Because of its unusual looks, air base workers in Okinawa in Japan called it 'habu', after an indigenous pit viper. Those who flew it referred to it as the Sled. There are people who use the name Lady in Black. Whichever name you prefer won't change the fact that the SR71 Blackbird has been one of the most incredible airplanes ever made.
The plane served as a reconnaissance aircraft for about thirty-five years. Developed in the early Sixties at Lockheed Skunk Works, a division of the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, the existence of the plane was announced by President Lyndon B Johnson in July 1964. In December of that year it made its first flight and it flew its first operational mission in 1968, during the Vietnam War, from Kadena Air Base.
In its day the SR71 set a number of records for speed and altitude. It was the fastest of all manned aircraft, with a cruising speed of Mach 2 but capable of reaching Mach 3 and more. This is one of the reasons why not one of these aircraft was shot down. It could fly away so fast that the enemy couldn't get to it.
The high speeds at which the plane flew made it necessary to use a material that could deal with the extreme heat generated by friction. Titanium turned out to be ideal for the airframe. To get this metal from its main supplier, the Soviet Union, the CIA had to create a front company and keep mum about what the titanium would be used for.
Another feature of the aircraft was the altitude at which it flew. At above 80,000 feet, most other aircraft couldn't reach it. In order to protect the pilots when they flew at this altitude, they had to wear pressure suits similar to those worn on space shuttles. They also had to wear oxygen masks for breathing.
The craft's shape was designed to evade radar as much as possible, even though radar systems easily detected the exhaust fumes. Another protection measure was its color, a very dark blue that looked black and wasn't easily detectable at night. This color is what gave the plane its nickname. State-of-the-art equipment meant that the crew consisted of two: a pilot and an RSO, which stands for Reconnaissance Systems Officer.
Lockheed only built thirty-two Blackbirds. Twelve of these were lost in accidents, yet only one pilot ever died in one. Even when not on a mission flight, the plane performed exceedingly. One was flown from California to Virginia where it would go on display in a museum. During this flight, the specific craft's last ever, it set four speed records. The flight from Los Angeles out to Washington DC lasted an hour, four minutes and some seconds in small change.
NASA had some of these airplanes too and employed the first woman to fly one. While the USAF stopped flying the SR71 Blackbird in 1998, NASA held out for another year. This phenomenal plane made its last-ever flight in 1999 and today you can only see it on display in aviation museums across the United States, There is one in Great Britain too.
The plane served as a reconnaissance aircraft for about thirty-five years. Developed in the early Sixties at Lockheed Skunk Works, a division of the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, the existence of the plane was announced by President Lyndon B Johnson in July 1964. In December of that year it made its first flight and it flew its first operational mission in 1968, during the Vietnam War, from Kadena Air Base.
In its day the SR71 set a number of records for speed and altitude. It was the fastest of all manned aircraft, with a cruising speed of Mach 2 but capable of reaching Mach 3 and more. This is one of the reasons why not one of these aircraft was shot down. It could fly away so fast that the enemy couldn't get to it.
The high speeds at which the plane flew made it necessary to use a material that could deal with the extreme heat generated by friction. Titanium turned out to be ideal for the airframe. To get this metal from its main supplier, the Soviet Union, the CIA had to create a front company and keep mum about what the titanium would be used for.
Another feature of the aircraft was the altitude at which it flew. At above 80,000 feet, most other aircraft couldn't reach it. In order to protect the pilots when they flew at this altitude, they had to wear pressure suits similar to those worn on space shuttles. They also had to wear oxygen masks for breathing.
The craft's shape was designed to evade radar as much as possible, even though radar systems easily detected the exhaust fumes. Another protection measure was its color, a very dark blue that looked black and wasn't easily detectable at night. This color is what gave the plane its nickname. State-of-the-art equipment meant that the crew consisted of two: a pilot and an RSO, which stands for Reconnaissance Systems Officer.
Lockheed only built thirty-two Blackbirds. Twelve of these were lost in accidents, yet only one pilot ever died in one. Even when not on a mission flight, the plane performed exceedingly. One was flown from California to Virginia where it would go on display in a museum. During this flight, the specific craft's last ever, it set four speed records. The flight from Los Angeles out to Washington DC lasted an hour, four minutes and some seconds in small change.
NASA had some of these airplanes too and employed the first woman to fly one. While the USAF stopped flying the SR71 Blackbird in 1998, NASA held out for another year. This phenomenal plane made its last-ever flight in 1999 and today you can only see it on display in aviation museums across the United States, There is one in Great Britain too.
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