✈️ The SR-71 Blackbird

At the height of the Cold War, an advanced spy plane cruised over enemy territory, too high to be spotted, too fast to be shot down. Although many of its missions remain classified, the SR-71 has become one of the most iconic planes in aviation history.

Setting top records beyond any other manned aircraft at the time, the SR-71 easily cruised at more than three times the speed of sound.

This specimen is a fragment of an inner ejector filler (aka "turkey feather") from SR-71 61-7972. This plane was retired in 1990 and is currently on display in the Smithsonian's Air & Space collection at the Udvar-Hazy Center. Opening and closing according to the pressure output of the afterburner, engine nacelle exhaust ejectors are considered one of the hardest-working parts of the aircraft.

For those lucky few who were able to fly the SR-71, the experience turned out to be something almost quasi-religious.

That sense of reverence also extended to those who faced the SR-71 as an enemy aircraft. Viktor Belenko, the soviet MiG pilot who defected to Japan in 1976 wrote, "They taunted and toyed with the MiG-25s sent up to intercept them, scooting up to altitudes we could not reach, and circling leisurely above them or dashing off at speeds we could not match."