How Did the SR-71 Blackbird Get Made and How was It So Fast?

Explore the legendary Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the world's fastest military aircraft. Discover its groundbreaking design, thrilling history, and the incredible feats that made it an aviation icon.
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[@TodayIFoundOut]

This video brought to you in part by our Patrons over on Patreon. If you’d like to support our efforts here directly, and our continued efforts to improve our videos, as well as do more ultra in-depth long form videos that built in ads and even sponsors don’t always cover fully, check out our Patreon page and perks here: www.patreon.com/TodayIFoundOut And as ever, thanks for watching!

[@jimtom8273]

Is it like HBO?

[@Greezy42]

Him i

[@joneblaze82]

It flew so fast because my grandpa worked in it sir. Haha the J58/a the Powerplant that made it happen

[@tommiatkins3443]

I read Forty plus comments and none of them asked " oh shit! Isn't anyone doing anything about this!"

[@ajlukelepuke]

The SR-71 is the most incredible and beautiful aircraft ever conceived.

[@anselpeneloperainblossom-s3489]

You mean after the F-4 Phantom II?

[@ruubvanhulst]

Very incredible. For me personally it's top 2 with Concorde at top.

[@noth606]

The funniest aspect of it's story being that it's built out of titanium bought from the then USSR, "hush hush" via various shell company layers. That was during the cold war, there was no realistic alternative source for the metal ore in the quantities needed for the project, there is some here and there on the globe but none are in quantities and grades of purity sufficient to make more than a few prototypes out of realistically. I forget the numbers involved but there is info about this whole thing online. The USSR at the time had so much of it they even made titanium alloy military helmets heh, the 'Sphera' I think it was called.

[@73delgado]

Indeed. They have one at a little museum at the Richmond International airport and everytime we were there my parents would take me to see it. It was so cool.

[@joppadoni]

Agreed.. And done so bloody long ago. God damn engineers and Physicists.. And people think the pyramids were built by aliens.. LOL, It's Gorgeous.

[@nilus2k]

They have actually tried to change how the X-Jet looks several times but every time they go back the design based off the SR-71. It’s just such a cool looking plane

[@BobB-w4q]

Please remember that this technological miracle was developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s!!

[@suzannesnowden5405]

With slide rules!

[@BobB-w4q]

​@@suzannesnowden5405I remember those days!😂

[@CarloLeonKolega]

Imagine what today is in army use that we do not now about yet...

[@minkowski4d]

@@CarloLeonKolegajust think of all those idiots running around claiming they saw an UFO….

[@bobbysenterprises3220]

And yet it set many records on its "final" flight

[@elijahwilliams7791]

This plane is in the museum I work at. it's hung from cables in the gallery, and is veeeeery slowly sinking towards the exhibit hall

[@Ottophil]

Like how slowly

[@joshquivey6990]

That's... an interesting way to say something that sounds dangerously close to either the ceiling is sagging/ breaking, or that the cables are stretching/breaking o.o;;

[@Colby_0-3_IRL_and_title_fights]

Maybe they can put a fan in front of it to generate some lift

[@chrisshorten4406]

There's also one at the Hill Airforce Base Museum in Utah, though it's displayed on the ground. Such a cool aircraft.

[@John-g6x1h]

I bet that's the one I saw.

[@AdmiralLj]

Mark Holden - "It's a common misconception that the SR-71 was designed to leak fuel. That's a myth. 👇 In reality, Blackbird's engineers and ground crews were focused on one thing: keeping fuel where it belongs. Those infamous panel gaps (where the leaks occur) are sealed meticulously with a specific sealant to prevent fuel from escaping. When the jet was brand new out of the factory, it would not leak a drop. So, where does the myth come from? The sealant used to keep the fuel contained breaks down under the strain of repeated heat cycles, and over time, some fuel does escape. The maintenance crews who looked after the SR-71 would measure the number of drops of fuel per minute leaking from each panel gap. These discrepancies would be logged into the aircraft's maintenance manuals for each of the 32 tail SR-71 numbers produced. There's even an excerpt from the manual that states the maximum allowable fuel leak per zone (I'll pin the photo in the comments). They used this measurement to determine the intervals at which they would need to re-apply the sealant. The myth of the SR-71's fuel leaks might make a good tale, but the real story is in the diligence of its engineers and maintenance crews. Lesson: Perfection isn't achieved overnight; it's a process of continuous improvement and hard-earned lessons. Dissecting the SR-71's fuel system, we see a tale not of intentional flaws but of persistent engineering. It's a constant game of iteration, maintenance, and system optimization, even for a legend. "

[@joelb8653]

A truly excellent and informative. I spent 4 years at Beale AFB with those birds. God I love that plane.

