Cutaway illustrations of the twin cockpit variant of the SR-71. Notice the inlet funnels that increased the air speed in front of the J58 engines. Lockheed’s Skunk Works’s manufacturing plant ...

A large, matte-black, arrowhead-shaped airplane, the SR-71 looked like it was moving even when standing perfectly still. U.S. Air Force pilot BC Thomas was lucky enough to fly the “Blackbird ...

The SR-71 as well as the YF-12A and most of the A-12s are powered by two J58s. SR-71s logged a combined total of 53,490 hours of flight time, of which 11,675 had been spent at Mach 3 plus.

Answer: It depends on the airplane. Some corporate airplanes can fly up to 51,000 feet. The Concorde flew up to 60,000 feet, and the all-time high flier was the SR-71 which could go over 80,000 ...

During the Cold War, the SR-71 Blackbird spy plane could fly higher and faster than any other – and 55 years after its first flight, it still does.

Following the loss of a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft over the Soviet Union on May 1, 1960, Lockheed needed “to build the impossible—and do it fast.” Called the SR-71—SR for Strategic ...

SR-71 pilots used to say, only half-joking, that unstarts were the Blackbird’s way of punishing them for letting their attention wander to the magnificent view from 80,000 feet.

When the SR-71 entered the active service with the U.S. Air Force, its flight characteristics were incredible: it was able to fly at more than three and a half times the speed of sounds at 88,000 ...

The SR-71, an aircraft that first flew some 50 years ago next Monday, still holds the public's imagination like no other flying machine. It could lob a couple of guys, some cameras, radars and ...