"Put out my hand, and touched the face of God...." *
Long before such a feat of engineering would
have been considered possible, Lockheed's Advanced Development Works designed
and built the most impressive aircraft ever to roam the skies.
The SR-71 "Blackbird" flew with impunity for over 30 years, and with good
reason: Flying at over 80,000 feet and at a normal cruise speed over Mach
3, no missile or plane then or now could catch it. As a result,
despite its numerous passes over hostile enemy territory in the pursuit
of its reconnaissance missions, not a single aircraft has ever been lost
to enemy fire. The SR-71 Blackbird was retired by a shortsighted
US Air Force in 1990, although a few saw temporary reinstatement after
the shortcomings of other reconnaissance platforms were demonstrated during
the Gulf War. President Clinton used his line-item veto power to
kill off the last funding for the magnificent Blackbird, relegating her largely to the care of a number of museums around the country.
Four Blackbirds are maintained by NASA as high altitude/high speed research
platforms, but NASA too has fallen short of operating funds. As of
mid-2000, NASA's Blackbirds are sitting unused on their tarmacs - perhaps the
only worse fate than becoming museum fodder.
This
page and the pictures therein are dedicated to the engineering wizards
at Lockheed and those who flew and maintained the Blackbird; they achieved
the impossible as a normal course of business and did not believe in failure.
Note that this page contains only original pictures
of the Blackbirds I have visited in person. It is not intended to
convey the full story of this incredible aircraft, nor the rest of the Blackbird
family; the YF-12, M-21 (and MD-21) and the A-12. For more extensive Blackbird pictures, information,
and history, you should visit the Online
Blackbird Museum at http://www.habu.org.
All pictures are ©1999-2001 by Joseph Tomasone.
All rights reserved.
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| A-12 #06924 - Blackbird
Airpark, Palmdale, CA |
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| A-12 #06925 - USS Intrepid Museum, New York
City, NY
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| A-12 #06933 - San Diego Aerospace Museum, San
Diego, CA |
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| MD-21 #06940, Museum Of Flight, Seattle, WA |
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| SR-71A #17951 - Pima Air & Space Museum,
Tucson, AZ |
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SR-71A #17968 - Virginia Aerospace Museum, Richmond,
VA
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SR-71A #17973 - Blackbird Airpark, Palmdale, CA |
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SR-71A #17975 - March Field Museum, Riverside, CA
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The cockpit of crashed SR-71A #17977 - Museum Of Flight, Seattle, WA |
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SR-71A #17979 - Lackland AFB, San Antonio, TX
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SR-71C #17981 - Hill AFB, Roy, UT
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* The quote at the top of the page was taken from a very appropriate
poem for such a high-flying aircraft. Here it is in it's entirety
with credit given to the author:
"Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds -- and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of -- wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew.
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God."
-- John Gillespie Magee Jr.
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