28.08.2019
Posted by 

The SR-71 Blackbird is, without a doubt, the most advanced airplane ever built in relation to the technology available at the time. It broke all aviation records, it flew incredible missions, and it became the stuff of legend. Lockheed Martin published its history in this collection of high resolution scans of old photos.

  1. Interest Rate
  2. Real Interest Rate

The Reagan Boom - Greatest Ever. By Martin Anderson. As we begin the decade of the 1990's, we are in our 86th straight month of economic growth - a new record for peacetime.

Above:

The SR-71 was a technological marvel. Practically every area of design required new approaches or breakthroughs in technology. To withstand high temperatures generated by friction in the upper atmosphere during sustained Mach 3 flight, the Blackbird required an array of specially developed materials including high temperature fuel, sealants, lubricants, wiring and other components. Ninety-three percent of the Blackbird's airframe consisted of titanium alloy that allowed the aircraft to operate in a regime where temperatures range from 450 degrees Fahrenheit at its aft midsection to 950 degrees Fahrenheit near the engine exhaust. The cockpit canopy, made of special heat resistant glass, had to withstand surface temperatures as high as 640 degrees Fahrenheit.

Advertisement

Photos and captions courtesy of Lockheed Martin.

The history of the SR-71 in photos

Two of the leading figures in the U-2 program, the CIA's Richard Bissell and Lockheed designer Kelly Johnson, had as early as 1955 decided to explore a follow-on reconnaissance aircraft that would seek to remedy the U-2's unexpected flaw—its easy tracking by Soviet radar.

Advertisement

On 24 July 1964, US President Lyndon B. Johnson publicly announced the existence of the classified Lockheed SR-71 program. The first flight of the SR-71 would come on 22 December 1964. Operational aircraft deliveries began in 1966. Throughout its career, the SR-71, unofficially, universally known as Blackbird, remained the world's fastest and highest-flying operational aircraft.

Advertisement

The A-12 was a radical aircraft, with two large Pratt & Whitney J58 engines mid-mounted on the modified delta wing. Distinctive all-moving vertical tail surfaces were placed above the engine nacelles and canted inward. It was to be able to fly at Mach 3.2 at altitudes approaching 100,000 feet over a range of 3,800 miles. The most unusual element of the design was the elongated nose with its speedboat-like chines that gave it the appearance of a hooded cobra.

Advertisement

A-12, YF-12, and the initial SR-71 aircraft were built by Lockheed in Burbank, California, and then transported overland to Area 51 for flight testing.

Advertisement

The official first flight for CIA and USAF representatives took place on 30 April 1962, and went off smoothly. Eight days later, Lockheed test pilot Lou Schalk took the A-12 supersonic for the first time.

Rate

Advertisement

The A-12, which was operated by the CIA, was produced from 1962 to 1964. I performed operational missions from 1963 until 1968. The aircraft was the precursor to the twin-seat YF-12 prototype interceptor and the SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft. The A-12's final mission was flown in May 1968. The program and aircraft retired that June.

Advertisement

The initial SR-71s were built in Burbank, California. The first prototype (Serial Number 61-7950) was delivered to Air Force Plant 42 at Palmdale, California, on 29 October 1964.

Advertisement

Ben Rich, who would later be in charge of the design team for the F-117 Nighthawk, led a small six-man engineering team through the endless iterations to arrive at the final configuration of the A-12. They worked on a door stretched between two desks, laying out the information that was derived from the intensive wind-tunnel tests. From the data, the shape of the A-12 was derived.

Advertisement

The YF-12A was a proposed interceptor version of the A-12, which was first flown 7 August 1963. It was similar in most respects to the A-12.

Advertisement

The YF-12 was developed as a high-altitude Mach 3 interceptor for defense against supersonic bombers. The YF-12A was the forerunner of the highly sophisticated SR-71 high-altitude strategic reconnaissance aircraft.

