SR-71 : "THE FASTEST MILITARY AIRCRAFT EVER"

By "Rajkumar Padhy"

 

 SR-71 BlackBird.

The SR-71 holds the absolute fastest airspeed record of 3,529 kmph for any manned aircraft & this record was created 44 years back in 1976. Some facts:

• This speed is equal to 3 times the speed of sound. That is 59 km per minute.
• The Blackbird was so fast that its strategy against surface-to-air missiles was to simply accelerate and outfly them.
• Only 32 aircraft built, none to enemy action, even though throughout it’s service life it flew uncontested over the enemy territory.
• Aircraft were painted almost black, to increase the emission of internal heat and to act as camouflage against the night sky.
• The aircraft was made out of Titanium (85%) because only this metal could withstand the heat at which aluminium would melt & still retain strength. This titanium was sources from Soviet Union under the name of fake companies created by CIA.
• Basically Soviet Union supplied raw material for aircraft that was used against them.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• This aircraft flew at 85,000 feet (26 km) above sea level. This is the boundary of commonly understood atmosphere & space. Pilots had to wear specially designed protective pressurized space suits.
• The fuel tanks of SR-71 purposefully had “cracks” in them. Once fully fueled the tanks would leak before take off. Once the aircraft reached it’s cruising speed & altitude, the metal would heat up & expand, this filling the cracks & naturally sealing the fuel tanks.
• GPS was not as developed in the 1970s & 1980s as we see it today. Before each takeoff, a time-consuming primary alignment brought the inertial navigation system to a high degree of accuracy. Once in flight, the INS, which sat behind the Reconnaissance Systems Officer’s position, tracked stars through a circular window set in the upper fuselage for navigation.
• The SR-71 also holds the “Speed Over a Recognized Course” record for flying from New York to London at a distance of 5,646 km at 2,310 km/h, and an elapsed time of 1 hour 54 minutes, set on 1 September 1974.
  
  
  
  
  Picture above : SR-71 before it's first flight.

Operational highlights for the Blackbird :

• 17,300 Total Sorties Flown
• 53,490 Total Flight Hours
• 11,675 hours Mach 3 Time (Total)
  
  Picture above : The last flight of a SR-71