COBI Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird - Executive Edition Set 5890

COBI's SR-71 Blackbird Executive Edition is a 1:48 model built from 1,424 blocks, 71 cm long, produced under licence from Lockheed Martin. The landing gear detaches, the ailerons move, and the cockpit opens. Two pilot figures are included in high-altitude pressure suits — one USAF, one NASA — along with NASA markings available only in this edition, two brick exhaust flames, and a display stand with a plate carrying the Lockheed Martin logo.

It leaked fuel on the runway

A Blackbird sitting on the ground dripped. Not a fault — a design decision.

At Mach 3 friction heated the airframe to around 300 degrees, and the titanium skin expanded several centimetres. The fuselage panels were therefore fitted with deliberate gaps so that the aircraft would seal itself once hot. Cold on the apron, those gaps were open, and fuel ran out of them.

The fuel was JP-7, formulated so unwilling to ignite that a lit match dropped into it goes out. It doubled as coolant, circulating through the airframe before reaching the engines, and it needed a chemical igniter injected to start burning at all.

Crews took off with a partial load, leaked their way to a tanker, and refuelled in the air once the airframe had warmed and closed.

The NASA aircraft

The second figure and the NASA markings are not invented. After the Air Force retired the type, NASA operated Blackbirds from Dryden into the late 1990s as high-speed research aircraft — flying instruments no other platform could carry to that altitude and speed.

In the COBI range

Set 5891 is the standard edition with 1,374 pieces, one pilot figure and USAF markings only.

Specifications

Pieces: 1,424 · Figures: 2 · Scale: 1:48 · Licensed by Lockheed Martin · NASA markings, exhaust flames and display stand
Model dimensions: 71 × 12.5 cm (28.0 × 4.9 in)