[Vlad0]

We really need a picture of this exquisite bird:

Altitude record: 85,069 ft-in sustained flight.
Captain Robert Helt,July 1976

Fastest speed: 2,193.2 mph (Mach 3.3) (rumored to go as fast as Mach 3.5)

The rival to the SR-71 is the X-15, which flew from 1959 until 1968.

Altitude Record: 102,100 feet
William J. Knight, Oct. 1967

Speed Record: 4,520 mph (Mach 6.7)
(same date and pilot)

The X-15 was rocket powered, the SR-71 used jet engines. The SR-17 completed point-to-point flights, which is why many people consider it a true airplane and X-15 more of a rocket.

The X-15

[Tallguy]

http://roadrunnersinternationale.com/a-12s.html

The SR-71’s predecessor — the A-12 “Archangel” — was theoretically faster and capable of higher sustained altitudes. It was lighter and consequently had a greater thrust to weight ratio. But as the single-seat A-12 was a CIA controlled aircraft there probably weren’t any recordings of what it actually did.

[newfreep]

When I see a photo of the SR-71, I always think of Area51 and “Art Bell and the High Desert”.

[goldbux]

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