Guided tour of the Northrop Tacit Blue Battlefield Surveillance Aircraft-Experimental (BSAX)

Join me in this detailed tour of the only Northrop Tacit Blue Battlefield Surveillance Aircraft-Experimental (BSAX), also known as the Tacit Blue Technology Demonstration Program. It is on display at the National Museum of the USAF (United States Air Force) in Dayton, OHIO.

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#airplane #plane #plane

0:00 intro
0:36 National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton
0:55 Battlefield Surveillance Aircraft-Experimental (BSAX)
1:30 Tacit Blue Technology Demonstration Program stealthy design
2:15 low observable pitot-static system
2:55 low-probability-of-intercept radar (LPIR)
3:40 wing with Clarky Y airfoil
4:15 landing gear
4:50 unique tail end design with wide spaced V tail
5:20 2 × Garrett ATF3-6 turbofan engines
5:30 unique engine intake and exhaust
8:20 cockpit

[anthonyf]

This museum was a bucket list item for me for a decade. Finally went a week ago and will never forget it.

[adamoneil]

I went to the Dayton museum last year and marveled at this strange plane. I was there thanks to your vids on the XB-70 and YF-23, being a life long mil aviation nerd. Great video here, and thanks for your other stuff.

[ntdfmaverick]

I did not know this plane still existed, let alone, was on display! Photographs appear so often of it in flight testing. I had no idea it was available to see up close! Thanks for sharing.

[ginog]

Excellent video Paul! The USAF Museum never ever gets old. That beautiful XB-70 in the background, still makes my heart skip a beat❤

[GarryCollins-ecyo]

I enjoyed that video, thanks. Being in the Air Force back then I remember that jet. A side note, the B-2 started arriving in the Air Force in ‘93, not ‘97. I watched a fly over in ‘94 or ‘95 at Langley AFB. Very impressive.

[heathertruskinger]

Thanks Paul.
Quite a lot of interesting information in this one !
I certainly doubt envy your task of editing those 100 gigs of video you took.
That's quite some "Steer Cred" you are building up to get access to this museum, too !

I think I might not be the only subscriber who might be a little jealous of you touring through all these museums and displays of old aircraft, rockets, bunkers, and other assorted and unique things.

Thanks heaps !🎉

[cupidstunt]

I am forced to wonder how many supposed UFOs are actually weird looking things like this

[jackpledger]

While I was flying FB-111s, it was easy to identify Ford cars and trucks along busy highways...they were the ones being towed trucks by tow trucks which were usually Chevrolets or GMCs.

[williamwilson]

The museum was a much different place back when I first visited as a kid…circa 1963.

[luciusvorenus]

The fuselage reminds me of a lifting body design. How did the pilot enter this aircraft?
Another fantastic, Mr. Stewart!

[brianthomas]

I am fortunate to live close to this museum, .. i really must visit it again!

[jimfinlaw]

Very nice video on Tacit Blue. Thanks for sharing. My uncle was very much involved with the Tacit Blue Project. It was one of his pet projects. My uncle worked for the Northrop Corporation as a chemist. He came up with the radar absorbant material back in the early 1960's. It took him 10 years to convince our government how useful it could be. By 1976, the Tacit Blue Program was born. The aircraft was purpose built as a surveillance aircraft. Its odd shapes was designed to prove how well my uncle's radar absorbant material would work on curved surfaces. It proved to work quite well. His radar absorbant material was adopted for use on the Northrop B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber that is still today classified.

[briancooper]

I need to go there again. Last time was 35 years ago.

[rollertoaster]

I've seen this in person at the museum myself, and you cannot understate how much it looks like a wooden mock-up when you look closely at the surface! I suppose that is just due to the RAM coating and the strangely featureless skin

[davidbarnsley]

Another great airplane museum I will never get to see 😢😢😢
Lucy you Paul I will have to see if you did a tour of this one so I can see all the planes 👍👍🇦🇺

[MrSinlock]

Paul, Love you channel. It clear you do a great deal of research for your tours, and not just read placards and Wikipedia. Would love to see you do more tours of helicopters.

[SaturnCanuck]

Paul, great as usual. This is certainly a unique aircraft and one that demands your video expertise. Two comments. One, “technically” and chronologically, the YF-12A was the fighter development of the A-12, while the SR-71 was the reconnaissance version of the YF-12A. Two, in the background of this video is one of my favourite aircraft, the Republic XF-84H "Thunderscreech". I hope you do a video on this unique, and apparently VERY LOUD aircraft.

[cphrpunk]

They do such a good job with that museum, and it’s still amazingly free to get in.

I grew up just outside Dayton, as a teen we’d drive to Vandalia to a hobby shop then over to WPAFB and park off a street to watch planes land. That would usually be followed up with a trip to the museum and hang out all day.

[josephpiskac]

Very neat! I remember isolated images of this plane being discovered and I felt people didn't know what to make of it and did not take it seriously. I did some work around Dayton and definitely should have visited this museum.

[jumpingjeffflash]

went there last year for my vacation, it's beyond awesome. I never got the chance to see an SR-71 fly when i was in the USAF as they ended the program in 1990 when I went operational. I was able to finally see one up close at this museum and touch it, an absolutely fantastic museum to see.