For your enjoyment, two little known factoids...
1. The crew of the "Truculent Turtle," the P2V Neptune that set the world's distance record for an unrefueled flight in 1946 from Perth, Australia to Columbus, Ohio, consisted of 4 USN pilots and a young kangaroo...
2. The Blackbird was originally designated by the military as the RS-71...Reconnaissance being the keyword here..but LBJ, who who known for his vanity, hated to wear reading glasses, so during a speech announcing the plane, misread it as the SR-71...immediately afterwards the designation was changed...
I had not heard of the kangaroo on the "Turtle" but I do recall hearing about the RS vs SR flap.
Wings/Airpower magazine did a four part series on the A-12/YF-12A/SR-71 a few years ago. Very intersting stuff.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}