Credit: NASA. Titanium skin. Because the aircraft was designed to fly faster than 2, mph, friction with the surrounding atmosphere would heat up the fuselage to a point that would melt a conventional airframe. The plane was therefore made of titanium, a metal that was able to withstand high temperatures while also being lighter than steel. Using titanium presented other problems, however.
First, a whole new set of tools -- also made of titanium -- had to be fabricated, because regular steel ones shattered the brittle titanium on contact. Second, sourcing the metal itself proved tricky. The US government had to purchase a lot of that, probably using bogus companies," said Merlin. The initial aircraft were flown completely unpainted, showing a silver titanium skin. They were first painted black in , after the realization that black paint -- which efficiently absorbs and emits heat -- would help lower the temperature of the entire airframe.
The "Blackbird" was born. Same plane, different names. The A was soon evolved into a variant that was designed as an interceptor -- a type of fighter aircraft -- rather than a surveillance plane. Not only was it black, had been a secret project and looking like it was from another planet, it was the fastest aircraft the world has ever seen.
And more importantly for the US — it was faster than anything the Soviets had ever built. Although it carried electronic countermeasures, the main defensive system of it versus missiles was simply to outrun them, just like quoted from the SR Blackbird documentary on PBS:. The effectiveness of this defence was proved in when Kelly Johnson, one of the designers of the Blackbird, announced that over 1, missiles had been launched towards the SR, but none of them had hit.
Out of the 32 SRs that were built, 12 were lost due to accidents, never because of enemy fire. While talking about weapons and countermeasures, it is needed to say that the SR was never fitted with any weapons. Of course, this was due to many reasons but one was that it was simply not built to shoot. It was built to surveil and take pictures and since it could not in practical be shot down it had no need to be fitted with weapons.
The Blackbird was only capable to fly for approximately 5,km which may seem like a lot, but compared to the Lockheed U-2, another reconnassaince aircraft, with a range of over 10,km, it is very inferior. The short range, which was a result of the very thirsty engines, was the reason for the in-air-refueling capability to be fitted with the SR It flew so high and so fast that the crew needed pressurized space suits when flying it.
The service ceiling of 85, feet 25,m meant that it was an excellent experimental unit for space travels. That, combined with the great speeds of it was two of the reasons why NASA decided to take over the last two Blackbirds after its retirement from the Air Force in Since the dawn of these airplanes there have been countless missiles and other rocket-propelled aerial vehicles moving faster than Mach 3.
We do not know if there will be one in the future — and given the recent developments with UAVs it looks unlikely — but we do know that when the Blackbird entered service with the US Air Force, it was cooler, faster and more astonishing than the world had ever seen before. Gathering information about the enemy while flying at an altitude of 20, meters at speeds as high as three times the speed of sound is a true proof of the skill of American Skunk Works engineers.
Just being able to accelerate away from a surface-to-air missile and use that feature as a main defence is a huge accomplishment on its own. This statement was told one of the Skunk Works engineers in dokumentary. Even today, C. A true marvel. The top speed was never officially released, but there are rumors that it was capable of much better than mach four. Interesting note: The US government bought most of the titanium used in it from Russia, using phantom companies. The SR Blackbird is my favorite plane!
I was fortunate enough to see one at A air show in San Antonio! My question is! How many sunrises could its pilots see at max speed in a 24 hour period? Yep, the Blackbird can hit Mach 3. It is the primary armament of the MiG interceptor, intended to attack large high-speed targets such as the SR Blackbird, the B-1 Lancer bomber, and the B Stratofortress….
Yah its true because they never reveal the true speed of the aircraft the 3. The REAL top speed of the SR remains classified, although Hillary probably put that info on her nonsecure private server for hostile foreign countries to see.
Plus look who built it. A North American the Mustang guys! Valkyrie B beats this any day. Only saw it land once. They invited me to be a guest at their home on the base on weekends. Several times, I looked up to see see this sleek, beautiful black plane landing. I can. So if missles r rockets and the sr71 is a crazy jet. I see no reason why it cant be hit unless they r using something to either block its trajectory or the sr71 is not what they say it is. It literally out runs the missiles.
The intel gathered during these flights was invaluable, and no Blackbirds were lost to enemy action. Speed, altitude and stealth were major factors in keeping the SR safe because Hanoi was ringed with the latest SAMs provided by the Soviets. The s proved to be the most noteworthy period for the high-Mach Blackbird. Widdifield, set a speed record in SRA serial no. Less than two weeks later, the same airplane made a long-distance sprint from London to Los Angeles in record time. The pilot on that flight, year-old Captain Harold B.
His reconnaissance systems officer was Major William C. Their historic September 13 flight would stretch across seven time zones and take almost twice as long as the New York—to—London dash.
Adams and Machorek greet the Farnborough crowd after their record breaking flight. He also piloted B bombers during the Vietnam War, logging combat missions over Southeast Asia between the two aircraft. SR, Rebooted That could have been the end of the story, but in the early s, the SR program was reactivated — in part because a successor had yet to be developed But the SR might be around the corner. Supporters of the SR countered that drones could be and were shot down, while foreign militaries could determine when satellites were due to fly overhead.
The SR made its return, in part because the argument was made that the planes were already bought and paid for — while there were a lot of spare parts. The issue was so contentious that when Congress reauthorized funding, the U. In , the program was finally permanently retired, but NASA was able to operate the final two airworthy Blackbirds until It was an inauspicious end to an aircraft that could do what no other reconnaissance plane could do.
While no SR was ever shot down, it was the political infighting and an issue of funding that finally grounded the speedy Blackbird. Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites.
He regularly writes about military small arms, and is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress , which is available on Amazon. He is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.
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