The DC Traveler

Unofficially known as the “Blackbird“, the titanium-skinned Lockheed SR-71 long-range reconnaissance aircraft was in operation by the U.S. from the 1960s until 1990.
The SR-71 was the world’s fastest and highest flying aircraft in history. At altitudes around 80,000 feet, it reached speeds in excess of Mach 3 (2000 mph).  In 1976, it set a record of almost 2,200 mph at a record-breaking altitude of just over 85,000 feet (16 miles).

To provide an idea of the incredible speed the Blackbrid was capable of, a trans-Atlantic flight in a typical Boeing 747 took approximately 6 hours and the same trip on the supersonic Concorde …read more

1 Comment

The U-2 spy plane was used extensively by the U.S. starting in the 1950s and continue to play a role during the Vietnam War.
The U-2 is famous for being flown over Cuba in 1962 during regular reconnaissance missions.  In early fall of 1962, they photographed Soviet nuclear missiles being deployed and erected, which led to the October Cuban missile crisis.

In 1962 1960, during a spy mission over Soviet airspace, a U-2 piloted by Gary Powers was shot down over Soviet airspace by a surface-to-air missile.  He was convicted of espionage by the Soviets and sentenced to three years in prison and seven years …read more

2 Comments