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Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird

January 19, 2023

"SR-71" redirects here. For other uses, see SR-71 (disambiguation).

The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a long-range, high-altitude, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation.[N 1] It was operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and NASA.[1]

SR-71 "Blackbird"
An SR-71B trainer over the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California in 1994. The raised second cockpit is for the instructor.
Role Strategic reconnaissance aircraft
National origin United States
Manufacturer Lockheed, Skunk Works division
Designer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson
First flight 22 December 1964
Introduction January 1966
Retired
  • 1998 (USAF)
  • 1999 (NASA)
Status Retired
Primary users United States Air Force (historical)
NASA (historical)
Number built 32
Developed from Lockheed A-12

The SR-71 was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft during the 1960s by Lockheed's Skunk Works division. American aerospace engineer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many of the aircraft's innovative concepts. The shape of the SR-71 was based on that of the A-12, which was one of the first aircraft to be designed with a reduced radar cross-section. Initially, a bomber variant of the A-12 was requested by Curtis LeMay, before the program was focused solely on reconnaissance. Mission equipment for the reconnaissance role included signals intelligence sensors, side looking airborne radar, and a camera;[2] the SR-71 was both longer and heavier than the A-12, allowing it to hold more fuel as well as a two-seat cockpit. The SR-71 entered service in January 1966.

During aerial reconnaissance missions, the SR-71 operated at high speeds and altitudes (Mach 3.2 and 85,000 feet, 25,900 meters), allowing it to outrace or entirely avoid threats.[2] If a surface-to-air missile launch was detected, the standard evasive action was simply to accelerate and outpace the missile.[3] On average, each SR-71 could fly once per week due to the extended turnaround required after mission recovery. A total of 32 aircraft were built; 12 were lost in accidents with none lost to enemy action.[4][5] In 1989, the USAF retired the SR-71 largely for political reasons; several were briefly reactivated during the 1990s before their second retirement in 1998. NASA was the final operator of the Blackbird, who used it as a research platform, and was retired in 1999.[6] Since its retirement, the SR-71's role has been taken up by a combination of reconnaissance satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); a proposed UAV successor, the SR-72, is under development by Lockheed Martin, and scheduled to fly in 2025.[7] The SR-71 has several nicknames, including "Blackbird" and "Habu".[8] As of 2022 the SR-71 holds the world record it set in 1976 as the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft, previously held by the related Lockheed YF-12.[9][10][11]

Development

Background

Main article: Lockheed A-12

Lockheed's previous reconnaissance aircraft was the relatively slow U-2, designed for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In late 1957, the CIA approached the defense contractor Lockheed to build an undetectable spy plane. The project, named Archangel, was led by Kelly Johnson, head of Lockheed's Skunk Works unit in Burbank, California. The work on project Archangel began in the second quarter of 1958, with aim of flying higher and faster than the U-2. Of 11 successive designs drafted in a span of 10 months, "A-10" was the front-runner. Despite this, however, its shape made it vulnerable to radar detection. After a meeting with the CIA in March 1959, the design was modified to have a 90% reduction in radar cross-section. The CIA approved a US$96 million contract for Skunk Works to build a dozen spy planes, named "A-12", on 11 February 1960. The 1960 downing of Francis Gary Powers's U-2 underscored the aircraft's vulnerability and the need for faster reconnaissance aircraft such as the A-12.[12]

The A-12 first flew at Groom Lake (Area 51), Nevada, on 25 April 1962. Thirteen were built; two variants were also developed, including three of the YF-12 interceptor prototype, and two of the M-21 drone carrier. The aircraft was meant to be powered by the Pratt & Whitney J58 engine, but development ran over schedule, and it was equipped instead with the less powerful Pratt & Whitney J75 initially. The J58s were retrofitted as they became available, and became the standard engine for all subsequent aircraft in the series (A-12, YF-12, M-21), as well as the SR-71. The A-12 flew missions over Vietnam and North Korea before its retirement in 1968. The program's cancellation was announced on 28 December 1966,[13] due both to budget concerns[14] and because of the forthcoming SR-71, a derivative of the A-12.[15]

Designation as SR-71

 
SR-71 Blackbird assembly line at Skunk Works

The SR-71 designation is a continuation of the pre-1962 bomber series; the last aircraft built using the series was the XB-70 Valkyrie. However, a bomber variant of the Blackbird was briefly given the B-71 designator, which was retained when the type was changed to SR-71.[16]

During the later stages of its testing, the B-70 was proposed for a reconnaissance/strike role, with an "RS-70" designation. When the A-12's performance potential was clearly found to be much greater, the USAF ordered a variant of the A-12 in December 1962,[17] which was originally named R-12 by Lockheed.[N 2] This USAF version was longer and heavier than the original A-12 because it had a longer fuselage to hold more fuel. The R-12 also had a larger two-seat cockpit, and reshaped fuselage chines. Reconnaissance equipment included signals intelligence sensors, a side-looking airborne radar, and a photo camera.[17] The CIA's A-12 was a better photo-reconnaissance platform than the USAF's R-12, since the A-12 flew somewhat higher and faster,[14] and with only one pilot, it had room to carry a superior camera[14] and more instruments.[18]

During the 1964 campaign, Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater repeatedly criticized President Lyndon B. Johnson and his administration for falling behind the Soviet Union in developing new weapons. Johnson decided to counter this criticism by revealing the existence of the YF-12A USAF interceptor, which also served as cover for the still-secret A-12[19] and the USAF reconnaissance model since July 1964. USAF Chief of Staff General Curtis LeMay preferred the SR (Strategic Reconnaissance) designation and wanted the RS-71 to be named SR-71. Before the July speech, LeMay lobbied to modify Johnson's speech to read "SR-71" instead of "RS-71". The media transcript given to the press at the time still had the earlier RS-71 designation in places, creating the story that the president had misread the aircraft's designation.[20][N 3] To conceal the A-12's existence, Johnson referred only to the A-11, while revealing the existence of a high speed, high altitude reconnaissance aircraft.[21]

In 1968, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara canceled the F-12 interceptor program. The specialized tooling used to manufacture both the YF-12 and the SR-71 was also ordered destroyed.[22] Production of the SR-71 totaled 32 aircraft with 29 SR-71As, two SR-71Bs, and the single SR-71C.[23]

Design

Overview

 
Forward cockpit

The SR-71 was designed for flight at over Mach 3 with a flight crew of two in tandem cockpits, with the pilot in the forward cockpit and the reconnaissance systems officer operating the surveillance systems and equipment from the rear cockpit, and directing navigation on the mission flight path.[24][25] The SR-71 was designed to minimize its radar cross-section, an early attempt at stealth design.[26] Finished aircraft were painted a dark blue, almost black, to increase the emission of internal heat and to act as camouflage against the night sky. The dark color led to the aircraft's nickname "Blackbird".

While the SR-71 carried radar countermeasures to evade interception efforts, its greatest protection was its combination of high altitude and very high speed, which made it almost invulnerable. Along with its low radar cross-section, these qualities gave a very short time for an enemy surface-to-air missile (SAM) site to acquire and track the aircraft on radar. By the time the SAM site could track the SR-71, it was often too late to launch a SAM, and the SR-71 would be out of range before the SAM could catch up to it. If the SAM site could track the SR-71 and fire a SAM in time, the SAM would expend nearly all of the delta-v of its boost and sustainer phases just reaching the SR-71's altitude; at this point, out of thrust, it could do little more than follow its ballistic arc. Merely accelerating would typically be enough for an SR-71 to evade a SAM;[3] changes by the pilots in the SR-71's speed, altitude, and heading were also often enough to spoil any radar lock on the plane by SAM sites or enemy fighters.[25] At sustained speeds of more than Mach 3.2, the plane was faster than the Soviet Union's fastest interceptor, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25, which also could not reach the SR-71's altitude.[27] During its service life, no SR-71 was ever shot down.[4]

Airframe, canopy, and landing gear

On most aircraft, the use of titanium was limited by the costs involved; it was generally used only in components exposed to the highest temperatures, such as exhaust fairings and the leading edges of wings. On the SR-71, titanium was used for 85% of the structure, with much of the rest polymer composite materials.[28] To control costs, Lockheed used a more easily worked titanium alloy which softened at a lower temperature.[N 4] The challenges posed led Lockheed to develop new fabrication methods, which have since been used in the manufacture of other aircraft. Lockheed found that washing welded titanium requires distilled water, as the chlorine present in tap water is corrosive; cadmium-plated tools could not be used, as they also caused corrosion.[29] Metallurgical contamination was another problem; at one point, 80% of the delivered titanium for manufacture was rejected on these grounds.[30][31]

 
A Lockheed M-21 with a D-21 drone on display at Seattle's Museum of Flight

The high temperatures generated in flight required special design and operating techniques. Major sections of the skin of the inboard wings were corrugated, not smooth. Aerodynamicists initially opposed the concept, disparagingly referring to the aircraft as a Mach 3 variant of the 1920s-era Ford Trimotor, which was known for its corrugated aluminum skin.[32] The heat would have caused a smooth skin to split or curl, whereas the corrugated skin could expand vertically and horizontally and had increased longitudinal strength.

Fuselage panels were manufactured to fit only loosely with the aircraft on the ground. Proper alignment was achieved as the airframe heated up and expanded several inches.[33] Because of this, and the lack of a fuel-sealing system that could handle the airframe's expansion at extreme temperatures, the aircraft leaked JP-7 fuel on the ground prior to takeoff.[34]

The outer windscreen of the cockpit was made of quartz and was fused ultrasonically to the titanium frame.[35] The temperature of the exterior of the windscreen reached 600 °F (316 °C) during a mission.[36] Cooling was carried out by cycling fuel behind the titanium surfaces in the chines. On landing, the canopy temperature was over 572 °F (300 °C).[32]

Some SR-71s featured red stripes to prevent maintenance workers from damaging the thin, fragile skin located near the center of the fuselage. This portion of the skin was only supported by widely spaced structural ribs.[37]

The Blackbird's tires, manufactured by B.F. Goodrich, contained aluminum and were filled with nitrogen. They cost $2,300 and would generally require replacing within 20 missions. The Blackbird landed at over 170 knots (200 mph; 310 km/h) and deployed a drag parachute to stop; the chute also acted to reduce stress on the tires.[38]

Acquisition of titanium

Titanium was in short supply in the United States, so the Skunk Works team was forced to look elsewhere for the metal. Much of the needed material came from the Soviet Union. Colonel Rich Graham, SR-71 pilot, described the acquisition process:

The airplane is 92% titanium inside and out. Back when they were building the airplane the United States didn't have the ore supplies – an ore called rutile ore. It's a very sandy soil and it's only found in very few parts of the world. The major supplier of the ore was the USSR. Working through Third World countries and bogus operations, they were able to get the rutile ore shipped to the United States to build the SR-71.[39]

Shape and threat avoidance

 
Water vapor is condensed by the low-pressure vortices generated by the chines outboard of each engine inlet.

The second operational aircraft[40] designed around a stealth aircraft shape and materials, after the Lockheed A-12,[40] the SR-71 had several features designed to reduce its radar signature. The SR-71 had a radar cross-section (RCS) around 110 sq ft (10 m2).[41] Drawing on early studies in radar stealth technology, which indicated that a shape with flattened, tapering sides would reflect most energy away from a radar beam's place of origin, engineers added chines and canted the vertical control surfaces inward. Special radar-absorbing materials were incorporated into sawtooth-shaped sections of the aircraft's skin. Cesium-based fuel additives were used to somewhat reduce exhaust plumes' visibility to radar, although exhaust streams remained quite apparent. Kelly Johnson later conceded that Soviet radar technology advanced faster than the stealth technology employed against it.[42]

The SR-71 featured chines, a pair of sharp edges leading aft from either side of the nose along the fuselage. These were not a feature on the early A-3 design; Frank Rodgers, a doctor at the Scientific Engineering Institute, a CIA front organization, discovered that a cross-section of a sphere had a greatly reduced radar reflection, and adapted a cylindrical-shaped fuselage by stretching out the sides of the fuselage.[43] After the advisory panel provisionally selected Convair's FISH design over the A-3 on the basis of RCS, Lockheed adopted chines for its A-4 through A-6 designs.[44]

Aerodynamicists discovered that the chines generated powerful vortices and created additional lift, leading to unexpected aerodynamic performance improvements.[45] The angle of incidence of the delta wings could be reduced for greater stability and less drag at high speeds, and more weight carried, such as fuel. Landing speeds were also reduced, as the chines' vortices created turbulent flow over the wings at high angles of attack, making it harder to stall. The chines also acted like leading-edge extensions, which increase the agility of fighters such as the F-5, F-16, F/A-18, MiG-29, and Su-27. The addition of chines also allowed the removal of the planned canard foreplanes.[N 5][46][47]

Air inlets

 
Operation of the air inlets and flow through the propulsion system

The air inlets allowed the SR-71 to cruise at over Mach 3.2, with the air slowing down to subsonic speed as it entered the engine. Mach 3.2 was the design point for the aircraft, its most efficient speed.[32] However, in practice the SR-71 was sometimes more efficient at even faster speeds—depending on the outside air temperature—as measured by pounds of fuel burned per nautical mile traveled. During one mission, SR-71 pilot Brian Shul flew faster than usual to avoid multiple interception attempts; afterward, it was discovered that this had reduced fuel consumption.[48]

At the front of each inlet, a pointed, movable cone called a "spike" (inlet cone) was locked in its full forward position on the ground and during subsonic flight. When the aircraft accelerated past Mach 1.6, an internal jackscrew moved the spike up to 26 in (66 cm) inwards,[49] directed by an analog air inlet computer that took into account pitot-static system, pitch, roll, yaw, and angle of attack. Moving the spike tip drew the shock wave riding on it closer to the inlet cowling until it touched just slightly inside the cowling lip. This position reflected the spike shock wave repeatedly between the spike center body and the inlet inner cowl sides, and minimized airflow spillage which is the cause of spillage drag. The air slowed supersonically with a final plane shock wave at entry to the subsonic diffuser.[50]

Downstream of this normal shock, the air is subsonic. It decelerates further in the divergent duct to give the required speed at entry to the compressor. Capture of the plane's shock wave within the inlet is called "starting the inlet". Bleed tubes and bypass doors were designed into the inlet and engine nacelles to handle some of this pressure and to position the final shock to allow the inlet to remain "started".

