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The legend and the mystery of the SR 71 live on here at Habubrats SR 71. If you are a fan of the SR 71 you are welcome to join this page by liking the page. The rules are be courteous🇺🇸The SR-71, along with her sisters A-12 MD -21 and YF -12, was built at the Lockheed Skunk Works plant in Burbank, California, in the early 1960s. Kelly Johnson, designer of the Blackbirds and his prestigious crew of engineers set out to design and build perhaps the most remarkable aircraft in aviation history. Working with Titanium, a metal that had desirable characteristics for the high heat environment of Mach Three flight, proved in itself to be a daunting challenge. The metal had never been forged in large quantities and the quality had to meet strict controls for consistency. In addition, the US had to import the metal indiscreetly from the largest source in the world; the USSR. The landing gear on the SR-71 is the largest single piece of forged Titanium. Other segments of forged Titanium was made oversize and then milled to exact tolerances for stringers, fuselage and wing construction. At the end of construction almost 90% of the Blackbirds material consisted of Titanium.~First time stealth was applied to an air frame~Stainless steel was used for hydraulic and fuel lines. From the ground up the Blackbirds were designed to withstand the 900+ degree temperatures on the surface skin at Mach three or better. There were expansion joints in almost all fittings as the aircraft grew several inches from the high heat generated. To make the aircraft stealthy, plastic composite panels shaped like a triangle were inserted on the outer perimeter of the wing surfaces. There were alternating titanium and composite plastic wedges designed to break up the incoming radar signals. Rudders were canted inward for the same reason. The paint consisted of minute iron ferrite balls and the cost per quart of Blackbird paint was nearly $400. Needless to say, the entire aircraft was not regularly repainted but rather spot painted as needed. Exotic alloy metals such as Hasteloy X and ceramics were used in the construction of the Pratt & Whitney J-58 engines. Temperatures in the afterburner sections reached 3200 degrees Fahrenheit. Leland Haynes is my source of some of the facts.~ Linda Sheffield Miller