NASA just dropped a ton of rare footage of SR-71 Blackbirds doing what they do bestThe original trio of SR-71 "Blackbirds" loaned to NASA by the U.S. Air Force for high-speed, high-altitude research line the ramp at the Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The long-range SR-71 Blackbird recon jet, dreamed up by Lockheed Martins famed Skunk Works division, has a reputation for a reason.
In the half-century since it first took flight at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Florida, the Blackbird has unseated its record-setting Lockheed YF-12 predecessor as the worlds fastest jet-propelled aircraft, its twin afterburners capable of unleashing 34,000 pounds of thrust and accelerating the interceptor up to 35 miles per minute 3,100 feet per second , per War Zones Tyler Rogoway .
No wonder the SR-71 became the preferred delivery craft for specially trained and colorfully attired multinational paramilitary squads : Of all the aircraft ever conceived by the U.S. Air Force, the Blackbird is most synonymous with speed.
Luckily, you can now spend all day watching the SR-71 and the YF-12 scream across anonymous skies, if you so desire. Over the weekend, NASAs Armstrong Flight Research...
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