At the Edwards AFB Open House Airshow on October 9, 1999, an SR-71 Blackbird made its final flight
The brief video in this post, which was recorded on Saturday, October 9, 1999, at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB), shows the final flight of an SR-71 Blackbird.
The flight took place at the Edwards AFB Open House Airshow. After taking off, the SR-71 climbed to an altitude of 80,100 feet and reached a speed of Mach 3.2, or 2,430 mph.
She emptied a trail of fuel in anticipation of the sonic boom so the crowd would see her. Before landing for the final time in her history, the Habu flew three flypasts over Edwards. She did not fly again after October 9, 1999.
The Mach 3 SR-71A Blackbird spy aircraft from Lockheed ruled the skies for a quarter of a century. More people than have flown what continues to be the world’s fastest, highest-flying jet, according to SR-71 pilot and author Brian Shul more people have stood atop Mt. Everest than have flown what remains the world’s fastest, highest-flying jet. A total of 32 aircraft were built.
Foreign agents treasured the SR-71’s revolutionary technology so highly that Lockheed was given the government’s order to destroy all of the tools used to design and construct the Blackbird in 1968. Airman Magazine claims that the SR-71 was also the first stealth aircraft ever built.
The airplane had to adopt a distinctive shape in order to become almost undetected. The wings were integrated into the body, and the forward fuselage had long, blade-like features called chines that helped deflect incoming radar waves.
The Blackbird’s radar cross-section was additionally reduced by the twin fins over the engines that were slanted inward and the pointed engine cones. The bottom fuselage of the 107-foot SR-71 was practically flat, giving it a sleek, futuristic spear shape.
Radar-absorbing paint made of ferrite (iron) was used to coat the SR-71. Due to 600-degree exterior temperatures brought on by friction during flight, the paint helped to prevent the aircraft from being targeted and made it even more difficult to target. The spy plane’s official Air Force name, Blackbird, was also given to it by the black paint.
Photo by NASA