[@josephsmith6777]

100%, the plane would heat up so much and expand so much it would shed the sealant Unrelated: fun fact the primary metal used in the plane was actually bought from its original target, russia, even though it wasn't actually used much over the ussr

[@firstnamelastname6216]

Right on, man!!! 👍✌️

[@edfleming9600]

Umm, you're wrong.

[@tomg2217]

​@millionsofrecordsernieb7587 The SR-71 didn't (at least officially confirmed/declassified) violate the airspace of the USSR, however it did (as per statements from pilots and crew). Regularly. A derivative of the SR-71 (the M-21) launched multiple drone units (D-21) over the USSR. It happened all the damn time, but of course it would never be announced publicly for obvious reasons. It does give a slight pause for thought though as the program was started in the 50s, flew from the 60s-90s and still has two NASA operated birds. What on Earth has taken its place? And no, not satellites or "aurora" blah blah blah. I love this aircraft and am always intrigued by any little detail I can find. Peace y'all.

[@anthonyhastings5961]

I'm 55 and the first scale model my father made for me when I was a kid was an SR71. It still gives me goosebumps. On my latest trip to USA I saw the SR71 in the museum in Washington next to Space Shuttle Discovery and on the flight deck of US Intrepid in New York next to Space Shuttle Endeavour. I've also seen one in the USAF museum in Dayton Ohio and the one that has the speed record at RAF Duxford near Cambridge. I love this plane. Thanks for a great video Simon.

[@davefellhoelter1343]

Think I built every military model from WWI to about 75 ish?

[@EL_Duderino68]

I'm 56, out of all the scale models I built this was my favourite. I wish I'd kept my models.

[@whatsamatou6915]

Hell yes

[@ohioplayer-bl9em]

I live close to the one in Dayton. It's absolutely beautiful.

[@davefellhoelter1343]

@@EL_Duderino68 58 I kept a few of my best. and "I Own" and used as a journeyman of multiple trades a titanium digging bar I watched about 13yr old the smith forge from cutting off the ingot and toss into the furnas next to the one I was working on, hammer out, quench, then into my hands. kinda sure it's SR titanium or from a nuc boat, maybe both, I think he like me and that I already had worked with pops for years at this age on weekends and holidays or shut downs.

[@victorialovatt976]

My dad used to take our family to air shows all over the UK when I was a kiddie, so we saw the Blackbird fly a number of times. Aside from the Vulcan, it was always the highlight for us. I first visited New York in 2002 and saw the Blackbird on the USS Intrepid, it was wonderful to see the plane again…only wish it could have been flying! ❤

[@mndlessdrwer]

I so wish I had been able to see pilots pulling trick maneuvers with a fucking bomber jet. Apparently the Vulcan is still considered one of the most maneuverable dedicated bomber aircraft ever made and there are a lot of military aviation enthusiasts who were incredibly disappointed when the planes were finally retired. Unfortunately, the RAF had a similar opinion, but the airframes were deemed too deteriorated from stresses and the cost to refurbish the aging planes could not be justified. As far as I know, a single airframe was restored and is kept as a demonstrator and flown at air shows in the UK. What a damn cool plane.

[@dontfeedthelunatic]

My father in law worked on the camera equipment for these babies. They are amazing all over

[@davidwilburn6314]

I spent 2 years on Kadena AFB as a senior airman during 1978/79 and saw regular Habu operations from our less-secretive "other side of the runway" amongst our HC-130P/N Air Rescue/Recon fleet. I still have 4 classy, ceramic SR-71 coffee mugs (red "3+") I bought from SR pilots/crew one day at the BX parking lot! I've never seen their likeness on sale via E-Bay, but imagine they would fetch a pretty fair price.

[@wtflolomg]

I was a Marine stationed on Okinawa '89-90, when the SR-71 "Habu" made its last flight from Kadena. I don't know if it was that flight I saw, but I recall seeing the SR-71 seemingly flying around the island while I was there, making 2 passes. My best friend from High School joined the Air Force, and he was told that the top speed was much higher than publicly stated; I'd believe that.

[@BooBaddyBig]

The SR-71 didn't have a speed limit, it's a temperature limit. In cold air it could go a bit faster.

[@danbaker7191]

No it couldn't. The inlets would unstart about Mach 3.4. That is life threatening. It happened a few times under pilots who didn't believe what they were told by the engineers.

[@DongusKong]

Can you explain what that means? I'm not smart

[@jaimeschmeling7800]

My dad was a marine there in the 80s so was his sister she was af they said they seen them land glowing red so I believe it I seen a video the guy said machine 4.5 was actual speed it could achieve could go faster but frame couldn't take it

[@joppadoni]

@@DongusKong I love this question, i also would love an answer x

[@cshubs]

My cousin helped design the U-2. His name was Dr. Edwin Land. He was most famous for inventing the Polaroid camera and leading that corporation. He also invented polarized sunglass, 3D glasses (for 3D movies) and hundred of other things. He belonged to my grandfathers' generation.

