Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird

by Paul F. Crickmore, Adam Tooby (Illustrator)

Overview

The SR-71 has come to represent the very pinnacle of Cold War aircraft design - indeed, it has become an icon. Together with its predecessor, the A-12, the Blackbird was a giant leap into the technical unknown as the design employed many forms of new technology made necessary by the excesses of speed, altitude and temperature to which the aircraft was subjected. Throughout its 34-year Air Force career, the SR-71 proved itself to be the world's fastest and highest flying operational manned aircraft. It set a number of world records for altitude and speed, including an absolute altitude record of 85,069ft on 28 July 1974, and an absolute speed record of 2,193.2mph the same day. This truly was a unique and ground-breaking aircraft, whose fascinating design history is explored here in full and illuminated with photographs and detailed technical illustrations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472804921
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	06/23/2015
Series:	Air Vanguard , #20
Pages:	64
Sales rank:	870,877
Product dimensions:	7.25(w) x 9.70(h) x 0.15(d)

About the Author

Paul F. Crickmore is the author both of the first detailed book to be published on the SR-71 Blackbird, and of the standard reference work on the subject - the much-acclaimed Lockheed SR-71: The Secret Missions Exposed. He is an honorary member of several A-12 and SR-71 veterans' associations. Paul is also the author of the first detailed book about the F-117, written in partnership with his wife Alison and published in 1999. The author lives in Woodbridge, UK.