 
Schlieren flow visualization at unstart of axisymmetric inlet at Mach 2

In the early years of operation, the analog computers would not always keep up with rapidly changing flight environmental inputs. If internal pressures became too great and the spike was incorrectly positioned, the shock wave would suddenly blow out the front of the inlet, called an "inlet unstart". During unstarts, afterburner extinctions were common. The remaining engine's asymmetrical thrust would cause the aircraft to yaw violently to one side. SAS, autopilot, and manual control inputs would fight the yawing, but often the extreme off-angle would reduce airflow in the opposite engine and stimulate "sympathetic stalls". This generated a rapid counter-yawing, often coupled with loud "banging" noises, and a rough ride during which crews' helmets would sometimes strike their cockpit canopies.[51] One response to a single unstart was unstarting both inlets to prevent yawing, then restarting them both.[52] After wind tunnel testing and computer modeling by NASA Dryden test center,[53] Lockheed installed an electronic control to detect unstart conditions and perform this reset action without pilot intervention.[54] During troubleshooting of the unstart issue, NASA also discovered the vortices from the nose chines were entering the engine and interfering with engine efficiency. NASA developed a computer to control the engine bypass doors which countered this issue and improved efficiency. Beginning in 1980, the analog inlet control system was replaced by a digital system, which reduced unstart instances.[55]

Engines

Main article: Pratt & Whitney J58
 
A Pratt & Whitney J58 (JT11D-20) engine on open display at Evergreen Aviation Museum
 
A preserved AG330 start cart

The SR-71 was powered by two Pratt & Whitney J58 (company designation JT11D-20) axial-flow turbojet engines. The J58 was a considerable innovation of the era, capable of producing a static thrust of 32,500 lbf (145 kN).[56][57] The engine was most efficient around Mach 3.2,[58] the Blackbird's typical cruising speed. At take-off, the afterburner provided 26% of the thrust. This proportion increased progressively with speed until the afterburner provided all the thrust at about Mach 3.[56]

Air was initially compressed (and heated) by the inlet spike and subsequent converging duct between the center body and inlet cowl. The shock waves generated slowed the air to subsonic speeds relative to the engine. The air then entered the engine compressor. Some of this compressor flow (20% at cruise) was removed after the fourth compressor stage and went straight to the afterburner through six bypass tubes. Air passing through the turbojet was compressed further by the remaining five compressor stages and then fuel was added in the combustion chamber. After passing through the turbine, the exhaust, together with the compressor bleed air, entered the afterburner.[59]

At around Mach 3, the temperature rise from the intake compression, added to the engine compressor temperature rise, reduced the allowable fuel flow because the turbine temperature limit did not change. The rotating machinery produced less power, but still enough to run at 100% RPM, thus keeping the airflow through the intake constant. The rotating machinery had become a drag item[60] and the engine thrust at high speeds came from the afterburner temperature rise.[61] Maximum flight speed was limited by the temperature of the air entering the engine compressor, which was not certified for temperatures above 800 °F (430 °C).[62]

Originally, the Blackbird's J58 engines were started with the assistance of two Buick Wildcat V8 internal combustion engines, externally mounted on a vehicle referred to as an AG330 "start cart". The start cart was positioned underneath the J58 and the two Buick engines powered a single, vertical drive shaft connecting to the J58 engine and spinning it to above 3,200 RPM, at which point the turbojet could self-sustain. Once the first J58 engine was started, the cart was repositioned to start the aircraft's other J58 engine. Later start carts used Chevrolet big-block V8 engines. Eventually, a quieter, pneumatic start system was developed for use at main operating bases. The V8 start carts remained at diversion landing sites not equipped with the pneumatic system.[63][64]

Fuel

 
An SR-71 refueling from a KC-135Q Stratotanker during a flight in 1983

Several exotic fuels were investigated for the Blackbird. Development began on a coal slurry power plant, but Johnson determined that the coal particles damaged important engine components.[32] Research was conducted on a liquid hydrogen powerplant, but the tanks for storing cryogenic hydrogen were not of a suitable size or shape.[32] In practice, the Blackbird would burn somewhat conventional JP-7, which was difficult to ignite. To start the engines, triethylborane (TEB), which ignites on contact with air, was injected to produce temperatures high enough to ignite the JP-7. The TEB produced a characteristic green flame, which could often be seen during engine ignition.[48]

On a typical SR-71 mission, the airplane took off with only a partial fuel load to reduce stress on the brakes and tires during takeoff and also ensure it could successfully take off should one engine fail.[34] It is a common misconception that the planes refueled shortly after takeoff because the jet fuel leaked. The leaking of fuel was an intentional design feature because the high heat generated by the aircraft made it impossible to fully seal the fuselage tanks against leaks.[65] However, the amount of fuel that leaked was not enough to make the refueling necessary; the planes refueled because the maximum speeds of the aircraft were only possible with aerial refueling.[66]

The SR-71 also required in-flight refueling to replenish fuel during long-duration missions. Supersonic flights generally lasted no more than 90 minutes before the pilot had to find a tanker.[67]

Specialized KC-135Q tankers were required to refuel the SR-71. The KC-135Q had a modified high-speed boom, which would allow refueling of the Blackbird at nearly the tanker's maximum airspeed with minimum flutter. The tanker also had special fuel systems for moving JP-4 (for the KC-135Q itself) and JP-7 (for the SR-71) between different tanks.[68] As an aid to the pilot when refueling, the cockpit was fitted with a peripheral vision horizon display. This unusual instrument projected a barely visible artificial horizon line across the top of the entire instrument panel, which gave the pilot subliminal cues on aircraft attitude.[69]

Astro-inertial navigation system

Nortronics, Northrop Corporation's electronics development division, had developed an astro-inertial guidance system (ANS), which could correct inertial navigation system errors with celestial observations, for the SM-62 Snark missile, and a separate system for the ill-fated AGM-48 Skybolt missile, the latter of which was adapted for the SR-71.[70][verification needed]

Before takeoff, a primary alignment brought the ANS's inertial components to a high degree of accuracy. In flight, the ANS, which sat behind the reconnaissance systems officer's (RSO's), position, tracked stars through a circular quartz glass window on the upper fuselage.[48] Its "blue light" source star tracker, which could see stars during both day and night, would continuously track a variety of stars as the aircraft's changing position brought them into view. The system's digital computer ephemeris contained data on a list of stars used for celestial navigation: the list first included 56 stars and was later expanded to 61.[71] The ANS could supply altitude and position to flight controls and other systems, including the mission data recorder, automatic navigation to preset destination points, automatic pointing and control of cameras and sensors, and optical or SLR sighting of fixed points loaded into the ANS before takeoff. According to Richard Graham, a former SR-71 pilot, the navigation system was good enough to limit drift to 1,000 ft (300 m) off the direction of travel at Mach 3.[72]

Sensors and payloads

 
The SR-71 Defensive System B

The SR-71 originally included optical/infrared imagery systems; side-looking airborne radar (SLAR);[73] electronic intelligence (ELINT) gathering systems;[74] defensive systems for countering missile and airborne fighters;[75][76][77][78] and recorders for SLAR, ELINT, and maintenance data. The SR-71 carried a Fairchild tracking camera and an infrared camera,[79] both of which ran during the entire mission.

As the SR-71 had a second cockpit behind the pilot for the RSO, it could not carry the A-12's principal sensor, a single large-focal-length optical camera that sat in the "Q-Bay" behind the A-12's single cockpit. Instead, the SR-71's camera systems could be located either in the fuselage chines or the removable nose/chine section. Wide-area imaging was provided by two of Itek's Operational Objective Cameras, which provided stereo imagery across the width of the flight track, or an Itek Optical Bar Camera, which gave continuous horizon-to-horizon coverage. A closer view of the target area was given by the HYCON Technical Objective Camera (TEOC), which could be directed up to 45° left or right of the centerline.[80] Initially, the TEOCs could not match the resolution of the A-12's larger camera, but rapid improvements in both the camera and film improved this performance.[80][81]

SLAR, built by Goodyear Aerospace, could be carried in the removable nose. In later life, the radar was replaced by Loral's Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar System (ASARS-1). Both the first SLAR and ASARS-1 were ground-mapping imaging systems, collecting data either in fixed swaths left or right of centerline or from a spot location for higher resolution.[80] ELINT-gathering systems, called the Electro Magnetic Reconnaissance System, built by AIL could be carried in the chine bays to analyze electronic signal fields being passed through, and were programmed to identify items of interest.[80][82]

Over its operational life, the Blackbird carried various electronic countermeasures (ECMs), including warning and active electronic systems built by several ECM companies and called Systems A, A2, A2C, B, C, C2, E, G, H, and M. On a given mission, an aircraft carried several of these frequency/purpose payloads to meet the expected threats. Major Jerry Crew, an RSO, told Air & Space/Smithsonian that he used a jammer to try to confuse surface-to-air missile sites as their crews tracked his airplane, but once his threat-warning receiver told him a missile had been launched, he switched off the jammer to prevent the missile from homing in on its signal.[83] After landing, information from the SLAR, ELINT gathering systems, and the maintenance data recorder were subjected to postflight ground analysis. In the later years of its operational life, a datalink system could send ASARS-1 and ELINT data from about 2,000 nmi (3,700 km) of track coverage to a suitably equipped ground station.[citation needed]

Life support

 
SR-71 pilot in full flight suit
 
The crew of a NASA Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird standing by the aircraft in their pressurized flight suits, 1991

Flying at 80,000 ft (24,000 m) meant that crews could not use standard masks, which could not provide enough oxygen above 43,000 ft (13,000 m). Specialized protective pressurized suits were produced for crew members by the David Clark Company for the A-12, YF-12, M-21 and SR-71. Furthermore, an emergency ejection at Mach 3.2 would subject crews to temperatures of about 450 °F (230 °C); thus, during a high-altitude ejection scenario, an onboard oxygen supply would keep the suit pressurized during the descent.[84]

The cockpit could be pressurized to an altitude of 10,000 or 26,000 ft (3,000 or 8,000 m) during flight.[85] The cabin needed a heavy-duty cooling system, as cruising at Mach 3.2 would heat the aircraft's external surface well beyond 500 °F (260 °C)[86] and the inside of the windshield to 250 °F (120 °C). An air conditioner used a heat exchanger to dump heat from the cockpit into the fuel prior to combustion.[87] The same air-conditioning system was also used to keep the front (nose) landing gear bay cool, thereby eliminating the need for the special aluminum-impregnated tires similar to those used on the main landing gear.[88]

Blackbird pilots and RSOs were provided with food and drink for the long reconnaissance flights. Water bottles had long straws which crewmembers guided into an opening in the helmet by looking in a mirror. Food was contained in sealed containers similar to toothpaste tubes which delivered food to the crewmember's mouth through the helmet opening.[89][39]

Operational history

Main era

The first flight of an SR-71 took place on 22 December 1964, at USAF Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, piloted by Bob Gilliland.[90][91] The SR-71 reached a top speed of Mach 3.4 during flight testing,[92][93] with pilot Major Brian Shul reporting a speed in excess of Mach 3.5 on an operational sortie while evading a missile over Libya.[94] The first SR-71 to enter service was delivered to the 4200th (later, 9th) Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base, California, in January 1966.[95]

SR-71s first arrived at the 9th SRW's Operating Location (OL-8) at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan on 8 March 1968.[96] These deployments were code-named "Glowing Heat", while the program as a whole was code-named "Senior Crown". Reconnaissance missions over North Vietnam were code-named "Black Shield" and then renamed "Giant Scale" in late 1968.[97] On 21 March 1968, Major (later General) Jerome F. O'Malley and Major Edward D. Payne flew the first operational SR-71 sortie in SR-71 serial number 61-7976 from Kadena AFB, Okinawa.[96] During its career, this aircraft (976) accumulated 2,981 flying hours and flew 942 total sorties (more than any other SR-71), including 257 operational missions, from Beale AFB; Palmdale, California; Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan; and RAF Mildenhall, UK. The aircraft was flown to the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton, Ohio in March 1990.

The USAF could fly each SR-71, on average, once per week, because of the extended turnaround required after mission recovery. Very often an aircraft would return with rivets missing, delaminated panels or other broken parts such as inlets requiring repair or replacement. There were cases of the aircraft not being ready to fly again for a month due to the repairs needed. Rob Vermeland, Lockheed Martin's manager of Advanced Development Program, said in an interview in 2015 that high-tempo operations were not realistic for the SR-71. "If we had one sitting in the hangar here and the crew chief was told there was a mission planned right now, then 19 hours later it would be safely ready to take off."[98]

From the beginning of the Blackbird's reconnaissance missions over North Vietnam and Laos in 1968, the SR-71s averaged approximately one sortie a week for nearly two years. By 1970, the SR-71s were averaging two sorties per week, and by 1972, they were flying nearly one sortie every day. Two SR-71s were lost during these missions, one in 1970 and the second aircraft in 1972, both due to mechanical malfunctions.[99][100] Over the course of its reconnaissance missions during the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese fired approximately 800 SAMs at SR-71s, none of which managed to score a hit.[101] Pilots did report that missiles launched without radar guidance and no launch detection, had passed as close as 150 yards (140 m) from the aircraft.[102]

 
Early project Habu logo

While deployed at Okinawa, the SR-71s and their aircrew members gained the nickname Habu (as did the A-12s preceding them) after a pit viper indigenous to Japan, which the Okinawans thought the plane resembled.[8]

Operational highlights for the entire Blackbird family (YF-12, A-12, and SR-71) as of about 1990 included:[103]

  • 3,551 mission sorties flown
  • 17,300 total sorties flown
  • 11,008 mission flight hours
  • 53,490 total flight hours
  • 2,752 hours Mach 3 time (missions)
  • 11,675 hours Mach 3 time (total)

Only one crew member, Jim Zwayer, a Lockheed flight-test reconnaissance and navigation systems specialist, was killed in a flight accident.[84] The rest of the crew members ejected safely or evacuated their aircraft on the ground.

An SR-71 was used domestically in 1971 to assist the FBI in their manhunt for the skyjacker D.B. Cooper. The Blackbird was to retrace and photograph the flightpath of the hijacked 727 from Seattle to Reno and attempt to locate any of items that Cooper was known to have parachuted with from the aircraft.[104] Five flights were attempted but on each occasion no photographs of the flight path were obtained due to low visibility.[105]

European flights

European operations were from RAF Mildenhall, England. There were two routes. One was along the Norwegian west coast and up the Kola Peninsula, which contained several large naval bases belonging to the Soviet Navy's Northern Fleet. Over the years, there were several emergency landings in Norway, four in Bodø and two of them in 1981 (flying from Beale) and 1985. Rescue parties were sent in to repair the planes before leaving. On one occasion, one complete wing with engine was replaced as the easiest way to get the plane airborne again.[106][107] The other route, from Mildenhall over the Baltic Sea, was known as the Baltic Express.

Swedish Air Force fighter pilots have managed to lock their radar on an SR-71 on multiple occasions within shooting range.[108][109][clarification needed] Target illumination was maintained by feeding target location from ground-based radars to the fire-control computer in the JA 37 Viggen interceptor.[110] The most common site for the lock-on was the thin stretch of international airspace between Öland and Gotland that the SR-71s used on their return flights.[111][112][113]

On 29 June 1987, an SR-71 was on a mission around the Baltic Sea to spy on Soviet postings when one of the engines exploded. The aircraft, which was at 20 km altitude, quickly lost altitude and turned 180° to the left and turned over Gotland to search for the Swedish coast. Thus, Swedish airspace was violated, whereupon two unarmed[114] Saab JA 37 Viggens on an exercise at the height of Västervik were ordered there. The mission was to do an incident preparedness check and identify an aircraft of high interest. It was found that the plane was in obvious distress and a decision was made that the Swedish Air Force would escort the plane out of the Baltic Sea. A second round of armed AJ-37s from Ängelholm replaced the first pair and completed the escort to Danish airspace. The event had been classified for over 30 years, and when the report was unsealed, data from the NSA showed that multiple MiG-25s with the order to shoot down the SR-71 or force it to land, had started right after the engine failure. A MiG-25 had locked a missile on the damaged SR-71, but as the aircraft was under escort, no missiles were fired. On 29 November 2018, the four Swedish pilots involved were awarded medals from the USAF.[115][116]

Initial retirement

One widely conventional view, and probably the best-known view, of the reasons for the SR-71's retirement in 1989—a view that the Air Force itself offered to the Congress—was that besides being very expensive, the SR-71 had become redundant anyway, among other reconnaissance methods that were ever-evolving.[25] However, another view held by various officers and legislators is that the SR-71 program was terminated owing to Pentagon politics, and not because the aircraft had become obsolete, irrelevant, too hard to maintain, or unsustainably expensive.[25] Retired Colonel Richard H. Graham, a former 1st-SRS and 9th-SRW commander, presented in 1996 what he viewed as a factual summary, not an opinion, of how the SR-71 provided some intelligence capabilities that none of its alternatives (such as satellites, U-2s, and UAVs) were providing in the 1990s (when the SR-71 was retired and then re-retired from Air Force reconnaissance duty.)[25]: 205–217  The chief question for opinion, beyond that point, was only how crucial, or disposable, those unique advantages properly were.

Graham noted that in the 1970s and early 1980s, SR-71 squadron and wing commanders were often promoted into higher positions as general officers within the USAF structure and the Pentagon.[25] (In order to be selected into the SR-71 program in the first place, a pilot or navigator (RSO) had to be a top-quality USAF officer, so continuing career progression for members of this elite group was not surprising.[25]) These generals were adept at communicating the value of the SR-71 to a USAF command staff and a Congress who often lacked a basic understanding of how the SR-71 worked and what it did. However, by the mid-1980s, these SR-71 generals all had retired, and a new generation of USAF generals mostly wanted to cut the program's budget and spend its funding on different priorities,[25] such as the very expensive new B-2 Spirit strategic bomber program. Such generals had an interest in believing, and persuading the services and the Congress, that the SR-71 had become either entirely or almost entirely redundant to satellites, U-2s, incipient UAV programs, and an alleged top-secret successor already under development.[25] Graham said that the last-mentioned one was only a sales pitch, not a fact, at the time in the 1990s.

