SR-71 Blackbird: How the World's FASTEST Plane Became Irrelevant

Today's video is sponsored by our old friends at Squarespace. Thanks Squarespace, you build amazing websites with them. I will tell you more about them later. It is one of the greatest scientific and military achievements that humanity has strived to achieve in 33 years of service. It

became

an iconic symbol of Cold War scientific competition and the United States' reputation for black-budget innovation. It is an expression of engineering genius. The creation of a true aeronautics savant. A transcendental development in the

world

of intelligence. Of course, it's the Lockheed SR. -71 Blackbird and above all it is very fast, so in this episode of Megaprojects we will finally dive into the much requested SR-71, a series of 32 aircraft that broke all the limits that their creators could imagine.

We will explore the innovation and groundbreaking process that led to the construction of Blackbirds examine its extraordinary capability delve into a record-breaking operational career that remains untouched to this day. More than anything, the Cold War was ultimately an intelligence war in which the side that could gather the most important secrets the

fastest

would gain a huge advantage before the arrival of spy satellites, the best and most effective way to gathering intelligence was to do so through the use of aircraft and the U2, an extremely high-altitude slow-moving aircraft designed by the Lockheed company or was the United States' preferred aircraft for that job, first introduced in 1956, the U2 had a service ceiling of 15 miles high, or about 80,000 feet, meaning it was much higher than most enemy aircraft or missiles could reach if they couldn't reach it.

You can't hit it, you can't shoot it down, and if you were going to be shot down, then there was nothing the Soviets could do to stop U2 from gathering all the information they wanted. Well, everything changed in 1960 when a U2 was piloted. by CIA agent Gary Powers was disabled by the Soviet service from launching missiles over the city. Not only did the Soviets capture Powers, but his

plane

, including the top-secret contents of his camera, was now in Soviet possession, which was a catastrophe for the US because it not only allowed the Soviets to discover exactly what they were looking at.

Americans, but it also allowed them to expose the design flaws of the U2 and find a way to shoot it down consistently, fortunately for the United States, although a solution was on the way even before the powers in its

plane

were shot down, the U2 had had been developed by a secret Advanced group working at Lockheed known as the Skunk Works, which had long made it their mission to create aircraft that people couldn't even have conceived of before seeing them in the skies above them. Now let me interrupt today's video, a very important announcement and that is that the fantastic sponsor of today's video is Squarespace and maybe you have never seen me do a Squarespace announcement before, in which case welcome to watch the first video that I have ever made .

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That's right, Squarespace is offering a special promo code just for you, Peter, so use the Megaprojects promo code to get started today thanks to Squarespace for sponsoring and now let's get back to today's video under the leadership of an engineer named Clarence Kelly Johnson who the group had created. U2, but the project that started after was on another level. In 1957, the CIA approached Lockheed with what most people would have considered an impossible request: build a spy plane that couldn't be detected, couldn't be intercepted, and luckily for the CIA, the people at Skunk Works aren't nor have most people ever been and they got to work on an initiative they now called Project Archangel, when the CIA referred to a plane that could not be shot down. detected or what they were referring to was an aircraft with an extremely small radar cross section.

Now we are used to this type of aircraft. Nowadays, let's take the American F-22 or the Chinese J-20, but at that time it was very new. Concept one that the Institute of Scientific Engineering had just begun researching in their own attempts to make a plane better than you. What the Institute realized was that if a plane could fly at extremely high altitudes or extremely high speeds, either option could reduce its radar crosstalk. section, but if a plane could do both, then it had a huge advantage, and furthermore, if the plane could be built in a way that absorbed or deflected radar rather than sending it directly back to its source, then that plane could hypothetically Getting pretty close to Invisible Now Skunk worked competed for a bit with the CIA along with the carrier corporation that was responsible for the B-58 Hustler supersonic bomber.

