Perhaps no other aircraft in aviation history has been such a well-kept secret as the United States' Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. This cutting edge aircraft took the art of aerial spying to an unprecedented level and did it all from highly clandestine high-speed spy missions over Communist nations during the late 1960s and 1970s for the United States Air Force (USAF) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to advanced sonic boom and hypersonic flight research studies for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This book tells the fascinating story of this truly unique aircraft’s design and development as well as its famous and ingenious designer Mr. Clarence “Kelly” Johnson.