The USAF may have seen the SR-71 as a bargaining chip to ensure the survival of other priorities. Also, the SR-71 program's "product", which was operational and strategic intelligence, was not seen by these generals as being very valuable to the USAF.[25] The primary consumers of this intelligence were the CIA, NSA, and DIA. A general misunderstanding of the nature of aerial reconnaissance and a lack of knowledge about the SR-71 in particular (due to its secretive development and operations) was used by detractors to discredit the aircraft, with the assurance given that a replacement was under development.[25] Dick Cheney told the Senate Appropriations Committee that the SR-71 cost $85,000 per hour to operate.[117] Opponents estimated the aircraft's support cost at $400 to $700 million per year, though the cost was actually closer to $300 million.[25]

The SR-71, while much more capable than the Lockheed U-2 in terms of range, speed, and survivability, suffered the lack of a data link, which the U-2 had been upgraded to carry. This meant that much of the SR-71's imagery and radar data could not be used in real time, but had to wait until the aircraft returned to base. This lack of immediate real-time capability was used as one of the justifications to close down the program.[25] The counterargument was that the longer the SR-71 was not upgraded as aggressively as it ought to have been, the more people could say that it was obsolescent, which was in their interest as champions of other programs[25] (a self-fulfilling bias). Attempts to add a datalink to the SR-71 were stymied early on by the same factions in the Pentagon and Congress who were already set on the program's demise, even in the early 1980s.[25] These same factions also forced expensive sensor upgrades to the SR-71, which did little to increase its mission capabilities, but could be used as justification for complaining about the cost of the program.[25]

In 1988, Congress was convinced to allocate $160,000 to keep six SR-71s and a trainer model in flyable storage that could become flightworthy within 60 days. However, the USAF refused to spend the money.[25]: 204  While the SR-71 survived attempts to retire it in 1988, partly due to the unmatched ability to provide high-quality coverage of the Kola Peninsula for the US Navy,[118][25]: 194–195  the decision to retire the SR-71 from active duty came in 1989, with the last missions flown in October that year.[119] Four months after the plane's retirement, General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., was told that the expedited reconnaissance, which the SR-71 could have provided, was unavailable during Operation Desert Storm.[120]

The SR-71 program's main operational capabilities came to a close at the end of fiscal year 1989 (October 1989). The 1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (1 SRS) kept its pilots and aircraft operational and active, and flew some operational reconnaissance missions through the end of 1989 and into 1990, due to uncertainty over the timing of the final termination of funding for the program. The squadron finally closed in mid-1990, and the aircraft were distributed to static display locations, with a number kept in reserve storage.[25]

Reactivation

From the operator's perspective, what I need is something that will not give me just a spot in time but will give me a track of what is happening. When we are trying to find out if the Serbs are taking arms, moving tanks or artillery into Bosnia, we can get a picture of them stacked up on the Serbian side of the bridge. We do not know whether they then went on to move across that bridge. We need the [data] that a tactical, an SR-71, a U-2, or an unmanned vehicle of some sort, will give us, in addition to, not in replacement of, the ability of the satellites to go around and check not only that spot but a lot of other spots around the world for us. It is the integration of strategic and tactical.

— Response from Admiral Richard C. Macke to the Senate Committee on Armed Services.[121]
 
SR-71A (2) and SR-71B trainer, Edwards AFB, CA, 1992

Due to unease over political situations in the Middle East and North Korea, the U.S. Congress re-examined the SR-71 beginning in 1993.[120] Rear Admiral Thomas F. Hall addressed the question of why the SR-71 was retired, saying it was under "the belief that, given the time delay associated with mounting a mission, conducting a reconnaissance, retrieving the data, processing it, and getting it out to a field commander, that you had a problem in timelines that was not going to meet the tactical requirements on the modern battlefield. And the determination was that if one could take advantage of technology and develop a system that could get that data back real time... that would be able to meet the unique requirements of the tactical commander." Hall also stated they were "looking at alternative means of doing [the job of the SR-71]."[121]

Macke told the committee that they were "flying U-2s, RC-135s, [and] other strategic and tactical assets" to collect information in some areas.[121] Senator Robert Byrd and other senators complained that the "better than" successor to the SR-71 had yet to be developed at the cost of the "good enough" serviceable aircraft. They maintained that, in a time of constrained military budgets, designing, building, and testing an aircraft with the same capabilities as the SR-71 would be impossible.[103]

Congress's disappointment with the lack of a suitable replacement for the Blackbird was cited concerning whether to continue funding imaging sensors on the U-2. Congressional conferees stated the "experience with the SR-71 serves as a reminder of the pitfalls of failing to keep existing systems up-to-date and capable in the hope of acquiring other capabilities."[103] It was agreed to add $100 million to the budget to return three SR-71s to service, but it was emphasized that this "would not prejudice support for long-endurance UAVs" [such as the Global Hawk]. The funding was later cut to $72.5 million.[103] The Skunk Works was able to return the aircraft to service under budget at $72 million.[122]

Retired USAF Colonel Jay Murphy was made the Program Manager for Lockheed's reactivation plans. Retired USAF Colonels Don Emmons and Barry MacKean were put under government contract to remake the plane's logistic and support structure. Still-active USAF pilots and Reconnaissance Systems Officers (RSOs) who had worked with the aircraft were asked to volunteer to fly the reactivated planes. The aircraft was under the command and control of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base and flew out of a renovated hangar at Edwards Air Force Base. Modifications were made to provide a data-link with "near real-time" transmission of the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar's imagery to sites on the ground.[103]

Final retirement

The reactivation met much resistance: the USAF had not budgeted for the aircraft, and UAV developers worried that their programs would suffer if money was shifted to support the SR-71s. Also, with the allocation requiring yearly reaffirmation by Congress, long-term planning for the SR-71 was difficult.[103] In 1996, the USAF claimed that specific funding had not been authorized, and moved to ground the program. Congress reauthorized the funds, but, in October 1997, President Bill Clinton attempted to use the line-item veto to cancel the $39 million allocated for the SR-71. In June 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the line-item veto was unconstitutional. All this left the SR-71's status uncertain until September 1998, when the USAF called for the funds to be redistributed; the USAF permanently retired it in 1998.

NASA operated the two last airworthy Blackbirds until 1999.[123] All other Blackbirds have been moved to museums except for the two SR-71s and a few D-21 drones retained by the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (later renamed the Armstrong Flight Research Center).[122]

Timeline

1950s–1960s

  • 24 December 1957: First J58 engine run
  • 1 May 1960: Francis Gary Powers is shot down in a Lockheed U-2 over the Soviet Union
  • 13 June 1962: SR-71 mock-up reviewed by the USAF
  • 30 July 1962: J58 completes pre-flight testing
  • 28 December 1962: Lockheed signs contract to build six SR-71 aircraft
  • 25 July 1964: President Johnson makes public announcement of SR-71
  • 29 October 1964: SR-71 prototype (AF Ser. No. 61-7950) delivered to Air Force Plant 42 at Palmdale, California
  • 7 December 1964: Beale AFB, CA, announced as base for SR-71
  • 22 December 1964: First flight of the SR-71, with Lockheed test pilot Robert J "Bob" Gilliland at Palmdale[124]
  • 21 July 1967: Jim Watkins and Dave Dempster fly first international sortie in SR-71A, AF Ser. No. 61-7972, when the Astro-Inertial Navigation System (ANS) fails on a training mission and they accidentally fly into Mexican airspace
  • 5 February 1968: Lockheed ordered to destroy A-12, YF-12, and SR-71 tooling
  • 8 March 1968: First SR-71A (AF Ser. No. 61-7978) arrives at Kadena AB, Okinawa to replace A-12s
  • 21 March 1968: First SR-71 (AF Ser. No. 61-7976) operational mission flown from Kadena AB over Vietnam
  • 29 May 1968: CMSgt Bill Gornik begins the tie-cutting tradition of Habu crews' neckties
  • 13 December 1969: Two SR-71s deployed to Taiwan.

1970s–1980s

  • 3 December 1975: First flight of SR-71A (AF Ser. No. 61-7959) in "big tail" configuration
  • 20 April 1976: TDY operations started at RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom with SR-71A, AF Ser. No. 61-7972
  • 27–28 July 1976: SR-71A sets speed and altitude records (altitude in horizontal flight: 85,068.997 ft (25,929.030 m) and speed over a straight course: 2,193.167 miles per hour (3,529.560 km/h))
  • August 1980: Honeywell starts conversion of AFICS to DAFICS
  • 15 January 1982: SR-71B, AF Ser. No. 61-7956, flies its 1,000th sortie
  • 21 April 1989: SR-71, AF Ser. No. 61-7974, is lost due to an engine explosion after taking off from Kadena AB, the last Blackbird to be lost[4][5]
  • 22 November 1989: USAF SR-71 program officially terminated

1990s

  • 6 March 1990: Last SR-71 flight under Senior Crown program, setting four speed records en route to the Smithsonian Institution
  • 25 July 1991: SR-71B, AF Ser. No. 61-7956/NASA No. 831 officially delivered to NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, California
  • October 1991: NASA engineer Marta Bohn-Meyer becomes the first female SR-71 crew member
  • 28 September 1994: Congress votes to allocate $100 million for reactivation of three SR-71s
  • 28 June 1995: First reactivated SR-71 returns to USAF as Detachment 2
  • 9 October 1999: The last flight of the SR-71 (AF Ser. No. 61-7980/NASA 844)

Records

 
View from the cockpit at 83,000 feet (25,000 m) over the Atlantic Ocean[125]

The SR-71 was the world's fastest and highest-flying air-breathing operational manned aircraft throughout its career and it still holds that record. On 28 July 1976, SR-71 serial number 61-7962, piloted by then Captain Robert Helt, broke the world record: an "absolute altitude record" of 85,069 feet (25,929 m).[11][126][127][128] Several aircraft have exceeded this altitude in zoom climbs, but not in sustained flight.[11] That same day SR-71 serial number 61-7958 set an absolute speed record of 1,905.81 knots (2,193.2 mph; 3,529.6 km/h), approximately Mach 3.3.[11][128][129] SR-71 pilot Brian Shul states in his book The Untouchables that he flew in excess of Mach 3.5 on 15 April 1986 over Libya to evade a missile.[94]

The SR-71 also holds the "speed over a recognized course" record for flying from New York to London—distance 3,461.53 miles (5,570.79 km), 1,806.964 miles per hour (2,908.027 km/h), and an elapsed time of 1 hour 54 minutes and 56.4 seconds—set on 1 September 1974, while flown by USAF pilot James V. Sullivan and Noel F. Widdifield, reconnaissance systems officer (RSO).[130] This equates to an average speed of about Mach 2.72, including deceleration for in-flight refueling. Peak speeds during this flight were likely closer to the declassified top speed of over Mach 3.2. For comparison, the best commercial Concorde flight time was 2 hours 52 minutes and the Boeing 747 averages 6 hours 15 minutes.

On 26 April 1971, 61-7968, flown by majors Thomas B. Estes and Dewain C. Vick, flew over 15,000 miles (24,000 km) in 10 hours and 30 minutes. This flight was awarded the 1971 Mackay Trophy for the "most meritorious flight of the year" and the 1972 Harmon Trophy for "most outstanding international achievement in the art/science of aeronautics".[131]

 
Pilot Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and RSO Lt. Col. Joe Vida on 6 March 1990, the last SR-71 Senior Crown flight

When the SR-71 was retired in 1990, one Blackbird was flown from its birthplace at USAF Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, to go on exhibit at what is now the Smithsonian Institution's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. On 6 March 1990, Lt. Col. Raymond E. Yeilding and Lt. Col. Joseph T. Vida piloted SR-71 S/N 61-7972 on its final Senior Crown flight and set four new speed records in the process:

  • Los Angeles, California, to Washington, D.C., distance 2,299.7 miles (3,701.0 km), average speed 2,144.8 miles per hour (3,451.7 km/h), and an elapsed time of 64 minutes 20 seconds.[130][132]
  • West Coast to East Coast, distance 2,404 miles (3,869 km), average speed 2,124.5 miles per hour (3,419.1 km/h), and an elapsed time of 67 minutes 54 seconds.
  • Kansas City, Missouri, to Washington, D.C., distance 942 miles (1,516 km), average speed 2,176 miles per hour (3,502 km/h), and an elapsed time of 25 minutes 59 seconds.
  • St. Louis, Missouri, to Cincinnati, Ohio, distance 311.4 miles (501.1 km), average speed 2,189.9 miles per hour (3,524.3 km/h), and an elapsed time of 8 minutes 32 seconds.

These four speed records were accepted by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA), the recognized body for aviation records in the United States.[133] Additionally, Air & Space/Smithsonian reported that the USAF clocked the SR-71 at one point in its flight reaching 2,242.48 miles per hour (3,608.92 km/h).[134] After the Los Angeles–Washington flight, on 6 March 1990, Senator John Glenn addressed the United States Senate, chastising the Department of Defense for not using the SR-71 to its full potential:

Mr. President, the termination of the SR-71 was a grave mistake and could place our nation at a serious disadvantage in the event of a future crisis. Yesterday's historic transcontinental flight was a sad memorial to our short-sighted policy in strategic aerial reconnaissance.[135]

Successor

Main article: Lockheed Martin SR-72

Speculation existed regarding a replacement for the SR-71, including a rumored aircraft codenamed Aurora. The limitations of reconnaissance satellites, which take up to 24 hours to arrive in the proper orbit to photograph a particular target, make them slower to respond to demand than reconnaissance planes. The fly-over orbit of spy satellites may also be predicted and can allow assets to be hidden when the satellite passes, a drawback not shared by aircraft. Thus, there are doubts that the US has abandoned the concept of spy planes to complement reconnaissance satellites.[136] Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are also used for aerial reconnaissance in the 21st century, being able to overfly hostile territory without putting human pilots at risk, as well as being smaller and harder to detect than manned aircraft.

On 1 November 2013, media outlets reported that Skunk Works has been working on an unmanned reconnaissance airplane it has named SR-72, which would fly twice as fast as the SR-71, at Mach 6.[137][138] However, the USAF is officially pursuing the Northrop Grumman RQ-180 UAV to assume the SR-71's strategic ISR role.[139]

Variants

 
SR-71B on display at the Air Zoo
  • SR-71A was the main production variant.
  • SR-71B was a trainer variant.[140]
  • SR-71C was a hybrid trainer[141] aircraft composed of the rear fuselage of the first YF-12A (S/N 60-6934) and the forward fuselage from an SR-71 static test unit. The YF-12 had been wrecked in a 1966 landing accident. This Blackbird was seemingly not quite straight and had a yaw at supersonic speeds.[142] It was nicknamed "The Bastard".[143][144]

Operators

  United States

United States Air Force[145][146][147]

Air Force Systems Command
4786th Test Squadron 1965–1970
SR-71 Flight Test Group 1970–1990
Strategic Air Command
1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron 1966–1990
99th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron 1966–1971
Detachment 1, Kadena Air Base, Japan 1968–1990
Detachment 4, RAF Mildenhall. England 1976–1990
Air Combat Command
(Forward Operating Locations at Eielson AFB, Alaska; Griffis AFB, New York; Seymour-Johnson AFB, North Carolina; Diego Garcia and Bodo, Norway 1973–1990)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)[148]

Accidents and aircraft disposition

 
SR-71 at Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona
 
Close-up of the SR-71B operated by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards AFB, California
 
Detail of SR-71A at the Museum of Aviation, Robins AFB

Twelve SR-71s were lost and one pilot died in accidents during the aircraft's service career.[4][5] Eleven of these accidents happened between 1966 and 1972.

