Key Points - The A-12 Oxcart, developed by Lockheed's Skunk Works for the CIA in the early 1960s, was the single-seat, Mach 3.29 (at 90,000 feet) precursor to the USAF's more famous SR-71 Blackbird.

The SR-71 Blackbird jet remans the fastest manned plane ever, capable of more than 2,000 mph, versus the typical 520-mph ...

Leaving the airspace above New York City at 2,455 miles per hour, SR-71 tail number 64-17972 would set a transatlantic speed record on Sept. 1, 1974.

Key Points and Summary - After the U-2 shootdown in 1960, the CIA needed a reconnaissance aircraft that could outrun missiles and hide from radar. Lockheed’s A-12 Oxcart answered: a single-seat, ...

The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird is unlike virtually any plane that came before it, and virtually no planes like it have been made since. Even though the remarkable machine's development began in the ...

Museum docent Scott Wiley reveals how the SR-71's tires keep from melting. Learn more about the Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird on display at the National Air and Space ...

Watch the impressive engineering in this in-depth tour of the SR-71 Blackbird's jet engine and you'll see an extraordinary reconnaissance aircraft that still impresses despite taking its first flight ...

Even more Top Secret than the Lockheed SR-71, the D-21 drone was a promising Cold War idea that could have eliminated the need for manned overflights, although it was mostly unsuccessful. After the ...