The SR-71 Blackbird is the fastest manned air-breathing aircraft in history.

In the 1990s, the Blackbird was threatened with extinction and then recalled into service. “Blackbird Resurrection,” by retired U.S. Air Force Col. Joseph Reich, recounts the reactivation and eventual permanent deactivation of the aircraft.

Reich, the Air Force Junior ROTC commander at St. Paul’s School in Covington, is a former intelligence officer and the chief of targets and imagery at U.S. Central Command during the resurrection of the Blackbird. The book is a fictionalized account of actual events and contains a wealth of information for military historians, aviation enthusiasts and even students of leadership studies.

RETIRED USAF COL. JOSEPH REICH

Some interesting facts about the aircraft include its speed — three and one-half times the speed of sound, or Mach 3.4. The 107-foot plane had a cruising altitude of 85,000 feet plus subject to atmospheric conditions affecting flight and a wingspan of 55.6 feet. It was also a pioneer in the use of digital imaging for reconnaissance. The Blackbird could fly 2,900 miles before refueling, and takeoff weight with fuel was 140,000 pounds.

Only 32 Blackbirds were ever built, and none were ever lost to enemy action. All are accounted for and on display at aviation museums and air bases across the country, and one is at the Imperial War Museum in England. Twelve of the aircraft were lost to crashes.

Some of the aviation records held by the craft include New York to London in only 1 hour, 54 minutes, 56.4 seconds with an average speed of 1,806.95 mph for a distance of 3,461.53 statute miles. From London to Los Angeles, the Blackbird only took 3 hours, 47 minutes, 39 seconds for 5,446.87 statute miles with an average speed of 1,435.59 mph. On a closed course of 1,000 km, it reached a speed of 2,094.294 mph. It takes 90 miles to make a turn at mach 3.4.

Reich said the Blackbird’s demise was as much an economic decision as anything else. The planes were expensive to build and maintain. Many in the military felt the same job could be accomplished with unmanned drones and satellites. Reich said in Somalia, the satellites moved so fast, they could not do the job properly. Although the SR-71 was deactivated, the U2, another high-altitude spy plane is still flying.

Reich said the technical cameras on the SR-71 were of three types: radar, film and electro-optical. The data could be downloaded to the ground from the radar and the electro-optical cameras, but the film had to be processed. The electro-optical camera sensors were the first generation of digital cameras.

Reich recounts numerous events in the novel about Air Force life, first as a cadet and then throughout a career in intelligence, including major hot spots throughout the world. The novel ends with the Blackbird program’s deactivation by President Bill Clinton in 1998.

However, speculation about the effectiveness of the SR-71 to find bin Laden still haunts those charged with the attack of his home by Tomahawk missiles that missed him in 1998. The use of the SR-71 may have been able to locate him, but the plane had been deactivated by the time of the attack. Whether the Blackbird could or would have prevented the present war will never be known, nor is it speculated in the book.

Reich will be signing copies of his book March 7 at B. Dalton Books in Slidell and March 21 at Barnes and Noble in Mandeville.