 This is SR 71 spy plane is all fireball, as in the fastest plane ever. It is an iconic photo that has stood the test of time, an SR 71 Blackbird Mach 3 spy plane with a spectacular ball of flames trailing while putting on an amazing performance at the 1986 air fate air show. If you want to know more about what really happened that day and the taking of the photo, look no further than Richard H Graham's book SR 71 revealed, the inside story. Here's what Lieutenant Colonel Doug Soyfer had to say, on our very first TDY to Mildenhall, Mike Smith, the pilot, and I were lucky enough to be there for air fate, the big annual air show in Mildenhall. We got to fly the first day and thought we did a good job. During the 20 minutes already we had a real hard kick during one pass when we went to Afterburner and pulled up tight. He continued, we didn't think much about it until we landed and were overwhelmed by people as we stepped off the jet and asked us what we did. We had no idea what they were talking about until someone brought over his camcorder and showed us the tape. Then he began to describe the 13 fireballs that came out of the aircraft's exhaust. It looked beautiful, and people wanted to know if it could be done again, he said. They used the picture of us with the flames coming out for the next year's air fate poster. Mike and I became known as the fireball wins. The maintenance people figured it was the tab, Jury of Fulbaran, shooting out of its container and igniting the JP7. With that start, we had an exciting six weeks in England. The SR-71 Burn JP7 fuel, one of a kind fuel that is three times as expensive as the type used in airliners. In order to meet the specs of the aircraft, fuel maker Shell Oil invented a compound blend of kerosene distillates, hundreds of hydrocarbons with all but 5% of the aromatics removed in processing. Low aromatics point to the fact that it is a clean mixture, with low levels of impurities like sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen. This JP7 fuel allows for high thermal oxidative stability or it is considered to be more predictable in extreme temperatures. To ignite the JP7 for engine start, and to light the afterburner section, a liquid chemical ignition system was used. The liquid chemical, Jury of Fulbaran, had the physical property of exploding when exposed to air, according to the Aviation Geek Club. During engine start, rising fuel pressure in the fuel control signaled the ignition system that a metered amount of teb could be injected into the engine combustion section, after the pilot moved the throttle from cut-off to the idle position. Proceeded slightly by fuel, the teb exploded and ignited the JP7. Thanks for watching!