As former SR-71 pilot Dave Peters would later recall, the speed gate (a filter set to narrow down radar returns to only legitimate threats) had been set to 1,500 miles per hour. “We were ...

However, in 1960, a U-2 flown by CIA pilot Francis Powers was shot down ... Unsurprisingly, the SR-71’s design was heavily influenced by Skunk Work’s Kelly Johnson. Perhaps the most innovative ...

The SR-71 could fly at Mach 3.2 (around 2,100 miles per hour)—lightyears faster than anything the Soviet Union could throw at it. Known as one of the most awe-inspiring achievements in the ...

I show 1,742 knots" "No further inquiries were heard on that frequency" In another famous SR-71 story, Los Angeles Center reported receiving a request for clearance to FL 60 (60,000ft). The ...