First Flight of the Black Bird,
by
Stan Stokes
Construction of the first SR-71 Blackbird
(61-7950) was completed by Lockheed at its Burbank California “Skunk
Works” in October of 1964. The aircraft was then broken down for
shipment to Palmdale, California where it was reassembled. Kelly
Johnson, the famous aircraft designer for Lockheed, had oversight
responsibility for this project, and Kelly gave specific instructions to
Robert Gilliland, the pilot chosen for the first flight of the
Blackbird. The first flight was originally scheduled for December 21,
1964. Bad weather had caused a one-day postponement. During the first
flight only Gilliland would be on board, and a trio of F-104 fighters
would fly chase. Following take off Gilliland performed a number of
stability and handling checks. He then took the Blackbird up to 30,000
feet and easily went supersonic (hitting Mach 1.2) before some caution
lights came on. Determining that he faced no serious problems Gilliland
accelerated to Mach 1.5 and climbed to 50,000 feet. Returning to
Palmdale he made a subsonic flyby before lining up for his landing.
Gilliland’s first flight is commemorated in Stan Stokes’ painting. The
first six SR-71s produced were assigned to flight-testing at Edwards
AFB. The first successful aerial refueling of a Blackbird occurred on
April 25, 1965, and two pilot training aircraft (designated SR-71B) were
delivered in 1965. A set back to the program occurred in January 1966
when an SR-71 was lost over New Mexico and a year later the original
Blackbird (61-7950) was destroyed when the craft caught fire during
braking tests at Edwards. Overall ten Blackbirds were lost during the
first six years of the program. A total of thirty-two SR-71A aircraft
were produced. In March of 1990 an SR-71 was flown from California to
Washington before being retired to the Smithsonian’s Air and Space
Museum. This flight was interesting because it set a coast-to-coast
speed record of 68 minutes. The aircraft took off from Southern
California and flew north to rendezvous with a tanker near San
Francisco. The craft then flew south while refueling. It passed over its
official starting point for the trip near Ventura. Accelerating to Mach
2.5 the Blackbird reached Kansas City in 39 minutes. Climbing to 85,000
feet the aircraft reached a top speed of Mach 3.2 as it passed the
official finish line near Baltimore. After slowing to subsonic speeds
the bird needed another shot of fuel prior to making its final approach
into Dulles Airport. This truly amazing aircraft had once again
demonstrated its capabilities more than two decades after its first
flight.
Overall Print Size: 16" x 11 1/2"
|
Collector Sized Lithograph:
$40
|
|
|
225 Signature Series
Lithograph: $125
Co-signed by ROBERT
GILLILAND - test pilot and first to fly the SR-71.
|
|
