Lockheed SR-71 Black Bird “Night Hawk”

Description

The Lockheed SR-71 lack Bird was the fastest air breathing aircraft ever produced from Lockheed’s famous Skunk Works. SR-71 and its aircrews still hold the fastest records from New York to London in an hour fifty-four minutes and coast to coast in sixty-seven minutes at an average speed of 1846 knots or 2124 miles per hour. One incredible record was flying from St Louis to Cincinnati in 8 minutes thirty one seconds averaging 1903 knots or 2189 miles per hour! The Black Bird record for distance was 15,000 miles in ten hours thirty minutes. Fifteen remaining SR-71s are housed at museums across the United States, three remain property of Lockheed, and three have been kept by NASA to study aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, thermal protection materials, and instrumentation. This SR-71 was given the name “Night Hawk” by the 99th Reconnaissance Squadron aircrews flying the jet, with the Night Hawk artwork drawn with chalk!