Advertisement

The ramjet-powered D-21 drone was developed as a high-speed, unmanned strategic reconnaissance platform. Originally designed to be air-launched from atop specially equipped A-12s, designated M-21, they were later modified for underwing carriage and rocket-assisted launch by B-52 bombers.

Economic policy

Advertisement

On 24 July 1964, US President Lyndon B. Johnson publicly announced the existence of the classified Lockheed SR-71 program. First flight of the SR-71 would come on 22 December 1964. Operational aircraft deliveries began in 1966.

Advertisement

The first operational SR-71 was a trainer version known as the SR-71B, which was delivered to Beale AFB, California, on 7 January 1966. The SR-71B had an elevated second cockpit for an instructor pilot.

Advertisement

SR-71B (Serial Number 17956) celebrated 1,000 missions at Beale AFB, California, in January 1982. The aircraft served under the USAF until the program was initially cancelled in 1990. It was then operated by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, CA from 1991 to 1997 and was used jointly by NASA and Detachment 2 at Edwards AFB when the USAF program was reactivated in 1995. This SR-71 had more flight hours than any other SR-71, 3,967.5 hrs. The last flight of this aircraft was on 19 October 1997 at an airshow at Edwards AFB.

Taylor

Advertisement

Because they were powered by a uniquely formulated jet fuel, SR-71 Blackbirds were refueled exclusively by KC-135Q tankers.

Advertisement

The J58 engine, developed in the 1950s by Pratt & Whitney, was designed to operate for extended speeds of Mach 3+ and at altitudes of more than 80,000 feet. The J58 was the first engine designed to operate for extended periods using its afterburner, and it was the first engine to be flight-qualified at Mach 3 for the Air Force. The SR-71 as well as the YF-12A and most of the A-12s are powered by two J58s.

Advertisement

SR-71s logged a combined total of 53,490 hours of flight time, of which 11,675 had been spent at Mach 3 plus. They flew 3,551 operational sorties for a total of 17,294 hours, during which more than a thousand surface-to-air missiles had been fired at them. All missed.

Advertisement

The first of three reactivated SR-71s returned to the Air Force after extensive refurbishment on 28 June 1995 as Detachment 2 at Edwards AFB, California. The aircraft were being modified with datalinks when the Air Force program was defunded in October 1997.

Advertisement

Rare photos

On 24 July 1964, US President Lyndon B. Johnson publicly announced the existence of the classified Lockheed SR-71 program. First flight of the SR-71 would come on 22 December 1964. Operational aircraft deliveries began in 1966. Throughout its career, the SR-71, unofficially, universally known as Blackbird, remained the world's fastest and highest-flying operational aircraft. The US Air Force terminated the program in January 1990, closing out a twenty-four year operational career. The Blackbird program was briefly revived in 1997 and a small number of training flights were made, but funding was zeroed out. The program officially ended in 1999.

Advertisement

Unusual shot of SR-71 Blackbird (Air Force serial number 61-7974) with one engine in afterburner and the other either shut down or in mil power at Beale AFB, California, circa 1983. Nicknamed Ichi-Ban, this aircraft was destroyed in an April 1989 accident near the Philippines. Both crewmembers ejected and were rescued unharmed. It was the last Blackbird accident before the aircraft was retired.

Advertisement

Three generations of aircraft developed by the Skunk Works, the Lockheed and Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Projects group in Palmdale, California, are shown in this photo from July 2000. At the top, one of the five full-scale development F-117 Nighthawks (Air Force serial number 79-0782), which was still being flown at at the time, is being towed back to the Air Force test squadron, also located at this site. At the bottom, an SR-71 is towed back to the hangar. This aircraft (Air Force serial number 61-7962) was one of the Blackbirds kept in storage at Palmdale after the fleet was retired. In the middle is the X-35A Joint Strike Fighter demonstrator, which at this point was still about four months away from its first flight.

