Background Info

  The SR-71 was made for two reasons and two reasons only: to be the true successor to the U-2 and to be the best surveillance plane of it’s time. The idea for the Blackbird started when Francis Gary Powers was shot down in a U-2 Dragon Lady over the Soviet Union. The US armed forces recognized the need for a new surveillance plane. So then, the Army, the Navy, and the USAF went around, looking for a company that would build a new plane. When the USAF turned to Lockheed-Martin Skunk Works, they were ready for the job. They built the SR-71 Blackbird, the best aircraft of it’s time.