[@DeputatKaktus]

Funfact: The name „Skunk Works“ goes back to the first location of the division. It was inside an old circus tent which was located near a plastics factory. Said factory often emitted some pretty foul smells, which gave rise to people answering the phone like „Skunk Works, Johnson here“. The top brass at Lockheed didn’t like it, but the name stuck. Source: Ben Rich, „Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed“.

[@willfrankunsubscribed]

Both are right. The quote about it smelling like a skunk is what gave it the Skunk in its name, but the Skunk Works name itself is a play on the Skonk Works from Li'l Abner.

[@Chris-hx3om]

I read the book a LONG time ago. Still one of the best.

[@AV5Z4]

There was an Air Force Base in San Bernardino California where that used to hold an air show every few years. Back in the early 90s I saw the SR-71 there and you could get within twenty feet of it so I checked it out for about an hour. My girlfriend was getting tired of waiting or I would have looked much longer. We found some food and shade and while we were eating they fired up that beast and we watched it take off and make a few quick passes before roaring away over the mountains. Definitely worth the price of admission alone.

[@brucemitchell5637]

This iconic aircraft was designed WITHOUT the use of a single computer! Let that sink in for a minute....

[@slidey1788]

I let the sink in, and it l leaked in the corner. So I let it out again.

[@calvinnickel9995]

Why do people keep saying that. NACA and Lockheed had been using IBM 704 computers for a decade when this plane was designed. If they didn’t use any computers, they would still be designing it today.

[@ForgottenMyth]

@@calvinnickel9995 People don't realize just how far back computers go.

[@douglasyoung927]

​@@calvinnickel9995 this is only kind of true. They did have access to computers that could perform complex math, and I'm certain that they utilized them. However, they also did a lot of the math and design/redesign work for the SR 71 using slide rules and math tables. Remember that they literally had teams of people working on every individual component of the plane. Implying that it would take them 60 years to do the math without a computer is pretty ridiculous. Esp when you realize that the math was complex, but it was still just regular geometric, logarithmic, and algebraic math that was well understood for over 100 years at this point.

[@SoloRenegade]

@@calvinnickel9995 most of the work was done by hand, and computers back then didn't work like computers today. they were basically nothing more than fancy pocket calculators. And SR-71 engineers said they did most of it by hand.

[@negativeindustrial]

The starter carts used Buick Wildcat V8s. Chevy engines weren’t used until MUCH later after the world’s limited supply of the Buick engines had been practically wiped out.

[@calvinnickel9995]

Unlikely. They made 50 Blackbirds. They made THOUSANDS of Wildcats.

[@ajca2056]

@@calvinnickel9995 I prefer to believe Brian Shul, he has several presentations on youtube, very interesting man. buicks, then chevys

[@niteslayer11wjot71]

My local aviation museum (The Air Zoo in Portage Michigan) has the last SR-71B trainer model which was one of the 2 sent to NASA so it looks just like the video with NASA written on it. If you ever are passing through southern Michigan and love aviation then the Air Zoo is definitely for you. (Not sponsored by them btw just sharing my little bit of close to home links to content found across the Simon channels)

[@singemfrc]

Nice, we have the only A-12 trainer out here in Southern California. Sadly, it's outside baking in the sun next to the parking lot. There's another A-12 at Blackbird Park in palmdale (Right next to a D-21!) But they too are unfortunately sitting outside. Wish all the blackbirds would get brought inside.

[@AmerinadianGaming]

When that tornado ripped through Portage and hit that FedEx building right down the road from the Air Zoo I was praying that we didn't lose the Blackbird

[@niteslayer11wjot71]

@@AmerinadianGaming Right that was crazy close to them.

[@AmerinadianGaming]

@@niteslayer11wjot71 couple hundred yards

[@kevins1615]

I was wondering why you kept saying "rs-71" instead of "sr-71". Today I Found Out! 😂

[@LonewolfOfSD]

Easier to rename the plane that correct the President... excellent call, considering some of the stories I have heard about LBJ.

[@Chris-hx3om]

Have a read of a book called 'Skunkworks' by Ben Rich (early head of Lockheed Skunkworks division). That call to rename the aircraft caused a LOT of work! Every single engineering drawing and piece of paper that had RS-71 on it had to be recalled and re-issued with SR-71. It was a nightmare!

[@calvinnickel9995]

It was not a misspeak by LBJ. Curtiss Lemay wanted to change it and briefed the President, but the press releases still said RS-71.

[@tturi2]

​@@Chris-hx3om RS-71 is much more suited to a sportscar performance upgrade 😅

[@nwvfd22]

I've seen the A12 on display on the USS Intrepid in New York City. It's a beautifully terrifying plane to see. It's smaller than you think, and the sharp angular surfaces smoothly rounding up and over the cockpit really look like some alien beast made exclusively to haul all the ass in the universe. 10/10 you should see one as soon as possible.

