Air Power
LOCKHEED SR-71A
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 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 a few years later.
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 miles per hour and an absolute altitude record of 85,068.997 feet.
On March 21, 1968, in the aircraft on display, 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, Calif.; Palmdale, Calif.; Kadena Air Base, Okinawa and RAF (Base) Mildenhall, England. The aircraft was flown to the Museum in March 1990.
SPECIFICATIONS
Span: 55 ft. 7 in.
Length: 107 ft. 5 in.
Height: 18 ft. 6 in.
Weight: 170,000 lbs. loaded
Armament: None
Engines: Two Pratt & Whitney J58’s of 32,500 lbs. thrust each with afterburner
Crew: Two
PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: Plus 2,000 mph.
Range: Plus 2,900 miles
Service Ceiling: Plus 85,000 ft.
Photos/Information courtesy of the US Air Force Museum
