‘It’s just black sky up there’: 50 years on, the Transatlantic Flight Speed Record Remains Unbroken
owl writes:
On 1 September 1974 two men made the fastest ever journey between New York and London. The astonishing trip - at three times the speed of sound - took less than two hours and set a record that still stands 50 years later.
Even the mighty Concorde, which set the record for the fastest commercial transatlantic flight in 1996, straggled in almost an hour behind.
The US air force Lockheed Blackbird SR-71 jet had a crew of two - pilot James Sullivan and reconnaissance systems operator Noel Widdifield - who completed the journey between the two cities in one hour, 54 minutes and 56 seconds before triumphantly landing to a fanfare welcome at the Farnborough air show in Hampshire.
[...] The aircraft had to take on fuel twice: when it took off, linking with a refuelling plane above California to fill it to capacity, and partway during the journey near to Greenland.
There was also an incident which would have looked terrifying from the outside but which the crew took in their stride. The Blackbird began to suddenly "yaw" - moving swiftly from side to side - after losing thrust.
The Blackbird took in air from the front to give thrust to the engines, and it was common for a device in the inlet to become displaced, causing one engine to lose much of its power momentarily.
All in a day's work... for some!
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