The SR-71 Blackbird– built out of a material (titanium) that had to be purchased from the Soviet Union, which forced workers to re-learn everything they did in fabrication, which used a fuel that needed and explosion to ignite it– good thing, because the fuel tanks will not seal at ambient temperatures– and had engines that needed two Buick Wildcat engines as a starter.
This aircraft first flew in 1962– but as one of its creators, Ben Rich, noted– it’d still be a technological achievement if it rolled off the line today.
Now, go watch the majesty that is the Blackbird.