The Skunk Works design originally known as the u3 had a few key criteria in which it would have to be able to fly. no less than Mach 3, which is three times the speed of sound with a range of 4,000 miles at altitudes equal to or greater than 90,000 feet, that is, 70 miles above the Earth's surface, the CIA added in a pair of other requirements a weight of 500 pounds. payload for the reconnaissance team and the requirement that the aircraft reach a radius of 2,000 nautical miles without needing to refuel, but Kelly Johnson's early attempts to work with his team and design a U3 aircraft had to be scrapped. repeatedly;

It was feasible enough to develop an aircraft that could meet the altitude and speed requirements, but it was the radar signature that was still a thorn in Johnson's side on April 23, 1958. Johnson took a different tack. in his daily pencil sketches, this time opting for a design with a long, thin airframe. and a cylindrical cross section that traces back to two engines hidden near the fuselage and a pair of square rhomboids in the wings, although I didn't know it at the time, the design of that day would eventually form the basis for the SR-71 and as the The Skunk Works team began working with the concept, they began to modify the specifications and establish different configurations, which required a lot of technological innovation on the part of the team and, in the course of the design, they often had to incorporate technologies that no one had built still like Kelly.

Johnson put a quote, everything had to be invented, everything these designs called Archangel 1, Archangel 2, etc., then it was reduced to the a series and when Skunk finally made his way to the A10 design, they started to get the feeling of They had the plane they needed, the 8N met all the CIA's requirements except the radar cross section, but the CIA had the connections and resources to draw on a much wider range of American innovators than Skunk Works had. Access with whatever modifications the CIA could to get the plane's radar cross section was reduced by 90 percent and for a price of $96 million the CIA and Skunk Works joined hands to reach a deal that would produce a dozen aircraft of the Archangel line, the final designation of the prototype would be a12 its name for the foreseeable future Foreign Works built 13 copies of its a12 that were sent to Groom Lake, also known as Area 51 in the state of Nevada, for testing .

On April 26, the first ready-to-fly prototype was launched into the sky for the First time I heard Kelly Johnson tell it after the fact, the test was a bit scathing because once in the air, the plane began to oscillate a lot and At one point it disappeared in a cloud of dust, leaving engineers on the ground in a panic over what exactly it was. was happening when the plane landed and could be dismantled the problem wasn't exactly difficult to find some of the equipment inside had been placed backwards Despite the ignominious start, the good people at Skunk Works were actually more than capable of fixing the problem. problem once they found it and with everything pointing in the right direction, it turned out that the plane flew much better surprise surprise the subsequent test flights went well and more and more prototypes were produced the numbers it generated exceeded even the initial expectations of the According to the CIA Lockheed, when A12 test pilots attempted to push it to the limit, were able to take the plane to a top speed of 2,221 miles per hour at 3.35 times the speed of sound and fly it at altitudes of up to 95,000 individual feet.

Pilots anecdotally reported making it even faster, although these types of claims in flight could not be verified. Skunk Works also built two variants of the a12, including the yf-12, which was intended to be a missile-armed interceptor craft and aversion meant to carry drones, a fun fact about the YF-12, by the way, is that the aircraft It need not have been alarmed because it flew several hundred miles per hour faster than the cannon balls on board would have been able to move now that the A12 was initially. planned to be the last plane the CIA finished with, which is why Skunk Works was building so many prototype versions that were supposed to be pretty close to the finished product.

In fact, the A12 flew over Vietnam and North Korea with emissions quite early, but by 1962, the US Air Force had some changes they wanted to make, although they liked the A12's capabilities much better than the next best thing. option, the xb70 valkyrie, they asked for a modified version to include some of what the air force needed, this included a longer. fuselage a two-seat automobile cockpit and some different sensor equipment 13 A12 aircraft would eventually be retired in 1968 because despite some inherent trade-offs caused by Air Force modifications, the aircraft it produced still did the job of the A12 very well, this new aircraft would become the SR-71 Blackbird we know today and to focus both budget and resources, the SR-71 took up where the A12 left off.

