The 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. The first flight of an SR-71 took
place on Dec. 22, 1964, and the first SR-71
to enter service was delivered to the 4200th
(later 9th) Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at
Beale Air Force Base, Calif., in January
1966. The U.S. Air Force retired its fleet
of SR-71s on Jan. 26, 1990, because of a
decreasing defense budget and high costs of
operation.
Throughout its nearly 24-year career, the
SR-71 remained the world's fastest and
highest-flying operational aircraft. From
80,000 feet, it could survey 100,000 square
miles of Earth's surface per hour. On July
28, 1976, an SR-71 set two world records for
its class -- an absolute speed record of
2,193.167 mph and an absolute altitude
record of 85,068.997 feet.
On March 21, 1968, in
the aircraft on display, Maj. (later Gen.)
Jerome F. O'Malley and Maj. 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 Air Force Base, Calif., Palmdale,
Calif., Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, and RAF
(Base), Mildenhall, England. The aircraft
was flown to the museum in March 1990.
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SPECIFICATIONS:
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PERFORMANCE: |
| Span:
55 ft. 7 in.
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Maximum speed:
Mach 3+ or
over 2,000 mph |
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Length:
107 ft. 5 in.
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Cruising speed:
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Height:
18 ft. 6 in.
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Range:
More than 2,900 statute miles
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Empty Weight:
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Service ceiling:
Over 85,000 ft. |
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Gross Weight:
140,000 lbs. loaded
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Crew:
Two
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Engines:
Two
Pratt & Whitney
J58s of 32,500 lbs. thrust each with
afterburner
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Armament:
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SOURCE:
National Museum of the United States Air
Force |
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