Mach 3.5 Over Libya in an SR-71 Blackbird (thesr71blackbird.com)

1. Take off from RAF Mildenhall (EGUN) -with 65,000Ibs of fuel-, climb to 25,000 feet/Mach 0.9 whilst over England...

2. Once past the English coast, meet up with a Tanker at Mach 0.7 & refuel -first of three.

Accelerate to Mach 3.0/71,000 feet, then cruise climb at 200 feet/minute...

3. Once past the Strait of Gibraltar, descend to refuel -second of three.

Climb/accelerate once again...

4. Accelerate to Mach 3.5+ with a 500 feet/minute climb 'to outran Surface to Air Missiles' within Libyan airspace - keep climbing providing speed continues to increase.

Once out of Libya, decelerate to Mach 3.0...

5. Before passing through the Strait of Gibraltar, descend to refuel -for the third & final time-.

Climb/accelerate once again...

6. Before crossing the English Coast, descend back to 25,000 feet/Mach 0.9 before returning back to RAF Mildenhall (EGUN).

Tips:

*Most take off's were with 40,000 Ibs of fuel (1/2 a tank).

*Brake release to 78,000 feet/Mach 3.0 took less than 14 minutes.

*Air to air refueling took about 15 minutes...

*A typical descend/deceleration from 78,000 feet at Mach 3.0 down to 25,000 feet/Mach 0.9 took about 9 minutes.

The distance covered was 165NM. The Tanker would be 40NM ahead.