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THE FASTEST EVER AIRCRAFT

All aircraft enthusiasts and the ones that have been working in aerospace for decades know that the fastest ever is the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. It looks like a "Star wars" aircraft but it is what we can call a conventional aircraft, what means that it takes off and lands as any other aircraft. Some other aircraft could be faster, as the X-15, but they did not take carlton fisk embroidered jersey off by themselves.

But why talk about the Blackbird, as it is not operational any more and can be seen only on aircraft museums? The reason is quite simple: working with the new generation of aerospace engineers and designers, exposed to the slogans of the aerospace giants of today ("high-technology", "state-of-the art" engineering tools, "Next" ?and so on), few of these young professionals know that there was a period of the aerospace history when the things were done and well done, without all the "high-tech" tools available today. A period when engineers and designers were making aircraft (and also space ships) that would be impossible to be done today in the timeframe and cost of those magnificent engineering achievements. If you do not agree with our words, we will present data, at the end of the article, of the new designs of today and you may conclude by yourself.

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DEVELOPMENT

The SR-71 originated from a similar design that was the A-12. In the early 60's the reconnaissance aircraft used by the USA (the U-2) was vulnerable due to its low speed, so that a new design for a faster reconnaissance aircraft was necessary. The contract for development of the A-12 (predecessor of the SR-71) was awarded to Lockheed in August 1959 and a contract for production of 12 aircraft followed on January 1960. The first flight was on April 1962. At this time the engines were P&W JT-75, as the JT-58, developed for the A-12/SR-71, were not fully operational. On January 1963 the aircraft was fitted with the P&W JT-58 and reached speeds in excess of Mach 3. It is important to note that from contract award to first flight it took 2 years and to fly at Mach 3 a little more.

The contract for production of the SR-71 was awarded to Lockheed on December 1962 and the first flight was on December 1964, just 2 years after. The engineer leading the Blackbird development?of the Blackbird development was Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson.

BASIC DATA AND PERFORMANCE

Even today there is no aircraft that could get close to the performance of the SR-71. It? can fly at Mach 3.2 at 85,000ft with a range of 3,200 nautical miles (without refueling). The SR-71 settled on 1976 speed and altitude records (Altitude in carlton fisk embroidered jersey Horizontal Flight: 85,068.997 ft ? 25,929 m and Speed Over a Straight Course: 2,193.167 mph ? 3,529.6 km/h), unbeaten up to now. The table below presents some basic data of the Blackbird. More information can be accessed with the links.

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WHAT WAS NEW FOR THE BLACKBIRD

Reading the news today about recent developments and their delays, the most common excuse for the inability of today's management to handle any development in time and cost is always about "new". New materials, new manufacturing process, new systems, new software, new supply chain management and so on. For the SR-71 there were also "new" things and , in fact, almost everything was new and it was still developed in a short time. The main "new" things on the blackbird:

New engine ? the P&W J-58 was a new engine that could operate for extended time at high Mach numbers with afterburner, It was developed for the A-12/SR-71 aircraft.
New fuel ? due to the temperature op operation of the Blackbird, the J-58 engines used an special fuel. The JP-7 fuel has low volatility and is flash-resistant.
New structural material ? Titanium, the basic material that the Blackbird is made of, was a new material at those days and the only available metal that could resist the high temperatures that the airframe was exposed on cruise flight. The main landing gear is up to today the largest titanium forget part use in aircraft.
New hydraulic fluids ? also due to the operating temperature, hydraulic fluids had to be developed specifically for application on the aircraft.
New Aerodynamics ? just looking at the aircraft, it is shaped for high speed, what was something completely new at those times. Even today it is still ahead of anything flying our skies.
New tires ? the rubber compound of carlton fisk embroidered jersey the tires was developed to resist high temperatures, having aluminium powder and filled with nitrogen (not a practice at those days).