Dragon Wings – SR-71A Blackbird , ’61-7980′ „Rosemary’s Baby-San“

Popis

-sběratelský model letadla SR-71 BLACKBIRD 1/400 
-provedení: kovový model s plastovými částmi

                              Lockheed SR-71

The Lockheed SR-71  Blackbird is a long-range, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft that was operated by the United States Air Force. It was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft in the 1960s by Lockheed and its Skunk Works division.

General characteristics

• Crew: 2: Pilot and reconnaissance systems officer (RSO)
• Payload: 3,500 lb (1,600 kg) of sensors
• Length: 107 ft 5 in (32.74 m)
• Wingspan: 55 ft 7 in (16.94 m)
• Height: 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
• Wing area: 1,800 ft² (170 m²)
• Empty weight: 67,500 lb (30,600 kg)
• Loaded weight: 152,000 lb (69,000 kg)
• Max. takeoff weight: 172,000 lb (78,000 kg)
• Wheel track: 16 ft 8 in (5.08 m)
• Wheelbase: 37 ft 10 in (11.53 m)
• Aspect ratio: 1.7
• Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney J58-1 continuous-bleed afterburning turbojets, 34,000 lbf (151 kN) each

SR-71s first arrived at the 9th SRW’s Operating Location (OL-8) at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa on 8 March 1968.These deployments were code named „Glowing Heat“, while the program as a whole was code named „Senior Crown“. Reconnaissance missions over North Vietnam were code named „Giant Scale“. On 21 March 1968, Major (later General) Jerome F. O’Malley and Major Edward D. Payne flew the first operational SR-71 sortie in SR-71 serial number 61-7976 from Kadena AFB, Okinawa. During its career, this aircraft (976) accumulated 2,981 flying hours and flew 942 total sorties (more than any other SR-71), including 257 operational missions, from Beale AFB; Palmdale, California; Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan; and RAF Mildenhall, UK. The aircraft was flown to the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton, Ohio in March 1990.

Skunk Works is an official pseudonym for Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Programs (ADP), formerly called Lockheed Advanced Development Projects. It is responsible for a number of famous aircraft designs, including the U-2, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, and the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, which are used in the air forces of several countries. Its name was taken from the moonshine factory in the comic strip Li’l Abner. The designation „skunk works“ or „skunkworks“ is widely used in business, engineering, and technical fields to describe a group within an organization given a high degree of autonomy and unhampered by bureaucracy, with the task of working on advanced or secret projects.