The Pratt & Whitney J58 was a jet engine that powered a long-range, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft operated by who?
Pratt &amp; Whitney J58 The Pratt & Whitney J58 (company designation JT11D-20) was a jet engine that powered the Lockheed A-12, and subsequently the YF-12 and the SR-71 aircraft. The J58 was a single-spool turbojet with an afterburner. It had a unique bleed from the compressor to the afterburner which gave increased thrust at high speeds. This feature caused it to be referred to as a turboramjet in some writings. It delivered 25,000 pound-force (110 kN) of thrust without afterburner (dry) and 34,000 (150 kN) with afterburner (wet).
Operation Power Flite Operation Power Flite was a United States Air Force mission in which three Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses became the first jet aircraft to circle the world nonstop, when they made the journey in January 1957 in 45 hours and 19 minutes, using in-flight refueling to stay aloft. The mission was intended to demonstrate that the United States had the ability to drop a hydrogen bomb anywhere in the world.