The USAF's SR-71A two-seat strategic-reconnaissance aircraft originates from the remarkable Lockheed A-11, detail design of which began in 1959. Almost certainly intended to follow into service the Lockheed U-2, the A-11 derived from the design team led by C. L. 'Kelly' Johnson. Four A-11 were ordered, the first being flown on 26 April 1962.
Three were later modified into YF-12A interceptors, entering service for evaluation in 1964. They were capable of speeds in excess of Mach 3 and of sustained supersonic flight at heights of up to 24,385m. Consequently construction was largely of titanium to maintain structural integrity, for as a result of kinetic heating, localised skin temperatures of up to about 427°C could be reached. To retard as much as possible the effects of such heating, these aircraft were finished in a high-heat-emissive black paint, leading to the name Blackbird.
The fourth A-11 (ordered on the original contract) was subsequently redesignated YF-12C. From it was developed the SR-71A reconnaissance aircraft, the first of which flew on 22 December 1964. The readily recognisable configuration of this aircraft results from extensive wind-tunnel testing to evolve a minimum-drag fuselage providing maximum speed while keeping kinetic heating to the minimum; and to maintain the best possible handling characteristics at supersonic, take-off (about 370km/h) and landing (about 278km/h) speeds.
Power plant comprises two 144.6kN Pratt & Whitney turbojets. The 36,287kg of special fuel for these engines - which is contained within upper-fuselage and inner-wing tanks - acts as a heat sink for the entire aircraft, fuel temperature being raised to 320°C before being injected into the engines. Highly complex air intakes with computer-controlled fail-safe systems are essential to ensure that smooth airflow to the engines is maintained over the enormous forward speed range of 0-3,200km/h, at the upper limit of which the engines are virtually operating as turbo-ramjets. SR-71A began to enter USAF service in January 1966 and it is believed that as many as 31 may have been built. They have the capability to survey an area of 155,400km2 within an hour and in 1976 established a closed-circuit speed record of 3,367.221km/h; a world absolute speed record of 3,529.56km/h; and a sustained-altitude record of 25,929.031m.
Although I was not associated with this aircraft, I knew this plane was worthy of my interest. The first time that I saw it fly was at the Paine Field Air Show, and what a show it put on. My unit was tasked with providing ground transportation for the pilot and support staff while in the at the show. We were aloud to witness the arrival the day before the show, and departure after the show. The day that he left he made several fly-by's, and then at the south end of the field, at about 500 ft, stood her on her tail, and went straight up until she was less than a speck. What a rush.
As an enthusiast Aviator ,This is by far the best Plane ever built(In public knowledge..) I am sure Lockheed left no stones unturned to develop this aircraft....Everything including the fuel was literally invented for this speed demon... regardless of all the nefarious purposes the aircraft might have been used for.... it is the epitome of technical marvel.... Hats off Lockheed and majorly standing ovation for Pratt and Whitney .... The engine amazes me the most.....
I got to see one land when I was a kid at McClellan AFB in 1989. I also saw one, from the ground looking up, refueling behind a KC-10 that same year. Sweet ass plane, for sure!
I worked on all SR-71s as an Avionics technician and a Mission Recording techician;1966-1969 at both Beal AFB and OL-8 (Kadena). I did the pre-flight and post flight inspections, besides repairs. I was also involved with mission tape reviews for mainteance purposes.
I have heard all kinds of stories and many untrue claims.
The SR-71 As,Bs & C flew between 1950 and 2150 mph and between 78,000 and 81,000 ft. This was for safety, maintenance and mision profile reasons. Variations are due to different air temperatures and individual aircraft trim differences.
The polits, which I have great respect for, were instructed to keep the aircraft well inside the safety limites of the flight envelopes. Navigation was controled by the RSO and the Astro-Navigation unit tied to the auto-pilot. Again, this was a tightly controled procedure to insure mission preformance and NOT over-stress the aircraft.
Hot doging a SR-71 was not a good carrer move for these carrer polits, especially when every twitch of the throttles and flight controls were recorded for post flight analysis.
Were there exceptions? Yes,but not many. Life was dangerous enough just doing the riht thing. Expereiencing an un-start would be excitement enough.
