Here lives the "Bat out of Hell!"
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The SR-71 Blackbird:
General characteristics
* Crew: 2
* Payload: 3,500 lb (1,600 kg) of sensors
* Length: 107 ft 5 in (32.74 m)
* Wingspan: 55 ft 7 in (16.94 m)
* Height: 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
* Wing area: 1,800 ft2 (170 m2)
* Empty weight: 67,500 lb (30 600 kg)
* Loaded weight: 170,000 lb (77 000 kg)
* Max takeoff weight: 172,000 lb (78 000 kg)
* Powerplant: 2× Pratt & Whitney J58-1 continuous-bleed afterburning turbojets, 32,500 lbf (145 kN) each
* Wheel track: 16 ft 8 in (5.08 m)
* Wheel base: 37 ft 10 in (11.53 m)
* Aspect ratio: 1.7
Performance
* Maximum speed: Mach 3.2+ (2,200+ mph, 3530+ km/h) at 80,000 ft (24,000 m)
* Range:
o Combat: 2,900 nmi (5400 km)
o Ferry: 3,200 nmi (5,925 km)
* Service ceiling 85,000 ft (25,900m, 16 mi)
* Rate of climb: 11,810 ft/min (60 m/s)
* Wing loading: 94 lb/ft2 (460 kg/m2)
* Thrust/weight: 0.382
Stealth:
There were a number of features in the SR-71 that were designed to reduce its radar signature. The first studies in radar stealth technology seemed to indicate that a shape with flattened, tapering sides would reflect most radar away from the place where the radar beams originated. To this end, the radar engineers suggested adding chines to the design and canting the vertical control surfaces inward. The plane also used special radar-absorbing materials which were incorporated into sawtooth shaped sections of the skin of the aircraft, as well as cesium-based fuel additives to reduce the exhaust plumes' visibility on radar.
The overall effectiveness of these designs is still debated; Ben Rich's team could show that the radar return was, in fact, reduced, but Kelly Johnson later conceded that Russian radar technology was advancing faster than the "anti-radar" technology Lockheed was using to counter it. The SR-71 made its debut years before Pyotr Ya. Ufimtsev's ground-breaking research made possible today's stealth technologies, and, despite Lockheed's best efforts, the SR-71 was still easy to track by radar and had a huge infrared signature when cruising at Mach 3.2 or more. It was visible on air traffic control radar for hundreds of miles, even when not using its transponder. SR-71s were evidently detected by radar, as missiles were often fired at them. The flight characteristics of the SR-71 made it almost invulnerable during its service life; not one was shot down, despite over 4,000 attempts to do so.
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