AFRL Tech Museum Series: J58 Engine

AFResearchLab · August 16, 2024 · 2:08 · English · Documentary

Video from the channel AFResearchLab about Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 2:08. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

A short piece from the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), filmed at the USAF museum in front of a J58, the engine of the SR-71 Blackbird, the Cold War reconnaissance aircraft capable of flying at three times the speed of sound.

The engine had to operate from takeoff up to beyond Mach 3. The turbine reached around 2,000 degrees, which made high-temperature-resistant alloys essential, and control was handled by a hydraulic system rather than an electrical one.

The J58 ran in continuous afterburner. Six bypass tubes, three on each side, carried air from the middle of the compressor to the afterburner, also to cool it. Above Mach 3, close to half the thrust came from the shock wave captured in the air intake.