61 years after the first twelve seconds
SR-71 Blackbird SR-71A
Faster than a rifle bullet
The story
The Blackbird cruised above 3 at 25 km, where the sky looks black at noon. Friction heated the titanium skin past 300 °C, so the panels fitted loosely on the ground and sealed only in flight. On its last flight in 1990 it went from Los Angeles to Washington in 64 minutes and is now at the 's Udvar-Hazy Center.
Lockheed's , under , developed it from the A-12, a spy plane built for the CIA, and most of its structure was titanium. The Soviet Union was one of the largest suppliers of titanium ore, so the CIA bought it through front companies. The fuel doubled as coolant for the airframe, and on the runway it dripped from the loose tanks until the heat of flight sealed them.
No SR-71 was ever shot down. Thousands of missiles are reported to have been fired at Blackbirds, and the standard defence was simply to speed up. It still holds the world speed record for a jet aircraft, 3,529.6 km/h, set in 1976.
How it works
Loading the 3D model…
Specifications
- Top speed
- 3,540 km/h
- Wingspan
- 16.9 m
- Max weight
- 78,000 kg
- Ceiling
- 25,900 m
- Range
- 5,400 km
- In 12 seconds
- 11.8 km
- Power
- 2 × Pratt & Whitney J58, 145 kN each with afterburner
Where it flew
Palmdale, California
Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale. The simulator starts here, over today's ground and imagery of the place.
Fly it yourself
Take the SR-71 Blackbird up in 3D, with its real weight, wing area and power.
Climb above 20,000 m and pass Mach 3.
On displaySteven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, Virginia