List of SR-71 Blackbirds
AF serial number Model Location or fate
61-7950 SR-71A Lost, 10 January 1967
61-7951 SR-71A Pima Air & Space Museum (adjacent to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base), Tucson, Arizona. Loaned to NASA as "YF-12C #06937".[149]
61-7952 SR-71A Lost in Mach 3 mid-air breakup near Tucumcari, New Mexico, 25 January 1966[84][150][151]
61-7953 SR-71A Lost, 18 December 1969[152]
61-7954 SR-71A Lost, 11 April 1969
61-7955 SR-71A Air Force Flight Test Center Museum, Edwards Air Force Base, California[153]
61-7956 SR-71B Air Zoo, Kalamazoo, Michigan (ex-NASA831)[154][155]
61-7957 SR-71B Lost, 11 January 1968
61-7958 SR-71A Museum of Aviation, Robins Air Force Base, Warner Robins, Georgia[156]
61-7959 SR-71A Air Force Armament Museum, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida[157]
61-7960 SR-71A Castle Air Museum at the former Castle Air Force Base, Atwater, California[158]
61-7961 SR-71A Cosmosphere, Hutchinson, Kansas[159]
61-7962 SR-71A American Air Museum in Britain, Imperial War Museum Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England[160]
61-7963 SR-71A Beale Air Force Base, Marysville, California[161]
61-7964 SR-71A Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum, Ashland, Nebraska[162]
61-7965 SR-71A Lost, 25 October 1967
61-7966 SR-71A Lost, 13 April 1967
61-7967 SR-71A Barksdale Air Force Base, Bossier City, Louisiana[163]
61-7968 SR-71A Science Museum of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia[164]
61-7969 SR-71A Lost, 10 May 1970
61-7970 SR-71A Lost, 17 June 1970
61-7971 SR-71A Evergreen Aviation Museum, McMinnville, Oregon[165]
61-7972 SR-71A Smithsonian Institution Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Washington Dulles International Airport, Chantilly, Virginia[166]
61-7973 SR-71A Blackbird Airpark, Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California[167]
61-7974 SR-71A Lost, 21 April 1989
61-7975 SR-71A March Field Air Museum, March Air Reserve Base (former March AFB), Riverside, California[168]
61-7976 SR-71A National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio,[169]
61-7977 SR-71A Lost, 10 October 1968. Cockpit section survived and located at the Seattle Museum of Flight.[170]
61-7978 SR-71A Nicknamed "Rapid Rabbit" and wearing a Playboy bunny image as tail art.[171] (wearing a "black bunny" logo on its tail). Lost, 20 July 1972[4]
61-7979 SR-71A Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas[172]
61-7980 SR-71A Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base, California[173]
61-7981 SR-71C Hill Aerospace Museum, Hill Air Force Base, Ogden, Utah (formerly YF-12A 60-6934)[174]

Some secondary references use incorrect 64- series aircraft serial numbers (e.g. SR-71C 64-17981)[175]

After completion of all USAF and NASA SR-71 operations at Edwards AFB, the SR-71 Flight Simulator was moved in July 2006 to the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field Airport in Dallas, Texas.[176]

Specifications (SR-71A)

 
Orthographically projected diagram of the SR-71A Blackbird
 
Orthographically projected diagram of the SR-71B trainer model
 
SR-71 epoxy asbestos composite areas

Data from Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird[177]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2; Pilot and reconnaissance systems officer (RSO)
  • Length: 107 ft 5 in (32.74 m)
  • Wingspan: 55 ft 7 in (16.94 m)
  • Height: 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
  • Wheel track: 16 ft 8 in (5 m)
  • Wheelbase: 37 ft 10 in (12 m)
  • Wing area: 1,800 sq ft (170 m2)
  • Aspect ratio: 1.7
  • Empty weight: 67,500 lb (30,617 kg)
  • Gross weight: 152,000 lb (68,946 kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: 172,000 lb (78,018 kg)
  • Fuel capacity: 12,219.2 US gal (10,174.6 imp gal; 46,255 l) in 6 tank groups (9 tanks)
  • Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney J58 (JT11D-20J or JT11D-20K) afterburning turbojets, 25,000 lbf (110 kN) thrust each
JT11D-20J 32,500 lbf (144.57 kN) wet (fixed inlet guidevanes)
JT11D-20K 34,000 lbf (151.24 kN) wet (2-position inlet guidevanes)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 1,910 kn (2,200 mph, 3,540 km/h) at 80,000 ft (24,000 m)
  • Maximum speed: Mach 3.3[N 6]
  • Ferry range: 2,824 nmi (3,250 mi, 5,230 km)
  • Service ceiling: 85,000 ft (26,000 m)
  • Rate of climb: 11,820 ft/min (60.0 m/s)
  • Wing loading: 84 lb/sq ft (410 kg/m2)
  • Thrust/weight: 0.44

Avionics
3,500 lb (1,588 kg) of mission equipment

  • A - nose radar
  • D - right chine bay
  • E - electronics bay
  • K - left forward mission bay
  • L - right forward mission bay
  • M - left forward mission bay
  • N - right forward mission bay
  • P - left aft mission bay
  • Q - right aft mission bay
  • R - radio equipment bay
  • S - left aft mission bay
  • T - right aft mission bay

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ This was prior to Lockheed's merger with Martin Marietta in 1995, after which it was known as the modern day Lockheed Martin.
  2. ^ See the opening fly page in Paul Crickmore's book SR-71, Secret Missions Exposed, which contains a copy of the original R-12 labeled plan view drawing of the vehicle.
  3. ^ Crickmore, SR-71, Secret Missions Exposed, original R-12 labeled plan view drawing
  4. ^ Lockheed obtained the metal from the USSR during the Cold War, under many guises to prevent the Soviet government from discovering for what it was to be used.
  5. ^ See Blackbird with Canards image for visual.
  6. ^ Maximum speed limit was Mach 3.2, but could be raised to Mach 3.3 if the engine compressor inlet temperature did not exceed 801 °F (427 °C).[178]

Citations

  1. ^ "Creating the Blackbird". Lockheed Martin. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
  2. ^ a b Roblin, Sebastien (21 October 2016). "The SR-71 Blackbird: The Super Spy Plane That Outran Missiles". The National Interest. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b "SR-71 Blackbird." PBS documentary, Aired: 15 November 2006.
  4. ^ a b c d e Landis and Jenkins 2005, pp. 98, 100–101.
  5. ^ a b c Pace 2004, pp. 126–127.
  6. ^ Gibbs, Yvonne (1 March 2014). "NASA Armstrong Fact Sheet: SR-71 Blackbird". NASA. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  7. ^ Artie Villasanta (23 November 2018). "U.S. Pushes Hard To Build SR-72 Hypersonic Fighter". Business Times.
  8. ^ a b Crickmore 1997, p. 64.
  9. ^ Landis and Jenkins 2005, p. 78.
  10. ^ Pace 2004, p. 159.
  11. ^ a b c d records.fai.org. Retrieved: 30 June 2011.
  12. ^ Rich and Janos 1994, p. 85.
  13. ^ McIninch 1996, p. 31.
  14. ^ a b c Robarge, David (27 June 2007). "A Futile Fight for Survival". . CSI Publications. Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  15. ^ Cefaratt; Gill (2002). Lockheed: The People Behind the Story. Turner Publishing Company. pp. 78, 158. ISBN 978-1-56311-847-0.
  16. ^ . National Museum of the United States Air Force. 29 October 2009. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  17. ^ a b Landis and Jenkins 2005, pp. 56–57.
  18. ^ McIninch 1996, p. 29.
  19. ^ McIninch 1996, pp. 14–15.
  20. ^ Merlin 2005, pp. 4–5.
  21. ^ McIninch, 1996
  22. ^ Landis and Jenkins 2005, p. 47.
  23. ^ Merlin 2005, p. 6.
  24. ^ "Senior Crown SR-71." Federation of American Scientists, 7 September 2010. Retrieved: 17 October 2012. on 17 April 2015.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Graham, Richard (7 July 1996). SR-71 Revealed: The Inside Story. Zenith Press. ISBN 978-0760301227.
  26. ^ Crickmore 2009, pp. 30–31.
  27. ^ "MiG-25 Foxbat." globalaircraft.org. Retrieved: 31 May 2011. in 2014.
  28. ^ Merlin, Peter W. "Design and Development of the Blackbird: Challenges and Lessons Learned". American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
  29. ^ Rich and Janos 1994, pp. 213–214.
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External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to SR-71 Blackbird.
  • Robert R. Ropelewski (18 May 1981). "SR-71 Impressive in High-speed Regime" (PDF). Aviation Week & Space Technology. Pilot Report.
  • Roger Mola (20 November 2014). "What a Blackbird Drinks". Air & Space Magazine. Air & Space/Smithsonian.
  • "Blackbird Diaries". Air & Space Magazine. Air & Space/Smithsonian. December 2014.
  • Paul Kucher. "SR-71 Online".
  • "The Online Blackbird Museum".

