How many sr71s were made

The introduction of ICBMs into Cold War nuclear posturing meant that the most looming nuclear threat was no longer long range bombers, it was missiles. As a result, the YF program was cancelled before the first production FB could roll off of the assembly line.

In January of , the fastest intercept fighter in the world was canceled before it ever found a fight. A total of just three YFs were produced for testing. One was lost on June 24, when both pilots ejected due to an in-flight fire. The YF name would be used once again, however, when the U. In order to maintain secrecy around the SR program, it was re-designated as a YFC with a fictional serial number.

Alex Hollings is a writer, dad, and Marine veteran who specializes in foreign policy and defense technology analysis. Follow Alex Hollings: Facebook Twitter. Skip to primary navigation Skip to main content Skip to primary sidebar Skip to footer Search this website. USAF Photo. Edwin Land knew a ton about photography. Without them, too much or too little air rushing into the intake airflow properties change at hypersonic speeds can cause a near instantaneous and absolutely catastrophic loss of control.

Testing in the desert north of all those Las Vegas wedding chapels makes a lot of sense now, huh? The A shown is its extremely similar predecessor that also flew more than three times the speed of sound. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was operated by the CIA. It never reached full-on production, but the YF evolved from the A and ultimately led to the SR After setting several speed records, the prototypes saw fruitful careers helping NASA with research. LBJ made a public announcement that a 2, mph plane was in the works in February of -- fully 10 months before even the first test flight.

Why go public with an untested, top secret spy plane? Presidential election rival Barry Goldwater had claimed the Soviets were getting a technological lead. He controversially called it the SR, which obviously stuck, instead of the RS Regardless, it forced designers to change the name on 33, different drawings… by hand.

This is that plane, on that day, taking off on that flight. Stop for a moment and think about the significance of this photograph. The evasive maneuver used by most pilots? Not a single one was ever shot down. Once an object in the atmosphere approaches Ludicrous Speed , friction from the flow of air causes a lot of heat buildup.

As it happens, black paint helps dissipate that heat better than other colors -- 86 degrees better on the Blackbird -- so over 60 pounds of paint were applied to keep those temperatures from causing catastrophic failures.

Engineers adapted it from the Gemini missions, and it would later be adapted further into the space suits you know today. It had its own oxygen pressurization to prevent suffocation, and because if the crew had to eject at 2, mph, degree temperatures would quickly ensue, the cabin was air conditioned to just above freezing.

Thanks to the supremely high operating temperatures, and due to the way materials expand with heat, the body panels were engineered to fit very loosely when cold. On the ground, they leaked so badly that crews would fill the plane immediately before takeoff, and while the plane warmed up, it had to meet with a refueling rig after only seven minutes in the air.

Those engines burned upwards of 44, pounds of fuel each hour , making refueling every 90 minutes a necessity. Although the Skunk works detested paperwork, the use of titanium on such a scale required that everything be recorded about each batch of material, from the mill pour right down to the direction of the grain of the metal in the sheet from which the part was made.

The original J58 produced 26, pounds of thrust using an afterburner, and was theoretically capable of propelling an attack plane at Mach 3 for a few seconds on a bomb run. By the time it had gone through the almost total revision required for incorporation in the Blackbird, the J58 was putting out 32, pounds of thrust. The analogy most preferred by Lockheed engineers was that the engines produced as much thrust as the four huge turbines of the Queen Mary ocean liner.

The Blackbird required afterburners that were required to operate for extended periods, gulping 8, gallons of fuel per hour at speeds over Mach 3 on a continuous basis at altitudes up to , feet. The extraordinary performance required of the J58 necessitated so many extensive changes to the basic engine that it was not ready on schedule. The revision of the J58 involved the creation of what became known as a bleed bypass engine.

The bleed bypass design, while complicated in both mechanical and electronic terms, avoided a number of major problems encountered at high Mach cruising speeds, including induced compressor stall, stress to the compressor blades as a result of the stall, unacceptably high temperatures, reduced thrust, and increased fuel consumption. The overall security requirements for the A were so great that it was considered impossible to conduct flight operations out of Edwards AFB, California, where most Air Force experimental flight tests were conducted.

Ten bases that had been slated for closing were considered as alternates, but none proved to be acceptable. Some of the basing requirements were almost contradictory. The base had to be secure and well away from civil and military airways. Yet it had to be easily accessible by air. Good weather year round was an imperative, as was an 8,foot runway.

