SR-71 Blackbird SR-71A

Faster than a rifle bullet

10 m · person 1.75 m · behind it, the A380 at the same scale

The story

The Blackbird cruised above 3 at 25 km, where the sky looks black at noon. Friction heated the titanium skin past 300 °C, so the panels fitted loosely on the ground and sealed only in flight. On its last flight in 1990 it went from Los Angeles to Washington in 64 minutes and is now at the 's Udvar-Hazy Center.

Lockheed's , under , developed it from the A-12, a spy plane built for the CIA, and most of its structure was titanium. The Soviet Union was one of the largest suppliers of titanium ore, so the CIA bought it through front companies. The fuel doubled as coolant for the airframe, and on the runway it dripped from the loose tanks until the heat of flight sealed them.

No SR-71 was ever shot down. Thousands of missiles are reported to have been fired at Blackbirds, and the standard defence was simply to speed up. It still holds the world speed record for a jet aircraft, 3,529.6 km/h, set in 1976.

How it works

How the Blackbird swallowed Mach 3. Below Mach 1.6 the inlet spike stays locked forward. Above it the spike slides back as speed rises, 66 cm (26 in) by Mach 3.2, keeping the shock waves where the inlet can slow the air below the speed of sound before it reaches the engine.

How an afterburner works, on an engine in a test cell. Drag the throttle past full power and fuel sprays into the hot gas behind the turbine and lights; the nozzle opens wider to let the extra flow out, and thrust jumps. The SR-71's J58s and Concorde's Olympus engines both did this.

Drawn for the Heinkel He 178

How the first jet breathed. Open the throttle and the impeller flings air outward, the burners set it alight, and the hot gas spins a turbine on the same shaft before it leaves the nozzle as a jet.

The whole aircraftDrag to turn it, and pinch to zoom. Pick a part to fly the camera to it.

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Specifications

Top speed: 3,540 km/h
Wingspan: 16.9 m
Max weight: 78,000 kg
Ceiling: 25,900 m
Range: 5,400 km
In 12 seconds: 11.8 km
Power: 2 × Pratt & Whitney J58, 145 kN each with afterburner

Where it flew

Palmdale, California

Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale. The simulator starts here, over today's ground and imagery of the place.

Fly it yourself

Take the SR-71 Blackbird up in 3D, with its real weight, wing area and power.

Climb above 20,000 m and pass Mach 3.

On displaySteven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, Virginia