SR-71 Blackbird
| SR-71 Blackbird | ||
|---|---|---|
 The United States Air Force SR-71 Blackbird | ||
| Description | ||
| Role | Strategic Reconnaissance | |
| Crew | 2 | |
| Dimensions | ||
| Length | 107.42 ft | 32.74 m |
| Wingspan | 55.58 ft | 16.94 m |
| Height | 18.5 ft | 5.64 m |
| Wing area | 1,800 ft² | 167.2 m² |
| Weights | ||
| Empty | 65,000 lb | 29,484 kg |
| Loaded | 170,000 lb | 77,112 kg |
| Maximum take-off | ||
| Powerplant | ||
| Engines | Two Pratt & Whitney J58-1 (JT11D-20B) continuous-bleed afterburning turbojets | |
| Power | 32,500 lb | 145 kN |
| Performance | ||
| Maximum speed | 2,100 mph (< Mach 3) | 3,380 km/h |
| Combat range | 2,982 mi | 4,800 km |
| Ferry range | ||
| Service ceiling | > 85,000 ft | > 25,908 m |
| Rate of climb | ||
The Lockheed SR-71, unofficially known as the Blackbird, is a long-range, advanced, strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Lockheed A-12 and YF-12A aircraft by Lockheed's Skunkworks, which was also responsible for the U-2 and many other advanced aircraft. The SR-71 was one of the first stealth aircraft, it incorporated radar absorbing materials and was shaped to have an extremely low radar signature.
The first flight of an SR-71 took place on December 22, 1964, and the first SR-71 to enter service was delivered to the 4200th (later, 9th) Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale AFB, California, in January 1966. The U.S. Air Force retired its fleet of SR-71s on January 26, 1990, because of a decreasing defense budget and high costs of operation. The USAF returned the SR-71 to the active Air Force inventory in 1995 and began flying operational missions in January 1997. The planes were permanently retired in 1998.
Throughout its career, the SR-71 remained the world's fastest and highest-flying operational aircraft. From an altitude of 80,000 ft (24 km) it could survey 100,000 miles²/h (72 km²/s) of the Earth's surface. On July 28, 1976, an SR-71 set two world records for its class: an absolute speed record of 2,193.167 mph (3,529.56 km/h) and an absolute altitude record of 85,068.997 feet (25,929 m). When the SR-71 was retired in 1990, one was flown from Palmdale Airbase to go on exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute's National Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C., setting a coast-to-coast speed record at an average 2,124 mph (3,418 km/h). The entire trip took only 68 minutes.
The aircraft flew so fast and so high that if the pilot detected that a surface-to-air missile had been launched, the standard process of evasive action was, simply, "accelerate". No SR-71 aircraft are known to have been shot down.
On March 21, 1968 Major (later General) Jerome F. O'Malley and Major Edward D. Payne made the first operational SR-71 sortie. During its career, this aircraft accumulated 2,981 flying hours and flew 942 total sorties (more than any other SR-71), including 257 operational missions, from Beale AFB, California; Palmdale, California; Kadena Air Base, Okinawa and RAF (Base) Mildenhall, England. The aircraft was flown to the United States Air Force Museum in March 1990.
Thirty-two planes were built. Of these, 12 were lost in flight accidents but all crews ejected safely.
The original designation for the aircraft was the RS-71. However when the aircraft was announced by Lyndon B. Johnson on February 29, 1964, Johnson accidentally switched the letters for the name of the aircraft, which forced Lockheed to instantly change the name of the aircraft. While never intended for the bomber role, the -71 designation comes from the sequence used for bombers pre-1962, perhaps as a disinformation strategy.
Similar to the SR-71 were the A-11 and A-12 which were prototypes for the Blackbird, and the YF-12 which was an attempt to convert the SR-71 into a long range fighter.
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Variants
The most notable variant of the basic SR-71 design was the M-21. This was a SR-71 platform modified to carry and launch the D-21 drone, an unpiloted, faster and higher flying reconnaissance device. Confusingly, this variant was known as the M-21 when the drone was absent, and the MD-21 when it was attached to the plane. The D-21 drone was completely autonomous, having been launched it would overfly the target, travel to a rendevous point and eject its data package. The package would be recovered in midair by a C-130 Hercules and the drone would self destruct. The program to develop this system was canceled in 1966 after a drone crashed into the mother ship shortly after being launched, destroying the M-21 and killing the Launch Control Officer.
The only surviving M-21 is on display--along with a D-21B Drone--at The Museum of Flight in Seattle, USA.
| Related content | |
|---|---|
| Related Development | A-12 - YF-12 - M-21 |
| Similar Aircraft | |
| Designation Series | XB-68 - B-69 - XB-70 - SR-71 |
| Related Lists | List of military aircraft of the United States - List of reconnaissance aircraft |
| List of Aircraft | Aircraft Manufacturers | Aircraft Engines | Aircraft Engine Manufacturers Airlines | Air Forces | Aircraft Weapons | Missiles | Years in Aviation |