January 19, 2023
lockheed, blackbird, redirects, here, other, uses, disambiguation, lockheed, blackbird, long, range, high, altitude, mach, strategic, reconnaissance, aircraft, developed, manufactured, american, aerospace, company, lockheed, corporation, operated, united, stat. SR 71 redirects here For other uses see SR 71 disambiguation The Lockheed SR 71 Blackbird is a long range high altitude Mach 3 strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation N 1 It was operated by the United States Air Force USAF and NASA 1 SR 71 Blackbird An SR 71B trainer over the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California in 1994 The raised second cockpit is for the instructor Role Strategic reconnaissance aircraftNational origin United StatesManufacturer Lockheed Skunk Works divisionDesigner Clarence Kelly JohnsonFirst flight 22 December 1964Introduction January 1966Retired 1998 USAF 1999 NASA Status RetiredPrimary users United States Air Force historical NASA historical Number built 32Developed from Lockheed A 12The SR 71 was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A 12 reconnaissance aircraft during the 1960s by Lockheed s Skunk Works division American aerospace engineer Clarence Kelly Johnson was responsible for many of the aircraft s innovative concepts The shape of the SR 71 was based on that of the A 12 which was one of the first aircraft to be designed with a reduced radar cross section Initially a bomber variant of the A 12 was requested by Curtis LeMay before the program was focused solely on reconnaissance Mission equipment for the reconnaissance role included signals intelligence sensors side looking airborne radar and a camera 2 the SR 71 was both longer and heavier than the A 12 allowing it to hold more fuel as well as a two seat cockpit The SR 71 entered service in January 1966 During aerial reconnaissance missions the SR 71 operated at high speeds and altitudes Mach 3 2 and 85 000 feet 25 900 meters allowing it to outrace or entirely avoid threats 2 If a surface to air missile launch was detected the standard evasive action was simply to accelerate and outpace the missile 3 On average each SR 71 could fly once per week due to the extended turnaround required after mission recovery A total of 32 aircraft were built 12 were lost in accidents with none lost to enemy action 4 5 In 1989 the USAF retired the SR 71 largely for political reasons several were briefly reactivated during the 1990s before their second retirement in 1998 NASA was the final operator of the Blackbird who used it as a research platform and was retired in 1999 6 Since its retirement the SR 71 s role has been taken up by a combination of reconnaissance satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles UAVs a proposed UAV successor the SR 72 is under development by Lockheed Martin and scheduled to fly in 2025 7 The SR 71 has several nicknames including Blackbird and Habu 8 As of 2022 update the SR 71 holds the world record it set in 1976 as the fastest air breathing manned aircraft previously held by the related Lockheed YF 12 9 10 11 Contents 1 Development 1 1 Background 1 2 Designation as SR 71 2 Design 2 1 Overview 2 2 Airframe canopy and landing gear 2 2 1 Acquisition of titanium 2 3 Shape and threat avoidance 2 4 Air inlets 2 5 Engines 2 6 Fuel 2 7 Astro inertial navigation system 2 8 Sensors and payloads 2 9 Life support 3 Operational history 3 1 Main era 3 1 1 European flights 3 2 Initial retirement 3 3 Reactivation 3 4 Final retirement 3 5 Timeline 3 5 1 1950s 1960s 3 5 2 1970s 1980s 3 5 3 1990s 3 6 Records 3 7 Successor 4 Variants 5 Operators 6 Accidents and aircraft disposition 7 Specifications SR 71A 8 See also 9 References 9 1 Footnotes 9 2 Citations 9 3 Bibliography 10 External linksDevelopment EditBackground Edit Main article Lockheed A 12 Lockheed s previous reconnaissance aircraft was the relatively slow U 2 designed for the Central Intelligence Agency CIA In late 1957 the CIA approached the defense contractor Lockheed to build an undetectable spy plane The project named Archangel was led by Kelly Johnson head of Lockheed s Skunk Works unit in Burbank California The work on project Archangel began in the second quarter of 1958 with aim of flying higher and faster than the U 2 Of 11 successive designs drafted in a span of 10 months A 10 was the front runner Despite this however its shape made it vulnerable to radar detection After a meeting with the CIA in March 1959 the design was modified to have a 90 reduction in radar cross section The CIA approved a US 96 million contract for Skunk Works to build a dozen spy planes named A 12 on 11 February 1960 The 1960 downing of Francis Gary Powers s U 2 underscored the aircraft s vulnerability and the need for faster reconnaissance aircraft such as the A 12 12 The A 12 first flew at Groom Lake Area 51 Nevada on 25 April 1962 Thirteen were built two variants were also developed including three of the YF 12 interceptor prototype and two of the M 21 drone carrier The aircraft was meant to be powered by the Pratt amp Whitney J58 engine but development ran over schedule and it was equipped instead with the less powerful Pratt amp Whitney J75 initially The J58s were retrofitted as they became available and became the standard engine for all subsequent aircraft in the series A 12 YF 12 M 21 as well as the SR 71 The A 12 flew missions over Vietnam and North Korea before its retirement in 1968 The program s cancellation was announced on 28 December 1966 13 due both to budget concerns 14 and because of the forthcoming SR 71 a derivative of the A 12 15 Designation as SR 71 Edit SR 71 Blackbird assembly line at Skunk Works The SR 71 designation is a continuation of the pre 1962 bomber series the last aircraft built using the series was the XB 70 Valkyrie However a bomber variant of the Blackbird was briefly given the B 71 designator which was retained when the type was changed to SR 71 16 During the later stages of its testing the B 70 was proposed for a reconnaissance strike role with an RS 70 designation When the A 12 s performance potential was clearly found to be much greater the USAF ordered a variant of the A 12 in December 1962 17 which was originally named R 12 by Lockheed N 2 This USAF version was longer and heavier than the original A 12 because it had a longer fuselage to hold more fuel The R 12 also had a larger two seat cockpit and reshaped fuselage chines Reconnaissance equipment included signals intelligence sensors a side looking airborne radar and a photo camera 17 The CIA s A 12 was a better photo reconnaissance platform than the USAF s R 12 since the A 12 flew somewhat higher and faster 14 and with only one pilot it had room to carry a superior camera 14 and more instruments 18 During the 1964 campaign Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater repeatedly criticized President Lyndon B Johnson and his administration for falling behind the Soviet Union in developing new weapons Johnson decided to counter this criticism by revealing the existence of the YF 12A USAF interceptor which also served as cover for the still secret A 12 19 and the USAF reconnaissance model since July 1964 USAF Chief of Staff General Curtis LeMay preferred the SR Strategic Reconnaissance designation and wanted the RS 71 to be named SR 71 Before the July speech LeMay lobbied to modify Johnson s speech to read SR 71 instead of RS 71 The media transcript given to the press at the time still had the earlier RS 71 designation in places creating the story that the president had misread the aircraft s designation 20 N 3 To conceal the A 12 s existence Johnson referred only to the A 11 while revealing the existence of a high speed high altitude reconnaissance aircraft 21 In 1968 Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara canceled the F 12 interceptor program The specialized tooling used to manufacture both the YF 12 and the SR 71 was also ordered destroyed 22 Production of the SR 71 totaled 32 aircraft with 29 SR 71As two SR 71Bs and the single SR 71C 23 Design EditOverview Edit Forward cockpit The SR 71 was designed for flight at over Mach 3 with a flight crew of two in tandem cockpits with the pilot in the forward cockpit and the reconnaissance systems officer operating the surveillance systems and equipment from the rear cockpit and directing navigation on the mission flight path 24 25 The SR 71 was designed to minimize its radar cross section an early attempt at stealth design 26 Finished aircraft were painted a dark blue almost black to increase the emission of internal heat and to act as camouflage against the night sky The dark color led to the aircraft s nickname Blackbird While the SR 71 carried radar countermeasures to evade interception efforts its greatest protection was its combination of high altitude and very high speed which made it almost invulnerable Along with its low radar cross section these qualities gave a very short time for an enemy surface to air missile SAM site to acquire and track the aircraft on radar By the time the SAM site could track the SR 71 it was often too late to launch a SAM and the SR 71 would be out of range before the SAM could catch up to it If the SAM site could track the SR 71 and fire a SAM in time the SAM would expend nearly all of the delta v of its boost and sustainer phases just reaching the SR 71 s altitude at this point out of thrust it could do little more than follow its ballistic arc Merely accelerating would typically be enough for an SR 71 to evade a SAM 3 changes by the pilots in the SR 71 s speed altitude and heading were also often enough to spoil any radar lock on the plane by SAM sites or enemy fighters 25 At sustained speeds of more than Mach 3 2 the plane was faster than the Soviet Union s fastest interceptor the Mikoyan Gurevich MiG 25 which also could not reach the SR 71 s altitude 27 During its service life no SR 71 was ever shot down 4 Airframe canopy and landing gear Edit On most aircraft the use of titanium was limited by the costs involved it was generally used only in components exposed to the highest temperatures such as exhaust fairings and the leading edges of wings On the SR 71 titanium was used for 85 of the structure with much of the rest polymer composite materials 28 To control costs Lockheed used a more easily worked titanium alloy which softened at a lower temperature N 4 The challenges posed led Lockheed to develop new fabrication methods which have since been used in the manufacture of other aircraft Lockheed found that washing welded titanium requires distilled water as the chlorine present in tap water is corrosive cadmium plated tools could not be used as they also caused corrosion 29 Metallurgical contamination was another problem at one point 80 of the delivered titanium for manufacture was rejected on these grounds 30 31 A Lockheed M 21 with a D 21 drone on display at Seattle s Museum of Flight The high temperatures generated in flight required special design and operating techniques Major sections of the skin of the inboard wings were corrugated not smooth Aerodynamicists initially opposed the concept disparagingly referring to the aircraft as a Mach 3 variant of the 1920s era Ford Trimotor which was known for its corrugated aluminum skin 32 The heat would have caused a smooth skin to split or curl whereas the corrugated skin could expand vertically and horizontally and had increased longitudinal strength Fuselage panels were manufactured to fit only loosely with the aircraft on the ground Proper alignment was achieved as the airframe heated up and expanded several inches 33 Because of this and the lack of a fuel sealing system that could handle the airframe s expansion at extreme temperatures the aircraft leaked JP 7 fuel on the ground prior to takeoff 34 The outer windscreen of the cockpit was made of quartz and was fused ultrasonically to the titanium frame 35 The temperature of the exterior of the windscreen reached 600 F 316 C during a mission 36 Cooling was carried out by cycling fuel behind the titanium surfaces in the chines On landing the canopy temperature was over 572 F 300 C 32 Some SR 71s featured red stripes to prevent maintenance workers from damaging the thin fragile skin located near the center of the fuselage This portion of the skin was only supported by widely spaced structural ribs 37 The Blackbird s tires manufactured by B F Goodrich contained aluminum and were filled with nitrogen They cost 2 300 and would generally require replacing within 20 missions The Blackbird landed at over 170 knots 200 mph 310 km h and deployed a drag parachute to stop the chute also acted to reduce stress on the tires 38 Acquisition of titanium Edit Titanium was in short supply in the United States so the Skunk Works team was forced to look elsewhere for the metal Much of the needed material came from the Soviet Union Colonel Rich Graham SR 71 pilot described the acquisition process The airplane is 92 titanium inside and out Back when they were building the airplane the United States didn t have the ore supplies an ore called rutile ore It s a very sandy soil and it s only found in very few parts of the world The major supplier of the ore was the USSR Working through Third World countries and bogus operations they were able to get the rutile ore shipped to the United States to build the SR 71 39 Shape and threat avoidance Edit Water vapor is condensed by the low pressure vortices generated by the chines outboard of each engine inlet The second operational aircraft 40 designed around a stealth aircraft shape and materials after the Lockheed A 12 40 the SR 71 had several features designed to reduce its radar signature The SR 71 had a radar cross section RCS around 110 sq ft 10 m2 41 Drawing on early studies in radar stealth technology which indicated that a shape with flattened tapering sides would reflect most energy away from a radar beam s place of origin engineers added chines and canted the vertical control surfaces inward Special radar absorbing materials were incorporated into sawtooth shaped sections of the aircraft s skin Cesium based fuel additives were used to somewhat reduce exhaust plumes visibility to radar although exhaust streams remained quite apparent Kelly Johnson later conceded that Soviet radar technology advanced faster than the stealth technology employed against it 42 The SR 71 featured chines a pair of sharp edges leading aft from either side of the nose along the fuselage These were not a feature on the early A 3 design Frank Rodgers a doctor at the Scientific Engineering Institute a CIA front organization discovered that a cross section of a sphere had a greatly reduced radar reflection and adapted a cylindrical shaped fuselage by stretching out the sides of the fuselage 43 After the advisory panel provisionally selected Convair s FISH design over the A 3 on the basis of RCS Lockheed adopted chines for its A 4 through A 6 designs 44 Aerodynamicists discovered that the chines generated powerful vortices and created additional lift leading to unexpected aerodynamic performance improvements 45 The angle of incidence of the delta wings could be reduced for greater stability and less drag at high speeds and more weight carried such as fuel Landing speeds were also reduced as the chines vortices created turbulent flow over the wings at high angles of attack making it harder to stall The chines also acted like leading edge extensions which increase the agility of fighters such as the F 5 F 16 F A 18 MiG 29 and Su 27 The addition of chines also allowed the removal of the planned canard foreplanes N 5 46 47 Air inlets Edit Operation of the air inlets and flow through the propulsion system The air inlets allowed the SR 71 to cruise at over Mach 3 2 with the air slowing down to subsonic speed as it entered the engine Mach 3 2 was the design point for the aircraft its most efficient speed 32 However in practice the SR 71 was sometimes more efficient at even faster speeds depending on the outside air temperature as measured by pounds of fuel burned per nautical mile traveled During one mission SR 71 pilot Brian Shul flew faster than usual to avoid multiple interception attempts afterward it was discovered that this had reduced fuel consumption 48 At the front of each inlet a pointed movable cone called a spike inlet cone was locked in its full forward position on the ground and during subsonic flight When the aircraft accelerated past Mach 1 6 an internal jackscrew moved the spike up to 26 in 66 cm inwards 49 directed by an analog air inlet computer that took into account pitot static system pitch roll yaw and angle of attack Moving the spike tip drew the shock wave riding on it closer to the inlet cowling until it touched just slightly inside the cowling lip This position reflected the spike shock wave repeatedly between the spike center body and the inlet inner cowl sides and minimized airflow spillage which is the cause of spillage drag The air slowed supersonically with a final plane shock wave at entry to the subsonic diffuser 50 Downstream of this normal shock the air is subsonic It decelerates further in the divergent duct to give the required speed at entry to the compressor Capture of the plane s shock wave within the inlet is called starting the inlet Bleed tubes and bypass doors were designed into the inlet and engine nacelles to handle some of this pressure and to position the final shock to allow the inlet to remain started Schlieren flow visualization at unstart of axisymmetric inlet at Mach 2 In the early years of operation the analog computers would not always keep up with rapidly changing flight environmental inputs If internal pressures became too great and the spike was incorrectly positioned the shock wave would suddenly blow out the front of the inlet called an inlet unstart During unstarts afterburner extinctions were common The remaining engine s asymmetrical thrust would cause the aircraft to yaw violently to one side SAS autopilot and manual control inputs would fight the yawing but often the extreme off angle would reduce airflow in the opposite engine and stimulate sympathetic stalls This generated a rapid counter yawing often coupled with loud banging noises and a rough ride during which crews helmets would sometimes strike their cockpit canopies 51 One response to a single unstart was unstarting both inlets to prevent yawing then restarting them both 52 After wind tunnel testing and computer modeling by NASA Dryden test center 53 Lockheed installed an electronic control to detect unstart conditions and perform this reset action without pilot intervention 54 During troubleshooting of the unstart issue NASA also discovered the vortices from the nose chines were entering the engine and interfering with engine efficiency NASA developed a computer to control the engine bypass doors which countered this issue and improved efficiency Beginning in 1980 the analog inlet control system was replaced by a digital system which reduced unstart instances 55 Engines Edit Main article Pratt amp Whitney J58 A Pratt amp Whitney J58 JT11D 20 engine on open display at Evergreen Aviation Museum A preserved AG330 start cart The SR 71 was powered by two Pratt amp Whitney J58 company designation JT11D 20 axial flow turbojet engines The J58 was a considerable innovation of the era capable of producing a static thrust of 32 500 lbf 145 kN 56 57 The engine was most efficient around Mach 3 2 58 the Blackbird s typical cruising speed At take off the afterburner provided 26 of the thrust This proportion increased progressively with speed until the afterburner provided all the thrust at about Mach 3 56 Air was initially compressed and heated by the inlet spike and subsequent converging duct between the center body and inlet cowl The shock waves generated slowed the air to subsonic speeds relative