Advertisement

The Advanced Tanker-Cargo Aircraft, or ATCA, was first proposed by officials from the US Air Force's Strategic Air Command in 1967. The competition, originally intended to replace the KC-135 tanker, got underway in the mid 1970s, with a pair of wide-body commercial airliners, the 747 and DC-10, competing for the contract. The 747 prototype was fitted with an aerial refueling boom and a series of dry hook-ups were made with a number of different Air Force aircraft. Here, a crew in an SR-71 (Air Force serial number 61-7955) connects with the 747 while an F-111 crew flies safety chase. The Air Force selected the DC-10 as the ATCA winner and sixty KC-10 Extenders were eventually built.

Advertisement

A high definition panorama shot of the cockpit.

Lockheed was given the official go-ahead on the A-12 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft on 29 August 1959. The A-12's design was dominated by the aircraft's propulsion system, which would give it the power needed to set the world speed and absolute records for its class. The single-seat A-12 was the forerunner of the SR-71. This photo shows the YF-12A, a two-seat interceptor variant for the US Air Force, being built in a cordoned-off section of the facility in Burbank, California.

Advertisement

Business goes on as usual at the front of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena (California) Airport while a crowd gathers on the roof to watch as a US Air Force SR-71 'Blackbird' crew performs a high speed pass in this photo from December 1990. The Burbank Airport was the home of Lockheed Aircraft Company from 1928 until the early 1990s. The Blackbird family (A-12, YF-12, SR-71) was designed at the Burbank facility in the late 1950s/early 1960s and the aircraft were built there, so this flyby was a bit of a homecoming. Final assembly of the SR-71s took place at the Lockheed facility in Palmdale, California. The Blackbirds were operationally assigned to the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale AFB, California.

Advertisement

Windows server 2012 iso file. Why not restore to temporary HW and spin up the VMs until you can get the box repaired/replaced?

Thirty-five years ago, three US Air Force aircrews, flying the Mach 3+ SR-71 high altitude reconnaissance aircraft, set three absolute world aviation records—the maximum performance by any type of aircraft—in two days. Capt. Al Joersz (pilot, right) and Maj. George Morgan (Reconnaissance Systems Operator, left) set the Absolute Speed record over Edwards AFB, California, on 28 July 1976. The officially recorded average speed of the two legs was 2,193.16 mph. The record still stands in 2011. Blackbird 958 is now on display at the Museum of Aviation at Warner Robins, Georgia.

Advertisement

Interest Rate

Thirty-five years ago, three US Air Force aircrews, flying the Mach 3+ SR-71 high altitude reconnaissance aircraft, set three absolute world aviation records—the maximum performance by any type of aircraft—in two days. This image, taken from the high-speed cameras at Edwards AFB, California, shows Capt. Al Joersz (pilot) and Maj. George Morgan (RSO) setting the Absolute Speed record on 28 July 1976.

Advertisement

This image shows Blackbird 958 on landing after setting one of its two absolute aviation records on 27 and 28 July 1976. To set the Absolute Speed record, Capt. Al Joersz (pilot) and Maj. George Morgan (RSO) had to cross the electronic timing gate, travel the twenty-five kilometer course, cross a second timing gate, turn around, and repeat the course from the opposite end to negate the effect of winds. The officially recorded average speed of the two legs was 2,193.16 mph.

Advertisement

This image shows Blackbird 958 on landing after setting one of its two absolute aviation records on 27 and 28 July 1976. Maj. Pat Bledsoe (pilot) and Maj. John Fuller (RSO) set the Speed Over a Closed Course record on a 1,000 km (621 mile) circuit. Bledsoe completed the course at a speed of 2,092.29 mph breaking a record set by a Soviet pilot in 1967.

Advertisement

1988 photo shows SR-71 with TR-1 in the background. The TR-1, a larger and considerably upgraded version of the original U-2, was later redisignated as U-2R.

Advertisement

SR-71 in flight over California.

