Skip to content
FastestThings

Vehicles

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird

FAI record 8879: 3,529.56 km/h on 28 July 1976 at Beale Air Force Base, flown by Eldon W. Joersz in an SR-71A. The mark is still current.

Also known as SR-71, SR-71A
Post on X (opens in a new tab)

Top speed

Published as 3,529.56 km/hPublished as 3,529.56 km/hPublished as 3,529.56 km/hPublished as 3,529.56 km/h

FAI record 8879, class C-Absolute, straight course, Beale Air Force Base, claimant Eldon W. Joersz, SR-71A.

OfficialFédération Aéronautique Internationale (opens source in a new tab)

In context

  • London to New York in 1 h 35 minConstant · London to New York, 5,570 km great-circle
  • 34× a cheetah's timed top speedSourced · Cheetah, 29 m/s. Sharp 1997, mean of three timed runs over 201.2 m
  • 11 football fields a secondConstant · American football field, 100 yd (91.44 m)

Worked out from the sourced figure above, which stays the ranked number.

Provenance

Every measurement

Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.

  1. 3,529.56km/h2,193mph980m/s1,906knMach2.88Ranked figure

    Top speed. FAI record 8879, class C-Absolute, straight course, Beale Air Force Base, claimant Eldon W. Joersz, SR-71A.

    Official
    Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (opens source in a new tab)Accessed
  2. 3,529.56km/h2,193mph980m/s1,906knMach2.88Ranked figure

    Absolute speed. FAI record 8879, class C-Absolute, straight course, Beale Air Force Base, claimant Eldon W. Joersz, SR-71A.

    Same figure as this entry's home ranking, so the human-built hub can sort it. Not a second trial.

    Official
    Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (opens source in a new tab)Accessed

Reference

Specs

Claimant
Eldon W. Joersz
Course
Beale Air Force Base
FAI record
8879, class C-Absolute
Date
28 July 1976

Context

Background

The FAI record file 8879 is the ranked figure: class C, sub-class C-Absolute, speed 3,529.56 km/h, 28 July 1976, Beale Air Force Base, claimant Eldon W. Joersz, aircraft SR-71. The status line says ratified and current. The FAI's 50th-anniversary note repeats 3,529.56 km/h for record 8879 and says the absolute speed record still stands.

Guinness prints the same 3,529.56 km/h (2,193.17 mph) for a Lockheed SR-71A near Beale on 28 July 1976, naming Captain Eldon W. Joersz and Major George T. Morgan Jr. The stored unit is kilometres per hour, the unit at the head of the FAI performance. The mile-per-hour conversion is not a second measurement.

Checked 8 October 2026.

Head to head

Compare Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird

Open the speed race

Spot a wrong number?

Every report is read by a person, and corrections are dated on the page.