Boeing’s New Baby May Be A Substitute For the SR-71

In the beginning of the year, The Boeing Company announced its newest creation. A sleek, aerodynamic beauty being called the “Son of Blackbird” because if put into production it would replace the famous SR-71 Blackbird. The new aircraft is designed to be able to go faster than Mach 5 and merges design aspects from multiple styles of planes.

While Boeings design is fresh and new to the market, it does carry some components of a plan Lockheed Martin is currently working on. Everyone in the business is trying to come out on top as the company whose aircraft ends up replacing the elite SR-71 blackbird.

While this plane is only a concept and small model right now if approved the plane will have two balanced tails and an extremely swooped body, making the idea of going above Mach 5 very feasible. Boeing plans on using plans from the best to make sure this new plane is taking all the best aircraft parts from older models. For instances, Boeing will take a closer look at the X-51 which was able to fly above Mach 5 for a record 3 and a half minutes. A big challenge that the future “son of blackbird” faces is its ability to reach above Mach 5 but then have the capacity to slow back down in order to land safely, without hurting the pilot of the plane. This is a feat that the X-51 had trouble with, and that Boeing hopes to sort out before unveiling the new plane after its approval.