to coast is mind blowing.

And that included one air-to-air refueling. They didn't want to cut the margin on fuel too close, otherwise it might have been under one hour. The leg from St Louis to Cincinnati was at a rate of 2189.9 MPH!

[Harryc]

The leg from St Louis to Cincinnati was at a rate of 2189.9 MPH!

I am simply in awe at the engineering involved in a machine with that kind of performance...extraordinary.

[ThinkRob]

The SR-71 is only the fastest if you discount the X-15. Considering that the X-15 is basically just a test pilot strapped to a giant rocket you wouldn't really be unjustified in discounting it... but still.

[rkawakami]

The question was "transcontinental" flight. Looking at the specs of the X-14, it would barely make it across the state of California. Besides, I'd only consider an "aircraft" to be one which is able to take off from the ground on its own power .

ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_X-15 (Range: 280 miles)
ref: http://www.classbrain.com/artstate/publ ... rnia.shtml (Width: 250 miles)

[mediasponge]

The SR-71 is only the fastest if you discount the X-15. Considering that the X-15 is basically just a test pilot strapped to a giant rocket you wouldn't really be unjustified in discounting it... but still.

The National Aeronautic Association (as a member of the international FAI) governs such records. The SR-71 holds all records for speed and altitude in level flight, for an air-breathing aircraft that takes off from the ground under its own power. The X-15 was a rocket carried aloft by a modified bomber, therefore not in the same class. The X-15 records have all been surpassed by the Space Shuttle, but the X-15 provided much useful data about hypersonic and sub-orbital flight.

There is one altitude record not held by the SR-71. What jet aircraft holds it? (Note: High altitude balloons are also in a different category.)

[bill bolton]

What jet aircraft holds it?

A MiG-25M.

Cheers,

Bill B.

[rkawakami]

Are we talking of a piloted jet aircraft? I'd guess and say that there's probably been a scramjet that's been pretty high but not with any person on board.

[killer]

This thread hasn't turned into much of a puzzle.

So let's try something cryptic ... and nothing to do with aeroplanes.

Question: Warm weather Malta enjoys. (7 letters)

[rkawakami]

I immediately thought of the VW Scirocco but that's got 8 letters. Could there be an alternate spelling? Hmm.. of course VW might have used their own spelling of a warm Mediterranean wind... which brings up my own quizzical query: What's (or who's) a Touareg?

[AMATX]

You're probably thinking of the U2 spy plane, of Francis Gary Powers/Russian fame back in 1960.
Spy-Gate, before Water-gate

Wikipedia says it could fly at 70,000 ft, but I thought I read somewhere pre-web that it was at 90,000 ft. when Powers got shot down.

[RealBlackStuff]

Last time I was in Malta, they had the Sirocco, spelled different from that German car's name SCirocco.
They also have the Mistral and the Gregale, but I don't think killer is looking for these.
He's more looking for thermal, aren't you?

AFAIK a Touareg is a member of a tribe of (or a variety of) Bedouins in North Africa (and VW calls one of its cars that).

[killer]

Well done, RBS, the answer is Thermal ... hidden in the clue.

BTW, I wonder if the phrase 'toe rag' derived from Touareg?

[RealBlackStuff]

We use "toe rag" in Ireland for a low-life or really obnoxious person who causes a lot of grief.
I think it hails from 'tory' (toruighe in Irish) rather than 'touareg'.
Original meaning: robber, bandit, thief etc..
You Brits should know, you got loadz of them (they are called Tories)

[killer]

We use "toe rag" in Ireland for a low-life or really obnoxious person who causes a lot of grief.
I think it hails from 'tory' (toruighe in Irish) rather than 'touareg'.
Original meaning: robber, bandit, thief etc..
You Brits should know, you got loadz of them (they are called Tories)

Yes, RBS, there is a definite link between the words 'robber, bandit, thief' and the word 'Tory' (Conservative). They are the rich who rob the poor to get richer, a perfect reversal of Robin Hood's philosophy.

My dictionary gives the etymology of 'toe rag'. It says the poor used to wrap rags round their feet as they could afford nothing more. Hmm, I'm not sure I subscribe to that point of view. Wouldn't they be called foot rags? One would think that most people would leave their toes uncovered.

[killer]

OK, here's another Cryptic puzzle:

Animal from Pennsylvania. (5 letters)

[RealBlackStuff]

That should be Punxsutawney Phil...
But I guess not.

[killer]

No, it's cryptic. The answer may be derived from the clue.

[rkawakami]

It's got to be an anagram... the only one that I can come up with is "snipe". (Been watching the movie "Up" too much this month )

[killer]

No cigar there, Ray, not even close. BTW, Isn't a snipe a bird rather than an animal?