to the engine The air then entered the engine compressor Some of this compressor flow 20 at cruise was removed after the fourth compressor stage and went straight to the afterburner through six bypass tubes Air passing through the turbojet was compressed further by the remaining five compressor stages and then fuel was added in the combustion chamber After passing through the turbine the exhaust together with the compressor bleed air entered the afterburner 59 At around Mach 3 the temperature rise from the intake compression added to the engine compressor temperature rise reduced the allowable fuel flow because the turbine temperature limit did not change The rotating machinery produced less power but still enough to run at 100 RPM thus keeping the airflow through the intake constant The rotating machinery had become a drag item 60 and the engine thrust at high speeds came from the afterburner temperature rise 61 Maximum flight speed was limited by the temperature of the air entering the engine compressor which was not certified for temperatures above 800 F 430 C 62 Originally the Blackbird s J58 engines were started with the assistance of two Buick Wildcat V8 internal combustion engines externally mounted on a vehicle referred to as an AG330 start cart The start cart was positioned underneath the J58 and the two Buick engines powered a single vertical drive shaft connecting to the J58 engine and spinning it to above 3 200 RPM at which point the turbojet could self sustain Once the first J58 engine was started the cart was repositioned to start the aircraft s other J58 engine Later start carts used Chevrolet big block V8 engines Eventually a quieter pneumatic start system was developed for use at main operating bases The V8 start carts remained at diversion landing sites not equipped with the pneumatic system 63 64 Fuel Edit An SR 71 refueling from a KC 135Q Stratotanker during a flight in 1983 Several exotic fuels were investigated for the Blackbird Development began on a coal slurry power plant but Johnson determined that the coal particles damaged important engine components 32 Research was conducted on a liquid hydrogen powerplant but the tanks for storing cryogenic hydrogen were not of a suitable size or shape 32 In practice the Blackbird would burn somewhat conventional JP 7 which was difficult to ignite To start the engines triethylborane TEB which ignites on contact with air was injected to produce temperatures high enough to ignite the JP 7 The TEB produced a characteristic green flame which could often be seen during engine ignition 48 On a typical SR 71 mission the airplane took off with only a partial fuel load to reduce stress on the brakes and tires during takeoff and also ensure it could successfully take off should one engine fail 34 It is a common misconception that the planes refueled shortly after takeoff because the jet fuel leaked The leaking of fuel was an intentional design feature because the high heat generated by the aircraft made it impossible to fully seal the fuselage tanks against leaks 65 However the amount of fuel that leaked was not enough to make the refueling necessary the planes refueled because the maximum speeds of the aircraft were only possible with aerial refueling 66 The SR 71 also required in flight refueling to replenish fuel during long duration missions Supersonic flights generally lasted no more than 90 minutes before the pilot had to find a tanker 67 Specialized KC 135Q tankers were required to refuel the SR 71 The KC 135Q had a modified high speed boom which would allow refueling of the Blackbird at nearly the tanker s maximum airspeed with minimum flutter The tanker also had special fuel systems for moving JP 4 for the KC 135Q itself and JP 7 for the SR 71 between different tanks 68 As an aid to the pilot when refueling the cockpit was fitted with a peripheral vision horizon display This unusual instrument projected a barely visible artificial horizon line across the top of the entire instrument panel which gave the pilot subliminal cues on aircraft attitude 69 Astro inertial navigation system Edit Nortronics Northrop Corporation s electronics development division had developed an astro inertial guidance system ANS which could correct inertial navigation system errors with celestial observations for the SM 62 Snark missile and a separate system for the ill fated AGM 48 Skybolt missile the latter of which was adapted for the SR 71 70 verification needed Before takeoff a primary alignment brought the ANS s inertial components to a high degree of accuracy In flight the ANS which sat behind the reconnaissance systems officer s RSO s position tracked stars through a circular quartz glass window on the upper fuselage 48 Its blue light source star tracker which could see stars during both day and night would continuously track a variety of stars as the aircraft s changing position brought them into view The system s digital computer ephemeris contained data on a list of stars used for celestial navigation the list first included 56 stars and was later expanded to 61 71 The ANS could supply altitude and position to flight controls and other systems including the mission data recorder automatic navigation to preset destination points automatic pointing and control of cameras and sensors and optical or SLR sighting of fixed points loaded into the ANS before takeoff According to Richard Graham a former SR 71 pilot the navigation system was good enough to limit drift to 1 000 ft 300 m off the direction of travel at Mach 3 72 Sensors and payloads Edit The SR 71 Defensive System B The SR 71 originally included optical infrared imagery systems side looking airborne radar SLAR 73 electronic intelligence ELINT gathering systems 74 defensive systems for countering missile and airborne fighters 75 76 77 78 and recorders for SLAR ELINT and maintenance data The SR 71 carried a Fairchild tracking camera and an infrared camera 79 both of which ran during the entire mission As the SR 71 had a second cockpit behind the pilot for the RSO it could not carry the A 12 s principal sensor a single large focal length optical camera that sat in the Q Bay behind the A 12 s single cockpit Instead the SR 71 s camera systems could be located either in the fuselage chines or the removable nose chine section Wide area imaging was provided by two of Itek s Operational Objective Cameras which provided stereo imagery across the width of the flight track or an Itek Optical Bar Camera which gave continuous horizon to horizon coverage A closer view of the target area was given by the HYCON Technical Objective Camera TEOC which could be directed up to 45 left or right of the centerline 80 Initially the TEOCs could not match the resolution of the A 12 s larger camera but rapid improvements in both the camera and film improved this performance 80 81 SLAR built by Goodyear Aerospace could be carried in the removable nose In later life the radar was replaced by Loral s Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar System ASARS 1 Both the first SLAR and ASARS 1 were ground mapping imaging systems collecting data either in fixed swaths left or right of centerline or from a spot location for higher resolution 80 ELINT gathering systems called the Electro Magnetic Reconnaissance System built by AIL could be carried in the chine bays to analyze electronic signal fields being passed through and were programmed to identify items of interest 80 82 Over its operational life the Blackbird carried various electronic countermeasures ECMs including warning and active electronic systems built by several ECM companies and called Systems A A2 A2C B C C2 E G H and M On a given mission an aircraft carried several of these frequency purpose payloads to meet the expected threats Major Jerry Crew an RSO told Air amp Space Smithsonian that he used a jammer to try to confuse surface to air missile sites as their crews tracked his airplane but once his threat warning receiver told him a missile had been launched he switched off the jammer to prevent the missile from homing in on its signal 83 After landing information from the SLAR ELINT gathering systems and the maintenance data recorder were subjected to postflight ground analysis In the later years of its operational life a datalink system could send ASARS 1 and ELINT data from about 2 000 nmi 3 700 km of track coverage to a suitably equipped ground station citation needed Life support Edit SR 71 pilot in full flight suit The crew of a NASA Lockheed SR 71 Blackbird standing by the aircraft in their pressurized flight suits 1991 Flying at 80 000 ft 24 000 m meant that crews could not use standard masks which could not provide enough oxygen above 43 000 ft 13 000 m Specialized protective pressurized suits were produced for crew members by the David Clark Company for the A 12 YF 12 M 21 and SR 71 Furthermore an emergency ejection at Mach 3 2 would subject crews to temperatures of about 450 F 230 C thus during a high altitude ejection scenario an onboard oxygen supply would keep the suit pressurized during the descent 84 The cockpit could be pressurized to an altitude of 10 000 or 26 000 ft 3 000 or 8 000 m during flight 85 The cabin needed a heavy duty cooling system as cruising at Mach 3 2 would heat the aircraft s external surface well beyond 500 F 260 C 86 and the inside of the windshield to 250 F 120 C An air conditioner used a heat exchanger to dump heat from the cockpit into the fuel prior to combustion 87 The same air conditioning system was also used to keep the front nose landing gear bay cool thereby eliminating the need for the special aluminum impregnated tires similar to those used on the main landing gear 88 Blackbird pilots and RSOs were provided with food and drink for the long reconnaissance flights Water bottles had long straws which crewmembers guided into an opening in the helmet by looking in a mirror Food was contained in sealed containers similar to toothpaste tubes which delivered food to the crewmember s mouth through the helmet opening 89 39 Operational history EditMain era Edit The first flight of an SR 71 took place on 22 December 1964 at USAF Plant 42 in Palmdale California piloted by Bob Gilliland 90 91 The SR 71 reached a top speed of Mach 3 4 during flight testing 92 93 with pilot Major Brian Shul reporting a speed in excess of Mach 3 5 on an operational sortie while evading a missile over Libya 94 The first SR 71 to enter service was delivered to the 4200th later 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base California in January 1966 95 SR 71s first arrived at the 9th SRW s Operating Location OL 8 at Kadena Air Base Okinawa Japan on 8 March 1968 96 These deployments were code named Glowing Heat while the program as a whole was code named Senior Crown Reconnaissance missions over North Vietnam were code named Black Shield and then renamed Giant Scale in late 1968 97 On 21 March 1968 Major later General Jerome F O Malley and Major Edward D Payne flew the first operational SR 71 sortie in SR 71 serial number 61 7976 from Kadena AFB Okinawa 96 During its career this aircraft 976 accumulated 2 981 flying hours and flew 942 total sorties more than any other SR 71 including 257 operational missions from Beale AFB Palmdale California Kadena Air Base Okinawa Japan and RAF Mildenhall UK The aircraft was flown to the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton Ohio in March 1990 The USAF could fly each SR 71 on average once per week because of the extended turnaround required after mission recovery Very often an aircraft would return with rivets missing delaminated panels or other broken parts such as inlets requiring repair or replacement There were cases of the aircraft not being ready to fly again for a month due to the repairs needed Rob Vermeland Lockheed Martin s manager of Advanced Development Program said in an interview in 2015 that high tempo operations were not realistic for the SR 71 If we had one sitting in the hangar here and the crew chief was told there was a mission planned right now then 19 hours later it would be safely ready to take off 98 From the beginning of the Blackbird s reconnaissance missions over North Vietnam and Laos in 1968 the SR 71s averaged approximately one sortie a week for nearly two years By 1970 the SR 71s were averaging two sorties per week and by 1972 they were flying nearly one sortie every day Two SR 71s were lost during these missions one in 1970 and the second aircraft in 1972 both due to mechanical malfunctions 99 100 Over the course of its reconnaissance missions during the Vietnam War the North Vietnamese fired approximately 800 SAMs at SR 71s none of which managed to score a hit 101 Pilots did report that missiles launched without radar guidance and no launch detection had passed as close as 150 yards 140 m from the aircraft 102 Early project Habu logo While deployed at Okinawa the SR 71s and their aircrew members gained the nickname Habu as did the A 12s preceding them after a pit viper indigenous to Japan which the Okinawans thought the plane resembled 8 Operational highlights for the entire Blackbird family YF 12 A 12 and SR 71 as of about 1990 included 103 3 551 mission sorties flown 17 300 total sorties flown 11 008 mission flight hours 53 490 total flight hours 2 752 hours Mach 3 time missions 11 675 hours Mach 3 time total Only one crew member Jim Zwayer a Lockheed flight test reconnaissance and navigation systems specialist was killed in a flight accident 84 The rest of the crew members ejected safely or evacuated their aircraft on the ground An SR 71 was used domestically in 1971 to assist the FBI in their manhunt for the skyjacker D B Cooper The Blackbird was to retrace and photograph the flightpath of the hijacked 727 from Seattle to Reno and attempt to locate any of items that Cooper was known to have parachuted with from the aircraft 104 Five flights were attempted but on each occasion no photographs of the flight path were obtained due to low visibility 105 European flights Edit European operations were from RAF Mildenhall England There were two routes One was along the Norwegian west coast and up the Kola Peninsula which contained several large naval bases belonging to the Soviet Navy s Northern Fleet Over the years there were several emergency landings in Norway four in Bodo and two of them in 1981 flying from Beale and 1985 Rescue parties were sent in to repair the planes before leaving On one occasion one complete wing with engine was replaced as the easiest way to get the plane airborne again 106 107 The other route from Mildenhall over the Baltic Sea was known as the Baltic Express Swedish Air Force fighter pilots have managed to lock their radar on an SR 71 on multiple occasions within shooting range 108 109 clarification needed Target illumination was maintained by feeding target location from ground based radars to the fire control computer in the JA 37 Viggen interceptor 110 The most common site for the lock on was the thin stretch of international airspace between Oland and Gotland that the SR 71s used on their return flights 111 112 113 On 29 June 1987 an SR 71 was on a mission around the Baltic Sea to spy on Soviet postings when one of the engines exploded The aircraft which was at 20 km altitude quickly lost altitude and turned 180 to the left and turned over Gotland to search for the Swedish coast Thus Swedish airspace was violated whereupon two unarmed 114 Saab JA 37 Viggens on an exercise at the height of Vastervik were ordered there The mission was to do an incident preparedness check and identify an aircraft of high interest It was found that the plane was in obvious distress and a decision was made that the Swedish Air Force would escort the plane out of the Baltic Sea A second round of armed AJ 37s from Angelholm replaced the first pair and completed the escort to Danish airspace The event had been classified for over 30 years and when the report was unsealed data from the NSA showed that multiple MiG 25s with the order to shoot down the SR 71 or force it to land had started right after the engine failure A MiG 25 had locked a missile on the damaged SR 71 but as the aircraft was under escort no missiles were fired On 29 November 2018 the four Swedish pilots involved were awarded medals from the USAF 115 116 Initial retirement Edit One widely conventional view and probably the best known view of the reasons for the SR 71 s retirement in 1989 a view that the Air Force itself offered to the Congress was that besides being very expensive the SR 71 had become redundant anyway among other reconnaissance methods that were ever evolving 25 However another view held by various officers and legislators is that the SR 71 program was terminated owing to Pentagon politics and not because the aircraft had become obsolete irrelevant too hard to maintain or unsustainably expensive 25 Retired Colonel Richard H Graham a former 1st SRS and 9th SRW commander presented in 1996 what he viewed as a factual summary not an opinion of how the SR 71 provided some intelligence capabilities that none of its alternatives such as satellites U 2s and UAVs were providing in the 1990s when the SR 71 was retired and then re retired from Air Force reconnaissance duty 25 205 217 The chief question for opinion beyond that point was only how crucial or disposable those unique advantages properly were Graham noted that in the 1970s and early 1980s SR 71 squadron and wing commanders were often promoted into higher positions as general officers within the USAF structure and the Pentagon 25 In order to be selected into the SR 71 program in the first place a pilot or navigator RSO had to be a top quality USAF officer so continuing career progression for members of this elite group was not surprising 25 These generals were adept at communicating the value of the SR 71 to a USAF command staff and a Congress who often lacked a basic understanding of how the SR 71 worked and what it did However by the mid 1980s these SR 71 generals all had retired and a new generation of USAF generals mostly wanted to cut the program s budget and spend its funding on different priorities 25 such as the very expensive new B 2 Spirit strategic bomber program Such generals had an interest in believing and persuading the services and the Congress that the SR 71 had become either entirely or almost entirely redundant to satellites U 2s incipient UAV programs and an alleged top secret successor already under development 25 Graham said that the last mentioned one was only a sales pitch not a fact at the time in the 1990s The USAF may have seen the SR 71 as a bargaining chip to ensure the survival of other priorities Also the SR 71 program s product which was operational and strategic intelligence was not seen by these generals as being very valuable to the USAF 25 The primary consumers of this intelligence were the CIA NSA and DIA A general misunderstanding of the nature of aerial reconnaissance and a lack of knowledge about the SR 71 in particular due to its secretive development and operations was used by detractors to discredit the aircraft with the assurance given that a replacement was under development 25 Dick Cheney told the Senate Appropriations Committee that the SR 71 cost 85 000 per hour to operate 117 Opponents estimated the aircraft s support cost at 400 to 700 million per year though the cost was actually closer to 300 million 25 The SR 71 while much more capable than the Lockheed U 2 in terms of range speed and survivability suffered the lack of a data link which the U 2 had been upgraded to carry This meant that much of the SR 71 s imagery and radar data could not be used in real time but had to wait until the aircraft returned to base This lack of immediate real time capability was used as one of the justifications to close down the program 25 The