On December 22nd, 1964, the took to the air for the very first time, rising above Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale with F-104 chase planes in pursuit. The occasion would mark the birth of one of the most amazing and renowned aircraft of all time.

To understand just how exotic the Blackbird family of aircraft were, you need look no farther than its historical stats and metrics.

Some numbers from the Blackbird family of planes:

35 miles per minute or 3,100 feet per second is how fast the SR-71 could fly170,000 pounds was how much a fully fueled and outfitted Blackbird weighed 59,000 pounds was what one weighed empty107 feet, 5 inches is the length of a Blackbird 85,000 feet is the official Blackbird ceiling, although it supposedly could fly higher34,000 pounds of thrust were what each of the SR-71’s J-58 engines put out in afterburner17,300 total sorties were flown by the Blackbird family of aircraft3,551 of these sorties were operational missions11,675 hours were spent over mach three 53,490 total flight hours were amassed on the fleetJust 8 crew members had more than 1,000 hours in the jetOnly 86 SR-71 pilots and 86 RSOs flew operational missions385 total persons have reached mach three in a Blackbird, including 105 VIPs478 total people have flown in Blackbirds32 SR-71s were built50 total Blackbird family aircraft were built (A-12, YF-12, SR-71, M-21)1 hour and 4 minutes was how fast the SR-71 could go from Los Angeles to Washington D.C.$33,000,000 was the cost to build a single SR-71 Blackbird900 degrees Fahrenheit was how hot the SR-71’s skin got during high-speed runs3,200 degrees Fahrenheit was the temperature of the J-58 engine’s exhaust at maximum output Over 1,000 missiles were launched at the SR-71 without any losses5 pounds is how much weight a SR-71 crew member could lose in their pressure suit during a four our mission85 percent of the Blackbird’s skin is titanium, the other 15 percent is carbon composites2.5G was the SR-71’s structural stress limitAbout 16 “starts” per engine worth of Triethylborane (TEB) were carried on an SR-71 mission as the Blackbird’s engines could not be restarted in the air without the TEB accelerant. 140 degrees Fahrenheit was the flash-point of the SR-71’s JP-7 fuel. Normal jet fuel has a flash-point of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. 56 KC-135s were converted to KC-135Q/Ts that could refuel Blackbirds20 of the 50 Blackbird aircraft family were written off in crashes and mishaps6 inches is how much longer the SR-71 would grow at high speed due to heat expansionZero was the number of computers used to design the Blackbird

Here’s to the “Sled” at 51 one years of age!

Sources: , SR-71: The Complete Illustrated History of the Blackbird, HABU.org

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Photos: Top shot via NASA, Bottom shot via Lockheed