The base had to accommodate large numbers of personnel and have fuel facilities both for the Blackbird and for the conventional aircraft to support it. The solution was to return to the secret Nevada base built for testing the U-2 and upgrade it to accommodate the new aircraft. Almost simultaneously, a program began for selecting personnel required to support and operate the As. Pilot selection was rigorous. Candidates had to be between twenty-five and forty years of age, less than six feet tall, and less than pounds.

They had to be married, emotionally stable, and extremely well motivated. They had to have recent experience in high-performance aircraft and be experts in aerial refueling. Equally high standards were set for all other personnel, from the commanding officer to the ground crewmen.

While all the multitudinous related tasks were being dealt with, production difficulties continued to frustrate Johnson, his Skunk Works team, and more importantly, the Air Force and the CIA. I trust this is the last of such disappointments short of a severe earthquake in Burbank. Such caustic comments from the usually unflappable Bissell indicated how important the A was in CIA planning. The contemporary Soviet policy of expansion by encouraging revolutions in countries around the world had to be monitored and contained, and the A was essential to that process.

This was time-consuming and expensive in a program in which costs were already soaring, but it was a sensible fallback position. The prototype A was disassembled and moved by road to its test site in a caravan of trucks and a special trailer, arriving on 28 February There it was assembled, only to give immediate disappointment; the fuel-tank sealant had failed to adhere to the titanium, and the aircraft poured fuel on the ground. Repairs took more than a month. It was not until 25 April that test pilot Lou Schalk was to undertake high-speed taxi rests, with a planned momentary liftoff followed by an immediate landing on the runway.

The taxi tests went off well. But as soon as Schalk lifted off, the aircraft wallowed erratically, oscillating laterally, longitudinally, and directionally. The low hop had reached no more than twenty feet in the air and touched down in little over a mile. The trouble turned out to be an improper fuel loading, which put the center of gravity too far aft. On subsequent flight tests, the airplane flew very well. This incredible lapse in oversight was the sort of inexplicable error that drives engineers and pilots crazy, but nevertheless lurks like a great white shark around every program.

Eight days later, Schalk took the A supersonic for the first time. The next five As arrived by December , and the tests were accelerated.

These aircraft were all equipped with the J75 engines, including the fourth aircraft, a two-seater intended for training and nicknamed Titanium Goose. While other aircraft were subsequently retrofitted with J58 engines, the Goose retained the J75s throughout its service.

The fighter version featured an advanced Hughes radar system, a full complement of missiles, and a fire-control system. Three YFs would be built. It is not surprising that with such a radically advanced aircraft, the testing process was fraught with incidents. Of the fifteen As and three YFs that were built, five As and two YFs were lost in accidents, a daunting thirty-nine percent loss rate.

Two test pilots were killed. That Johnson was able to prevail was a tribute not only to him, but also to his superiors, Hall Hibbard, Dan Haughton, and Robert and Courtlandt Gross. They recognized the great financial risk involved, but they allowed him to proceed, confident in his ability to ultimately deliver the aircraft that the country needed, and willing to risk huge sums to back that confidence. On 27 October , Maj. Mach 3 had been reached by July , and the design speed of Mach 3.

The existence of the aircraft was publically revealed for the first time on 29 February Less than five months later, President Johnson would make an announcement concerning the next version of the Blackbird, which was at the time designated RS reconnaissance-strike by the Air Force.

In his talk, he referred to it as the SR The Air Force had chaffed at having to relinquish its traditional strategic reconnaissance role to the CIA in the A program. It had not stinted on its assistance to the CIA, and had supported the Oxcart program fully.

But the fact remained that the Air Force wished to have strategic reconnaissance within the province of the Strategic Air Command. Lockheed was eager to respond. On 18 February, the Air Force authorized Lockheed to proceed to build six aircraft, with a contract for twenty-five more to follow.

The program received the code name Senior Crown. Other major related programs, such as Senior Bowl, involved the design, construction, and test of thirty-eight D drone vehicles for unmanned strategic reconnaissance. The drone was intended to overfly territory that was too dangerous or too sensitive for overflight by the piloted As.

Tests proved the air-launch process to be too hazardous. On 20 July , off Point Mugu, California, a D hit its launching aircraft immediately after its release at Mach 3. As might be expected, the modified A called an M broke up.

Both M crew members ejected, the launch control officer, Ray Torick, drowned when his pressure suit filled with water. Johnson immediately decided that the launch technique was too hazardous to continue and recommended that it be stopped.

The D was subsequently modified for launch by two specially equipped BH bombers. At least four operational missions were flown; none was successful.

In the midst of these myriad efforts, Johnson was solving problems ranging from selecting engineers to getting SR ready for flight.