The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird was a revolutionary very high speed reconnaissance aircraft flown by the USAF from 1966 to the 1990s. Although now retired from service, it still holds many speed and altitude records.

The Lockheed SR-71A was designed in the Lockheed ‘Skunk Works’ under high secrecy.

It was developed from the single seat A-12 very high speed recognisance aircraft which first flew on 22 December 1964.

Twenty-nine SR-71s were manufactures and they began entering service in 1966.

They served all over the world including many trouble spots, beginning with Vietnam.

They were very costly to fly and maintain, and improved satellite reconnaissance made them largely redundant, so they had been retired from service by the early 1990s.

Several were loaned to NASA to test various aspect of very high flight in the 1980s and 1990s.

This model represents a SR-71A loaned to NASA for high speed research in the 1980s.

Academy 1/72 kit and Microscale decals completed by Leigh Edmonds in April 2014.