Eventually 32 copies of the SR-71 aircraft were produced, 29 versions of the main production variant, two trainers and a hybrid trainer called the Bastard which took the reject of the Aryan A12 fighter and grafted it onto the forward fuselage of the SR-71. 71 which had been used for static ground testing. This fleet of 32 would be the only

blackbird

ever produced and in 1968 Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara ordered that the machinery used to create the aircraft be destroyed at the end of production. These 32 would be the only 32 and, as long as they were invisible, as advertised, they would be all of them.

America would need exactly the finished Skunk product. In short, the works they had created, it was a masterpiece. Its elegant, perfect and almost organic shape, the Blackbird was light years away from any other aircraft that existed at the time, the most critical aspect of the Blackbird was its survivability, the extreme altitudes and speeds it had. He reached it and the most basic problem he faced was friction traveling through the air as fast as the Blackbird did. The surface of the plane

became

so hot that it would have melted aconventional airframe. To solve that problem, the plane was built from a titanium alloy. which was strong, lightweight, more temperature resistant than almost any other metal, it was also a real pain in the ass and had to be shaped with specially designed tools also made from titanium, to make matters worse the US didn't even have enough titanium, but the CIA solved that particular problem by acquiring titanium ore from the Soviet Union in a covert effort that could probably be its own Megaprojects video.

Use the comments on that issue. Skongworks was able to complete the outer titanium layer which was then covered on the aircraft. iconic black paint to absorb heat, the smooth skin was also corrugated rather than smooth, allowing it to expand or flex rather than split at these temperatures, and oh, when the plane was on the ground, the fuselage panels actually They didn't fit particularly well. They were built to align only when extremely hot due to thermal expansion, causing them to leak fuel when the entire asphalt, the outer windshield, was made of quartz and fused directly to the airframe and usually It heated up to 600 degrees Fahrenheit upon landing and afterwards.

Well then there are the engines to meet the CIA requirements for a plane that could fly at Mach 3 continuously, the Blackbird couldn't rely on afterburning technology after all, those only worked for a short time, while expected The Blackbird flew at those speeds for several hours. The engine that Skunk Works left with for Pratt and Whitney was the j58 turbo jets. an innovation in themselves and produced 32,500 pounds of static thrust force which was equivalent to simply screwing a rocket onto the

blackbird

's back and due to the combination of these engines and the sr-71's unique airflow management system, the plane actually consumed more fuel. efficient around Mac 3.2 or even faster than at lower speeds, technically speaking the engines could even make the plane faster than that, with their only real limitation being that the air in the engine compressor became too hot. before the Blackbird reached its true speed. limit now, as one might imagine, strapping what appeared to be essentially rockets to a fuselage makes the craft difficult to decelerate, and while the Blackbird used specialized tires and drag shots when touched down to make the plane work, Skunk Works He also had to use specialized vehicles.

Exotic fuel and, although coal slurries and cryogenic hydrogen were prohibited, a custom jet fuel known as jp7 was mixed with the trietal drilling compound, this combination produced the blackbird's characteristic green flame in the engines it was built to have. extremely high ignition. point so that in-flight friction on the plane's surface could not cause an explosion and ground crew chiefs were known to show off by throwing lit matches and cigarettes into the blackbird's fuel only to have it extinguished by the flames once it was in the air. Typically, the SR-71 would have to be refueled after about 90 minutes and expend a third of its fuel load just to gain altitude to refuel the tankers.

The Jets had to fly almost as fast as they could using specialized equipment which again they had built just for the Blackbird and not only was the Blackbird's design visually impressive, it was even better than the A12 at hiding its radar profile, despite the Given that there are no pelicans that fly at around 90,000 feet, it would most likely have been ruled out as a technical error. This was also when their speed and altitude became useful, although the Soviets eventually learned to detect aircraft which they were largely incapable of doing. reach it as it was much faster than a missile and its surface ceiling was higher than the best Soviet Interceptor and then there was the hardware on board, the SR-71 was not built to carry weaponry and certainly did not need any for defensive purposes.

