Neat Artical and pics on the SR-71 Blackbird

Shame they retired that bird

crazy technology back in the fifties and sixties !!!

Great article Dave, thanks for posting. I've seen the SR71 on display at the SAC Museum in Gretna, Nebraska at exit 426 off of I-80. Amazing technology even today! I'd love to know what has replaced them and what their capabilities are!

Nevs, they aren't saying but, there have been recodings of something flying at Mach 8+ near area 51 for the past 2 years.......makes ya wonder

The SR-71 was based right by where I live in northern CA. Beale AFB was their home. It was pretty neat to see them head out on a mission. Another exotic mach 3 aircraft to check out is the XB-70 mach 3 bomber that first flew close to the same time in 1964. It could cruise at mach 3.08, but was 3 times larger than the SR-71. One is on display at the US Air Force base at Wright Patterson, Dayton, Ohio.

blown473 wrote:The SR-71 was based right by where I live in northern CA. Beale AFB was their home. It was pretty neat to see them head out on a mission. Another exotic mach 3 aircraft to check out is the XB-70 mach 3 bomber that first flew close to the same time in 1964. It could cruise at mach 3.08, but was 3 times larger than the SR-71. One is on display at the US Air Force base at Wright Patterson, Dayton, Ohio.

I remember the XB70 well. At the risk of dating myself(too late)!, I used to draw pictures of it when I was in grade school. My uncle was a lifer in the Air Force as a B52 mechanic and I was a fan of planes forever. Amazing stuff for the times indeed.

Here's a link to more information for those who are interested:
http://www.sr-71.org/

The SR-71 is indeed one of the greatest flying machines of all time... My Grandfather was working at Area 51 when it was being tested. He had some awesome stories, that was for sure. He did say that the true top speed of the SR-71 was never really established, as they never did fly it at more than 2/3 throttle. I saw a documentary about it years ago, and they asked one of the pilots that was flying it when they broke and reset the Transatlantic flight record back in '74 I believe. They asked him how long he thought the new record would stand, and he said (with a chuckle) "I don't think anyone would break the record, and IF they do, then we'll get back in that 'ol Blackbird and give 'er a little more throttle!"

That flight was a mere 1hr. 54 min. and change, from an altitude of 80,000'... Including a slowdown for refueling...

Here is a copy from an article I read, after my grandpa told me about it about 3 or 4 months before he passed away:

"After the end of the Farnborough Air Show where the SR-71 was on display outside the United States for the first time, it set another record on the way home. This time the spy plane flew from London to Los Angeles, a distance of 5,446.87 miles in just 3 hours, 47 minutes, 39 seconds. That flight required two refueling slowdowns as well as other speed zones when flying over major U.S. cities.

An SR-71 also set the coast-to-coast record when it flew from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in 64 minutes, 20 seconds in 1990."


I too have heard the rumors of an ultra-sonic aircaraft being (or not being) flown high above Area 51...