SPY PLANES: SR-71 Blackbird And U-2 Dragonlady | Skunk Works Masterpiece Aircraft

A dive into the SR-71 Blackbird and the U-2 Dragonlady spy planes made by Skunk Works / Kelly Johnson / Lockheed.
The U-2 Dragonlady is an American single-engine, high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated from the 1950s by the United States Air Force (USAF) or the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides day and night, high-altitude (70,000 feet, 21,300 meters), and all-weather intelligence gathering.
Lockheed Corporation originally proposed it in 1953, approved it in 1954, and its first test flight was in 1955. It was flown during the Cold War over the Soviet Union, China, Vietnam, and Cuba. In 1960, Gary Powers was shot down in a CIA U-2C over the Soviet Union by a surface-to-air missile (SAM). Major Rudolf Anderson Jr. was shot down in a U-2 during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

U-2 Dragonlady General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Capacity: 5,000 lb (2,300 kg) payload
Length: 63 ft 0 in (19.20 m)
Wingspan: 103 ft (31 m)
Height: 16 ft 0 in (4.88 m)
Wing area: 1,000 sq ft (93 m2)
Airfoil: root: NACA 63A409; tip: NACA 63A406
Empty weight: 16,000 lb (7,257 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 40,000 lb (18,144 kg)
Fuel capacity: 2,950 US gal (2,460 imp gal; 11,200 l)
Powerplant: 1 × General Electric F118-101 turbofan engine, 17,000 lbf (76 kN) thrust
Performance
Cruise speed: Mach 0.715 (412 kn; 470 mph; 760 km/h) at 72,000 ft (22,000 m)
Cruise speed: 413 kn (475 mph, 765 km/h) at 65,000 ft (20,000 m)
Stall speed: 65 kn (75 mph, 120 km/h)
Range: 6,090 nmi (7,010 mi, 11,280 km) plus
Endurance: 12 hours
Service ceiling: 80,000 ft (24,000 m) plus
Rate of climb: 9,000 ft/min (46 m/s)
Time to altitude: 60,000 ft (18,000 m) in 12 minutes 30 seconds
Lift-to-drag: 25.6
Wing loading: 40 lb/sq ft (200 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.425
Fuel consumption: 910 lb/h (410 kg/h) in cruise

The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a long-range, high-altitude, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. It was operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and NASA.
The SR-71 was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft during the 1960s by Lockheed's Skunk Works division. American aerospace engineer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many of the aircraft's innovative concepts. The shape of the SR-71 was based on that of the A-12, which was one of the first aircraft to be designed with a reduced radar cross-section. Initially, a bomber variant of the A-12 was requested by Curtis LeMay, before the program was focused solely on reconnaissance. Mission equipment for the reconnaissance role included signals intelligence sensors, side-looking airborne radar, and a camera; the SR-71 was both longer and heavier than the A-12, allowing it to hold more fuel as well as a two-seat cockpit. The SR-71 entered service in January 1966.

SR-71 Specifications
Orthographically projected diagram of the SR-71A Blackbird
Orthographically projected diagram of the SR-71B trainer model
SR-71 epoxy asbestos composite areas
Data from Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
General characteristics
Crew: 2; Pilot and reconnaissance systems officer (RSO)
Length: 107 ft 5 in (32.74 m)
Wingspan: 55 ft 7 in (16.94 m)
Height: 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
Wheel track: 16 ft 8 in (5 m)
Wheelbase: 37 ft 10 in (12 m)
Wing area: 1,800 sq ft (170 m2)
Aspect ratio: 1.7
Empty weight: 67,500 lb (30,617 kg)
Gross weight: 152,000 lb (68,946 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 172,000 lb (78,018 kg)
Fuel capacity: 12,219.2 US gal (10,174.6 imp gal; 46,255 l) in 6 tank groups (9 tanks)
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney J58 (JT11D-20J or JT11D-20K) afterburning turbojets, 25,000 lbf (110 kN) thrust each
JT11D-20J 32,500 lbf (144.57 kN) wet (fixed inlet guide vanes)
JT11D-20K 34,000 lbf (151.24 kN) wet (2-position inlet guide vanes)
Performance

