Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More
Summary and Key Points: For more than three decades, the official story of the SR-71 Blackbird’s retirement has been simple: the legendary spy plane...
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All posts tagged "SR-71"
Dollars and Sense
Summary and Key Points: The SR-71 Blackbird was built almost entirely of titanium to survive the heat of Mach 3 flight — but engineers...
Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More
Summary and Key Points: Years before the famous SR-71 Blackbird, the CIA built the A-12 Oxcart — a top-secret Mach 3 spy plane designed...
Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More
Summary and Key Points: For decades, rumors claimed the U.S. had secretly built the SR-91 Aurora — a hypersonic spy plane flying at Mach...
Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More
During the 1970s, NASA wanted to conduct supersonic flight tests using the SR-71 Blackbird, but the aircraft’s existence was still classified and the Air...
Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More
Summary and Key Points: NASA received an SR-71 Blackbird in the 1970s despite being officially prohibited from possessing the strategic reconnaissance variant. To conceal...
Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More
Since the early 2010s, I have dragged my wife to just about every SR-71 Blackbird museum exhibit within driving distance, or sent my staff...
Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More
Summary and Key Points: An American SR-71 Blackbird lost one engine to an inlet unstart at 83,000 feet and Mach 3 during a reconnaissance...
Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More
The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird intentionally leaked JP-7 fuel onto the ground. The airframe was designed to seal its own fuel tanks only when hot...