WAY TO KNOWLEDGE...

SR-71 Blackbird

Having served in the United States Air Force for 20 years, I have marveled at the supreme flying machine called the SR-71...

The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" was an advanced, long-range, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft. It was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft in the 1960s by Lockheed andSkunk Works. Clarence "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many of the design's innovative concepts. During reconnaissance missions the SR-71 operated at high speeds and altitudes to allow it to outrace threats. If a surface-to-air missile launch was detected, the standard evasive action was simply to accelerate and outfly the missile.

The SR-71 served with the U.S. Air Force from 1964 to 1998. Of the 32 aircraft built, 12 were lost in accidents, though none to enemy action. The SR-71 has been given several nicknames, including Blackbird and Habu, the latter in reference to an Okinawan species of pit viper. Since 1976, it has held the world record for the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft, a record previously held by the YF-12.

I served for five years in the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (SAC) at Beale Air Force Base in Marysville, California. My job was to maintain, inspect, launch and recover the SR-71 Blackbird. From the moment I found out I was to be assigned to the secret Blackbird, to the day I left the organization, it was a love affair to last a lifetime. Each and every launch was a sight to behold. The awesome fact that I was about to launch the worlds fastest air-breathing and highest flying aircraft in the world redefined, to me, the meaning of responsibility. Hello, and welcome to the SR-71 web page. My name is Leland Haynes and I am a retired USAF Master Sergeant. I served on the Blackbird from 1969 to 1974. Just as my tenure with the the 9th SRW was about to end, I was informed we were to make a New York to London speed record attempt. My aircraft (#64-17972) was selected for the speed run based on reliability records of the plane. In August of 1974, I arrived at Farnborough England to receive the aircraft as it landed. My assistant Crew Chief was to launch the plane out from Beale AFB in California.....

FEATURES

General characteristics

Crew:                   2 (Pilot and Reconnaissance Systems Officer)

Payload:              3,500 lb (1,600 kg) of sensors

Length:               107 ft 5 in (32.74 m)

Wingspan:           55 ft 7 in (16.94 m)

Height:               18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)

Wing area:          1,800 ft2 (170 m2)

Empty weight:    67,500 lb (30,600 kg)

Loaded weight:  152,000 lb (69,000 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 172,000 lb (78,000 kg)

Powerplant:        2 × Pratt & Whitney J58-1 continuous-bleed afterburning turbojets, 34,000                          lbf (151 kN) each

Wheel track:      16 ft 8 in (5.08 m)

Wheelbase:        37 ft 10 in (11.53 m)

Aspect ratio:       1.7

Performance

Maximum speed:       Mach 3.3[86][87][N 5] (2,200+ mph, 3,530+ km/h, 1,900+ knots) at 80,000 ft (24,000 m)

Range:                      2,900 nmi (5,400 km)

Ferry range:              3,200 nmi (5,925 km)

Service ceiling:          85,000 ft (25,900 m)

Rate of climb:           11,810 ft/min (60 m/s)

Wing loading:           84 lb/ft² (410 kg/m²)

Thrust/weight:           0.44

Dimensions:
Overall: 18ft 5 15/16in. x 55ft 7in. x 107ft 5in., 169998.5lb. (5.638m x 16.942m x 32.741m, 77110.8kg)
Other: 18ft 5 15/16in. x 107ft 5in. x 55ft 7in. (5.638m x 32.741m x 16.942m)

Materials:
Titanium

Physical Description:
Twin-engine, two-seat, supersonic strategic reconnaissance aircraft; airframe constructed largley of titanium and its alloys; vertical tail fins are constructed of a composite (laminated plastic-type material) to reduce radar cross-section; Pratt and Whitney J58 (JT11D-20B) turbojet engines feature large inlet shock cones.

Wingspan: 55'7" 
Length: 107'5" 
Height: 18'6"
Weight: 170,000 Lbs

SR-71 timeline

Important dates pulled from many sources.

