MACH 3 MAN
IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON OF DECEMBER 22, 1964, LOCKHEED’S LEGENDARY AIRCRAFT DESIGNER CLARENCE “KELLY” JOHNSON SHOOK HANDS WITH HIS CHIEF TEST PILOT AND WISHED HIM WELL.
Robert J. Gilliland mounted the ladder and strapped into the cockpit of Johnson’s finest creation, the yet-unnamed and untested SR-71 Blackbird. Few were present for its top-secret first flight, but all who were knew its importance in maintaining the United States’ supremacy in manned aviation amid the tensions of the Cold War. Following clearance for takeoff from Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., Gilliland eased the Blackbird into the sky, taking it out to Mach 1.5 at 50,000 feet and into the annals of aviation history.
Bob Gilliland would go on to personally fly each of the 32 Blackbirds built as they became operational, in the process logging more test flight hours at Mach 3 than any other pilot. The SR-71 would go down in history as the world’s fastest air-breathing manned aircraft.
Born in Memphis, Tenn., in 1926, Gilliland graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1949 with an engineering degree. He took a commission in the U.S. Air Force in order to immediately attend flight school, and in 1952 volunteered for a combat tour in Korea, flying 25 missionsfighter was said to glide “like a toolbox.”
