Is the blackbird sr-71 the fastest plane in the world?

Question

Is the blackbird sr-71 the fastest plane in the world?

Answer 1

Yes, the SR-71 holds the record for fastest level flight of an air breathing aircraft. It also holds the level flight altitude record. Mach 3.31 at 85,000+ feet.

There are rocket propelled aircraft that have gone faster, and some of the new designs will soon go faster, but for now the Blackbird is still the king of speed.

Answer 2

No way.  The MiG25 has only ONE time been clocked at 3.2 Mach, and the engines were destroyed afterwards.  It's max speed was/is 2.8 Mach at altitude.  This from Foxbat crews, BTW.

The Foxbat was designed to shoot down XB70s, not SR71s-which the Soviets would've known as the "YF12".  

The SR71 CRUISED at 3.2Mach, and as for top speed, well I'll relate a story from a friend of mine from Nav School who went to SRs:  "The throttles have mil power, full 'burner, then something called 'Sprint'.  We pushed it up to sprint but the canopy started turning funny colors, so we throttled back."

Which means that even crews weren't sure, but 3.5Mach is probably a good estimate for the max speed.

Answer 3

The true speed of the SR-71 is classified.  The only thing they will say is that it is over mach 3.2.  The Foxbat was fast, but the SR-71 could still out run it.  About the most the Foxbat could do was Mach 3.6.  Also remember at that altitude the stall speed is around Mach 2.  There are some unmaned planes that have been designed to skip off the atmosphere for speed and they have reached some sick speeds,  Something close to Mach 10.  There is hope that one day in the future this will become a form of highspeed airtravel, but for now it would be a bit of a rough ride for the pax.

Answer 4

A Mig as fast as the SR71, that's funny right there, I don't care who you are.

Anyway, it was the fastest plane. It still holds the record, and could have probably posted a better speed.

Answer 5

No,

the MiG-25R Foxbat B. (some say it was designed to chase the SR71) It's highest speed is Mach 3.2 (2,115 mph),although it has been caught on radar going at Mach 3.6

However. there still are unmanned planes. The fastest unmanned plane is the X-43, clocking up at Mach 9.8 and 110,000 feet!

And there are rocket powered airplanes to consider

A list of the 4 fastest jet/rocket aircraft:

1. Space Shuttle, Mach 25 on re-entry, 300 miles high orbit (rocket takeoff, rocket powered spacecraft, conventional recovery)

2. X-15, Mach 6.72, 354,200 feet (air launched, rocket powered, conventional recovery)

3. SR-71 Blackbird, (YF-12) Mach 3.2+ 85,000+ feet (true airplane)

4. MiG-25R Foxbat-B, Mach 3.2 125,536 feet (true airplane)