Quote:
Originally Posted by Llarry
Lockheed built an airplane that was faster and flew higher than the famed SR-71A Blackbird: That airplane was the original single-seat A-12 version built for the CIA as Project Oxcart.
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See the attached pages of a longer memo -- originally classified as Top Secret Oxcart -- comparing the two Lockheed aircraft.
Neither the A-12 nor the SR-71 was ever flown to its top speed. It's my recollection that the Air Force manual for the SR-71 stipulated that the aircraft was not to be flown at speeds exceeding Mach 3.2 unless there was an imminent threat to the aircraft, in which case Mach 3.3 was permitted for a short period of time. Heating of the aircraft was the reason for the speed limitations.