JP-7 fuel drips from the blackbird; the smell is like kerosene mixed with raw diesel fuel. The fuel tanks do not seal completely on the ground because they contain expansion joints to compensate for the extreme temperatures during flight above Mach 3. As a result, some fuel leaks while the plane is still "cold." In spite of what you may have heard, the leakage is minimal; during the entire 45 minute pre-flight, the SR-71 lost less than 50 gallons of fuel (one third of one percent of her 12,000 gallon capacity).
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