[@ericg7044]

It's funny I drive past there on the way into the city all the time and admire the A12 from the car, but I never even thought about going to see it up close. Like it was just part of the city scenery and something to drool at from the west side highway. Then a couple of months ago I was driving by and all of a sudden was like 'wait a minute, why the hell don't I just visit the museum and see it!' So I did. It was awesome.

[@NRPBrute]

It was actually two Buick Wildcats, not big block Chevies, for most of the Blackbird's service.

[@5skov]

yessir buick

[@padawanmage71]

Would love to see a segment about a Blackbird's engine blowing up during a Baltic Express run in the 80s, and how the Swedish SA-37 Viggens intercepted and escorted it out of their airspace, but also protected it from Soviet fighters, several, i believe, had missile lock on the recon plane.

[@RayvenTheNight]

What? Did this actually happen? I've never heard this before and I'm already fascinated! Please explain more.

[@padawanmage71]

@@RayvenTheNight www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/12/30/finally-declassified-swedish-pilots-awarded-us-air-medals-for-saving-sr-71-spy-plane/

[@jerksundmark7776]

​@@RayvenTheNightm.kzbin.info/www/bejne/gWKsq6SHh9x8pas

[@calvinnickel9995]

Both the Soviets and the Swedes got regular missile locks on the SR-71 (the Swedes no less than 51 times!). This was to practice intercepts and in the Soviets case to shoot it down if it ever entered Soviet airspace (which it didn’t). When the engine failed the Soviets wanted to force it down into the USSR but they chose Sweden instead. It’s unlikely they would have fired even with the Swedes there.

[@kevinfoster1138]

Wow the group at Skunk Works were brilliant, such strange problem's encountered with strange solutions.

[@Redonepunch]

Yeah I was thinking the same while watching. They did it without the use of modern computers as well.

[@ericcousino2068]

I was stationed at Beale AFB from 1986 to 1990. I worked on T-38s that were used to give flying hours to the SR-71 pilots. I have seen several launches and flybys of the Blackbird. I even attended the engine test of one J-85. It was so loud my lungs vibrated! I have a picture me of sitting in the jet exhaust of an SR-71. And I attended the retirement ceremony in 1989. The plane was otherworldly! If anything this video underplays it.

[@thesummerthatwas76]

In 1985 at USAF base Mildenhall, Suffolk, UK, I was privileged to view the Blackbird on the ground from a distance of 20 metres when the base held an open day to the British public. And what a memorable experience it was. Simply glorious was that plane, and highly welcoming were the USAF staff in attendance. God bless America now and forever for its unwavering support for my country.

[@samuelgarrod8327]

I've seen it fly from there. Several times.

[@mrclingford]

You can stand near enough to touch it (I didn't) at Duxford now. I did yesterday. Was the reason why I went there!

[@steby123]

As a young man I built a plastic model of the SR-71; Thought it was super cool looking but I had NO IDEA what sort of airplane it was but it had to be crazy fast, that much I was sure of .

[@bozzy-101]

Not 20 years earlier, people were flying Mustangs and Spitfires in WW2. Talk about an insane development in technology!

[@natsune09]

One job I had in the US Army was with satellite communications. When they were launching a brand new series of models, they had people over at my duty station in California to test them out. One of the guys, I forget his name, was an older fellow and he worked on the SR-71. As he told it, they were doing things that were way ahead of what was being done at the time. He thought of himself as smart, but there was stuff being developed that he couldn't comprehend at the time. It really was a modern wonder of the civilized world.

[@towermoss]

We lived on Kadena AFB when they were flown out there. Grateful I got to see these things fly

[@RayvenTheNight]

The creation of this plane is just as amazing the plane itself. It was and always will be a master work of human engineering. Every single part of it's creation had to be completed thought up and invented just for it's production. There has never been anything like it and there never will be.

[@michaelhoolahan5717]

nevers a long time

[@BeardyBaldyBob]

Over half a century old and STILL looks more futuristic that just about anything else in the sky!

[@theworldsnewsplainview952]

The Black Bird is still a beloved piece of aviation history. Thank you Simon.

[@drewdonald6260]

So fast. So beautiful. So cool. So mind-boggling that this thing was built in the age of the Slide Rule!!

[@calvinnickel9995]

The age of the computer. NACA and Lockheed had electronic computers for nearly a decade when this thing was made. It’s like saying aircraft today are designed by an iPhone rather than supercomputers doing computational fluid dynamics. You can bet that engineers are doing quick checks and rough calculations on iPhones.. but that’s not how they design an entire plane.

[@mndlessdrwer]

The SR-71 still looks like an aircraft from the future even after all this time. I won't be so hyperbolic as to say it's the most beautiful aircraft ever made, because there are still more aircraft to come, but it's design will always be fascinating to admire.

