Why not follow the Hustler with another record-breaking air cutter? Here's a walk around the SR-71, the fastest manned air-breathing plane (about 2,200 mph) also holds the record for sustained altitude in horizontal flight (about 85,000 feet), both records set in 1976. This one is the second built and the oldest in existence. It was also the only aircraft in the Blackbird family to be designated YF-12C. Why? NASA was testing the effects of flight at speeds and altitudes only the Blackbird could

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.

The #Lockheed #SR_71 was an advanced, long-range, #Mach_3 strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Lockheed A-12 and YF-12A aircraft by the Lockheed Skunk Works. The SR-71 was unofficially named the #Blackbird, and called the Habu by its crews. Clarence "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many of the design's innovative concepts. A defensive feature of the aircraft was its high speed and operating altitude, whereby, if a surface-to-air #missile launch were detected, standard #evasive