Lockheed's SR-71 Blackbird is one of the most iconic and famous jets ever built. Assembled in secret at Lockheed's Skunkworks, the Blackbird's vital statistics remain phenomenal decades later. It holds the airspeed record for a manned jet aircraft, operated at an altitude other aircraft could barely touch and was a marvel of technical engineering. Drawing on declassified material, leading SR-71 expert Paul Crickmore reveals the history of the most fascinating of aircraft, accompanied by a range of fantastic illustrations, photographs and facts about the world's most secret spy plane.

List of Abbreviations
Introduction
Chronology
A-12 Design and Manufacture
A-12 Oxcart Operations
Tagboard and Senio Bowl, the M-21 and D-21
Kedlock, the YF-12A
Senior Crown, the SR-71
Flying the SR-71
NASA Operations
Surviving Aircraft Histories
Appendices
Index