-SR-71 BLACKBIRD-

Presented By Ayman, Phil, Aiden, Jacob And Matt.

Background Information:
The SR-71, commonly referred to as the blackbird due to it being completely covered in black paint to avoid detection, or 'Habu' coming from a venomous snake found in southeast Asia was one of the most remarkable aircrafts ever built! The Aircraft was first flown in December 1964 It was designed by Clarence "Kelly" Johnson and built by Lockheed Martin as a reconnaissance aircraft for the U.S. Air force, Costing around 33 million dollars to build. It is a long-range, supersonic aircraft capable of flying over Mach 3.2.

The SR-71 Roll

Reconnaissance missions, gathering pictures from air without being spotted. The cameras on a blackbird could photograph a golf ball on a green from 80,000 feet, and could survey 110,000 square miles of the Earth's surface per hour This was very useful for obtaining vital information for the U.S. which is why it served for more than 35 years!

The SR-71 permanently retired in 1998, there are many apparent reasons, most would say its due to the capability's of modern satellites being able to do the same job, safely.

Some Interesting points about the 'Blackbird'

The SR-71 is the Fastest air-breathing jet in the world. The SR-71 flies in excess of 85,000 feet. The landing gear is the largest piece of titanium ever forged in the world.

The black paint has radar absorbing quality's and also fly's 75 degrees Fahrenheit lower than an unpainted aircraft.
None of the sr-71s were shot down by unfriendly forces.

The aircraft had 'chines' along the fuselage creating an unusual shape, this greatly reduced radar reflection and was found to create very powerful vortices creating extra lift near the front of the aircraft, leading to improvements in aerodynamic performance of the aircraft.