It contained electronic intelligence hardware, anti-missile and anti-interceptor measures, side-view airborne radar, and specialized infrared camera tracking. The Blackbird used two cameras to provide stereo imaging across the aircraft's entire flight path plus horizon-to-horizon coverage, while a specialized secondary camera could focus on a target area due to advances in camera technology, the capability of SR-71 to take images of its targets would increase greatly over time and some of its other sensor technologies were upgraded and it was also equipped with a specialized life support system plus water and snacks for the crew who wore specialized protective suits that could keep them safe in the event of a high-altitude ejection.

The Blackbird was a beast of an airplane but it also required an immense amount of its pilots traveling at 3,000 feet per second. Pilots had to reimagine how they navigated the landscape with instruments or using massive geographic features as reference points. Telling a pilot to say that turning left on Shan Wyoming was not very good. Pesach covered the entire length of Jan in approximately nine seconds and with a turning radius of one hundred miles. It made a lot more sense to tell the pilot to just turn around when they hit the Rocky Mountains. Features such as its delta wing and the sharp edges of the bells on either side of the fuselage made it considerably more aerodynamic, but still nowhere near the ease of flying most modern aircraft, but although flying the Blackbird was incredibly challenging, It was also seen as a great privilege, the opportunity to do something that few people would do, in the words of Colonel Jim Watkins, at 85,000 feet in Max 3, it was almost nothing that had prepared me for flying so fast.

Goodness, even now I get goosebumps remembering, in less poignant notes, that being a blackbird pilot came with a guaranteed tasty breakfast due to the demands of the flight. Pilots were required to eat a so-called high-protein, low-residue meal before flying, which was for the air. Forced Steak and Eggs is a testament to both the Blackbird's engineering and the brave pilots who flew it, that in more than 30 years of operation not a single 32 plane was shot down, even after the Soviets had the blackbird's number. , even after knowing it. was out there, their best pilots and their best technology simply couldn't do anything about it.

The SR-71 took to the skies at just the right time to make a big impact in Vietnam with the first planes arriving at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa in March. 1968. From then on, the Blackbird was deployed over North Vietnam for thousands of flight hours and hundreds of operational missions, while the planes were prohibited from passing over Soviet airspace directly; They could and would go anywhere else in the years to come where they would see action. conduct reconnaissance work anywhere where the United States had a relevant interest Blackbird intelligence was crucial during the Yom Kippur War, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the American raids in Libya, the exposure of silkworm missile batteries in Iran and of course it's not like those countries can do anything about it. the Blackbird hovering in its airspace and for a total of 53,500 total flight hours for the Blackbird family of aircraft, gained a massive reputation around the

world

as a projection of the power of the US military.

Initially, Project Archangel aircraft were made public in part. due to political pressure with the US desperate to give an outward appearance that they were on par with the Soviets in terms of innovation, but once they were known around the world, the Blackbird took on a life of its own both in the military and civilian circles, but The Blackbird was not a panacea for the United States, as intelligence problems with only 32 aircraft to work with this program of 71 could only be in so many places at a time and each time a plane flew Maintenance to get it airworthy again often came back with some parts broken and others completely missing and even when a plane was cleared to fly, it took up to a day to get it ready from the Hangar to the runway. even with maximum efficiency.

It meant that only four aircraft could fly each day and that was before the costs of natural delays and major repairs were even taken into account, the biggest problem was the SR-71's worrying accident history and when we're talking about a plane with this level of power and thrust, there was only a slight difference between a harmless error and certain death of the 32 blackbirds that were built. 12 of them were lost in accidents, for example one plane disintegrated in 1966 after an engine shut down on a high bank, killing the reconnaissance officer. aboard Jim's Ware several others suffered braking failures on the runway causing the wheels to collapse and the entire plane being damaged while a 1989 flight over the South China Sea suffered engine explosions in what would be the last blackbird accident.

Fortunately no SR-71 crew member except Jim's Ware would ever die in a flight accident, but these equipment losses would be equivalent to several billion dollars in today's money, which contributed to the hype within the Blackbird program. that, although the planes were incredible, they also posed a bit of a risk to anyone who flew them, in fact there was an incident where Soviet Mig-25 fighters even had the Blackbird at their mercy after an SR-71 suffered an engine explosion over Sweden and was captured by the Soviets; However, a pair of unnamed Swedish aircraft had defeated the MiGs there and the planes were able to escort the Blackbird away from the Soviet threat without damage.

Although this near miss was an isolated incident, it was a massive reminder to the air force that The blackbird's habit of crashing the system put him at risk. of attacks that would have otherwise been impossible, it is also worth noting that the Blackbirds were not only employed by the US Air Force, but two aircraft were loaned to NASA during the 1990s to conduct research due to the sheer magnitude of what the Blackbird could do. It was a perfect platform to explore everything from extreme aerodynamics to thermal protection and studies of the surrounding atmosphere. The SR-71 also became a test bed for the Iridium satellite communication system, which was instrumental in the development of technology such as modern mobile phones and throughout history.

The SR-71 contributed to scientific advances such as ramj engine survivability systems and enormous advances in materials science, many of which have been used in a wide range of modern technologies before we see the SR-71 through to the end. of its useful life. a moment just to honor some of the truly incredible records he set as the

fastest

flying jet aircraft the world has ever seen. A flight in 1976 set the record for the highest sustained horizontal flight ever made at an altitude of 85,069 feet and Another flight on the same day set the absolute speed record for a jet aircraft of 2,193 miles per hour or, if you prefer , holds the speed record for a trip from London to New York that was completed in less than one hour and 55 minutes.

It was also completed. Its final flight was a transcontinental trip from California to Washington DC in just over an hour in the late 1980s. The operators of the Blackbird program understood that the time of their beloved aircraft was coming to an end, although there were no more planes. fast but flew higher in development. to replace it well there really wasn't a need for spy satellites, they were doing a better job and doing it cheaper than the SR-71 in most circumstances and the US didn't really have new adversaries demanding the type of supersonic spy vehicle. that the Blackbird offered when the Cold War quickly came to an end, the Air Force was transparent and open and simply could no longer justify the cost of the Blackbird.

Officials cited advances in Soviet surface-to-air technology and new interceptors. The emergence of unmanned aerial vehicles and even possible alternative uses of funding the Blackbirds, all his reasons for not maintaining the program, have been speculated after the fact that Pentagon policy and Congressional ignorance of the capabilities of The Blackbirds could have also been a factor, but regardless the SR-71 was retired in 1989. That retirement was not without caveats. Congress decidedkeep six of the planes plus one training model in a state of partial readiness that could put them in the skies within two months of reactivation in subsequent years after the plane was retired.

Senior officials such as General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr were frustrated by his absence, as he could have been extremely useful during stormy operations in the Middle East and in gathering intelligence on emerging threats in Bosnia and North Korea during those years' limitations. Satellite intelligence began to increase. They frustrated US officials and while the remaining U2 fleet and newer drones were doing a decent job, none of those planes were as good as the Blackbird, three of the planes were reactivated for a couple of years, but eventually the Political pressure once again became too much after their brief return to the skies, the SR-71 fleet was permanently retired in 1998.

With the last two Blackbirds working with NASA joining them a year later, today the Blackbird Fleet is primarily located in museums in the US and Europe, although NASA still retains custody of two of The plane is a testament to the truly visionary nature of the Plains and the way its capabilities have become less important over time. Neither the United States nor any other nation has developed a known successor: a stealth UAV manufactured by Northrop Grumman known as the RQ-180. The RQ-180 is believed to be operating in the skies today, but the United States does not recognize its existence, even if it does. outside, it's not thought to work anyway.

It was close to Blackbird's service ceiling or top speed after the release of the Top Gun movie. Maverick Lockheed Martin has made some cheeky references to a crude, air-breathing jet plane that could go faster than the Blackbird, and the film's fictional Dark Star plane is believed to resemble plans for a plane known as sr- 72, but this remains just speculation. If the block heater press team feeds it with no known successor, the SR-71 is today the undisputed King, although retired from the skies, its legacy as the world's fastest-flying, highest-flying jet aircraft is intact. and it may well be generations before something. more even closer thank you