I was stationed at Beale for five years with the 9th SRW and a few TDY's to Kadena. I worked in the AGE shop maintening the ground support equipment one of which was the AG330 Start Cart w / two 425 cu. in. Buick engines coupled together in parallel with a Dynamo trani and a very wide cog belt. The four barrel carburetors and straight exhaust pipes output over 750 HP to drive a four inch gear in a hydraulic probe just to turn the SR's engine to ignition speed. In Kadena, we had to follow the SR to the launch with a start cart if needed. Once, I saw a take-off when the left engine flamed out. The crew had to continue the take off or risk crashing the acft. It was said to be the first take-off ever done with only one engine. The crew saved that acft. My assignment with the SR was the best and proudest years of my 22 years in the USAF.
I got to work right beside the SR-71's everyday at the 9th recon Beale AFB Ca for years. We would never get tired of watching the bird being prep for flight. Everyone would stare with amazement at Kelly Johnsons awesome Black Bird. Just being there and seeing what we saw was enough for us to have to sign a paper of NON discloser. "You didn't see this" "type of paper"....This was in the 70's...I deployed to Mildenhal England and to Okinawa Japan to the OL sites TDY several times. Never got tired of the long hours of work helping the 9th Recon keeping her Flying. Don't let anyone kid you thou, we still have a few like Tail number 971 and 837 still in good working order at Edwards AFB Drydent Flight Reserch Center in Ca,, "Up-From-The-Ashes"
P /S...Did you know...that the USA bought most of all of its Titanium from the Soviet Union during the COLD WAR. The Soviets thought wrongly that "NO ONE" cold work this USELESS metal into anything but GLOBS of pig iron. The Soviets gave up on trying to work Titanium into a working viable metal of any value. So, thus, they thought that they would STICK IT TO THE good ole US of A, by selling us all of this crap metal that we could carry. All the time, Kelly Johnson was building a smelt made of Ceramic material that would be used to get the Titanium up to a working temperature of over 7000 degree,s. True story, We got our Titanium from the USSR to build the very plane that would fly over the USSR many times.. Thanks Russia, with friends like you, who needs Enemies? We love ya...9th Recon Beale AFB Ca,...
I was on Okinawa, 1967. One day while in OC /FC we pick up something on the HPIR. 2000 mph and closing fast from 50000' !!! We were about to let a couple Hawks loose when we got the IFF. Releived to find out this bad boy was ours!A An FY-12a I got a chance to meet the Col. who brought her in. A couple days later, we lined up at 0530 to watch the most impressive take-off I have ever seen. I will never forget it... NEVER! She broke radar lock in less than 14 seconds. Thats one fast bitch, boys! I've heard thru the grapevine shes been in a hot run in the Med at over 5000 mph and had some room to go. And thats no sh--!
I was always intrigued by the BB. While working as a tkt agt in SAN, I checked in the last CO's wife of the last operational sq out of Beale. Noticed she had a gold BB around her neck and started talking to her about the BB. She sent me an autographed poster from all of the last pilots, which I stll have. Awesome........any takers. Kelly Johnson was a genuis in a /c engineering.
I worked part-time for Ret. Col. Bill Skliar back in the 80's. Skliar was the third pilot to ever fly the prototype SR-71. The first two pilots were civilians. Skliar wrote the original military flight manual for that early model. He said that as he sat in the cockpit for his first flight in that bird, he asked the civilian pilot for some advice. The answer he got was just three words..."Just be careful." Skliar had an interesting history. He was an enlisted man until 1948 when he was accepted into the Aviation Cadet Program. He got his wings and was eventually sent to Korea. He shot down a MIG in Korea while flying an F-84, unaffectionally known as "The Hog." Later, he flew F-100's and then F-4's in Viet Nam. He didn't like the F-100 because of it's occassional habit to flame out when you went to afterburner. As Skliar told me, "The last place you want to have a flame out is above the guy you just bombed." Sadly, he was killed when the wing of his race plane folded during flight testing. He never made it out of the cockpit. A full size copy of his Formula One race plane, with others, is hanging in the Golden Sierra Casino near the Horse Racing betting section.
