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Originally commissioned in 1966, the Lockheed SR-71, nicknamed "Blackbird," flew missions for over 30 years, becoming one of the most storied and studied aircraft of all time in the process.
Blackbird's history dates back to the mid 1950's, when the CIA and the US Air Force gave plane-builder Lockheed a contract to develop a faster, higher-flying spy plane to replace the older U-2 aircraft. Code named "Archangel," this project became of paramount importance after a U-2 was shot down over Russia in 1960. Four years later, on December 22, 1964, the SR-71 made its first recorded flight.
Capable of traveling at speeds in excess of Mach 3 (over 2000 mph), at altitudes of up to 85,000 feet, and with a combat range of nearly 3000 miles, the SR-71 was a technological marvel at the time of its creation, and continued to represent the cutting edge of aviation technology for nearly three decades. When the plane was temporarily decommissioned in 1990, a Blackbird flew from California to Washington DC, completing the trek in a record-setting 68 minutes, at a blistering average speed of 2,124 mph.
One of the first planes designed with a stealth profile to help it evade radar, the SR-71 had an airframe constructed entirely of titanium, bought from the USSR during the deepest freezes of the Cold War. Obtaining that quantity of material without alerting the Russians to its designated purpose was an intelligence coup in itself. The material had to be specially corrugated, to allow it to expand during flight, due to the intense heat generated by air resistance at high speeds. As a result, the aircraft skin was loose at ground level, causing it to leak fuel when not in flight.
Once testing was complete, 32 Blackbirds were built before the Air Force ordered Lockheed to destroy the equipment used to produce them in 1968. Of these 32 planes, 12 were lost in flight accidents, but all the crews were able to eject safely. Not a single SR-71 was ever lost to enemy fire. The SR-71 was capable of such astounding speed that the standard process of evasive action in the event of a surface-to-air missile launch was listed simply as "accelerate."
The aircraft was equipped with no standard armament, and was instead used exclusively in reconnaissance missions, where it would use its high speed and altitude to take spy photos of the enemy unmolested. Plans to build a supersonic interceptor/bomber, the YF-12, based on the SR-71, were developed, but the project was ultimately scrapped due to cost restrictions. Regardless, the Blackbird provided an invaluable service to the United States during the cold war, providing detailed information of Soviet-bloc facilities, active battlefields, and troop movements at only a few hours notice.
After the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in 1990, Congress voted put the much-loved but expensive SR-71 out of service, arguing that cost-effective spy satellites could provide the same services that the SR-71 had for the past 20 years. However, the US Armed forces were rudely proven wrong during the Gulf War Conflict of 1991, when Satellites proved unable to relay real-time battlefield information as effectively as the SR-71 had, due to their relative ineffectiveness at night and the then-incomplete nature of the satellite network. The SR-71 was re-commissioned shortly after that conflict, and remained in service up until 1998, when it was retired for good.
Due its unique appearance, amazing flight capabilities and remarkable service record, the SR-71 Blackbird has become as much a part of aviation history as the Wright Brothers Flyer or Charles Lindbergh's "The Spirit of St. Louis." Several SR-71s are still on display around the country, at locations like the USS Intrepid Seas-Air-Space Museum in New York City, and the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC. A visit to one of these sites to see the aircraft up-close is a must for any aviation or military history buff.
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