Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird

Published by Alex Seamark on 11/25/20

The race for the fastest airplane has been going on since the dawn of aviation. Whether it was the military wanting it for the combat ability, commercial planes to move passengers faster, or stunt planes for even crazier stunts, all sectors of aviation have chased after the fastest airplane. The Blackbird was the result of the US Government’s request in the 1960s for the impossible: a fast plane that couldn’t be shot down to spy on other nations. (Due to the ongoing Cold War.) To meet this impossible task, according to Johnson from Lockheed, “Everything had to be invented”. The plane had to fly 2000mph for hours at a time causing heat buildup from friction that would melt conventional aircraft. They almost couldn’t find a solution but then Johnson remembered one simple lesson from university: black paints emits and absorbs heat. The plane was painted black and earned the name Blackbird. The plane was invisible to radar and achieved speeds of over Mach 3. The US Air Force retired the SR-71 Blackbirds were retired in 1990 due to a decreased budget, expensive operation costs, and availability of spy satellites.