Maximum speed: 1,910 kn (2,200 mph, 3,540 km/h) at 80,000 ft (24,000 m)
Maximum speed: Mach 3.3
Ferry range: 2,824 nmi (3,250 mi, 5,230 km)
Service ceiling: 85,000 ft (26,000 m)
Rate of climb: 11,820 ft/min (60.0 m/s)
Wing loading: 84 lb/sq ft (410 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.44
Avionics
3,500 lb (1,588 kg) of mission equipment

#u2 #sr71 #skunkworks

[ohasis]

Seeing the black sky and the thin blue line of the atmosphere would certainly hammer home the idea that we really are living between a rock and a hard place.
Thank you Mr Sinise.

[colbullsigh]

Gary Sinise is the Bob Hope of the 21st Century! God bless him!

[kuuv]

Wow! Mr. Sinise nailed it in his description of what it's like to see a shuttle launch up close. You feel like someone is pushing on your chest. It is an experience you will never forget!

[gumpycognac]

Awesome video ! Never seen the stories of 2 planes tied together so well! Awesome video! Every high school student should see this in history class

[digilux]

Wow that Gary Sinise part was epic - thanks!

[christophermarshall]

Gary Sinise, you are a true humanitarian. Your looking out for the veterans is awesome. We need more of this here in Australia. So many idolise our footy platers in the AFL, which has gripped the country like a disease. The way our media carry on about it has now become beyond a joke. We have 2 days a year to honour our veterans. The real problem is when one of our veterans passes away, the media raises barely a "squeak" about it, yet when one of our AFL players is hurt, gets sick, gets married, gets divorced, retires, changes teams, runs foul of the law, has children with their partner, or dies, the media go on about it for days, sometimes weeks, & months. It is ridiculous. You, on the other hand, deserve the recognition because of what you are doing.

[jdmmike]

39:52 What an amazing photo. I would love to have this framed and put it up in the shop. Thanks for this Drone, a great addition to your awesome collection of content 🤙

[josephdonais]

Awesome vid! Gary Sinise is the icing on the cake. His narrations are right up there with the best of them.

[poggiedoggie]

your videos are genuinely amazing. I love aviation and these videos teach me so many things. keep up the good work man! :) <3

[whracing]

Love the fact Gary Sinise is a part of this video. Enjoyed every minute of this start to finish. But then am fascinated by military aircraft. Love watching videos and documentary’s on them. Love anything about Lockheed Martin(skunk works) McDonald Douglas and Northrop Grumman projects

[tools]

Amazing piece of history, thanks for sharing your trip! I’ll always remember the trip!

[chrisodillman]

I really appreciate you folks on the oposit side of the atlantic ocean. God bless you.

[PaulDreamer]

can never go wrong with a historical video to listen to go sleep with

[scarecrowproductions]

3:21
*"Reconnaissance flies alone, unarmed, unafraid, and unheralded."*

Truer words to ever describe the Reconnaissance Pilots who fly both the U2 and the SR-71.

[drupiROM]

This is great, hope your videos gain more traction and viewers.

[tomholley]

God bless you Gary you are definitely lived and thank you

[christophermarshall]

Pulse combustion engines are also known as intermittent duct engines. Between the pulses, the fuel is fed to the engine, then ignited, & the fuel cut off, thus giving the puffy vapour trail. Germany used such engines in there "doodlebugs", or "buzz bombs" during WW2. During this time, the Bristol Beaufighter, a twin engined plane was sent up to try intercepting them. Instead of shooting them down, the pilots adopted a technique where they would flip the buzz bomb over, by using one wing of the plane under a wing of a buzz bomb, then lifting the plane's wing with the aileron.

[failuretocommunicate]

Every one of these guys is somewhere in that book that Tom Wolfe wrote.

[photograph]

They allow take your cellphone to capture either Sunrise or set?

[Jdowling]

Imagine being in that suit and needing to scratch your nose at 90k feet