SR-71A Blackbird - Hutchinson, KS - Static Aircraft Displays on Waymarking.com

The main atrium of this museum houses an SR-71 Blackbird jet. The aircraft is so large, the aircraft was placed on the display legs, then the building was constructed around it.
This is one example of a jet which performed many insurgent surveillance missions over enemy territory, fulfilling the aerial recon and photo roles during the cold war, continuing until satellites took over many of the same missions. Only about 20 examples of the SR-71 remain today, most in museums. The aircraft regularly flew at 2000 MPH, and cruised at 70,000 feet altitude. Air is so thin at that level, the jet required special fuel, that included an oxidizer to replace the oxygen plentiful at lower altitudes.
After the military roles, the type performed various research roles for NASA. The flight history of the Blackbird ran from 1964 to 1999.

Assembly of this aircraft started on 13 January 1965 and it rolled out on 19 October 1965. The first and last flights of #961 are on 13 April 1966 and 2 February 1977, respectively. During this time, SR-71A #961 logged a total of 1,601 hours.
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First flight: April 13, 1966 by Weaver/Andre. Flew operational mission on May 19, 1975, in support offs Mayaguez incident. Last Flight: February 2, 1977.
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Type of Aircraft: (make/model): SR-71 Blackbird Tail Number: (S/N): 61-7961 Construction:: original aircraft Location (park, airport, museum, etc.): Museum inside / outside: inside Other Information:: Not listed Access restrictions: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Photo of aircraft (required - will be interesting to see if the aircraft is ever repainted or progress if being restored)
Photo of serial number (required unless there is not one or it is a replica)
Photo(s) of any artwork on the aircraft (optional but interesting)

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Date Logged Log User Rating   09/27/2020 The Snowdog visited it