counterargument was that the longer the SR 71 was not upgraded as aggressively as it ought to have been the more people could say that it was obsolescent which was in their interest as champions of other programs 25 a self fulfilling bias Attempts to add a datalink to the SR 71 were stymied early on by the same factions in the Pentagon and Congress who were already set on the program s demise even in the early 1980s 25 These same factions also forced expensive sensor upgrades to the SR 71 which did little to increase its mission capabilities but could be used as justification for complaining about the cost of the program 25 In 1988 Congress was convinced to allocate 160 000 to keep six SR 71s and a trainer model in flyable storage that could become flightworthy within 60 days However the USAF refused to spend the money 25 204 While the SR 71 survived attempts to retire it in 1988 partly due to the unmatched ability to provide high quality coverage of the Kola Peninsula for the US Navy 118 25 194 195 the decision to retire the SR 71 from active duty came in 1989 with the last missions flown in October that year 119 Four months after the plane s retirement General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr was told that the expedited reconnaissance which the SR 71 could have provided was unavailable during Operation Desert Storm 120 The SR 71 program s main operational capabilities came to a close at the end of fiscal year 1989 October 1989 The 1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron 1 SRS kept its pilots and aircraft operational and active and flew some operational reconnaissance missions through the end of 1989 and into 1990 due to uncertainty over the timing of the final termination of funding for the program The squadron finally closed in mid 1990 and the aircraft were distributed to static display locations with a number kept in reserve storage 25 Reactivation Edit From the operator s perspective what I need is something that will not give me just a spot in time but will give me a track of what is happening When we are trying to find out if the Serbs are taking arms moving tanks or artillery into Bosnia we can get a picture of them stacked up on the Serbian side of the bridge We do not know whether they then went on to move across that bridge We need the data that a tactical an SR 71 a U 2 or an unmanned vehicle of some sort will give us in addition to not in replacement of the ability of the satellites to go around and check not only that spot but a lot of other spots around the world for us It is the integration of strategic and tactical Response from Admiral Richard C Macke to the Senate Committee on Armed Services 121 SR 71A 2 and SR 71B trainer Edwards AFB CA 1992 Due to unease over political situations in the Middle East and North Korea the U S Congress re examined the SR 71 beginning in 1993 120 Rear Admiral Thomas F Hall addressed the question of why the SR 71 was retired saying it was under the belief that given the time delay associated with mounting a mission conducting a reconnaissance retrieving the data processing it and getting it out to a field commander that you had a problem in timelines that was not going to meet the tactical requirements on the modern battlefield And the determination was that if one could take advantage of technology and develop a system that could get that data back real time that would be able to meet the unique requirements of the tactical commander Hall also stated they were looking at alternative means of doing the job of the SR 71 121 Macke told the committee that they were flying U 2s RC 135s and other strategic and tactical assets to collect information in some areas 121 Senator Robert Byrd and other senators complained that the better than successor to the SR 71 had yet to be developed at the cost of the good enough serviceable aircraft They maintained that in a time of constrained military budgets designing building and testing an aircraft with the same capabilities as the SR 71 would be impossible 103 Congress s disappointment with the lack of a suitable replacement for the Blackbird was cited concerning whether to continue funding imaging sensors on the U 2 Congressional conferees stated the experience with the SR 71 serves as a reminder of the pitfalls of failing to keep existing systems up to date and capable in the hope of acquiring other capabilities 103 It was agreed to add 100 million to the budget to return three SR 71s to service but it was emphasized that this would not prejudice support for long endurance UAVs such as the Global Hawk The funding was later cut to 72 5 million 103 The Skunk Works was able to return the aircraft to service under budget at 72 million 122 Retired USAF Colonel Jay Murphy was made the Program Manager for Lockheed s reactivation plans Retired USAF Colonels Don Emmons and Barry MacKean were put under government contract to remake the plane s logistic and support structure Still active USAF pilots and Reconnaissance Systems Officers RSOs who had worked with the aircraft were asked to volunteer to fly the reactivated planes The aircraft was under the command and control of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base and flew out of a renovated hangar at Edwards Air Force Base Modifications were made to provide a data link with near real time transmission of the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar s imagery to sites on the ground 103 Final retirement Edit The reactivation met much resistance the USAF had not budgeted for the aircraft and UAV developers worried that their programs would suffer if money was shifted to support the SR 71s Also with the allocation requiring yearly reaffirmation by Congress long term planning for the SR 71 was difficult 103 In 1996 the USAF claimed that specific funding had not been authorized and moved to ground the program Congress reauthorized the funds but in October 1997 President Bill Clinton attempted to use the line item veto to cancel the 39 million allocated for the SR 71 In June 1998 the U S Supreme Court ruled that the line item veto was unconstitutional All this left the SR 71 s status uncertain until September 1998 when the USAF called for the funds to be redistributed the USAF permanently retired it in 1998 NASA operated the two last airworthy Blackbirds until 1999 123 All other Blackbirds have been moved to museums except for the two SR 71s and a few D 21 drones retained by the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center later renamed the Armstrong Flight Research Center 122 Timeline Edit 1950s 1960s Edit 24 December 1957 First J58 engine run 1 May 1960 Francis Gary Powers is shot down in a Lockheed U 2 over the Soviet Union 13 June 1962 SR 71 mock up reviewed by the USAF 30 July 1962 J58 completes pre flight testing 28 December 1962 Lockheed signs contract to build six SR 71 aircraft 25 July 1964 President Johnson makes public announcement of SR 71 29 October 1964 SR 71 prototype AF Ser No 61 7950 delivered to Air Force Plant 42 at Palmdale California 7 December 1964 Beale AFB CA announced as base for SR 71 22 December 1964 First flight of the SR 71 with Lockheed test pilot Robert J Bob Gilliland at Palmdale 124 21 July 1967 Jim Watkins and Dave Dempster fly first international sortie in SR 71A AF Ser No 61 7972 when the Astro Inertial Navigation System ANS fails on a training mission and they accidentally fly into Mexican airspace 5 February 1968 Lockheed ordered to destroy A 12 YF 12 and SR 71 tooling 8 March 1968 First SR 71A AF Ser No 61 7978 arrives at Kadena AB Okinawa to replace A 12s 21 March 1968 First SR 71 AF Ser No 61 7976 operational mission flown from Kadena AB over Vietnam 29 May 1968 CMSgt Bill Gornik begins the tie cutting tradition of Habu crews neckties 13 December 1969 Two SR 71s deployed to Taiwan 1970s 1980s Edit 3 December 1975 First flight of SR 71A AF Ser No 61 7959 in big tail configuration 20 April 1976 TDY operations started at RAF Mildenhall United Kingdom with SR 71A AF Ser No 61 7972 27 28 July 1976 SR 71A sets speed and altitude records altitude in horizontal flight 85 068 997 ft 25 929 030 m and speed over a straight course 2 193 167 miles per hour 3 529 560 km h August 1980 Honeywell starts conversion of AFICS to DAFICS 15 January 1982 SR 71B AF Ser No 61 7956 flies its 1 000th sortie 21 April 1989 SR 71 AF Ser No 61 7974 is lost due to an engine explosion after taking off from Kadena AB the last Blackbird to be lost 4 5 22 November 1989 USAF SR 71 program officially terminated1990s Edit 6 March 1990 Last SR 71 flight under Senior Crown program setting four speed records en route to the Smithsonian Institution 25 July 1991 SR 71B AF Ser No 61 7956 NASA No 831 officially delivered to NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB California October 1991 NASA engineer Marta Bohn Meyer becomes the first female SR 71 crew member 28 September 1994 Congress votes to allocate 100 million for reactivation of three SR 71s 28 June 1995 First reactivated SR 71 returns to USAF as Detachment 2 9 October 1999 The last flight of the SR 71 AF Ser No 61 7980 NASA 844 Records Edit View from the cockpit at 83 000 feet 25 000 m over the Atlantic Ocean 125 The SR 71 was the world s fastest and highest flying air breathing operational manned aircraft throughout its career and it still holds that record On 28 July 1976 SR 71 serial number 61 7962 piloted by then Captain Robert Helt broke the world record an absolute altitude record of 85 069 feet 25 929 m 11 126 127 128 Several aircraft have exceeded this altitude in zoom climbs but not in sustained flight 11 That same day SR 71 serial number 61 7958 set an absolute speed record of 1 905 81 knots 2 193 2 mph 3 529 6 km h approximately Mach 3 3 11 128 129 SR 71 pilot Brian Shul states in his book The Untouchables that he flew in excess of Mach 3 5 on 15 April 1986 over Libya to evade a missile 94 The SR 71 also holds the speed over a recognized course record for flying from New York to London distance 3 461 53 miles 5 570 79 km 1 806 964 miles per hour 2 908 027 km h and an elapsed time of 1 hour 54 minutes and 56 4 seconds set on 1 September 1974 while flown by USAF pilot James V Sullivan and Noel F Widdifield reconnaissance systems officer RSO 130 This equates to an average speed of about Mach 2 72 including deceleration for in flight refueling Peak speeds during this flight were likely closer to the declassified top speed of over Mach 3 2 For comparison the best commercial Concorde flight time was 2 hours 52 minutes and the Boeing 747 averages 6 hours 15 minutes On 26 April 1971 61 7968 flown by majors Thomas B Estes and Dewain C Vick flew over 15 000 miles 24 000 km in 10 hours and 30 minutes This flight was awarded the 1971 Mackay Trophy for the most meritorious flight of the year and the 1972 Harmon Trophy for most outstanding international achievement in the art science of aeronautics 131 Pilot Lt Col Ed Yeilding and RSO Lt Col Joe Vida on 6 March 1990 the last SR 71 Senior Crown flight When the SR 71 was retired in 1990 one Blackbird was flown from its birthplace at USAF Plant 42 in Palmdale California to go on exhibit at what is now the Smithsonian Institution s Steven F Udvar Hazy Center in Chantilly Virginia On 6 March 1990 Lt Col Raymond E Yeilding and Lt Col Joseph T Vida piloted SR 71 S N 61 7972 on its final Senior Crown flight and set four new speed records in the process Los Angeles California to Washington D C distance 2 299 7 miles 3 701 0 km average speed 2 144 8 miles per hour 3 451 7 km h and an elapsed time of 64 minutes 20 seconds 130 132 West Coast to East Coast distance 2 404 miles 3 869 km average speed 2 124 5 miles per hour 3 419 1 km h and an elapsed time of 67 minutes 54 seconds Kansas City Missouri to Washington D C distance 942 miles 1 516 km average speed 2 176 miles per hour 3 502 km h and an elapsed time of 25 minutes 59 seconds St Louis Missouri to Cincinnati Ohio distance 311 4 miles 501 1 km average speed 2 189 9 miles per hour 3 524 3 km h and an elapsed time of 8 minutes 32 seconds These four speed records were accepted by the National Aeronautic Association NAA the recognized body for aviation records in the United States 133 Additionally Air amp Space Smithsonian reported that the USAF clocked the SR 71 at one point in its flight reaching 2 242 48 miles per hour 3 608 92 km h 134 After the Los Angeles Washington flight on 6 March 1990 Senator John Glenn addressed the United States Senate chastising the Department of Defense for not using the SR 71 to its full potential Mr President the termination of the SR 71 was a grave mistake and could place our nation at a serious disadvantage in the event of a future crisis Yesterday s historic transcontinental flight was a sad memorial to our short sighted policy in strategic aerial reconnaissance 135 Successor Edit Main article Lockheed Martin SR 72 Speculation existed regarding a replacement for the SR 71 including a rumored aircraft codenamed Aurora The limitations of reconnaissance satellites which take up to 24 hours to arrive in the proper orbit to photograph a particular target make them slower to respond to demand than reconnaissance planes The fly over orbit of spy satellites may also be predicted and can allow assets to be hidden when the satellite passes a drawback not shared by aircraft Thus there are doubts that the US has abandoned the concept of spy planes to complement reconnaissance satellites 136 Unmanned aerial vehicles UAVs are also used for aerial reconnaissance in the 21st century being able to overfly hostile territory without putting human pilots at risk as well as being smaller and harder to detect than manned aircraft On 1 November 2013 media outlets reported that Skunk Works has been working on an unmanned reconnaissance airplane it has named SR 72 which would fly twice as fast as the SR 71 at Mach 6 137 138 However the USAF is officially pursuing the Northrop Grumman RQ 180 UAV to assume the SR 71 s strategic ISR role 139 Variants Edit SR 71B on display at the Air Zoo SR 71A was the main production variant SR 71B was a trainer variant 140 SR 71C was a hybrid trainer 141 aircraft composed of the rear fuselage of the first YF 12A S N 60 6934 and the forward fuselage from an SR 71 static test unit The YF 12 had been wrecked in a 1966 landing accident This Blackbird was seemingly not quite straight and had a yaw at supersonic speeds 142 It was nicknamed The Bastard 143 144 Operators Edit United StatesUnited States Air Force 145 146 147 Air Force Systems CommandAir Force Flight Test Center Edwards AFB California4786th Test Squadron 1965 1970 SR 71 Flight Test Group 1970 1990 dd Strategic Air Command9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing Beale AFB California1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron 1966 1990 99th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron 1966 1971 Detachment 1 Kadena Air Base Japan 1968 1990 Detachment 4 RAF Mildenhall England 1976 1990 dd Air Combat CommandDetachment 2 9th Reconnaissance Wing Edwards AFB California 1995 1997 Forward Operating Locations at Eielson AFB Alaska Griffis AFB New York Seymour Johnson AFB North Carolina Diego Garcia and Bodo Norway 1973 1990 National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA 148 Dryden Flight Research Center Edwards AFB California 1991 1999Accidents and aircraft disposition Edit SR 71 at Pima Air amp Space Museum Tucson Arizona Close up of the SR 71B operated by NASA s Dryden Flight Research Center Edwards AFB California SR 71A at the National Museum of the United States Air Force Detail of SR 71A at the Museum of Aviation Robins AFB Twelve SR 71s were lost and one pilot died in accidents during the aircraft s service career 4 5 Eleven of these accidents happened between 1966 and 1972 List of SR 71 Blackbirds AF serial number Model Location or fate61 7950 SR 71A Lost 10 January 196761 7951 SR 71A Pima Air amp Space Museum adjacent to Davis Monthan Air Force Base Tucson Arizona Loaned to NASA as YF 12C 06937 149 61 7952 SR 71A Lost in Mach 3 mid air breakup near Tucumcari New Mexico 25 January 1966 84 150 151 61 7953 SR 71A Lost 18 December 1969 152 61 7954 SR 71A Lost 11 April 196961 7955 SR 71A Air Force Flight Test Center Museum Edwards Air Force Base California 153 61 7956 SR 71B Air Zoo Kalamazoo Michigan ex NASA831 154 155 61 7957 SR 71B Lost 11 January 196861 7958 SR 71A Museum of Aviation Robins Air Force Base Warner Robins Georgia 156 61 7959 SR 71A Air Force Armament Museum Eglin Air Force Base Florida 157 61 7960 SR 71A Castle Air Museum at the former Castle Air Force Base Atwater California 158 61 7961 SR 71A Cosmosphere Hutchinson Kansas 159 61 7962 SR 71A American Air Museum in Britain Imperial War Museum Duxford Cambridgeshire England 160 61 7963 SR 71A Beale Air Force Base Marysville California 161 61 7964 SR 71A Strategic Air Command amp Aerospace Museum Ashland Nebraska 162 61 7965 SR 71A Lost 25 October 196761 7966 SR 71A Lost 13 April 196761 7967 SR 71A Barksdale Air Force Base Bossier City Louisiana 163 61 7968 SR 71A Science Museum of Virginia Richmond Virginia 164 61 7969 SR 71A Lost 10 May 197061 7970 SR 71A Lost 17 June 197061 7971 SR 71A Evergreen Aviation Museum McMinnville Oregon 165 61 7972 SR 71A Smithsonian Institution Steven F Udvar Hazy Center Washington Dulles International Airport Chantilly Virginia 166 61 7973 SR 71A Blackbird Airpark Air Force Plant 42 Palmdale California 167 61 7974 SR 71A Lost 21 April 198961 7975 SR 71A March Field Air Museum March Air Reserve Base former March AFB Riverside California 168 61 7976 SR 71A National Museum of the United States Air Force Wright Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton Ohio 169 61 7977 SR 71A Lost 10 October 1968 Cockpit section survived and located at the Seattle Museum of Flight 170 61 7978 SR 71A Nicknamed Rapid Rabbit and wearing a Playboy bunny image as tail art 171 wearing a black bunny logo on its tail Lost 20 July 1972 4 61 7979 SR 71A Lackland Air Force Base San Antonio Texas 172 61 7980 SR 71A Armstrong Flight Research Center Edwards Air Force Base California 173 61 7981 SR 71C Hill Aerospace Museum Hill Air Force Base Ogden Utah formerly YF 12A 60 6934 174 Some secondary references use incorrect 64 series aircraft serial numbers e g SR 71C 64 17981 175 After completion of all USAF and NASA SR 71 operations at Edwards AFB the SR 71 Flight Simulator was moved in July 2006 to the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field Airport in Dallas Texas 176 Specifications SR 71A Edit Orthographically projected diagram of the SR 71A Blackbird Orthographically projected diagram of the SR 71B trainer model SR 71 epoxy asbestos composite areas Data from Lockheed SR 71 Blackbird 177 General characteristicsCrew 2 Pilot and reconnaissance systems officer RSO Length 107 ft 5 in 32 74 m Wingspan 55 ft 7 in 16 94 m Height 18 ft 6 in 5 64 m Wheel track 16 ft 8 in 5 m Wheelbase 37 ft 10 in 12 m Wing area 1 800 sq ft 170 m2 Aspect ratio 1 7 Empty weight 67 500 lb 30 617 kg Gross weight 152 000 lb 68 946 kg Max takeoff weight 172 000 lb 78 018 kg Fuel capacity 12 219 2 US gal 10 174 6 imp gal 46 255 l in 6 tank groups 9 tanks Powerplant 2 Pratt amp Whitney J58 JT11D 20J or JT11D 20K afterburning turbojets 25 000 lbf 110 kN thrust eachJT11D 20J 32 500 lbf 144 57 kN wet fixed inlet guidevanes JT11D 20K 34 000 lbf 151 24 kN wet 2 position inlet guidevanes dd dd dd Performance Maximum speed 1 910 kn 2 200 mph 3 540 km h at 80 000 ft 24 000 m Maximum speed Mach 3 3 N 6 Ferry range 2 824 nmi 3 250 mi 5 230 km Service ceiling 85 000 ft 26 000 m Rate of climb 11 820 ft min 60 0 m s Wing loading 84 lb sq ft 410 kg m2 Thrust weight 0 44Avionics 3 500 lb 1 588 kg of mission equipment Itek KA 102A 36 48 in 910 1 220 mm camera Signals and Electronic Intelligence equipment in the