SR-71
The
SR-71 Blackbird is, without a doubt, the most advanced airplane ever
built in relation to the technology available at the time. It broke all
aviation records,it flew incredible missions, and it became the stuff of
legend!
The SR-71 was a technological marvel.
Practically every area of design required new approaches or
breakthroughs in technology. To withstand high temperatures generated by
friction in the upper atmosphere during sustained Mach 3 flight, the
Blackbird required an array of specially developed materials including
high-temperature fuel, sealants, lubricants, wiring and other
components.
Ninety-three
percent of the Blackbird’s airframe consisted of titanium alloy that
allowed the aircraft to operate in a regime where temperatures range
from 450 degrees Fahrenheit at its aft midsection to 950 degrees
Fahrenheit near the engine exhaust. The cockpit canopy, made of special
heat resistant glass, had to withstand surface temperatures as high as
640 degrees Fahrenheit.
U-2
The Lockheed U-2, is a single-jet engine, ultra-high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and the CIA. It provides day and night, very high-altitude (70,000 feet), all-weather intelligence gathering.
The U-2 is one of a handful of aircraft types to have served the USAF for over 50 years, development began in 1954.
Though the USAF and the Navy would eventually fly the U-2, the CIA had majority control over the project, code named Project Dragon Lady. The U-2 so impressed the USAF that it decided to obtain its own aircraft. The USAF purchased a total of 31 U-2s through the CIA; the transaction’s code name, Project Dragon Lady, was the origin of the aircraft’s nickname.
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