10/12 Preshaw

         

           

           Black, the absorption of all wavelengths of light has many different associations, stealth and secrecy being two associations. One of the ultimate embodiments of stealth has to be the SR-71 Blackbird. Created during the Cold War as a “black project” meaning development costs were omitted from any budget report and its existence unacknowledged by Congress, it had one major role to play. To fly above the Soviet Union taking pictures and recording activities, unbeknownst to the Soviets and their radar. If somehow it was detected, and it was, the Blackbirds main defense was to simply outrun any missile.

            Just how good was the SR-71 at capturing intelligence while remaining undetected and escaping once detected? Well the cameras were able to “photograph a golf ball on the green from 80,000 feet. The cameras can survey 110,000 square miles of the Earth's surface per hour.” (SR-71 Questions and Thoughts about the Blackbird) Rendering Sarah Palins reconnaissance obsolete, forcing her to pursue political goals (Maybe?). The black paint made the aircraft “fly 75 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than an unpainted airframe and also the black paint has some radar absorbing qualities.” (SR-71 Questions and Thoughts about the Blackbird) Radar absorption of the paint plus the shape of the aircraft made it so the 107 foot long plane appeared “on Soviet radar as bigger than a bird but smaller than a man.” (Creating The Blackbird) Despite all of this during its 17 year career the SR-71 “has had over 1,000 missiles launches against it, but none successful.” (SR-71 Questions and Thoughts about the Blackbird) Escaping due to its bodily harm inducing speed, capable of flying three and a half times faster than the speed of sound. Flying so quickly that “Visual references for conventional flying—highways, rivers, and metropolitan areas—were rendered obsolete, giving way to mountain ranges, coast lines, and large bodies of water.” (Creating The Blackbird)

One of the engines used by the SR-71 being tested

          From its inception the SR-71 was kept a secret, hidden from Congress and the public. In fact the company who developed it, Lockheed and Martin hid it from a vast majority of its employees and higher ups. This almost fictional level of secrecy combined with the color and clandestine function of the SR-71 helps black to represent all things stealthy, sneaky and secretive.

"SR-71 Questions and Thoughts about the Blackbird." SR-71 Questions and Thoughts about the Blackbird. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.


"Creating The Blackbird." · Lockheed Martin. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.