The Lockheed's S.R 71, nicknamed the Blackbird, holds the record for the fastest airplane ever.

A record it's set in 1976 and is held for 44 years.

It also set a record for the highest altitude ever recorded for a sustained flight.

Even though the plane hasn't flown in over 20 years, it's still high in the consciousness of many aviation enthusiasts. Learn more about the SR 71 on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. This episode is sponsored by Curiosity Stream. If you're an airplane enthusiast or even have a passing curiosity about aviation,

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The story of the SR 71 Blackbird began on May 1st 1960 when Air Force pilot Francis

Gary Powers was shot down in his U2 spy plane over the Soviet Union.

The Lockheed U2 was designed to be a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft.

The theory behind U2 is that it would fly so high at over 70,000 feet that it would be out of range of most

anti-aircraft weapons. Well that clearly only worked for so long.

After the U-2 incident the US needed some other spy plane which avoided the problems of the U2 incident, the U2 U2 the U2. They needed something which could not only fly high,

but also extremely fast.

The initial plane which was developed

was the Lockheed A12 ox cart. The A12 A12 ox cart.

The A12 looks suspiciously like the SR 71,

...