Step inside the cockpit of the legendary SR-71 Blackbird

Behold the cockpit of one of the finest spy planes ever built, the SR-71 Blackbird. The Blackbird, created by Lockheed Martin's famous Skunkworks, was a revolutionary platform for its time. Described by a former pilot as "107 feet of fire-breathing titanium," the Blackbird's groundbreaking construction made it unique among planes.

A pilot and a recon officer would take detailed photos of hundreds of thousands of miles of terrain as stealthily as they could. The incredible speed of the SR-71, as much as 2,200 mph, meant that the protocol for evading enemy missiles was simply to outrun them.

To get a look at how this truly revolutionary plane worked, see a brief explainer on the cockpit we put together aided by commentary from former SR-71 pilot Richard Graham.