[@459luker]

how many channels does this guy have? seriously... he's everywhere!

[@xainatus55683]

Alot. There's 4 explanations for how he does it: 1. He's just a really hard worker 2. Like 1 but he's being held at gunpoint 3. He's got a twin or triplet 4. He stole the forbidden scroll from the hidden leaf village and learned how to shadow clone. I vote 4 as most likely

[@kevinwilson9589]

I'm convinced he's working for some dark propaganda agency whose goal is to force everyone to adopt the metric system and Celsius temperature system. I wish the guy would include feet, miles, and fahrenheit in his descriptions so I could relate.

[@kh40yr]

Lest we forget, the single zeat A-12's, that flew extended missions in Vietnam. Just one guy, doing BOTH tasks.

[@EricCoop]

Actually, the early start carts used two Buick Wildcat engines. Later start carts used one Chevy 454 (or was it a 425?). By the late 1970s, they had compressed air systems to start the J58s.

[@Chris-hx3om]

GM never made a 425, maybe a 427?

[@eric_on_youtube]

@@Chris-hx3om GM Buick Division 425

[@jameswhitehead6758]

The hypergolic fuel used to light off JP7 was TEB (Triethylborane) @11:30

[@MatthijsvanDuin]

@@millionsofrecordsernieb7587 "reagent" is needlessly vague, the specific reaction is that it spontaneously combusts in air, i.e. it's a hypergolic fuel, being used as fire starter.

[@MatthijsvanDuin]

@@millionsofrecordsernieb7587 Pyrophoric is more accurate yes, meaning hypergolic with air. It's not a fuel additive since it's not added to the fuel, it's injected directly into the engine via a separate "ignition probe", if I understand correctly.

[@Keyh]

SR-71 is, by far, the sexiest aircraft I've ever seen and I've loved it since I was a child. The real thing is, if this masterpiece was retired, imagine what we have today.

[@andersjjensen]

We have satellites with 10cm resolution in true color and 1cm resolution in cloud penetrating synthetic aperture radar. As much as I love the sleek sexy menacing look of the flying Stingray the law of physics and technological progress has made the entire concept a dead end. Unless you go outside the atmosphere you simply can't do these speeds without being a gigantic lantern in the IR spectrum... And I bet current satellite coverage is 24/7 everywhere on earth.

[@coreymartin6363]

For reconnaissance, wouldn't it be satellites and unmanned aircraft?

[@sirenknight8007]

I tracked one of these while stationed in Gitmo (cuba) in the late 80s. It was so fast we could only catch it on our radar every other sweep, and that was only because it stayed in the area and wasn’t trying to avoid it. It could circle the island and be back home on the tarmac before they could scramble their MiGs. 😊 4:39 sorry I commented before watching the video. LoL thank you. To be fair, the radar was navy radar we had arrived to temporarily replace it while it underwent updates/repairs. (marines, this was classified stuff back then. ;) 7:42 oooh, random aside, I’ve also been to Bodo Norway while in the Marines. 😊

[@communicationdevice]

I loved hearing this thing gloriously break the sound barrier; it was interesting growing up where it was developed. There is an air museum right around the corner with a SR-71, one of the two Boeing SCAs, and a few other planes developed at Edwards/Skunkworks.

[@hardlyworgen71]

In one of the Star Wars Prequels, we see Padme Amidala exiting a craft that looks remarkably like a chrome SR-71 without tailfins.

[@Eclipse-lw4vf]

We can make stuff like this in the 50s-60s and yet people think going to the moon is fake. This is a plane that was basically built from the ground up with all new technologies and engineering

[@AlexanderHäggman]

Yea, combined with the V2-rockets witch was an important precursor for space rockets it’s amazing that people don’t believe in human engineering.

[@erniemiller1953]

I have had the good fortune of seeing both museumed SR71s.

[@iskierka8399]

There are 21 museumed SR-71s. Not counting a handful of A12s + YF12s.

[@jimmurphy6095]

I had the extreme pleasure of standing next to the one on the deck of the "Intrepid" in NYC. Amazing bird. Nice job, Simon.

[@GaryCrouch-q2i]

Simon is not a nice guy. He deleted all his videos where he demanded his subscribers should have to pay to watch him while youtube pays him on average 8k a video. He wants your internet provider to pay him a percentage. This guy is the worst of the worst. Not to mention, how many times has he milked this plane? Greed.

[@ateamfan42]

The plane on the Intrepid is an A-12, not an SR-71

[@ThePatrickBateman69]

glad you made this video i just went back and binged your previous blackbird videos and watched a ton of other KZbinrs who did content on it

[@janrabie1890]

I am a huge fan of the SR71 and this is one of the best videos I've ever seen on the topic.

[@rogerjohnson6676]

This is by far and away your best video I've yet to see.

[@patriciarivas5369]

Simon - you are one fast talker!! These planes were amazing!!

