The SR-71 Blackbird (or Habu) is one of the baddest airplanes ever made. To this day it's the fastest jet airplane ever made, the only planes that have gone faster were rocket powered. The SR-71 was able to reach speeds of 2,200 mph, and set a record time for a transantlantic crossing of 1 hour and 55 minutes. But why is it on this site? In case you didn't know, the SR-71 was constructed mostly from titanium alloys. What better metal for such an awesome plane?

Titanium was used to build this plane for a few reasons. First, titanium is much stronger than aluminum, which is used for most planes. Due to the amount of power, the high speeds, and the size and weight of the Blackbird, a really strong material was needed. Second, titanium is light. It is much lighter than steel, so it is suitable for use in constructing an aircraft. Third, titanium alloys can handle high heat well. At the speeds that the SR-71 flew at, the surface achieved temperatures of up to 900 degrees fahrenheit.

The SR-71 began life on the drawing boards in 1958 due to the need for a high speed/high altitude spy plane. Because of tension between the U.S. and Russia, they wanted a plane to succeed the U-2 surveillance plane. The SR-71 was needed to keep track of missile sites and other military installations.

It was built by Lockheed Skunk Works, and was designed by Kelly Johnson. The airframe and the skin of the SR-71 are made mostly from titanium alloys. The center section houses a giant fuel tank that holds 80,000 pounds of fuel, and the plane could be refueled in the air. The two engines that powered the SR-71 were Pratt-Whitney J-58 turbojets, and they provided a combined 65,000 pounds of thrust.

In 1962 the pre runner to the SR-71, the A12, made it's first flight and soon after was hitting speeds of mach 3. On December 22, 1964, the SR-71 made its first flight, and in 1966 began its service as a spy plane. It was used for reconnaissance missions over Russia and other hostile countries. The SR-71 could fly at altitudes of 85,000 feet and speeds of 2,200 mph which made it untouchable, and it had a range of 3,000 miles. It had high tech cameras on board that could take amazing pictures even from 16 miles up, and could survey up to 100,000 square miles of territory in an hour.

The SR-71 was the first real stealth plane. Because of the shape, the black coating, and the incredible heights at which it flew, it was very resistant to radar. Of course at mach 3, it would be pretty hard to catch even if you did find it with radar. No SR-71 was ever shot down by enemies, however several were lost due to various malfunctions.

The engines of the Blackbird were a turbojet/ramjet design. At low speeds the main turbojets provided the thrust. At high speeds the entering air was highly compressed, and much of it was routed around the main turbojet engines. At the rear, fuel was injected into this highly compressed air, and this provided 80 percent of the actual thrust. The remaining 20 percent was produced by the turbojets.

During its time, the SR-71 set several world speed records. These included from New York to London in 1 hour 55 minutes, from London to Los Angeles in 3 hours 48 minutes, and from coast to coast across the U.S. in 1 hour 8 minutes. It also set a record for speed of 2,193 mph over 15 miles (25 seconds of flying!!).

The SR-71 was used for reconnaissance missions until 1990 when it was retired. A few were activated again from 1995 to 1998, and NASA also had a couple that they had been using for testing purposes until October 1999 when the last SR-71 flight was flown.

The SR-71is now officially retired. They may be in museums now, but the SR-71 will probably hold the record for the fastest jet for quite some time.

If you would like to learn more about the SR-71 Blackbird click on the links below.

SR-71.org An excellent article about the SR-71, also a large archive of pictures.

SR-71 Blackbirds Large site dedicated to the SR-71

NASA SR-71 page A NASA article on the SR-71

NASA picture page Some VERY high resolution pictures of the SR-71

SR-71 for flight simulator Dowload and fly the SR-71! Requires Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002