It has been seventeen years since the last flight of the Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird” spy plane, and fifty-one years have passed since the spy plane first flew. Nothing since has touched it’s capabilities: known flight speeds in excess of Mach 3.3, with a claim by one pilot of Mach 3.5, an altitude record of 85,069 feet and the ability to fly from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. in just over an hour. Call it Blackbird, call it Habu, call it whatever you will…it is still an engineering marvel and one of the most iconic aircraft ever created. But what did it take to get an SR-71 into the air? A talented and trained crew, choreography to make sure everything was in order, the infamous AG330 start cart, complete with either two Buick Nailheads or two Chevrolet 454s running at full tilt to start the Pratt and Whitney J-58 engines, and the best hearing protection money could buy. Take a look at the launch of an SR-71B (twin canopy trainer) from Beale AFB around 1990. Imagine being one of these guys, just for one launch. I’ve done the ground-crew deal for aircraft before, but the pulse from the J-58 firing up would blow one of the OH-58D Kiowas I worked on two football fields away!

https://youtu.be/hZIGKwhQ8dw