The suits were developed in the early 50's for the RB-57F, used on the early U-2's,the SR-71 (both the A-11 & 12) and the Gemini program. The Apollo suit was extra vehicular and used for the moon landing.
The engines were certified to Mach 5, the airframe was the limiting factor.
The number of A /C built is still classified as is the operational altitude and speed. Somewhere on the internet is a 1st persom description of a BDA overflight of Lybia. The pilor and REO confirmed mach 3.7 and 87,ooo feet.
I was so fortunate to have worked on the HABU (SR-71) at Kadena,Okinawa. I loved that it taxied right from the hangar and already had clearance to take off. It required what seemed to be only a few feet down the runway before it went perpendicular to the runway. It was so quick to go vertical that the AB's seemed to be just inches above the runway. . . . . . on a perfectly sunny and cloud free day the HABU was a spec in the sky and poof gone, totally out of sight. Upon returning from its mission, touching down on the runway, the all black with dark red lettering, the HABU would deploy its bright orange drag shutes. After jettisoning the shute the HABU would immediately return to the hangar and once in side we would close the hangar doors. That aircraft would have fit right into a Star Wars movie and you would not have blinked an eye that it was out of place. Like many of the people that have put their testimonies above, so are my feelings for the SR-71. It was told to me that it received it's designation SR-71 from President Johnson when in a speech he called it the "SR-71" when it should have been "RS-71", (not sure if that is true though). So, you didn't hear it from me. Tnanks for reading this and thanks for sharing your thoughts as well. JAD
I was an Air Traffic Controller, stationed at Beal, this aircraft was and is the greatest. I also was debriefed on one of the missions and was totally in awe. It's faster than any other aircraft on this planet.
I was a crew chief on the SR-71 for a little over 16 years. I was stationed abt Beale AFB from Sept. 1971 and retired from Beale in Sept. 1995. I spent some time at Holloman, Iceland and Korea. This was by far the best plane in the world. The pride of the people that worked the plane was matched. I went on many TDY's with the plane world over. I really hated to see the plane retired. It was a real honor to work with all the people there on the plane. Once a HABU always a HABU.
The diagram given in this article appears to be that of the YF-12A. The cropped leading edges of the fairings are the result of the FLIR which was mated to the acquistion radar and weapons system. The SR-71 did not have this configuration.
@ Ken Collins Wow! I'm please to read You DUTCH 21. Please teach us the true about service ceiling and max speed. Do another black project is done? Although I fear information are confidential and still classified...
The best of legends are always those that leave most to imagination, I'll add some fuel to that fire: Had the security clearance and reason to be on flight line one day at Beale AFB, Marysville, Ca. to see a takeoff, launch would be the more appropriate term. LOUDEST plane imaginable, if you blinked you missed it. Super long exhaust trails with the bright Mach rings and rate of climb makes the Space Shuttle look like an amusement ride. You could clearly hear and feel it long after beyond visual range. I got to rub elbows with flight crews of the birds at a SR-71 reunion in a Reno casino. I was sworn to double secret probation about absolute statistics but here's a few ticklers: Published top speed bogus-way way beyond that. Richter scale sonic boom one early AM in Reno /Tahoe area plus UFO reports, Tungusta class meteor sighting, 911 switchboard panic, airliner crash, nuke detonation later brushed off at Beale as SR routine final approach-no further comment. Published service ceiling bogus-running joke everyone screwed out of astronaut pins. MIG-25 peril bogus-like entering a Cessna 150 in the Unlimited Class at Reno Championship air races. Missile launch peril bogus-like shooting bottle rockets at a 747 at cruise altitude. Russians probably went broke at all the hardware put in the air, they all fell down on something /somebody(s). Off shore Russian coast flight rules bogus- plenty of nice snap shots of the Kremlin in lockers under the centerfolds. Retirement status bogus-nothing that good ever goes out of style, no one quits with a winner. Replaced by spy satellites bogus-They can do amazing things but can't go anywhere we want them to at a moment's notice and no mathematically predictable orbital plane, speed, and altitude. Built by analog thinkers in a now digital world- nothing exists to take a shot at the title. This does present mind boggling certainties, to be continued,as always keep 'em guessing...