following compartmentsA nose radar D right chine bay E electronics bay K left forward mission bay L right forward mission bay M left forward mission bay N right forward mission bay P left aft mission bay Q right aft mission bay R radio equipment bay S left aft mission bay T right aft mission bay dd See also Edit Aviation portal United States portalHenry Combs Aircraft in fiction Lockheed SR 71 Blackbird Linear Aerospike SR 71 Experiment Measurement and signature intelligenceRelated development Lockheed A 12 Lockheed M 21 Lockheed YF 12Aircraft of comparable role configuration and era Bristol 188 Mikoyan Gurevich MiG 25 Tsybin RSRRelated lists List of Lockheed aircraft List of military aircraft of the United States List of United States Air Force reconnaissance aircraftReferences EditFootnotes Edit This was prior to Lockheed s merger with Martin Marietta in 1995 after which it was known as the modern day Lockheed Martin See the opening fly page in Paul Crickmore s book SR 71 Secret Missions Exposed which contains a copy of the original R 12 labeled plan view drawing of the vehicle Crickmore SR 71 Secret Missions Exposed original R 12 labeled plan view drawing Lockheed obtained the metal from the USSR during the Cold War under many guises to prevent the Soviet government from discovering for what it was to be used See Blackbird with Canards image for visual Maximum speed limit was Mach 3 2 but could be raised to Mach 3 3 if the engine compressor inlet temperature did not exceed 801 F 427 C 178 Citations Edit Creating the Blackbird Lockheed Martin Retrieved 14 March 2010 a b Roblin Sebastien 21 October 2016 The SR 71 Blackbird The Super Spy Plane That Outran Missiles The National Interest Retrieved 6 July 2022 a b SR 71 Blackbird PBS documentary Aired 15 November 2006 a b c d e Landis and Jenkins 2005 pp 98 100 101 a b c Pace 2004 pp 126 127 Gibbs Yvonne 1 March 2014 NASA Armstrong Fact Sheet SR 71 Blackbird NASA Retrieved 6 July 2022 Artie Villasanta 23 November 2018 U S Pushes Hard To Build SR 72 Hypersonic Fighter Business Times a b Crickmore 1997 p 64 Landis and Jenkins 2005 p 78 Pace 2004 p 159 a b c d Records Sub class C 1 Landplanes Group 3 turbo jet records fai org Retrieved 30 June 2011 Rich and Janos 1994 p 85 McIninch 1996 p 31 a b c Robarge David 27 June 2007 A Futile Fight for Survival Archangel CIA s Supersonic A 12 Reconnaissance Aircraft CSI Publications Archived from the original on 9 October 2007 Retrieved 13 April 2009 Cefaratt Gill 2002 Lockheed The People Behind the Story Turner Publishing Company pp 78 158 ISBN 978 1 56311 847 0 Lockheed B 71 SR 71 National Museum of the United States Air Force 29 October 2009 Archived from the original on 4 October 2013 Retrieved 2 October 2013 a b Landis and Jenkins 2005 pp 56 57 McIninch 1996 p 29 McIninch 1996 pp 14 15 Merlin 2005 pp 4 5 McIninch 1996 Landis and Jenkins 2005 p 47 Merlin 2005 p 6 Senior Crown SR 71 Federation of American Scientists 7 September 2010 Retrieved 17 October 2012 Archived on 17 April 2015 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Graham Richard 7 July 1996 SR 71 Revealed The Inside Story Zenith Press ISBN 978 0760301227 Crickmore 2009 pp 30 31 MiG 25 Foxbat globalaircraft org Retrieved 31 May 2011 Archived in 2014 Merlin Peter W Design and Development of the Blackbird Challenges and Lessons Learned American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Rich and Janos 1994 pp 213 214 Rich and Janos 1994 p 203 McIninch 1996 p 5 a b c d e Johnson 1985 Graham 1996 p 47 a b Graham 1996 p 160 Burrows William E 1 March 1999 The Real X Jet Air amp Space Magazine Retrieved 16 January 2018 Graham 1996 p 41 Lockheed SR 71 Blackbird Air Power Provided Dutchops com Blackbird diaries Air amp Space December 2014 January 2015 p 46 a b Dowling Stephen 2 July 2013 SR 71 Blackbird The Cold War s ultimate spy plane BBC Retrieved 4 May 2017 a b OXCART vs Blackbird Do You Know the Difference Central Intelligence Agency Cia gov Archived from the original on 8 December 2015 Graham 1996 p 75 Hott Bartholomew and George E Pollock The Advent Evolution and New Horizons of United States Stealth Aircraft archive is Retrieved 7 February 2014 Suhler 2009 p 100 Suhler 2009 ch 10 AirPower May 2002 p 36 Goodall 2003 p 19 AirPower May 2002 p 33 a b c Shul and O Grady 1994 SR 71 manual Air Inlet System sr 71 org Retrieved 14 March 2010 Penn State turbo ramjet engines personal psu edu Retrieved 14 March 2010 Crickmore 1997 pp 42 43 Landis and Jenkins 2005 p 97 NASA Dryden Technology Facts YF 12 Flight Research Program US NASA 2004 Retrieved 9 March 2019 Rich and Janos 1994 p 221 Landis and Jenkins 2005 p 83 a b Kloesel Kurt J Nalin A Ratnayake and Casie M Clark A Technology Pathway for Airbreathing Combined Cycle Horizontal Space Launch Through SR 71 Based Trajectory Modeling NASA Dryden Flight Research Center Retrieved 7 September 2011 Gibbs Yvonne 12 August 2015 NASA Armstrong Fact Sheet SR 71 Blackbird NASA Retrieved 29 May 2017 SR 71 yarchive net Retrieved 14 March 2010 SR 71 Online SR 71 Flight Manual Section 1 Page 1 20 Sr 71 org Jet Propulsion for Aerospace Applications second edition Hesse and Mumford Pitman Publishing Corporation Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 64 18757 p375 F 12 Series Aircraft Propulsion System Performance and Development David Campbell J Aircraft VOL 11 NO 11 November 1974 SR 71 Revealed Richard H Graham Col USAF Retd ISBN 978 0 7603 0122 7 p 51 Landis and Jenkins 2005 pp 95 96 Starter Cart SR 71 Online US 2010 Retrieved 21 July 2018 Graham Richard H 2019 Flying the SR 71 Blackbird In the Cockpit on a Secret Operational Mission p 70 Graham Richard H 2013 SR 71 The Complete Illustrated History of the Blackbird MBI Publishing p 110 Marshall Elliot The Blackbird s Wake Air and Space October November 1990 p 35 Graham 1996 pp 38 39 Paul Crickmore Lockheed Blackbird Beyond The Secret Missions 1993 p 233 Morrison Bill SR 71 contributors Feedback column Aviation Week and Space Technology 9 December 2013 p 10 SR 71A 1 Flight Manual Section IV p 3 sr 71 org Retrieved 13 December 2011 SR 71 Pilot Interview Richard Graham Veteran Tales YouTube SR 71 Online SR 71 Flight Manual Section 4 Page 4 86 Sr 71 org SR 71 Online SR 71 Flight Manual Section 4 Page 4 99 Sr 71 org SR 71 Online SR 71 Flight Manual Section 4 Page 4 123 Sr 71 org SR 71 Online SR 71 Flight Manual Section 4 Page 4 129 Sr 71 org SR 71 Online SR 71 Flight Manual Section 4 Page 4 132 Sr 71 org SR 71 Online SR 71 Flight Manual Section 4 Page 4 146 Sr 71 org Robarge David January 2012 Archangel CIA s Supersonic A 12 Reconnaissance Aircraft PDF 2nd ed CSI Publications Archived from the original PDF on 26 September 2012 Retrieved 19 March 2019 a b c d Crickmore 1997 p 74 Crickmore 1997 p 563 Crickmore 1997 p 77 Blackbird Diaries Flight Today Air amp Space Magazine 45 December 2014 Retrieved 24 July 2015 a b c Bill Weaver SR 71 Breakup Roadrunners Internationale 10 September 2011 Retrieved 3 March 2012 Donald 2003 p 172 Popular Mechanics June 1991 p 28 Ehrenfried Manfred 2013 Stratonauts Pioneers Venturing into the Stratosphere ISBN 978 3 319 02901 6 SR 71 Maintenance Blackbirds net Retrieved 29 October 2015 Shul Brian 1992 Sled Driver Earl Shilton Leicester England Midland Publishing Limited pp 38 40 ISBN 9781857800029 Reyes Jesus 6 July 2019 First man to fly the world s fastest aircraft dies in Rancho Mirage KESQ Archived from the original on 6 July 2019 Retrieved 6 July 2019 Crickmore 1997 pp 56 58 Graham Richard SR 71 Pilot Interview Richard Graham Veteran Tales interview at Frontiers of Flight Museum at 1 02 55 YouTube Erik Johnston Retrieved 29 August 2013 Col Richard Graham USAF Ret Habu org The Online Blackbird Museum Retrieved 16 January 2016 a b Shul Brian 1994 The Untouchables Mach One p 173 ISBN 0929823125 Crickmore 1997 p 59 a b Crickmore 1997 pp 62 64 Memorandum for the Chairman Sanitization and Decontrol Working Group Black Shield Photography PDF Central Intelligence Agency 19 November 1968 Archived from the original PDF on 23 January 2017 Retrieved 16 July 2020 Norros Guy Hyper ops Aviation Week amp Space Technology 20 July 2 August 2015 p 28 Hobson p 269 Donald 2003 p 167 Little Richard 22 September 2015 Bye Bye U 2 CIA Legend Allen Predicts End Of Manned Reconnaissance Breaking Defense Retrieved 29 May 2017 Quote from Reg Blackwell SR 71 pilot interviewed for Battle Stations episode SR 71 Blackbird Stealth Plane first aired on History Channel 15 December 2002 a b c d e f Graham 1996 SR 71 Flight Report Federal Bureau of Investigation 6 December 1971 p 340 Beale Air Force Base California had offered free of charge to the Bureau use of an SR 71 aircraft to photograph terrain over which the hijacked airplane had flown on its trip to Reno SR 71 Flight Report Federal Bureau of Investigation 6 December 1971 p 340 photographic over flights using SR 71 aircraft were conducted on five separate occasions with no photographs obtained due to limited visibility from very high altitude Bonafede Hakon 22 April 2012 SPIONFLY DEN KALDE KRIGEN Spionfly landet i Bodo Spy plane The Cold War Spy plane landed in Bodo in Norwegian Norway Side3 Retrieved 11 September 2017 Haynes Leland SR 71 Bodo Norway Operations Retrieved 7 October 2017 Bonafede Hakon 10 May 2018 Pa skuddhold av SR 71 Blackbird Shooting of the SR 71 Side3 in Norwegian Norway Retrieved 12 May 2018 TV Karnvapensakra bunkern styrde flygplanen TV Aircraft controlled from nuclear weapon secured bunker Kundservice Sweden 2 May 2017 Retrieved 7 October 2017 Look at time 5 57 Flyghistorisk Revy System 37 Viggen Stockholm Svensk Flyghistorisk Forening 2009 ISSN 0345 3413 Mach 14 vol 4 no 3 1983 p 5 ISSN 0280 8498 Mach 25 vol 7 no 2 1986 pp 28 29 ISSN 0280 8498 Darwal 2004 pp 151 156 OConnor Kelly When the Swedish Air Force Saab 37 Viggen Saved the Lockheed SR 71 Blackbird 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs Retrieved 15 December 2022 via YouTube 4 Swedish JA 37 Viggen pilots receives medals for SR 71 Blackbird rescue operation 1987 Part 1 2 YouTube Archived from the original on 22 March 2019 Retrieved 25 September 2019 4 Swedish JA 37 Viggen pilots receives medals for SR 71 Blackbird rescue operation 1987 Part 2 2 YouTube Archived from the original on 28 October 2021 Retrieved 25 September 2019 Marshall Eliot The Blackbird s Wake Air amp Space October November 1990 p 35 Crickmore 1997 pp 84 85 Crickmore 1997 p 81 a b Remak and Ventolo 2001 page needed a b c Department of Defense Authorization for Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1994 and The Future Years United States Senate May June 1993 a b Jenkins 2001 NASA DFRC SR 71 Blackbird NASA Retrieved 16 August 2007 Landis and Jenkins 2005 p 58 Shul and Watson 1993 pp 113 114 Landis and Jenkins 2005 pp 77 78 SR 71 World Record Speed and Altitude Flights Wvi com a b A 12 YF 12A amp SR 71 Timeline of Events Voodoo world cz Eldon W Joersz USA 8879 www fai org 10 October 2017 Retrieved 11 April 2022 a b Blackbird Records sr 71 org Retrieved 18 October 2009 1966 Lockheed SR 71 Archived 28 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine vam smv org Retrieved 14 February 2011 Spy Plane Sets Speed Record Then Retires The New York Times 7 March 1990 National Aeronautic Association Marshall Elliot The Blackbird s Wake Air amp Space October November 1990 p 31 Richard H Graham 1996 SR 71 Revealed The Untold Story Zenith Imprint ISBN 978 1 61060 751 3 Siuru William D and John D Busick Future Flight The Next Generation of Aircraft Technology Blue Ridge Summit Pennsylvania TAB Books 1994 ISBN 0 8306 7415 2 Norris Guy 1 November 2013 Exclusive Skunk Works Reveals SR 71 Successor Plan Aviation Week Penton Archived from the original on 11 August 2014 Retrieved 1 November 2013 Trimble Stephen 1 November 2013 Skunk Works reveals Mach 6 0 SR 72 concept Flightglobal com Reed Business Information Archived from the original on 21 January 2014 Retrieved 1 November 2013 Butler Amy Sweetman Bill 6 December 2013 EXCLUSIVE Secret New UAS Shows Stealth Efficiency Advances Aviation Week Penton Retrieved 6 December 2013 Landis and Jenkins 2005 pp 56 58 There Can Be Only One The Saga of the Only SR 71C Ever Built 17 May 2017 Retrieved 16 May 2021 Landis and Jenkins 2005 pp 62 75 Merlin 2005 p 4 Pace 2004 pp 109 110 U 2 and SR 71 Units Bases and Detachments Umcc ais org Retrieved 29 October 2015 BEALE AFB 99TH Reconnaissance Squadron Mybaseguide com Retrieved 29 October 2015 Fall and Rise of the Blackbird Blackbirds net Fact Sheet SR 71 Blackbird NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Retrieved 28 April 2015 61 7951 habu org Retrieved 16 September 2021 Bill Weaver amp Maury Rosenberg BD 0066 Oral History Bill Weaver and Maury Rosenberg Lockheed SR 71 Pilots Video San Diego Air amp Space Museum Event occurs at 1h12m40s Graham 2013 SR 71 953 crash check six com Retrieved 12 November 2012 SR 71A Blackbird Archived 16 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine Air Force Flight Center Museum Retrieved 10 February 2009 Lockheed SR 71B Blackbird 1963 1999 airzoo org Retrieved 15 September 2021 61 7956 habu org Retrieved 15 September 2021 SR 71A Blackbird Museum of Aviation Foundation Retrieved 16 September 2021 Exhibits Air Force Armament Museum Retrieved 10 February 2009 Our Collection Castle Air Museum Retrieved 16 September 2021 SR 71A Blackbird 17961 Audio Gallery Cosmosphere Retrieved 16 September 2021 Aircraft On Display Lockheed SR 71A Blackbird The American Air Museum Imperial War Museum Retrieved 10 February 2009 61 7963 habu org Retrieved 16 September 2021 SR 71A Blackbird Strategic Air Command amp Aerospace Museum Retrieved 16 September 2021 Bright Stuart 24 May 2017 SR 71 gets a lift Barksdale Air Force Base Retrieved 16 September 2021 Speed Science Museum of Virginia Retrieved 16 September 2021 Pure Speed Evergreen Aviation Museum Retrieved 16 September 2021 Lockheed SR 71 Blackbird Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Retrieved 16 September 2021 Blackbird Airpark Flight Test Museum Foundation Archived from the original on 27 April 2021 Retrieved 16 September 2021 Aircraft Lockheed SR 71A Blackbird March Field Air Museum Archived from the original on 4 March 2000 Retrieved 5 May 2009 Lockheed SR 71A National Museum of the United States Air Force Retrieved 16 September 2021 61 7977 habu org Retrieved 16 September 2021 Fear the Bunny Warrior Flight Charity Retrieved 24 March 2018 61 7979 habu org Retrieved 16 September 2021 Conner Monroe 20 October 2015 Where Are They Now SR 71A 844 NASA Retrieved 4 May 2020 Lockheed SR 71C Blackbird Hill Aerospace Museum 30 August 2021 Retrieved 16 September 2021 U 2 A 12 YF 12A SR 71 Blackbird amp RB 57D WB 57F locations Archived 18 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine u2sr71patches co uk Retrieved 22 January 2010 Frontiers of Flight Museum flightmuseum com Retrieved 14 March 2010 Pace 2004 p 110 Graham 2002 pp 93 223 Bibliography Edit A Bittersweet and Fancy Flight Philadelphia Inquirer 7 March 1990 p 1 Crickmore Paul F Blackbirds in the Cold War Air International January 2009 pp 30 38 Stamford UK Key Publishing Crickmore Paul F Lockheed s Blackbirds A 12 YF 12 and SR 71A Wings of Fame Volume 8 1997 pp 30 93 London Aerospace Publishing ISBN 1 86184 008 X Donald David ed Lockheed s Blackbirds A 12 YF 12 and SR 71 Black Jets AIRtime 2003 ISBN 1 880588 67 6 Goodall James Lockheed s SR 71 Blackbird Family Hinckley UK Aerofax Midland Publishing 2003 ISBN 1 85780 138 5 Graham Richard H SR 71 Blackbird Stories Tales and Legends North Branch Minnesota Zenith Imprint 2002 ISBN 0 7603 1142 0 Graham Richard H SR 71 Revealed The Inside Story St Paul Minnesota MBI Publishing Company 1996 ISBN 978 0 7603 0122 7 Graham Richard H SR 71 The Complete Illustrated History of the Blackbird The World s Highest Fastest Plane 2013 ISBN 978 0760343272 Jenkins Dennis R Lockheed Secret Projects Inside the Skunk Works St Paul Minnesota MBI Publishing Company 2001 ISBN 978 0 7603 0914 8 Johnson C L Kelly More Than My Share of it All Washington DC Smithsonian Books 1985 ISBN 0 87474 491 1 Landis Tony R and Dennis R Jenkins Lockheed Blackbirds Minneapolis Minnesota Specialty Press revised edition 2005 ISBN 1 58007 086 8 McIninch Thomas The Oxcart Story Center for the Study of Intelligence Central Intelligence Agency 2 July 1996 Retrieved 10 April 2009 Merlin Peter W From Archangel to Senior Crown Design and Development of the Blackbird Reston Virginia American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics AIAA 2008 ISBN 978 1 56347 933 5 Merlin Peter W The Truth is Out There SR 71 Serials and Designations Air Enthusiast No 118 July August 2005 Stamford UK Key Publishing pp 2 6 ISSN 0143 5450 Pace Steve Lockheed SR 71 Blackbird Swindon UK Crowood Press 2004 ISBN 1 86126 697 9 Remak Jeannette and Joe Ventolo Jr A 12 Blackbird Declassified St Paul Minnesota MBI Publishing Company 2001 ISBN 0 7603 1000 9 Rich Ben R and Leo Janos Skunk Works A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed New York Little Brown and Company 1994 ISBN 0 316 74330 5 Shul Brian and Sheila Kathleen O Grady Sled Driver Flying the World s Fastest Jet Marysville California Gallery One 1994 ISBN 0 929823 08 7 Shul Brian and Walter Watson Jr The Untouchables Chico California Mach 1 Inc 1993 ISBN 0 929823 12 5 Suhler Paul A From RAINBOW to GUSTO Stealth and the Design of the Lockheed Blackbird Library of Flight Series Reston Virginia American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics AIAA 2009 ISBN 978 1 60086 712 5 Additional sources Brandt Steven A Randall J Stiles and John J Bertin Introduction to Aeronautics A Design Perspective Reston Virginia American Institute of Aeronautics amp Astronautics 2004 pp 141 150 ISBN 1 56347 701 7 Brown Kevin V America s SuperSecret Spy Plane Popular Mechanics June 1968 pp 59 62 190 Clarkson Jeremy I Know You Got Soul London Penguin Books Limited 2006 ISBN 0 14 102292 2 Crickmore Paul F Lockheed Blackbird Beyond the Secret Missions Oxford UK Osprey Publishing 2004 ISBN 1 84176 694 1 Crickmore Paul and Jim Laurier Lockheed SR 71 Operations in the Far East Oxford UK Osprey Publishing 2008 ISBN 1 84603 319 5 Darwall Bjarne Luftens Dirigenter Air Conductors in Swedish Nassjo Sweden Air Historic Research AB 2004 ISBN 91 973892 6 9 Goodall James and Jay Miller Lockheed s SR 71 Blackbird Family A 12 F 12 M 21 D 21 SR 71 Hinckley UK AeroFax Midland Publishing 2002 ISBN 1 85780 138 5 Grant R G Flight 100 Years of Aviation New York DK Publishing 2007 ISBN 978 0 7566 1902 2 Hobson Chris Vietnam Air Losses USAF USN USMC Fixed Wing Aircraft Losses in Southeast Asia 1961 1973 North Branch Minnesota Specialty Press 2001 ISBN 1 85780 115 6 Merlin Peter W Design and Development of the Blackbird Challenges and Lessons Learned Orlando Florida American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics AIAA 2009 AIAA 2009 1522 Merlin Peter W Mach 3 NASA USAF YF 12 Flight Research 1969 1979 Washington D C Diane Publishing Co NASA History Division Office 2002 ISBN 1 4289 9458 0 Pappas Terry The Blackbird is Back Popular Mechanics June 1991 pp 27 31 104 105 Sr 71 Blackbird Pilot s Flight Manual Reithmaier Lawrence W Mach 1 and Beyond New York McGraw Hill 1994 pp 220 237 ISBN 0 07 052021 6 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to SR 71 Blackbird Robert R Ropelewski 18 May 1981 SR 71 Impressive in High speed Regime PDF Aviation Week amp Space Technology Pilot Report Roger Mola 20 November 2014 What a Blackbird Drinks Air amp Space Magazine Air amp Space Smithsonian Blackbird Diaries Air amp Space Magazine Air amp Space Smithsonian December 2014 Paul Kucher SR 71 Online The Online Blackbird Museum Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Lockheed SR 71 Blackbird amp oldid 1134434370, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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