The sincerest form of flattery

I have to admit to something. One important spaceship in my upcoming novel "Rock Hopper", is inspired in part by the legendary Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird jet airplane, used by the United States Air Force (USAF). Airborne for the first time in 1964, it still holds the speed record for a crewed air-breathing jet aircraft when it reached 3,529.6 km/h (2,193.2 mph)—that's over Mach 3—in 1976. Yes, you read that correctly: One Nine Seven Six! The Blackbird is now retired, but during its lifetime, not a single SR-71 was lost to enemy fire. I think the phrase you're looking for is: "They don't make them like that anymore". Apart from the abilities of the SR-71, the purposefully sleek and menacing silhouette makes it stand out from any other aircraft. Of course, the spaceship in the novel is much larger and doesn't need air to operate in space, but it has a similar pitch black sleek design.

Now, it's one thing having a fictional spaceship being somewhat inspired by an existing aircraft, but to actually try to manufacture a copy of it for near space transportation? That's a whole new level of "flattery". An article in The Debrief points out the obvious likeness with SR-71 manifested in the Chines prototypes Yunxing (Cloud Travel) and then Cuantianhou (Flying Monkey). Well, maybe it's a case of monkey see, monkey do 😜. The Cuantianhou is intended to be a supersonic passenger jet capable of Mach 4 speed, scheduled for its maiden flight in 2027.

Can you tell which one is SR-71 and which one is Yunxing? Try it out for yourself: