As an FYI - Top speed was well OVER Mach 3. Mach 3 was all that was disclosed. The pilots wore patches that said Mach 3+. Top speed to this day is still classified.
@MrJayfero there were more than 3 made just only 3 were put into operating service... one of those once operational jets can be found at Wright-Patterson AF museum in Dayton, Ohio
They say its the fastest plane in the world but for plane for 30 years there was a plane a canberra bomber witch was holding all the records and no one even knew about the blackbird
@megabigjetfreak It leaked fuel because there is nothing that can withstand the amount of heat of the aircraft's fuel tanks lets off. There is still nothing that can withstand the 7,000 F it puts out.
Top speed isn't 2000 mph....that's the speed it operates at. Top speed is still classified more than likely, but still 35 miles a minute is smokin...35x60minutes
I agree entirely. The SR-71 represents the old engineering adage, "Too much is never enough," when it comes to the power stakes! Old school idea-fit the most powerful jet engines possible & go fly! Great machine, now sadly redundant. I believe the USAF has a number of these birds in storage? You never know......... :)
it makes you wonder where they gianed the knowlegde of this. The thing gives you the creeps. I mean they achieved this in the 60-70s period. It makes you wonder if theres any turth about that roswell incident and the us airforce using crashed unkown origin material for research
@14CPO going by the last series of star trek I think the vulcans could have landed alot sooner than our fictional stories tell. I seen a dude with pointy ears, its possible man!
LOL, come on dude. There isn't anything mystical about the SR, only big engines and a simple airframe. The trick was to figure out how to control the expansion of the planes mating surfaces and systems when it reached high altitude and speed, It didn't just happen, it took a lot of experimenting and work with the U2 and other high speed projects like the X15. Simple American ingenuity.
@14CPO The Blackbird pushed the limits of technology in the late 50's-early 60's when it was developed, but for Christ's sake, grow up. Read "Skunk Works" by Ben Rich, the SR-71's designer Kelly Johnson's thermodynamics/propulsion expert (and creator of the F-117 stealth fighter) for lessons on how the SR-71 was conceived and built. All the materials were from this earth (titanium bought from the Russians themselves!); the plane was just the result of genius, money, and hard work.
oh ya and if u consider the X-15 its much faster, around 2,000mph faster but its got a rocket engine though and not jet powered but still is a plane even though part rocket.
Think this is one of the only jets that was never lost. and im sad that they nolonger use these but hey, all that stuff about the auroa thing and all that, there really would be no point of it - No missile can cath the SR-71 and i'de like to see a Fighter try to take one out... unless he know where it was going to be almost exactly theres no way he would hit it unless by chance it went directly infront of him while he was doing contionus fire on his MG much less reach the altitude of it.
This is the coolest Jet ever. However to argue whether it is the fasest is unimportant. The need for a faster jet is gone. This jet is useless in a dog fight or bombing run. It s a spy plane. It's work has been taken over first by AWAX and now by satalites working with drones. Spying with jets is obsolete.
I met a former recovery/rescue air force nco (NOT A PJ) who told me that when he was stationed in italy he was put on high alert for a "blackbird" in trouble .... and IT was 15 minutes away trying to slow itself down over hawaii..
@jonnie505nm Absolutely absurd. For instance, Rome, Italy is 8030 air miles from Honolulu, Hawaii. If it could cover the distance to Rome in 15 minutes, that would be a speed of 31,120 mph. Even the fastest rockets only go 25,000 mph, and that's in the vacuum and near absolute-zero cold of space. Grow up, Junior, and learn your 3rd grade math. The Blackbird's top speed was about 2300 mph and had an endurance at that speed of approximately 1 hour before refueling was needed. Still impressive...
the aurora is a myth. whether or not it exists, nobody knows for certain. If it does, then it definitely is the fastest. the sr71 blackbird is our fastest spy plane as far as the facts go.
Again, thats a myth. We dont know if it does or not, but whenever anyone asks the government about it, they decline knowledge of it. That doesnt mean it doesnt exist, everyone knows the government has had secrets before. The fact that we cant prove aurora based on solid fact, makes it a myth.
Could you tell me, tho. If its not jet powered, what is it powered by?
i don't know if anybody knows this but no blackbird was ever shot down. But, then again that's a no brainer. show me a missile that can do mach 3 and i'll show you guy who's lying
Yeah...under the space shuttle's wing is where you buy tickets and stuff.Its a cool place...they have a sweet IMAX theater there where it feels and looks realistic.And as soon as you walk in the door you see that big black bird.
The SR-71 is a turbojet aircraft with kerosene fuel and oxygen from the atmosphere. The X-15 was a rocket powered aircraft with separate tanks of hydrazine fuel and liquid oxygen...no atmosphere required except for lift. The X-43 is a scramjet powered unmanned testbed aircraft and burns kerosene and external oxygen. Because of the supersonic burn inside the engine, the jet velocity is supersonic before exiting the nozzle enabling an effective exit velocity (aircraft speed) of Mach 5+.
Truth be told, the x-16 was faster than the blackbird. While the blackbird went in excess of mach 3.3. The x-16 went over mach 6.6. And it went higher than the blackbird.
Tthe SR-71 is a true aircraft that flew at Mach 3+ throughout it's flight. The X-15 was a manned rocket that had to coast back to earth and dead sticked in after it's two minute burn. It couldn't take off either, had to be dropped from the wing of a B-52. Hardly a practical aircraft like the SR. There is no point in comparing the performance of the two.
This is true, and really the X-15 was not an aircraft, but a spacecraft. The SR-71 is the ultimate jet, and the coolest looking vehicle ever made, but the X-15 was built to operate in a vacuum, and it did.
With attitude control thrusters, it could turn and orient itself while in space, which it did, and is the reason its pilots earned astronaut wings.
The X-15 was faster than the SR, but it's not really a plane. It is the second coolest looking vehicle ever made.
Skullrimer is pretty close, the Mig25 did hold the altitiude record at a little over 125,000 ft during the early 80's. But theres a difference between "getting to altitude" and "flying at altitude". I dont know if its ever been disclosed but I
m guessing the actual service ceiling of the 71 was quite a bit higher that the Mig25.
Alban is also correct in that the Space shuttle completely shattered all records for fixed wing aircraft, including the heaviest glider to ever land.
Not really. A mig-25 did reach mach 3.2 once, but its engines couldnt last it.
Mach 3.2 was the Blackbird's typical cruising speed. Though its also its maximum speed.
Also mig-25 has zoom glimbed much higher than the sr-71 has and so has many other planes, BUT no plane can stay as high as the blackbird can at sustained flight!
It is still the fastest piloted jet aircraft ever devised. It was last flown operationally in 1997 by the Air Force and for a few years afterward by NASA.
They used them for testing... "SR-71A and SR-71B trainer version, bearing tail numbers 844 and 831, were flown in a variety of high-speed research experiments — aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, thermal protection materials, high-speed and high-temperature instrumentation, atmospheric studies and sonic boom characterization, even serving as a test platform for Lockheed-Martin's linear aerospike rocket engine experiment, or LASRE... Unfortunately NASA has no current budget for the SR-71.
The only problem is that any passenger would have to meet the incredibly tough training that all SR71 pilots went through.
You see it took two pilots to fly the SR71and there are two separate and different instrument panels and every switch and button that was operated before and during flight had to be done in sequence.
Read Richard Grahams book "Flying the SR71 Blackbird" it will tell you what each and every switch did and what it took to fly this beauty
@llandudnoboy but a passenger wouldnt have to learn to fly the plane just to be a passenger in it...i know what you mean,but still a massive achievement for areospace tech ... thanks for the reference to the book ill try to find it as its an awesome plane ..cos we need to learn more about war to stop war from happening and this plane is awesome for that
You cannot be a passenger in an SR71 both pilot and co pilot have to fly the jet at the same time whilst ensuring all the different gauges and switches gave the correct readings.
Even by todays standards flying an SR71 was only achieved by a select few pilots who were good enough
Flying at 13miles a minute a simple manouver had to be thought out 100 miles before you carried it out
You obviously.love the SR71 treat yourself to Richard Grahams book Flying the SR71 Blackbird
Many people may be put off buying it because it hardly has any photographs but Richard Graham tells the reader simply everything you could ever want to know about the plane
Every single switch and gauge is explained from before the jet even takes off to pre flight check to Mach3 flight and landing
Some of the technical language used is hard to understand but its one of the finest aviation books ive read in many years
@cavaliersfan08 that would be cool ,i seen a program where they said in the future there will be a station you can add parts to and it would be used a s a hotel in the upper atmosphere ,and theres this 1 guy who is paying aboput $40,000,000 to get a trip into space but he has to go through loads of training and tests ,but it would be cool if they made shuttles like a plane that could go that high ,i would love to see our planet from space ,it would be mind blowing,better start saving lol
@reksub10 ????? hell for $40,000,000 he'd be better off going to college as an astro-physicist and get a free ride into space... I've made one trip into space (i'm a us fighter pilot) and it was hella fun and an amazing sight but i dont EVER want to go back figuring when i went up i was 150 lbs. of muscle and when we came back down i was 135 and it was only a two week space shuttle trip... it took me another year to gain that muscle back but all in all it was pretty fun
@cavaliersfan08 wow thats quite impressive .did you have to train in the vomit comet? ive seen vids of astronauts doing this and it looks awesome. .you must be really fit,i didnt know space flight had that much of an effect on your wieght ,i mean thas a 1lb a day you lost ..is that why the training is so intense?you guys that do that kind of job are real heros imo, cos your laying the path for future space flight ,,well done mate,you probarly get this all the time but your cool
@reksub10 lol yea the KC-135A is absolutely fun... unfortunately im not allowed to release any information on training (DADT) but i will/can tell you this IT IS IIINNNNTTTTEEEENNNNSSSEEE, but once it's all over you feel like a new person, in a good way, and to give you an idea as to why i lost so much muscle mass, picture this, just sitting at the computer you use over 200 muscles trying to evenly distribute weight due to gravity pulling on both sides of your body...
@reksub10 in 24 hours time you will have burned off 60 calories by just breathing and an extra 200 just by sitting... in space while yes you can still breathe (in the cabin that is) you aren't able to use your muscles because you are just floating so in turn you lose no calories and you gain no muscle mass... and lol you are the first person to say that im cool. depending on your age i could see future shuttling into space coming in your lifetime... just dont get your hopes up... but ty for...
@cavaliersfan08 yep you have been in space mate it is exploring the unknown to advance human knowledge so yep your a hero to me ,i dont think i can have a rocket at my back that powerful ,your mental and physical stamina must be impressive ...i know there are alot of people involved in getting you up there ,,they are great people aswell ,,,yeah i might see shuttleing into space in my lifetime but in a touist capcity that is affordable to evryone ,i doubt ill see that as im 38...youre a good man
An SR71 could photograph 100,000 miles of our Earth's surface for every hour it was in the sky and this was done 16miles above the ground travelling in excess of 2000mph.
Impressive stuff and this is for a jet now over 30yrs ago in our aviation history and no jet has been built that we are aware of that can beat the SR71s speed and altitude records all set in 1976.
@northwestube Well, the Concorde did it (New York-London) in 3 hours 20 minutes, while I believe the SR-71 did it in 1 hour 54 minutes with 1 refueling.
Its fast but, not the fastest. The A-12 is faster. I dare anyone to test that. And if someone says that the X-15 is the worlds fastest jet then I will just laugh, it isn't even a jet. Friendly comments are fine but anyone that says I am wrong I will just laugh.
me and my dad went to Duxford in England (its an aircraft museum) and there is one of these there, tail no. 64-17962. anyway we was like what a cool plane so me and my dad stepped over the barrier surrounding it to get a better look and my dad spotted these panels at the back and looked around to see if anyone was close by (no one was) and said i wonder if they come off, so he started taking all these panels off lol
No you didn't if anything you saw the stealth bomber. This plane altitude is 80k feet an approximately 2500 MPH. Where as a commercial airliner is 30k feet and 500 MPH. You didn't see this plane sorry to burst your hopes and dreams lol.
The Mig-25 and 31 don't have a titanium alloy skin like the blackbird does. The foxbat's engines would be trashed if it went over Mach 2.8! The Mig-31 can go over Mach 3 but for a short time. The Blackbird stayed at 85,000 ft. for the entire mission so it would be far beyond of any interceptor aircraft and missiles. There's no SAM or Air to Air missile capable of reaching 85,000.
Top speed is Mach 3, over 2000 miles/hr. It burns 8000 gallons of fuel/hr. Maximum altitude is 85,000 feet. Only 29 were built. It was decommissioned in 1990.
@ivankatz only 29 were built? how would you know for sure? just because the books say so? really unless you where there and took part in building one no one is really gonna know how many of them where flying around at one point in time, the groverment likes to keep lots of secrets and lies!!!!
@20PsiNow people like u make me laugh, one of them conspiracy freaks aint u. Oragsams over Roswell and Are 51 look man u never gonna know for sure soo shut the F***K up. Peace and love
@gazovbolton07 no not really dont give a shit about it really but just saying the groverment lies and then comes up with some bull shit story to cover there ass, but thats all im saying.. as far as the conspiracy freak thing i laugh at them they put to much time and effert in to nothen.. i like the sr71 but my hart goes to the u-2, idk why but it just grabs my attion
the skin turned a dark blue at reentry to,my freind brian shul who has just recently opened a new art studio in marysville told me they could see a vivid barley noticable flame around the outside
I asked a guy I worked with, who flew on the RB-71 as a photographer, if there was anything not commonly known that I could impress my kids with-----knowledge about flying on this spy plane. He told me they had to wait an hour to disembark after a recon flight and reentry because the titanium skin took that long to cool down.
they came out of the bird right after landing. sometimes the skin of the aircraft was hot and couldn't have maintenance done on it. usually they left it to cool for an hour.
the sr-71 is the best plane in the world!!!! It kicks ass... never shot down in action... hell the standerd manover if they got fired at by a missle was just to accelrate!! i love em
jxxjxx-no the mig-25 cannot but close! i hate some kids in my class because they say this is the best plane in the world and its the fastest fighter in the world i keep telling them its not a fighter jet!!! but........
Wow! Mach 4!!! Now the official Record may still be the 2,193.167 miles per hour in an SR-71 Blackbird near Beale AFB in CA on July 28, 1976; however, I've heard of an Aurora jet and maybe others which MAY have gone faster.
first not mach 4... mach 3+ and there are faster planes out there (i hate admitting it) but it is the fastest plane ever in service and it was made in 1966!!!!
Lets get a few things straight firstly there where 32 sr-71's built and secondly the f-22 can probably go only go about mach 3 for a short amount of time like the mig-31 also in a book by Ben Rich he stated that the sr-71 flew at mach 4 but started melting so they had to throttle back so if you take that into account then the sr-71 pisses all over the f-22.
SR-71 Blackbird - Fastest Spy Plane in the World at the Hutchinson, Kansas Cosmophere. Top speed is Mach 3, over 2000 miles/hr. It burns 8000 gallons of fuel/hr. Maximum altitude is 85,000 feet. Only 29 were built. It was decommissioned in 1990.
uh... no not true. The F-22 Raptor was designed around stealth, not speed. The faster you go the more friction is generated. The more friction, the more heat, the more heat, the larger the signature. not very stealthy. The BlackBird is the fastest airplane, not aircraft (because the X-15 is classified as an aircraft) in the world to date
I think the windshield on the SR-71 was guaranteed to Mach 3.5
Anything above that would be Russian Roulette
Amazing airplane - one of a kind thats for sure
ToonandBBfan 6 months ago
If the SR-71 could drop bombs it would be a KILLING MACHINE!
AccessDenied55 6 months ago
As an FYI - Top speed was well OVER Mach 3. Mach 3 was all that was disclosed. The pilots wore patches that said Mach 3+. Top speed to this day is still classified.
jtye01 7 months ago
I never liked technical museums, planes are put there after their life-time like stuffed animals. Same with cars.
mininow 10 months ago
@MrJayfero ????? damn i thought it flew faster than that
cavaliersfan08 11 months ago
@MrJayfero there were more than 3 made just only 3 were put into operating service... one of those once operational jets can be found at Wright-Patterson AF museum in Dayton, Ohio
cavaliersfan08 11 months ago
@MrJayfero which flew at a top speed of mach 7.3... or was it .4 i cant remember
cavaliersfan08 11 months ago
They say its the fastest plane in the world but for plane for 30 years there was a plane a canberra bomber witch was holding all the records and no one even knew about the blackbird
so i wonder what they have now???
ac690 11 months ago
@ac690 The Blackbird was revealed almost as soon as it became operational in 1964 - your statement is not true...
beeroosterm 7 months ago
@beeroosterm no it didn't
ac690 7 months ago
@ac690 Shut up, Junior. LBJ revealed its existence on or before July 25, 1964. Do your homework, brush your teeth, and put on your pajamas...
beeroosterm 7 months ago
@beeroosterm umm no my dad is in the airforce he said no one ver know about it
ac690 7 months ago
@beeroosterm LOL!!! do you have a life??
ac690 7 months ago
@ac690 Used to...now I just sit here and correct lazy-asses.
beeroosterm 7 months ago
ENEMY SR-71 ABOVE
Haha, just kidding. The SR-71 was a great plane and I wish it was still in service.
ShadowRSonic 1 year ago
are sure its the real one or its the model plane look at the size of the motor it looks so small
Shazee083 1 year ago
By far the coolest jet ever made
SecondStepGaming 1 year ago 7
the surface of the plane reaches 1000 f or 530 celcius going mach 3.
BowlingFreak218 1 year ago
@BowlingFreak218 That's a little high; it was more like 800 F...
beeroosterm 7 months ago
The SR71 Actually swelled whilst in flight and when it landed and became stationary the pannels on the Aircraft contracted and it did leak fuel.
gazovbolton07 1 year ago
The 19 people who disliked this have a bad taste in aircraft.
NFSKing 1 year ago
fastest spy plane in the world.......knowed to the public
Stridus7 1 year ago
yeah, sr71, nice and that, but didnt it leak fuel?
megabigjetfreak 1 year ago
@megabigjetfreak It leaked fuel because there is nothing that can withstand the amount of heat of the aircraft's fuel tanks lets off. There is still nothing that can withstand the 7,000 F it puts out.
CorkyXtheXNinja 1 year ago
Top speed isn't 2000 mph....that's the speed it operates at. Top speed is still classified more than likely, but still 35 miles a minute is smokin...35x60minutes
lookn4thepowpow 2 years ago 4
@lookn4thepowpow no one knows
yoyoyoyoshua 1 year ago
@lookn4thepowpow Actually, the top speed of the Blackbird is about 2,221, but still that is the speed that is operates at.
Athoutz 5 months ago
looks like tincan at closer look
dkurzin 2 years ago
I agree entirely. The SR-71 represents the old engineering adage, "Too much is never enough," when it comes to the power stakes! Old school idea-fit the most powerful jet engines possible & go fly! Great machine, now sadly redundant. I believe the USAF has a number of these birds in storage? You never know......... :)
LIVERPOOLSCOTTISH 2 years ago 3
The SR-71 Blackbird is a superb example of AUTHORITY. Long, lean, black and faster than the devil himself. In a word, awesome.
Stanley459 2 years ago 2
it makes you wonder where they gianed the knowlegde of this. The thing gives you the creeps. I mean they achieved this in the 60-70s period. It makes you wonder if theres any turth about that roswell incident and the us airforce using crashed unkown origin material for research
14CPO 2 years ago 2
@14CPO going by the last series of star trek I think the vulcans could have landed alot sooner than our fictional stories tell. I seen a dude with pointy ears, its possible man!
trahcceb 2 years ago
LOL, come on dude. There isn't anything mystical about the SR, only big engines and a simple airframe. The trick was to figure out how to control the expansion of the planes mating surfaces and systems when it reached high altitude and speed, It didn't just happen, it took a lot of experimenting and work with the U2 and other high speed projects like the X15. Simple American ingenuity.
IC2720 2 years ago 3
Give me a break, nothing about the Blackbird is alien, just a lot of work by the right people.
sphinxrising58 1 year ago 2
@14CPO The Blackbird pushed the limits of technology in the late 50's-early 60's when it was developed, but for Christ's sake, grow up. Read "Skunk Works" by Ben Rich, the SR-71's designer Kelly Johnson's thermodynamics/propulsion expert (and creator of the F-117 stealth fighter) for lessons on how the SR-71 was conceived and built. All the materials were from this earth (titanium bought from the Russians themselves!); the plane was just the result of genius, money, and hard work.
beeroosterm 7 months ago
oh ya and if u consider the X-15 its much faster, around 2,000mph faster but its got a rocket engine though and not jet powered but still is a plane even though part rocket.
EpioneEQ 2 years ago
Think this is one of the only jets that was never lost. and im sad that they nolonger use these but hey, all that stuff about the auroa thing and all that, there really would be no point of it - No missile can cath the SR-71 and i'de like to see a Fighter try to take one out... unless he know where it was going to be almost exactly theres no way he would hit it unless by chance it went directly infront of him while he was doing contionus fire on his MG much less reach the altitude of it.
EpioneEQ 2 years ago
20 'Blackbirds' (A-12, YF-12, M-21, SR-71) were lost between 1963 and 1989.
Apparently none from enemy action.
raynus1 2 years ago
This is the coolest Jet ever. However to argue whether it is the fasest is unimportant. The need for a faster jet is gone. This jet is useless in a dog fight or bombing run. It s a spy plane. It's work has been taken over first by AWAX and now by satalites working with drones. Spying with jets is obsolete.
But this is the coolest jet ever.
KeeperofTheMountain 2 years ago
I met a former recovery/rescue air force nco (NOT A PJ) who told me that when he was stationed in italy he was put on high alert for a "blackbird" in trouble .... and IT was 15 minutes away trying to slow itself down over hawaii..
jonnie505nm 2 years ago 2
When was that? 77 or 78?
MrRogueAngel 1 year ago
@jonnie505nm Absolutely absurd. For instance, Rome, Italy is 8030 air miles from Honolulu, Hawaii. If it could cover the distance to Rome in 15 minutes, that would be a speed of 31,120 mph. Even the fastest rockets only go 25,000 mph, and that's in the vacuum and near absolute-zero cold of space. Grow up, Junior, and learn your 3rd grade math. The Blackbird's top speed was about 2300 mph and had an endurance at that speed of approximately 1 hour before refueling was needed. Still impressive...
beeroosterm 7 months ago
i thought aurora spyplane was the fastest now going hypersonic 10-15 or even 20mach
junior10444 2 years ago
the aurora is a myth. whether or not it exists, nobody knows for certain. If it does, then it definitely is the fastest. the sr71 blackbird is our fastest spy plane as far as the facts go.
fbeetleson 2 years ago
;ol im pretty sure the us miltary got stuff that wud rape the st7 and another thing to the sr71 is 40 yrs old
Jules787B 2 years ago
SR-71 is the fastest jet driven aircraft, The Aurora project is av ery old project and the SR-71 came from that project.
Dogmeat1950 2 years ago
Again, thats a myth. We dont know if it does or not, but whenever anyone asks the government about it, they decline knowledge of it. That doesnt mean it doesnt exist, everyone knows the government has had secrets before. The fact that we cant prove aurora based on solid fact, makes it a myth.
Could you tell me, tho. If its not jet powered, what is it powered by?
fbeetleson 2 years ago
fastest we know of!!!
this is 60s and 70s technology
i know the us has 8mach according the britts and 10 mach according to specialists AND 12 mach according scientists
keep in mind the black bird few years ago was being used by nasa to test the sram engines that kicks off at mach 3 up to 25 mach!!!!
taking a plane from los angeles to tokyo in 2 hours nick named the ozon skipper if i did not get my planes mixed up...
now it is global project and they are aiming at 15 Mach
ays1968 2 years ago
i don't know if anybody knows this but no blackbird was ever shot down. But, then again that's a no brainer. show me a missile that can do mach 3 and i'll show you guy who's lying
BlackArrowRL200 2 years ago 2
Comment removed
tdog581 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Is the Blackbird a Russian or American craft?
Boombox2777 2 years ago
Built by the good ol USA. Skunkworks... heard of em?
TheUnNerved 2 years ago 2
american duh lol
iwantpk2 2 years ago
Yeah...under the space shuttle's wing is where you buy tickets and stuff.Its a cool place...they have a sweet IMAX theater there where it feels and looks realistic.And as soon as you walk in the door you see that big black bird.
Tabby266 2 years ago
Jetfire's dead. lol
jagex3000 2 years ago
WOW i am a pilot
trumpetsaulo 2 years ago
The SR-71 is a turbojet aircraft with kerosene fuel and oxygen from the atmosphere. The X-15 was a rocket powered aircraft with separate tanks of hydrazine fuel and liquid oxygen...no atmosphere required except for lift. The X-43 is a scramjet powered unmanned testbed aircraft and burns kerosene and external oxygen. Because of the supersonic burn inside the engine, the jet velocity is supersonic before exiting the nozzle enabling an effective exit velocity (aircraft speed) of Mach 5+.
joelf33 2 years ago
actually the sr-71 runs on JP-7
fusionstar916 2 years ago
JP-7 is mainly kerosene with all the other additives.
siewbun 2 years ago
That's wild.
q123477 2 years ago
Truth be told, the x-16 was faster than the blackbird. While the blackbird went in excess of mach 3.3. The x-16 went over mach 6.6. And it went higher than the blackbird.
ericintohistory 2 years ago
You mean X-15, right? ;)
Kabziu 2 years ago
yeah you arre right.
ericintohistory 2 years ago
Tthe SR-71 is a true aircraft that flew at Mach 3+ throughout it's flight. The X-15 was a manned rocket that had to coast back to earth and dead sticked in after it's two minute burn. It couldn't take off either, had to be dropped from the wing of a B-52. Hardly a practical aircraft like the SR. There is no point in comparing the performance of the two.
TheJomogogo 2 years ago
This is true, and really the X-15 was not an aircraft, but a spacecraft. The SR-71 is the ultimate jet, and the coolest looking vehicle ever made, but the X-15 was built to operate in a vacuum, and it did.
With attitude control thrusters, it could turn and orient itself while in space, which it did, and is the reason its pilots earned astronaut wings.
The X-15 was faster than the SR, but it's not really a plane. It is the second coolest looking vehicle ever made.
AgentJayZ 2 years ago
If you really want to compare oranges to oranges, you have to compare the X-15 to the space shuttle.
And although the X-15 is fast, I think the space shuttle is a lot faster.
The SR-71 was one of the most amazing advances of the known " envelope " ever.
There may never be a faster aircraft , and almost certainly there won't be one that looks so perfect as the ultimate long, mean black machine.
It looks to me like the ultimate Dark Knight ride, and it is almost 50 years old!
AgentJayZ 2 years ago
wow right next to it is a space shuttle
dannytran5 2 years ago
Skullrimer is pretty close, the Mig25 did hold the altitiude record at a little over 125,000 ft during the early 80's. But theres a difference between "getting to altitude" and "flying at altitude". I dont know if its ever been disclosed but I
m guessing the actual service ceiling of the 71 was quite a bit higher that the Mig25.
Alban is also correct in that the Space shuttle completely shattered all records for fixed wing aircraft, including the heaviest glider to ever land.
ArclightPrime 2 years ago
8000 gallons of fuel/hr mmmm
now were did i leave my walet !
thats a nasty fule bill eeeeekkk
jcal5150 2 years ago
Look how big the engines are
whymez0 2 years ago
mig 25 reched higher and faster speed
skullrimer 2 years ago
thats not a spy plane tho
sennske 2 years ago
Not really. A mig-25 did reach mach 3.2 once, but its engines couldnt last it.
Mach 3.2 was the Blackbird's typical cruising speed. Though its also its maximum speed.
Also mig-25 has zoom glimbed much higher than the sr-71 has and so has many other planes, BUT no plane can stay as high as the blackbird can at sustained flight!
Nasty0suicide 2 years ago
50 years
kalli8321 2 years ago
is this plane stiiiiill the fastest?? this was made like centuries ago!!
cocodrilll 2 years ago 3
decades, and yes, at least the fastest manned aircraft, that's not counting the space shuttle of course.
AlbanZap 2 years ago 2
I don't think so mate!
Centuries ago we were still using wooden sailing ships and Australia hadn't been discovered yet!!
WTF
HungryKFC 2 years ago
its a metafor!!
cocodrilll 2 years ago
It is still the fastest piloted jet aircraft ever devised. It was last flown operationally in 1997 by the Air Force and for a few years afterward by NASA.
iowa61 2 years ago
what did NASA use it for? .. and why dont they use them anymore
bagheadbaby 2 years ago
They used them for testing... "SR-71A and SR-71B trainer version, bearing tail numbers 844 and 831, were flown in a variety of high-speed research experiments — aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, thermal protection materials, high-speed and high-temperature instrumentation, atmospheric studies and sonic boom characterization, even serving as a test platform for Lockheed-Martin's linear aerospike rocket engine experiment, or LASRE... Unfortunately NASA has no current budget for the SR-71.
iowa61 2 years ago
thanks for the reply :D
bagheadbaby 2 years ago
Happy to help. Wish they were still flying. Lots of US military wish they were as well!
iowa61 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
i love america SR-71 is the best plane in the world,,,
i dont like ussr russia mig-25 plane,,,
america SR-71 is still number 1 leader,,,
russia mig-25 is a still loser and loser and loser last forever
bestamerica 2 years ago
it would be good to put those jets in airliners get over the atlantic in a hour.
northwestube 3 years ago 9
yeah but youd pay about £10,000 for a ticket
reksub10 3 years ago 9
thts pretty cheap id tell my dad to buy me a tiket
hotrod921 2 years ago
@reksub10
The only problem is that any passenger would have to meet the incredibly tough training that all SR71 pilots went through.
You see it took two pilots to fly the SR71and there are two separate and different instrument panels and every switch and button that was operated before and during flight had to be done in sequence.
Read Richard Grahams book "Flying the SR71 Blackbird" it will tell you what each and every switch did and what it took to fly this beauty
llandudnoboy 1 year ago
@llandudnoboy but a passenger wouldnt have to learn to fly the plane just to be a passenger in it...i know what you mean,but still a massive achievement for areospace tech ... thanks for the reference to the book ill try to find it as its an awesome plane ..cos we need to learn more about war to stop war from happening and this plane is awesome for that
reksub10 1 year ago
@reksub10
You cannot be a passenger in an SR71 both pilot and co pilot have to fly the jet at the same time whilst ensuring all the different gauges and switches gave the correct readings.
Even by todays standards flying an SR71 was only achieved by a select few pilots who were good enough
Flying at 13miles a minute a simple manouver had to be thought out 100 miles before you carried it out
You obviously.love the SR71 treat yourself to Richard Grahams book Flying the SR71 Blackbird
llandudnoboy 1 year ago
@llandudnoboy Actually, at top speed they flew at 35 miles per minute +...
beeroosterm 7 months ago
@reksub10
Its available at Amazon and most decent bookshops
Many people may be put off buying it because it hardly has any photographs but Richard Graham tells the reader simply everything you could ever want to know about the plane
Every single switch and gauge is explained from before the jet even takes off to pre flight check to Mach3 flight and landing
Some of the technical language used is hard to understand but its one of the finest aviation books ive read in many years
llandudnoboy 1 year ago
@reksub10 10,000 are you fucking kidding me? it costs damn near 100,000 just to get a ride with the blue angels (american navy)
cavaliersfan08 11 months ago
@cavaliersfan08 so what does paying the navy $1000,000 get you a ride in ,?id want a go in a sub for that lol
reksub10 11 months ago
@reksub10 hehe you get a ride into space for that (literally)
cavaliersfan08 11 months ago
@cavaliersfan08 that would be cool ,i seen a program where they said in the future there will be a station you can add parts to and it would be used a s a hotel in the upper atmosphere ,and theres this 1 guy who is paying aboput $40,000,000 to get a trip into space but he has to go through loads of training and tests ,but it would be cool if they made shuttles like a plane that could go that high ,i would love to see our planet from space ,it would be mind blowing,better start saving lol
reksub10 11 months ago
@reksub10 ????? hell for $40,000,000 he'd be better off going to college as an astro-physicist and get a free ride into space... I've made one trip into space (i'm a us fighter pilot) and it was hella fun and an amazing sight but i dont EVER want to go back figuring when i went up i was 150 lbs. of muscle and when we came back down i was 135 and it was only a two week space shuttle trip... it took me another year to gain that muscle back but all in all it was pretty fun
cavaliersfan08 11 months ago
@cavaliersfan08 wow thats quite impressive .did you have to train in the vomit comet? ive seen vids of astronauts doing this and it looks awesome. .you must be really fit,i didnt know space flight had that much of an effect on your wieght ,i mean thas a 1lb a day you lost ..is that why the training is so intense?you guys that do that kind of job are real heros imo, cos your laying the path for future space flight ,,well done mate,you probarly get this all the time but your cool
reksub10 11 months ago
Comment removed
cavaliersfan08 11 months ago
@reksub10 lol yea the KC-135A is absolutely fun... unfortunately im not allowed to release any information on training (DADT) but i will/can tell you this IT IS IIINNNNTTTTEEEENNNNSSSEEE, but once it's all over you feel like a new person, in a good way, and to give you an idea as to why i lost so much muscle mass, picture this, just sitting at the computer you use over 200 muscles trying to evenly distribute weight due to gravity pulling on both sides of your body...
cavaliersfan08 11 months ago
@reksub10 in 24 hours time you will have burned off 60 calories by just breathing and an extra 200 just by sitting... in space while yes you can still breathe (in the cabin that is) you aren't able to use your muscles because you are just floating so in turn you lose no calories and you gain no muscle mass... and lol you are the first person to say that im cool. depending on your age i could see future shuttling into space coming in your lifetime... just dont get your hopes up... but ty for...
cavaliersfan08 11 months ago
@reksub10 ...calling me a hero
cavaliersfan08 11 months ago
@cavaliersfan08 yep you have been in space mate it is exploring the unknown to advance human knowledge so yep your a hero to me ,i dont think i can have a rocket at my back that powerful ,your mental and physical stamina must be impressive ...i know there are alot of people involved in getting you up there ,,they are great people aswell ,,,yeah i might see shuttleing into space in my lifetime but in a touist capcity that is affordable to evryone ,i doubt ill see that as im 38...youre a good man
reksub10 11 months ago
@reksub10 haha im 36 but yea... it being affordable... doubt that will come any time soon
cavaliersfan08 10 months ago
@cavaliersfan08 i se
reksub10 10 months ago
@northwestube but u wouldnt have a nuf space in the aircraft to carry a passenger apart from the luggage and cost of fuel
TheFSXNoob 1 year ago
@northwestube and re-fuel them 3 times before come to europe.
solidsnake0408 1 year ago
@solidsnake0408 supposedly they could fly longer since is suborbital
kajenius 1 year ago
@kajenius OK 2 times :D
solidsnake0408 1 year ago
@solidsnake0408 The faster they flew the less fuel they used. Ram AIr.
drenajunkie 1 year ago
@kajenius
An SR71 could photograph 100,000 miles of our Earth's surface for every hour it was in the sky and this was done 16miles above the ground travelling in excess of 2000mph.
Impressive stuff and this is for a jet now over 30yrs ago in our aviation history and no jet has been built that we are aware of that can beat the SR71s speed and altitude records all set in 1976.
llandudnoboy 1 year ago
@northwestube Well, the Concorde did it (New York-London) in 3 hours 20 minutes, while I believe the SR-71 did it in 1 hour 54 minutes with 1 refueling.
beeroosterm 7 months ago
TheSuperiorAsianRace
dont know where you got that from
but the bullets will still be a hell of alot faster
AdhiBoxerSanteros 3 years ago
ive been told by a good source that one took off from edwards,afb in cali and landed at eglin afb in fla 45 minutes later
sperkinsnwfl 3 years ago
it isnt the fastest anymore the aircraft at A51 is
JjOoNnNnYyBb 3 years ago
i bet if it had guns it would shoot itself out of the skys because the plane is faster then bullets
TheSuperiorAsianRace 3 years ago 2
this plane can got to 0to 165 in 5 secs!!!!
thewarofgods 3 years ago
thar AR-71 is not a spy plane its a recon. plane
scottaspect20 3 years ago
Same idea. The thing was supposed to be fast enough to avoid enemy detection. the problem was that it was to noticable and was easy to shoot down.
Machdude 3 years ago
Its fast but, not the fastest. The A-12 is faster. I dare anyone to test that. And if someone says that the X-15 is the worlds fastest jet then I will just laugh, it isn't even a jet. Friendly comments are fine but anyone that says I am wrong I will just laugh.
cappilot12 3 years ago
Of Course Its Fast.Look At The Body And Those Engines
mrcrazyflow504 3 years ago
X-men plane!
BigHeadOsc 3 years ago
This is from the cosmosphere. Cool. I used to go there a lot.
benjiontenors 3 years ago
I love the B2 Spirit design! Buts this plane is the KING
MounDoGG 3 years ago
His brother in on top of the Intrepid in NewYork
serolog2 3 years ago
oh my god.
i love it *5*
BlackMageFreya 3 years ago
he took 3 off and was like wow this thing strips easily so then we put the sr-71 back together and left lol cool messing around with one though.
mileswilson1 3 years ago
me and my dad went to Duxford in England (its an aircraft museum) and there is one of these there, tail no. 64-17962. anyway we was like what a cool plane so me and my dad stepped over the barrier surrounding it to get a better look and my dad spotted these panels at the back and looked around to see if anyone was close by (no one was) and said i wonder if they come off, so he started taking all these panels off lol
mileswilson1 3 years ago
wow you actually get to touch the plane.
c2thew 3 years ago
know whats weird?
i was skating in a parking lot one day and i heard a jet and looked up and i sware to god i saw this plane
or a jet that looked just like this
Hilikus44 3 years ago
No you didn't if anything you saw the stealth bomber. This plane altitude is 80k feet an approximately 2500 MPH. Where as a commercial airliner is 30k feet and 500 MPH. You didn't see this plane sorry to burst your hopes and dreams lol.
xonoma 3 years ago
TIE doesn't exist lol.
ImmortalPravoslavac 3 years ago
The faster jet ever is the TIE fighter ! Yes it is !
lepivert 3 years ago
Lol yea xDD
Sh4d0wRuNN3r 3 years ago
Yeah, after more than 40 years the SR-71 blackbird still holds the reputation of being the fastest recon aircraft in the world.
rainer250 3 years ago
thats a pretty plane
bambooman6 3 years ago
looks like the x-men airplane
advent57 3 years ago
I never realized just how distinctive the Cosmosphere is.
Very Nice
srussert28 3 years ago
SR-71 is not the fastest plane in the world. Mig-25 foxbat and Mig-31 could also fly over mach 3.
lepivert 3 years ago
but it still the fast
gsymdzd1 3 years ago
SR-71 is still leader plane than ussr russia plane..
SR-71 is a full america..
Mig-25 is half france and half ussr russia
bestamerica 3 years ago
The Mig-25 and 31 don't have a titanium alloy skin like the blackbird does. The foxbat's engines would be trashed if it went over Mach 2.8! The Mig-31 can go over Mach 3 but for a short time. The Blackbird stayed at 85,000 ft. for the entire mission so it would be far beyond of any interceptor aircraft and missiles. There's no SAM or Air to Air missile capable of reaching 85,000.
rainer250 3 years ago
My dad was one of the first to build this plane. Amazing what it can do.
excursionboy22 4 years ago
Top speed is Mach 3, over 2000 miles/hr. It burns 8000 gallons of fuel/hr. Maximum altitude is 85,000 feet. Only 29 were built. It was decommissioned in 1990.
ivankatz 4 years ago 2
@ivankatz only 29 were built? how would you know for sure? just because the books say so? really unless you where there and took part in building one no one is really gonna know how many of them where flying around at one point in time, the groverment likes to keep lots of secrets and lies!!!!
just saying......
20PsiNow 1 year ago
@20PsiNow people like u make me laugh, one of them conspiracy freaks aint u. Oragsams over Roswell and Are 51 look man u never gonna know for sure soo shut the F***K up. Peace and love
gazovbolton07 1 year ago
@gazovbolton07 no not really dont give a shit about it really but just saying the groverment lies and then comes up with some bull shit story to cover there ass, but thats all im saying.. as far as the conspiracy freak thing i laugh at them they put to much time and effert in to nothen.. i like the sr71 but my hart goes to the u-2, idk why but it just grabs my attion
20PsiNow 1 year ago
Mach-3 plus, pretty impressive for an aircraft that has been retired for 40 years...
Doctorpapsmear 4 years ago
O_o 2000mph woah!
heathound 4 years ago
dude this is so old check it up 1968 or something imagine the stuff the miltary has now it's probably insane
lol
unlawf 4 years ago
1998 and its still in service duh
ironmans678 4 years ago
I heard they actually started designing it's prototype in the 40's. That's is crazy!
jeromeT1020 4 years ago
wow 0.0..My Great Grandma and I would always hear em flyin' over it felt like a 6-8 on the richtur scale!! It broke er windows lol
DethMetalOnNarusBaru 4 years ago
not onley fastest spy plane it is the fastest plane
2derwood 4 years ago
imagine those jet engines on a car 0_o
Joseborikua 4 years ago
Omg... Photoshop lol.
musclestream 4 years ago
excacly which part of this you call photoshop? this is a real plane dude
ALNyenstad 4 years ago
nice plane but looks weird lol
ninetailedfox3 4 years ago
the skin turned a dark blue at reentry to,my freind brian shul who has just recently opened a new art studio in marysville told me they could see a vivid barley noticable flame around the outside
coldwar2008 4 years ago
I asked a guy I worked with, who flew on the RB-71 as a photographer, if there was anything not commonly known that I could impress my kids with-----knowledge about flying on this spy plane. He told me they had to wait an hour to disembark after a recon flight and reentry because the titanium skin took that long to cool down.
TAMARLANE 4 years ago
they came out of the bird right after landing. sometimes the skin of the aircraft was hot and couldn't have maintenance done on it. usually they left it to cool for an hour.
BlackbirdSpecOps 4 years ago
the sr-71 is the best plane in the world!!!! It kicks ass... never shot down in action... hell the standerd manover if they got fired at by a missle was just to accelrate!! i love em
yocksey22 4 years ago 2
do you think the Mig-25/31 can catch it?
jxxjxx 4 years ago
jxxjxx-no the mig-25 cannot but close! i hate some kids in my class because they say this is the best plane in the world and its the fastest fighter in the world i keep telling them its not a fighter jet!!! but........
joshybrown17 4 years ago
this plane right here goes Mach 3+. it was retired but still some of the stats on it are classified.
noob17 4 years ago 4
Wow! Mach 4!!! Now the official Record may still be the 2,193.167 miles per hour in an SR-71 Blackbird near Beale AFB in CA on July 28, 1976; however, I've heard of an Aurora jet and maybe others which MAY have gone faster.
IQ136 4 years ago
first not mach 4... mach 3+ and there are faster planes out there (i hate admitting it) but it is the fastest plane ever in service and it was made in 1966!!!!
yocksey22 4 years ago
it achieved speeds up to 4.2 mach and it was put into service in 1964. they were first built for the air force in 1962.
BlackbirdSpecOps 4 years ago
you ever piloted one of em?
gladespringbjj 4 years ago
woa!
ilikepiex101 4 years ago
Lets get a few things straight firstly there where 32 sr-71's built and secondly the f-22 can probably go only go about mach 3 for a short amount of time like the mig-31 also in a book by Ben Rich he stated that the sr-71 flew at mach 4 but started melting so they had to throttle back so if you take that into account then the sr-71 pisses all over the f-22.
mileswilson1 4 years ago
SR-71 Blackbird - Fastest Spy Plane in the World at the Hutchinson, Kansas Cosmophere. Top speed is Mach 3, over 2000 miles/hr. It burns 8000 gallons of fuel/hr. Maximum altitude is 85,000 feet. Only 29 were built. It was decommissioned in 1990.
ivankatz 4 years ago
Why do you say fastes spy plane. It was the fastes plane period.
sigsauer12 4 years ago
yes and no It is the fastest spy plane but not the fastest plane the F-22 Raptor mach3+
sdgfgfdf 4 years ago
uh... no not true. The F-22 Raptor was designed around stealth, not speed. The faster you go the more friction is generated. The more friction, the more heat, the more heat, the larger the signature. not very stealthy. The BlackBird is the fastest airplane, not aircraft (because the X-15 is classified as an aircraft) in the world to date
BlackArrowRL200 2 years ago 2
is the sr still the fastest till no if it is thats tight
blackops924 4 years ago