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Design and Development of the Blackbird : Challenges and Lessons Learned

Author
Merlin, Peter W.
Published
January 05, 2009.
Physical Description
1 electronic document
Online Version

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Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available.
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Summary
The Lockheed Blackbirds hold a unique place in the development of aeronautics. In their day, the A-12, YF-12, M-21, D-21, and SR-71 variants outperformed all other jet airplanes in terms of altitude and speed. Now retired, they remain the only production aircraft capable of sustained Mach 3 cruise and operational altitudes above 80,000 feet. In this paper the author describes the design evolution of the Blackbird from Lockheed's early Archangel studies for the Central Intelligence Agency through Senior Crown, production of the Air Force's SR-71. He describes the construction and materials challenges faced by Lockheed, the Blackbird's performance characteristics and capabilities, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's role in using the aircraft as a flying laboratory to collect data on materials, structures, loads, heating, aerodynamics, and performance for high-speed aircraft.
Other Subject(s)
Collection
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) Collection.
Note
Document ID: 20090007797.
DFRC-935.
AIAA-Paper-2009-1522.
47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting; 5 - 8 Jan. 2009; Florida; United States.
Terms of Use and Reproduction
Copyright, Distribution under U.S. Government purpose rights.
View MARC record | catkey: 15998050