Found an excellant web site on the history of the Blackbird, including
links to show where all remaining Blackbirds are located. It also shows
that while designed in the 50's, the first variant of the blackbird, the
A-12, first flew in 1962 and retired in 1968. The YF-12A was a prototype
for a proposed Mach 3+ inceptor/bomber. Only 3 were built and one still
remains today. The overall Blackbird program was retired in 1990 due to
political considerations. The USAF kept a few flying until 1998 after a
few were brought back to service in 1995. NASA Flew the aircraft at Edwards
AFB, CA from 1991 to late 2001when the program was cancelled. The web site
also lists the Blackbird speed records and altitude records (recently
de-classified) and it has the flight manual and functional check flight
manual. I saw someone mention that the starter carts for these aircraft
used twin big block Buick engines. There were actually 2 different starter
carts (one with twin Buick engines and one with twin big block Chevy's)
made along with a chemical starter to start the engines. These were used
until a compressed air starting system was incorported into the hangars for
the planes. Check out the site and enjoy.
http://www.sr-71.org/
Ray
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