SR-71 BLACKBIRD - FACTS AT A GLANCE

• The Blackbird was retired by the U.S. Air Force in 1990 after 25 years of service. Three of the planes have been transferred to NASA for research and development of an aerospace plane and for tests that involve high altitude, speed and thermal conditions.
• The Blackbird cruises above Mach 3 (three times the speed of sound). It has set numerous speed and altitude records including the following:

  New York to London			1 hr., 54 min., 56.4 sec.
  London to Los Angeles			3 hrs., 47 min., 35.8 sec.
  Los Angeles to Washington D.C.		1 hr., 4 min., 20 sec.
  West Coast to East Coast U.S.A.		1 hr., 7 min., 54 sec.
  St. Louis to Cincinnati			8 min.
  Kansas City to Washington D.C.		26 min.
  

  The top speed was in excess of 2,193 miles per hour at an altitude of over 85,000 feet. That breaks down to about 35 miles per minute.

• The SR-71/A-12 on display was the seventh vehicle of its type built by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. It recorded 258 flights and 499 hours and 10 minutes of flight time.
• The SR-71/A-12 on display is a single-seater. The rear compartment is reserved for sensor equipment.
• The two-seater SR-71 was manned by a Pilot and a Reconnaissance Systems Office (RSO). The RSO was a rated navigator/bombardier whose primary concerns were the aircraft's electronic and optical sensors and its passive and active electronic defense systems.
• Measures 99 feet by 55 feet at a height of 18 feet. It has an empty weight of 60,000 pounds and weights 120,000 pounds when fueled.
• Designed primarily for photographic missions directly over a given area. Later versions of the SR-71, however, could remain in international air space and still "see" deep within a given location by using radar, cameras and electronic reconnaissance systems.
• The last A-12 flight took place in June 1968. The A-12 fleet (approximately eight aircraft) were moved to Palmdale, California for storage. All flights requiring A-12 capability were taken over by the SR-71.
• Blackbirds are constructed with a titanium alloy that makes up about 93% of the plane's empty weight.
• Approximately two-thirds of the fuselage and half the wing space is devoted to 84,180 pounds (12,200 gallons) of fuel carried by the SR-71. The fuel helps regulate the plane's center of gravity. The fuel is unique in that it has a high kerosene base and has to be ignited by a catalyst, tetraethyl borane.
• Nitrogen is used to pressurize the fuel tanks and also to prevent inadvertent vapor ignition. An in-flight refueling receptacle is mounted on top of the fuselage behind the cockpit.
• The Blackbird is painted with a black paint that consists of a pigmentation containing minute iron balls. These dissipate electro-magnetically-generated energy and effectively lower the chances of the plane being picked up by radar. The special black finish also wards off heat caused by high speeds and actually radiates significantly more friction-generated heat than it absorbs at cruising speeds of Mach 3.

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