SR-71 Altitude 125,000 ft.

[Scarlet_Nape]

Anyone know how fast those things go?

I got curious about the speed too and found this on Wikipedia:

The SR-71 remained the world's fastest and highest-flying operational manned aircraft throughout its career. From an altitude of 80,000 ft (24 km) it could survey 100,000 square miles per hour (72 square kilometers per second) of the Earth's surface. On July 28, 1976, an SR-71 broke the world record for its class: an absolute speed record of 2,193.1669 mph (3,529.56 km/h), and a US "absolute altitude record" of 85,068.997 feet (25,929 m). Several planes exceeded this altitude in zoom climbs but not in sustained flight. When the SR-71 was retired in 1990, one was flown from its birthplace at United States Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California to go on exhibit at what is now the Smithsonian Institution's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (an annex of the National Air & Space Museum) in Chantilly, Virginia, setting a coast-to-coast speed record at an average 2,124 mph (3,418 km/h). The entire trip took 64 minutes.[5] The SR-71 also holds the record for flying from New York to London: 1 hour 54 minutes and 56.4 seconds, set on September 1, 1974. This is only Mach 2.68, well below the declassified figure of 3.0+.[6] (For comparison, commercial Concorde flights took around 3 hours 20 minutes, and the Boeing 747 averages 6 hours.)

It should be noted that any discussion of the SR-71's records and performance is limited to declassified information. Actual performance figures will remain the subject of speculation until additional information is released.

We may not the actual top speeds for a while.

 

[bushpilot]

I remember the LAX to IAD flight...I went out to dulles (when you could
stand on the observation platform near the taxi ways)...

and fwiw on that "run" they got a running start...they actually flew WEST
of the west coast, turned around & "throttled up"

 

[XTrmXJ]

Another know fact was that the Aircraft was retired twice in its life span.. It was brought back into service in the 90's for the gulf war..

Nother fact.. Its was developed back in the 40s on paper with the stealth tech.. Hell even the old 70's fighters I crew have stuff that cant be mentioned.. Makes you wonder what else we have that you dont know about..

 

[i-Henry]

Dynosaur

There was rumor of the US Airforce experimenting with an aircraft that was had a target speed of Mach 25. It was called the Dynosaur (sp). Read about it years ago. Its another Skunk Works project.

 

[JLDickmon]

they have Mach 25 craft now... they're called "rockets & missles"

escape velocity is 17,600mph / Mach 24

 

[jvencius]

There was rumor of the US Airforce experimenting with an aircraft that was had a target speed of Mach 25. It was called the Dynosaur (sp). Read about it years ago. Its another Skunk Works project.

Old news--IIRC the Dynosaur project was scrapped in the early '60's but it's no secret the project existed.

 

[Mobeydick]

This pic: View attachment 4003 is refered to as the "Donuts on a rope" picture. It is said to depict a contrail from a pulsed thrust type engine, which is believed to be of the type of engine that would power the rumored "Aurora" aircraft.

If that pulsed thrust engine runs on methane, saying it runs on farts may be a lot closer to the facts than you think.

The "Donuts on a rope" being made by “Aurora” or some secret Aircraft is complete fallacy. I’ve seen it many times and seen what made it!! There are no Secret Air Bases near South GA. Commercial Airliners can and DO make those photogenic contrails. The person who took those photos could have very easily taken a picture of the aircraft that made those contrails. They chose not to.