10 Crazy Facts About The SR-71 You Probably Didn’t Know

 

This Is One Of The Most Coveted Planes Of All Time.

The SR-71 is the fastest plane ever created. Just 17 years after we broke the speed of sound with the X-1, Lockheed created an aircraft able to reach Mach 3.3 or 2,200 mph. During its service it was given several nicknames including Blackbird and Habu. It was designed as a strategic reconnaissance aircraft at the request of the CIA and was in service from 1966 to 1999. It was also used jointly with NASA as well for flight research.

These are the basics of the SR-71 that most of you already know. For this reason, we compiled some lesser known facts about this engineering wonder. Hopefully you’ll learn something and stun your friends with some of these tidbits.

1.You Had To Be Married

This is a strange yet smart one. In order to fly or even work on the SR-71, you had to be 25-40 years old and ’emotionally stable.’ With the technology used and mission types being top secret (although the existence of the actual plane wasn’t), extra precautions were taken. Being married was a requirement as it showed maturity (they didn’t want any Mavericks) as well as a tie to the U.S. If you were married, you’d be less likely to defect or be willing to put your family in danger. Also, as a bachelor they didn’t want you to be picking up ladies by telling them about the shiny black Mach 3 plane you were flying.

2.The Flight Suit Was Just As Complicated As The Plane

As you can imagine, flying over 2,000 mph at 80,000 feet brings a whole lot of physics with it. With no air and extreme temperatures, engineers had to devise flight suits that were equal to NASA’s Apollo suits. In case of cabin decompression or an ejection, the suits protected pilots from certain death.

3.The Cockpit Was Entirely Analog

Although significantly advanced for its time, the Blackbird was still too early for computer systems to be installed in the cockpit. Costing $34 million per plane, all the instruments were still manual like on World War II aircraft.

4.The Windshield Was Made Of Quartz

While in flight, the speed of the plane heated up the windshield to about 600 °F. To avoid obstructing pilot’s vision, the windows were made of quarts that was fused ultrasonically to the frame. This prevented any blur or window distortion.

5.It Took 36 Hours To Get Ready For Flight

When getting ready for a mission, it took over a day to check everything. From flight suits to cockpit instruments, it took 36 hours and countless people to make sure everything was ready before flight.

6.Although None Were Ever Shot Down, 12 Were Destroyed.

Out of the 32 Blackbirds built, 12 were lost due to accidents. 11 of those happened between 1966 to 1972. One pilot lost his life.

7.It Had To Be Refueled Right After Takeoff

To this day, no materials exist that can keep the fuel contained inside an SR-71. Upon liftoff the plane was cold and all its panels were loosely fitted which made it leak fuel. Once at higher speeds, the entire plane would heat up and expand, closing in all the gaps and retaining fuel. Upon landing and cooling down, the fuel that was left over would start leaking again! For this reason, every time Blackbirds would take to the skies, they would almost immediately have to refuel in midair.

8.Its Engines Could Power An Ocean Liner

Blackbird’s Pratt & Whitney J58 jet engines produced 34,000 lbs. of thrust. That’s about the same amount of thrust you need to move an ocean liner. To produce that amount of power, they guzzled through more than 5,000 gallons of fuel per hour!

9.An SR-71 Crew Beat The Transcontinental Record Just For Fun

On March 6th, 1990, an SR-71 was to be flown from Los Angeles to Virginia to be retired at a museum. As it was its last flight, Ed Yielding and Joseph T. Vida pushed their Blackbird to an average speed of 2,124 mph, arriving on the east coast in 64 minutes. They beat the previous record by an hour and 1 minute. This record still stands.

10.It Was Shot At 1,000 Times But Was Never Shot Down

This is one of the coolest facts about the Blackbird. Over its 25 year service, thousands of missiles were fired at it to no avail. The reason was simple. Once pilots detected a shot fired, they hit the throttle and simply flew faster than the missile. Blackbirds had no defensive equipment. Just their speed.

Also, here’s a quick video that goes over some other interesting facts about this fantastic aircraft. The more you watch this stuff, the more you’ll miss this plane in action…