Advancement in aeronautics – creation of blackbird

The Lockheed Blackbirds hold a unique place in the development of aeronautics and aerospace design. To this day, Blackbird variants A-12, YF-12, M-21 and SR-71 are still the only pilot-operated aircrafts capable of sustaining cruise speeds above Mach 3.0 at altitudes above 25 km. This essay includes literature review on creative and innovative approaches in design and development of Blackbird aircrafts. Creativity of Lockheed’s engineers and technicians established principles for development and production of complex aircrafts in a relatively short time. Small team of talented engineers and technicians, without supercomputing technologies, using only slide-rules and know-how, designed and built family of complex aircrafts that are still the fastest pilot-operated aircrafts.