[@robertpearson8798]

I read a book about the SR-71 last year written by one of the later pilots. Among the more interesting things was the fact that on some missions the crew would often see multiple sunsets and sunrises in a single flight. While flying towards the sun the aircraft was outrunning the Earth’s rotation which made the sun rise in relation to the aircraft. To refuel the plane would decelerate to subsonic speed and descend in altitude to rendezvous with the tanker aircraft and the sun would set. After refuelling they would accelerate back to speed, climb to altitude and the sun would begin to rise again….in the West!

[@thelloyd87]

I love the SR-71. Most of this I already knew but one thing I didn’t know was how they acquired titanium. I love aviation in general and I’m learning to fly right now. I just have a small Cherokee but flying something like the SR-71 would be a dream.

[@joelb8653]

The crew patches say 3+ for a reason. Mach 3 was the unclassified max. They were capable of, and flew at, far higher speeds.

[@calvinnickel9995]

No. This is the typical American ambiguity “we will neither confirm nor deny” or “we could tell you but then we’d have to kill you” crap that impresses mouth breathers but not anyone who can do a bit of inductive reasoning. Of course you can hide anything you want under op sec but the huge intelligence failures of the US paint a very different picture to its actual capabilities. The speed display on the Nimitz carriers blanks out above 30 knots. Maybe _THEY_ go Mach 3 plus? Lol. According to the pilot handbook of the SR-71, the aircraft is limited to a speed of Mach 3.2 by a compressor inlet temperature of 427°C. It can go fast Mach.. but only in lower temperature air. The speed of sound is slower in lower temperature air.. so even if it’s going a faster Mach, the true airspeed isn’t any faster. The Mach is also limited by the inlet spikes. They can only keep the shockwave in the correct position up to Mach 3.3. Any faster than that you risk inlet unstart which is so violent that they can’t even practice for it-and one solution was to immediately unstart the other engine which in effect causes a train wreck.. but at least prevents the plane from entering a flat spin. Remember. After every Mach 3 flight this plane required a week of overhaul.. and only about 20% of its flight hours were spent above Mach 3. You can bet when they went out to set the world absolute speed record that they gave it absolutely everything it had. Anything more.. and you are doing massive damage to the engines and airframe and taking your life into your hands.

[@calvinnickel9995]

No

[@Gav_Jam]

Cool fact

[@stewartcaldwell5299]

I've been in aviation for over 60 years. One common principal is that even a brick can fly. If you give it enough power.

[@rixxroxxk1620]

The F-4 Phantom is a prime example! 😂

[@xainatus55683]

​@@rixxroxxk1620my instructor would agree

[@kevinburt44]

I remember seeing these beauties take off from RAF Mildenhall, stunning sight, incredible aircraft.

[@306cuber]

The engines used in the AG330 Start Carts were Buick 401 "Nail Heads" up until the mid 70's. The Start Carts were mechanically coupled to the P&W engines but lacked over-running clutches so if the ground crew failed to disconnect the couplings before the P&W's fully spooled up, the poor Buicks would be wound up to the point they would blow apart. The Big Block Chevys started to appear after replacement Buicks became hard to source. The design was never changed and the Chevys were blown up on a regular basis, too.

[@calvinnickel9995]

I wonder why they did this when they had air starters on similar sized engines and continued to use them on much larger ones (like the 100,000lbf GE90 engines on the 777).

[@hlhoover2427]

Hey I have watched a bunch of stuff on the SR-71 and your information was great! I learned a lot of things about the construction I never knew. Thank you

[@hammerdown3876]

gorgeous, beautiful plane, one of my all time favorites. When in flight she looks like shes ready to just leave the planet and explore space.

[@johnny5805]

Ohhhh. Simon's mortgage payment is due. Time to put out an SR-71 video ! 😀

[@mndlessdrwer]

He knows we'll all watch it. And he's damn right, too. That plane looks like a fucking spaceship from the future and it's cool as hell. Maybe I should get back into building model planes so I can hang one on the wall as a piece of art.

[@martinjrgensen8234]

@@mndlessdrwerit looks so far ahead of its time today, I can’t even fathom how it would be to see it way back when

[@samaraclark]

Funny thing is about the SR-71 Blackbird is I live in to in the city that it was originally based in. The citizens of Wichita Kansas knew what the plane looked like before we ever knew what its name was because it was based at McConnell Air Force Base. Also just want to say keep up the good work on your video Simon.

[@ateamfan42]

The SR-71 was based out of Beale AFB in California.

[@SpringOaksYT]

Thank you for creating this! Col. James Sullivan was my father-in-law....🐐❤ (Miss you, man!)