Blackbird and X-35B parked together in a hangar at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California. The X-35B now resides at the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport.

Advertisement

After a forty-one year career, Lockheed Martin photographer Denny Lombard will retire on 30 January 2011. Since moving behind the camera in 1982, he created some of the most enduring images in aviation history. The Spotlight photo this week is Denny's seven all-time favorite images. Here's number four. This image from 23 May 1995 captures the pure power of an SR-71 'Blackbird' high altitude reconnaissance aircraft on takeoff.

Advertisement

SPLOID isdelicious brain candy. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Advertisement

CD Album

THE BOOM

(3200yen Tax incl. in Japan)

Real Interest Rate

Points You Earn3% (88p)
Release DateSeptember 17, 2014
Availability In Stock at Supplier:Usually ships in 2-4 days

Other Editions

Product Details

Catalog No.YRCN-95242
JAN/ISBN4571487553588
Product Type CD
Number of Discs2

Credits

Description

Greatest hits album from THE BOOM includes 25 songs popular at their concerts, seven newly recorded tracks, and more. Also includes live track 'Kaze ni Naritai' recorded at their concert at Zepp Tokyo in 2014 and tracks originally recorded in cassette as bonus tracks. Comes with a booklet. *Bonus tracks corresponding to the limited edition and the regular edition are different from each other.

Description in Japanese

THE BOOM HISTORY ALBUM 1989-2014~25 PEACETIME BOOM~ [通常盤] / THE BOOM

デビュー25周年の集大成 ! 新録音源も収録 ! 1989年5月21日にデビューてから25年間、THE BOOMとして残してきた数多くの名曲をライブで人気の高かった曲を中心に25曲を選曲、ボーナストラックとして2013年のZepp Tokyoでのライブ音源やファンが参加して録音された「風になりたい」のスペシャルコーラスヴァージョン、さらには、ホコ天時代に配布していたカセットテープに収録されていた音源も収録。収録曲の中には、ヒストリー盤用に新たにレコーディングされた7曲もあり、これまでのベスト盤とは異なる内容となっている (※プレミアム盤と通常盤ではボーナストラックの内容が異なります)。 ◇通常盤 / 2CD / ボーナストラック収録 / ブックレット封入

Translate Description

*As it is a machine translation, the result may not provide an accurate description. Please use it only as a reference. *Not available within the China mainland region.

Tracklisting

DISC 1

1
星のラブレター
2
不思議なパワー
3
なし
4
釣りに行こう
5
中央線
6
からたち野道
7
そばにいたい
8
島唄
9
真夏の奇蹟
10
berangkat-ブランカ-
11
風になりたい
12
時がたてば
13
Call my name
14
故郷になってください
15
いつもと違う場所で

DISC 2

1
神様の宝石でできた島 (THE BOOM/2001 ver.)
2
この街のどこかに
3
24時間の旅
4
明日からはじまる
5
My Sweet Home
6
First Love Song
7
歌いたくない夜
8
赤春~せきしゅん~
9
シンカヌチャー (THE BOOMヴァージョン)
10
世界でいちばん美しい島
11
風になりたい ~2014.5.21渋谷公会堂・ヴァージョン~ (Bonus track)
12
島唄 ~2013ライブ・ヴァージョン~ (Bonus track)
13
世界でいちばん美しい島 ~2013ライブ・ヴァージョン~ (Bonus track)

THE BOOM Related Items

Customer Reviews

Find out what other customers have to say about this item. Please also write your own review.

This item is no longer available at our website, but it may still be available at other online shops within Japan. If you find one in Proxy Shopping Search results, go to the product page and click on 'Get a Quote' button. We will then be glad to obtain it for you (Service Details).

Attention: Proxy Shopping service is provided by CDJapan and order will be place on your behalf by CDJapan, with additional handling fees. For more information, please see Service Details.

Alert me about new releases by email.

  • THE BOOM Subscribe

Items You Recently Viewed