Standing before the aircraft, it’s not hard to understand the feelings of Air Force test pilot Terry Pappas, who says that of all the planes he flew, the SR-71 “is at the pinnacle. When you ...

The SR-71 Blackbird’s high-speed missions were fraught with challenges, including catastrophic engine failures at Mach 3.

The SR-71 Blackbirds were used in intelligence-gathering operations over the Soviet Union and Vietnam. As Washington and Beijing race to produce the world’s first-ever sixth-generation aircraft ...