SR-71 FINAL FLIGHT ON WAY TO MUSEUM BREAKS 4 SPEED RECORDS

When the SR-71 was retired in 1990, one Blackbird was flown from its birthplace at United States Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, to go on exhibit at what is now the Smithsonian Institution's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. On 6 March 1990, Lt. Col. Raymond E. Yeilding and Lt. Col. Joseph T. Vida piloted SR-71 S/N 61-7972 on its final Senior Crown flight and set four new speed records in the process:

·         Los Angeles, California, to Washington, D.C., distance 2,299.7 miles, average speed 2,144.8 miles per hour, and an elapsed time of 64 minutes 20 seconds.

·         West Coast to East Coast, distance 2,404 miles, average speed 2,124.5 miles per hour, and an elapsed time of 67 minutes 54 seconds.

·         Kansas City, Missouri, to Washington, D.C., distance 942 miles, average speed 2,176 miles per hour, and an elapsed time of 25 minutes 59 seconds.

·         St. Louis, Missouri, to Cincinnati, Ohio, distance 311.4 miles, average speed 2,189.9 miles per hour, and an elapsed time of 8 minutes 32 seconds.