On this day in 1990, the SR-71 Blackbird made its last flight, when Lieutenant Colonels Ed Yielding (pilot) and Joseph Vida (reconnaissance systems officer) flew US Air Force SR-71 A (serial number 61-17972) from Palmdale, CA, to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, setting a Los Angeles, California-to-Washington, D. C. world record time of 1 h 4 min 20 seconds, at an average air speed of 2,124 mph.
The aircraft was delivered to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum to be put on display.
For more information on the final record flying Click Here.