SR-71 Black Bird

^{**bird of Prey is not a Recon aircraft**}

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Wing Span: 55 ft. 7 in. 
Length: 107 ft. 5 in. 
Height: 18 ft. 6 in. 
Weight: 170,000 lbs. loaded 
Armament: None 
Engines: Two Pratt & Whitney J58s of 32,500 lbs. thrust each with afterburner 
Crew: Two
Maximum speed: Plus 2,000 mph. 
Range: Plus 2,900 miles 
Service Ceiling: Plus 85,000 ft. 
Bio:  The SR-71 was designed by Lockheed's Skunk Works program. The SR-71, unofficially known as the "Blackbird," is a long-range, advanced, strategic reconnaissance aircraft. The first flight of an SR-71 took place on December 22, 1964, and the first SR-71 to enter service was delivered to the 4200th ( later, 9th) Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale AFB, California, in January 1966. The U.S. Air Force retired its fleet of SR-71s on January 26, 1990, because of a decreasing defense budget and high costs of operation. The U.S.A.F returned the SR-71 to the active Air Force inventory in 1995 and began flying operational missions in January 1997. The planes were permanently retired a few years later. Throughout its nearly 24-year career, the SR-71 remained the world's fastest and highest-flying operational aircraft. From 80,000 feet it could survey 100,000 square miles of Earth's surface per hour. On July 28, 1976, an SR-71 set two world records for its class: an absolute speed record of 2,193.167 miles per hour and an absolute altitude record of 85,068.997 feet.