• 24 December 1957: First J58 engine run.
• 1 May 1960: Francis Gary Powers is shot down in a Lockheed U-2 over the Soviet Union.
• 13 June 1962: SR-71 mock-up reviewed by Air Force.
• 30 July 1962: J58 completes pre-flight testing.
• 28 December 1962: Lockheed signs contract to build six SR-71 aircraft.
• 25 July 1964: President Johnson makes public announcement of SR-71.
• 29 October 1964: SR-71 prototype (AF Ser. No. 61-7950) delivered to Air Force Plant 42 at Palmdale, CA.
• 7 December 1964: Beale AFB, CA announced as base for SR-71.
• 22 December 1964: First flight of the SR-71 with Lockheed test pilot Bob Gilliland at Air Force Plant #42.
• 21 July 1967: Jim Watkins and Dave Dempster fly first international sortie in SR-71A, AF Ser. No. 61-7972, when the Astro-Inertial Navigation System (ANS) fails on a training mission and they accidentally fly into Mexican airspace.
• 3 November 1967: A-12 and SR-71 conduct a reconnaissance fly-off. Results were questionable.
• 5 February 1968: Lockheed ordered to destroy A-12, YF-12, and SR-71 tooling.
• 8 March 1968: First SR-71A (AF Ser. No. 61-7978) arrives at Kadena AB, Okinawa to replace A-12s.
• 21 March 1968: First SR-71 (AF Ser. No. 61-7976) operational mission flown from Kadena AB over Vietnam.
• 29 May 1968: CMSgt Bill Gornik begins the tie-cutting tradition of Habu crews neck-ties.
• 3 December 1975: First flight of SR-71A (AF Ser. No. 61-7959) in "Big Tail" configuration.
• 20 April 1976: TDY operations started at RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom with SR-71A, AF Ser. No. 61-7972.
• 27–28 July 1976 : SR-71A sets speed and altitude records (Altitude in Horizontal Flight: 85,068.997 ft (25,929.030 m) and Speed Over a Straight Course: 2,193.167 miles per hour (3,529.560 km/h)).
• August 1980: Honeywell starts conversion of AFICS to DAFICS.
• 15 January 1982: SR-71B, AF Ser. No. 61-7956, flies its 1,000th sortie.
• 21 April 1989: SR-71, AF Ser. No. 61-7974, was lost due to an engine explosion after taking off from Kadena AB. This was the last Blackbird to be lost, and was the first SR-71 accident in 17 years.
• 22 November 1989: Air Force SR-71 program officially terminated.
• 21 January 1990: Last SR-71, AF Ser. No. 61-7962, left Kadena AB.
• 26 January 1990: SR-71 is decommissioned at Beale AFB, CA.
• 6 March 1990: Last SR-71 flight under SENIOR CROWN program, setting four speed records en route to Smithsonian Institution.
• 25 July 1991: SR-71B, AF Ser. No. 61-7956/NASA #831 officially delivered to NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, CA.
• October 1991: NASA engineer Marta Bohn-Meyer becomes the first female SR-71 crew member.
• 28 September 1994: Congress votes to allocate $100 million for reactivation of three SR-71s.
• 26 April 1995: First reactivated SR-71A (AF Ser. No. 61-7971) makes its first flight after restoration by Lockheed.
• 28 June 1995: First reactivated SR-71 returns to Air Force as Detachment 2.
• 28 August 1995: Second reactivated SR-71A (AF Ser. No. 61-7967) makes first flight after restoration.
• 2 August 1997: A NASA SR-71 made multiple flybys at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh air show. It was then supposed to perform a sonic boom at 53,000 feet (16,000 m) after a midair refueling, but a fuel flow problem caused it to divert to Milwaukee. Two weeks later, the pilot's flight path brought him over Oshkosh again, and there was, in fact, a sonic boom.
• 19 October 1997: The last flight of SR-71B, AF Ser. No. 61-7956 at Edwards AFB Open House.
• 9 October 1999: The last flight of the SR-71 (AF Ser. No. 61-7980/NASA 844).
• September 2002: Final resting places of aircraft #956, #971, and #980 are made known.
• 15 December 2003: SR-71, AF Ser. No. 61-7972, goes on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia.