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Ah yes, one can only love the smell of weeping JP-7 on the ramp and the throaty roar of the Black Bird's own set of straight pipes (which are just a bit bigger than those on the two Buicks).
Your avatar represents the most incredible advanced technology ever to leap from a slide-rule. Between that bird and the X-15, U.S. technology was untouchable.
You have a great avatar!
Ah yes, one can only love the smell of weeping JP-7 on the ramp and the throaty roar of the Black Bird's own set of straight pipes (which are just a bit bigger than those on the two Buicks).
Your avatar represents the most incredible advanced technology ever to leap from a slide-rule. Between that bird and the X-15, U.S. technology was untouchable.
You have a great avatar!
my forever all time favorite aircraft! literally every aspect of that plane was off the charts levels of insanity and pushing the absolute limits of technology, not to mention holy **** does it still look goddamn futuristic over 6 decades later... east coast to west coast in only an hour, that's what i'm talking about!
years ago i bought brian shul's book sled driver, it's a great read with some stunning pics and fascinating anecdotes from a great man
What starters sound good to you? Bad? Really stuck in your memory for whatever reason?
I never liked the high-pitched whining-noise of the starters on the 60s-vintage Chrysler-designed vehicles I learned to drive on:
Worse, those old carburetors tended to flood a warm engine, and it would take a lot of that annoying grinding of the starters to purge the flooding and actually get the engine turned over.
my forever all time favorite aircraft! literally every aspect of that plane was off the charts levels of insanity and pushing the absolute limits of technology, not to mention holy **** does it still look goddamn futuristic over 6 decades later... east coast to west coast in only an hour, that's what i'm talking about!
The X-15 was really more of a rocket with short stubby wings on it than a true airplane. It was used basically as a hypersonic aircraft in which to get future astronauts, in training for the then-new space program, transitioning from conventional Mach-1/Mach-2 jet fighters to true spacecraft reaching speeds of 17-18,000 MPH in orbit.
The X-15 did not even land on its own power...it launched from a large B-52 jet bomber, quickly accelerated with its rocket engine to maybe Mach-6 or 7, then the rocket-fuel quickly ran out, and it glided down to a landing on the desert-strip at Edwards Air Force Base.
Last edited by mmarshall; Mar 12, 2026 at 10:52 PM.
oh i got something i think qualifies for this thread! to start the SR-71 it used a "start cart" to get the turbojets up to speed, it was 2 buick 400ci V8s in tandem connected to a common driveshaft
but these were straight piped, 0 emissions to worry about, so yea i'm gonna say the coolest "starter sound" is a pair of V8s revving up followed by an afterburner ignition! (clip starts at 2:43)
"luxury redefined: 2.0. when one chauffeur isn't enough for your budget, try the all new (throw a name in here) with twin v8s. you'll need 5 chauffeurs just to get it started. if that don't scream class, somethin wrong with yo as5."
Toyota and Lexus Join Mille Miglia For The First Time
Slideshow: A five-car lineup spanning more than five decades of Toyota performance and engineering will tackle one of Italy's most celebrated automotive routes.