[@KyleCowden]

Living close to Carswell AFB (now the JRB Fort Worth at Carswell) one got used to B-52's as well as, shall we say "unusual" traffic. We did a lot of day to day in the area at the time and my wife came home one day excited at seeing an unusual aircraft. Her description included a "dropped nose like the Concorde". It was years later that I was "flying" my die cast SR-71 by her and she said, "Do that again." I did it once more and she said, "That's it!" She had seen the SR-71 fly on one of their flights to where it would stand down. I'm the aviation nut and I've only seen them static. Lucky girl.

[@srice8959]

I’ve always thought the SR-71 was the most beautiful jet ever made!!! It really looked like a spaceship too me! It’s more science fiction spaceship looking than anything Star Wars or Star Trek has ever looked

[@littleblackcat2273]

@21:06 "... and causing a violent deceleration that pilots liked to being caught in a train crash. This problem threatened to derail the entire project..." 😂 Well, I got the writer's pun, even if Simon didn't!

[@Gav_Jam]

Wow, these skunk work folk really were a different breed and this was all done in an era without a desktop computer. There were so many obstacles to getting the machine made but they successfully overcame every single one.

[@MichaelScheele]

@22:49, that's a X-15 @22:55, that's a XB-70 Valkyrie

[@FabledGentleman]

It's amazing what humans can achieve when someone enters the room and says "whatever it takes, no matter the cost". We would have had bases on the moon and Mars already if someone with a wallet had really wanted it.

[@sirenknight8007]

Also a valid, deadlines are sometimes less important than outcomes. Had they scrapped it because of failing to meet the timeline, it would have set us back a decade.

[@calvinnickel9995]

Nobody cares about peaceful exploration. Only military projects. It took NASA two decades to get the Hubble space telescope in orbit.. and it’s still using it a quarter century later. Meanwhile.. the National Reconnaissance Office has launched _NINETEEN_ physically and functionally similar KH-11 spy satellites.

[@kookamunga2458]

It's still the best looking jet , by far . It's screams speed without even moving.

[@iowa_don]

At Garrett Auxiliary Power Division in the 80's, I worked with a guy who worked on the SR-71. He never said exactly what he worked on for it but he had interesting SR-71 memorabilia on his desk.

[@BestSpatula]

And they did all of it with barely any computing power. I am in awe of the engineers from this era of our country's history.

[@Alan59-n9d]

Around 1980-81 I was in a Cycling International Race that passed either RAF Lakenheath or RAF Mildenhall England , and an SR71 was sitting on the apron next to a U2 , I tried not to be distracted ! ☺

[@ogoe_joeoutdoors1088]

One of the SR71s was sent to March Airforce base, and it was visible from the road. I'd see it every day on my commute until it was moved.

[@joshnorris6238]

The Kansas Cosmosphere has one of these bad mfs sitting in its lobby. You can walk all around it, even touch it. Very cool.

[@andersjjensen]

They are very very big....

[@bobbybobman3073]

If you ever get the chance to see one of these things in the flesh, I totally recommend you take it. I genuinely accidentally found one of these at a museum one day and it was damn near a religious experience. I am not kidding, the awe induced had me standing there in silence for nearly 20 min just reading about it and walking along it examining its breath taking geometry and thinking of all the wild stories it would have told if it could talk. And I thought I already knew most of what was publicly available about the plane. And then I found out just how wrong I was. I certianly didn't expect to find the jet there and as a result I was about an hour longer there than intended.

[@jamesyoungquist6923]

The Boeing museum of flight in Seattle has one you can go up and touch. They also have a trainer cockpit you can sit in

[@chthulu27]

I absolutely love the Black Bird. It's so iconic and sexy. Just the sheer power of It's engines is inspiring.

[@matsuringo24]

Never ceases to amaze me the things we used to make with far less technology than we have today. We went to the moon with slide rulers and woven computers weaker than a calculator. We have it all now and no one wants to do anything with it 😒

[@calvinnickel9995]

The problem is cost. Do you want to go back to when minimum wage was $2.50 an hour?

[@SoloRenegade]

@@calvinnickel9995 yes, the cost of living, cars and houses were proportionally FAR cheaper back then relative to wages. Colleges were merit based and high quality. Everything was built to last and to be fixed. things were simpler and more reliable. Families and communities were strong. Life was objectively better back then on many measurable metrics.

[@Dxyzxyz]

The space program used many large, medium, and small computers to get to the moon and back.

[@SoloRenegade]

@@Dxyzxyz all small in computing power. variations in physical size.

[@Dxyzxyz]

​@@SoloRenegadeComputing power has scaled up enormously. And we waste most of it.

[@AnthonyMcqueen1987]

The 1960s a era of massive technological advancements the SR71 was just an insane aircraft and nothing since then has come close.

[@Djuuugarn]

A Swedish fighter jet successfully managed lock on to the SR71 (not with any intention to fire at it) and were awarded medals for this. Sweden also saved a a damaged SR71 from falling into Sovjet hands by guiding it south over the baltic ocean towards the allies.

