In this article:
SR-71 Absolute Speed Record
The SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft was the world’s fastest jet-propelled aircraft and the most advanced member of the Blackbird family developed by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation’s clandestine “Skunk Works” division.
During its operational lifetime, the SR-71 provided intelligence about the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the US raid on Libya in 1986 and the revelation of Iranian Silkworm missile batteries in 1987. The USAF ceased SR-71 operations in January 1990.
The SR-71 Blackbird was also the aircraft of choice to celebrate the United States’ bicentennial birthday in 1976. In fact, to celebrate, officials decided to attempt to break some records by means of the iconic reconnaissance aircraft.
As told by Angela Woolen in the article SR-71 pilots, crew relive absolute speed record, on Jul. 28, of that year, retired Maj. Gen. Eldon (Al) Joersz, the pilot, and retired Lt. Col. George Morgan, the reconnaissance systems officer (RSO), set the world absolute speed record for jet-powered airplanes with a speed of 2,193 mph.
The record still stands today.
Inlet unstart
Today, SR-71 #958, the Blackbird that made the speed record run is on display at the Museum of Aviation near Warner Robins, GA.
Noteworthy, during the record-breaking event, Joersz and Morgan experienced an inlet unstart that however didn’t prevent the iconic Blackbird to set the absolute speed record.
SR-71 pilot David Peters explains;
‘If Joersz and Morgan had just a normal unstart without a burner blow out if probably didn’t slow them down much but they certainly would have had the record higher without it.’
If it weren’t for the inlet unstart that temporarily jammed up an engine, they could have gone faster than 2,193 mph. In fact, they could have stayed under Mach3.3.
This note is from George Morgan: ‘Al and I had the ACTUAL speed record. 2200 indicated in our equipment aboard 958!
‘Theirs…. 2193….NAH!’
Peters explains;
“Just to clear up a couple of points. First an unstart does not usually cause the engine to shut down. In this case it was just an unstart of the inlet which can be recovered rather quickly. Second unstarts were much more likely in the 2.6 to 2.9 range especially in the climb. High Mach unstarts were much more rare.”
The most reliable crew
It is true that any SR-71 with any crew could’ve made that record-breaking run. But the commander would’ve picked his most reliable crew that he had. And he picked Al Joersz and George Morgan to make the flight. In the early days of the SR-71 they really didn’t want to call any attention to the Blackbird. In the spirit of the bicentennial 200-year anniversary of the United States, President Ford asked if an SR could make the speed run. SR-71 commanders never said no to a President.
The plane flew through the first of its two passes at a much, much higher speed than what was required to set the record. Just before start of the second pass, one of the engines shut down. Before the engine could be restarted, the plane was well beyond the start line. The engine did recover from the unstart.
Capt. Al Joersz, the record-setting pilot, said, “By the time we’d gone through the checklist, we’d already passed the second gate thus officially starting the run. Still, we exited the gate at Mach 3.2.”
Higher record speed
Peters concludes:
“If they hadn’t had the unstart when they were going through the gate, the record speed would’ve been higher. Their goal was to make 2200 mph.”
However, after the inlet unstart, Joersz and Morgan could’ve pushed the Blackbird to the limit and gone Mach 3.3, but in 1976 they really didn’t want anyone to know how fast the SR-71 could go. It was still classified. For this reason, the US Air Force (USAF) chose to set the speed record “very carefully” avoiding to disclose how fast the SR-71 could really go.
Be sure to check out Linda Sheffield Miller (Col Richard (Butch) Sheffield’s daughter, Col. Sheffield was an SR-71 Reconnaissance Systems Officer) Twitter Page Habubrats SR-71 and Facebook Page Born into the Wilde Blue Yonder for awesome Blackbird’s photos and stories.
Photo credit: U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin
