Skunk Works linked SR-71 titanium cracking to Burbank tap water
Engineers traced a structural problem on the SR-71 Blackbird to the water supply at Lockheed's Burbank factory, according to Kelly Johnson's account and later CIA material.
The SR-71 Blackbird's titanium structure was built to endure the aerodynamic heating of sustained Mach 3 flight, conditions that would destroy most conventional aircraft. One of the more puzzling problems to emerge during the Blackbird program was cracking in that titanium.
The cause, according to Kelly Johnson's own historical account and later material released by the CIA, was not a Soviet weapon or an engine failure. It was the tap water at Lockheed's factory in Burbank, California.
The source does not detail how the water supply affected the metal. It records the diagnosis: a structural fault in one of the most advanced aircraft of its era, traced back to the ordinary municipal water serving the plant where it was built.
Sources
- simpleflying.comHow Skunk Works Traced The SR-71's Cracking Titanium To Burbank's Summer Tap Water