[@calvinnickel9995]

Not just “a” Swedish fighter jet. There were at least 51 successful interceptions of the SR-71 by the Swedish Air Force. When you have a plane that wakes up everyone within ten miles of Mildenhall, still needs to tank up with fuel, has to thread the needle between sovereign airspace in rhe Baltic Sea, and has a turning radius of _81 MILES!_ …. it’s pretty easy to guess where it will be and place your aircraft in its path. A properly timed zoom climb completes the mission and if need be the missile could make up the rest of the distance and altitude.

[@joelzimmerman2462]

Saw the YF-12 at Wright-Patterson USAF museum in the summer of 1987. I only knew it as a precursor to the SR-71, but didn’t know its history. Great Video. The ex-“Sled/HABU” drivers I was flying with at that time, would only admit to the published speeds and altitudes that were released to the media. They would just grin like was more…

[@ianmorris7485]

Still the most amazing jet powered aircraft ever built.

[@psikeyhackr6914]

There can never be enough videos about the Blackbird. They just should have painted one with red wings at the leading edge near the fuselage.

[@skyden24195]

I've seen the SR-71 Blackbird in flight during an airshow at Travis AFB, CA during the mid 1980s. The March Field Air Museum in California, (less than 5 miles from where I live now,) has a Blackbird as part of its collection. Also, an SR-71 was featured as a means of escape for the title character of the 1985 film, "D.A.R.Y.L.," during the film's climatic conclusion.

[@AlexanderHäggman]

It’s nice to know that Swedish airforce helped escorting a damaged blackbird and that the USAF presented the pilots involved with medals. JAS-37 Viggen is not a perfect aircraft but Swedish engineering combined with Swedish ingenuity is not to be underestimated. We are a small country but very capable of doing the best given the circumstances. We have good engineers and tacticians

[@belterglj]

In AF training i saw an image of the Atlantic record flight plan. it showed a big circle in the middle of the ocean. or maybe the flight plan was on tv show "Wings".

[@davidtatro7457]

Awesome video. My favorite part is what happened in the hanger at Edwards Air Force Base.

[@globalmotortradersyt5514]

This episode is seriously cool

[@centariprime9959]

The B2 was Northrop Grumman, not Boeing.

[@kenspalding9775]

The original engine starting carts used Buick nailhead engines, they were replaced by the big block Chevys after 1966, the last year of nailhead production.

[@donfisherjr.2404]

Still an amazing airplane. Beautiful, ultra fast, and wickedly advanced technology for the time.

[@timpierce6708]

Love the Dragon Lady and the 9th Support Wing

[@charlesachurch7265]

Thanks xxx I feel satisfyingly informed.

[@AndrewC.McPherson-xf5zw]

Haha was waiting until you did show on this. Not surprised. ❤

[@sbsstorytelling]

Great video, with lots of great info!

[@CaptainCraigKWMRZ]

Just seeing one of these in a museum is on my bucket list. I think there is one on display around Nashville?

[@anml1969]

Fun fact: upon commissioning into actual service, each SR-71 was given a name written in pencil on the underside of one of the chines. The graphite from the pencil was not eroded by heat or wind, which ink or paint would have been; and it did not compromise the stealth characteristics in any way. The names given to the planes were all names of famous photographers in honour of the purpose of the missions they flew. The SR-71 that was on USS Intrepid was called Daguerre. The one at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum was called Mapplethorpe. The pencilled names can be clearly seen to this day.

[@gr8crash]

The one on the Intrepid isn't an SR71, but the only A12B. Never heard that pencil story, going to ask about that.

[@Rotellian]

Love the footage of the Valkyrie and the X-15 creeping in there...... 😎

[@JosiahGould]

Literally saw two of these last week on the Florida and Alabama Gulf coasts. The X-Men were TINY to fit in there.

[@matthewmandregan1467]

Tell me you’ve never watched transformers without telling me you’ve never watched transformers.

[@Octopusmaster]

One is at Dullus Air museum. Its smaller than I ever expected

[@mattgraff2563]

Lived in Yuba City near Beale AFB for a couple of decades. The blackbirds would come in at night. We never saw them, we only heard them. You could see the satellites passing over Beale though, especially near dawn.

[@jtremblay100]

Considering how old the technology is now. How much more advanced is the new stuff we don’t know about?

[@taspats8701]

Because you dont have to know...

[@calvinnickel9995]

@taspats8701 Because it doesn’t exist. The need for a super fast manned spy plane is similar to the need for a fully automatic ball musket. It would be impressive, but useless.

[@taspats8701]

@@calvinnickel9995 sure,because you are an expert in such a technologies?

[@jtremblay100]

@@taspats8701 exactly. I didn’t say anything about manned or unmanned. I believe now more than ever the need for that capability is more important than ever.

[@BigCarKilla]

How Simon pumps out so many vids for so many channel’s, has to be some world record…