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Description
| Notes: Long range, advanced strategic reconnaissance aircraft (2 CREW) . | ||
| Manufacturer: | Lockheed | |
| Base model: | SR-71 | |
| Designation: | SR-71 | |
| Version: | A | |
| Nickname: | Blackbird | |
| Designation System: | U.S. Tri-Service | |
| Designation Period: | 1962-Present | |
| Basic role: | Reconnaissance | |
Specifications
| Length: | 107' 5" | 32.7 m | |
| Height: | 18' 6" | 5.6 m | |
| Wingspan: | 55' 7" | 16.9 m | |
| Empty Weight: | 60,000 lb | 27,210 kg | |
| Gross Weight: | 170,000 lb | 77,097 kg | |
Propulsion
| No. of Engines: | 2 | ||
| Powerplant: | Pratt & Whitney J58 | ||
| Thrust (each): | 32,500 lb | 14,512 kg | |
Performance
| Range: | 2,900 miles | 4,669 km | |
| Max Speed: | 2,000 mph | 3,220 km/h | 1,740 kt |
| Ceiling: | 85,000 ft | 25,907 m | |
Operators (Past and Present)
| USAF | 9th RW | Edwards AFB | CA |
Known serial numbers
Examples of this type may be found at
| Museum | City | State |
| Air Force Flight Test Center Museum | Edwards AFB | California |
| Blackbird Airpark | Palmdale | California |
| Castle Air Museum | Atwater | California |
| Edward F. Beale Museum | Beale AFB | California |
| Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center | Hutchinson | Kansas |
| March Field Air Museum | Riverside | California |
| Museum of Aviation | Warner Robins AFB | Georgia |
| National Air and Space Museum | Washington | Dist of Col |
| Pima Air & Space Museum | Tucson | Arizona |
| Strategic Air Command Museum | Ashland | Nebraska |
| U.S. Space & Rocket Center | Huntsville | Alabama |
| USAF Armament Museum | Eglin AFB | Florida |
| USAF History and Traditions Museum | San Antonio | Texas |
| United States Air Force Museum | Wright-Patterson | Ohio |
| Virgina Aviation Museum | Sandston | Virginia |
SR-71A on display
Air Force Flight Test Center Museum | Blackbird Airpark | Castle Air Museum | ||
Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center | March Field Museum | Museum of Aviation | Pima Air & Space Museum | |
Strategic Air Command Museum | United States Air Force Museum | USAF Armament Museum | USAF History and Traditions Museum |
Recent comments by our visitors
| Mark Anchorage, AK | Was in the program from 82 to 90 as an astro-inertial nav tech. On the launch crew for the final speed run from Beale to the east coast, 61 minutes if I remember correctly. Awesome folks operating an awesome airplane. Hurts to see them stuck on on stands. 12/18/2015 @ 08:27 [ref: 69372] |
| João alberto Amaral Bragança Paulista-são paulo-Brasil, OTH | Avião de linhas suaves, um gigante no ar, velocidade superior a Mach 2,5 12/10/2013 @ 08:16 [ref: 68222] |
| João alberto Amaral Bragança Paulista-são paulo-Brasil, OTH | Avião de linhas suaves, um gigante no ar, velocidade superior a Mach 2,5 12/10/2013 @ 08:14 [ref: 68221] |
| Paul Smith , IA | My Brother Lt Col Tom Smith was Chief Test Pilot 1974thru1976 at Palmdale Ca. We had many great talks about this amazing aircraft.Tom now rests with many Heroes at Arlington. 03/28/2012 @ 09:18 [ref: 54519] |
| Bob Deale, MD | anonymous in berlin doesnt know what he is talking about. there were 32 airframes built, 11 were lost in crashes or ground accidents. the other 21 are all in musuems around the US and one is in England. 06/20/2009 @ 06:48 [ref: 24252] |
| Matthew Singapore, HI | What makes this jet unique is its SUSTAINED Mach 3 speed at 80,000+ feet operational altitude. Shot at MANY times but NEVER once shot down during its nearly 30-years operational career, this wild stallion of the stratosphere covers TEN (10) soccer fields in one second!
Allow me to quote the late Mr. Ben Rich in the book 'Skunk Works'- "Nothing designed and built by any other aerospace operation in the world, before or since the Blackbird, can begin to rival its speed, height, effectiveness, and impact. Had we built the Blackbird in the year 2010, the world would still have been awed by such an achievement. But the first model designed and built for the CIA as the successor to the U-2, was being test flown as early as 1962. Even today that feat seems nothing less than miraculous. 03/24/2009 @ 19:51 [ref: 24010] |
| Paul , GA | My father crew chiefed 17974 (Ichi-ban) from around 1968 to 1970. He told us many stories about working on the planes. I have found out that 974 crashed in 1989 and was lost. He used to tell us about the other plane in his flight was one called Rapid Rabbit (I think it was 17976). Does anyone know of what became of that plane. 03/11/2009 @ 16:43 [ref: 23921] |
| anonymous berlin, OTH | there was only four manufactured one of them is at the strategic air command museum in omaha nebraska stop saying there is more than four cause there is not! 12/18/2008 @ 06:04 [ref: 23269] |
| Wesley Anderson Glen Ellyn, IL | I was stationed at Malstrom AFB, 4742 Support Sage in Montana as a radar operator and used too track the "BlackBird" on radar. Wow. It was so fast that in order to make a 180 deg. turn it would go through Montana, Idaho & Wyoming. Tracked it again when I was stationed in on Habu Hill in Okinawa. 06/03/2008 @ 04:53 [ref: 21097] |
| top10 mineola, TX | The SR-71 blackbird really shows what america's capable of.It's ahsame that it's retired.It's top speed was mach 3.2 or 2,000+ mph.That's very,very fast 01/29/2008 @ 17:12 [ref: 19466] |
Recent photos uploaded by our visitors
