High-flying 'Habu'

摘要

They were, in every sense, straight out of the space age. How else but with this cliche to describe the two flight crew members of the Lockheed SR-71A, clad in their David Clark full pressure suits, typically operating at altitudes upwards of 80,000ft (24,380m) and speeds above Mach 3, untouchable by any conceivable aggressor? During an initial 24 years of USAF service with the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing headquartered at Beale Air Force Base (AFB) in California, Lockheed 'Skunk Works' supremo 'Kelly' Johnson's most audacious creation proved its worth time and again as a recce asset beyond compare.