Top Gun DARKSTAR in Real Life! 

This aircraft was absolutely incredible to see up close! What questions do you have about Darkstar or hypersonics?

If this is what Skunkworks is putting out there as a Hollywood prop, I wonder what the real deal looks like and what it can do. So cool thanks Sam.

My Dad retired from Skunk Works and spent 40 years between them and Northrop. He did work on SR71 with F22 and F35 prototypes being his final projects before retirement. He worked 2nd shift with 1 other person on very classified material towards the end. He also worked on the B2 at Northrop. He would drop subtle hints as to the capabilities of the planes but was incredibly secretive never letting on to anything classified. He would just say the materials he was working with would be public knowledge in approx a couple decades. I really miss talking about planes with him. It was very easy to be proud of him and his service as a Marine and Engineer.

This is a frickin commercial for LM!

The shape is the SR 71 carried to the extreme. I love the Skunk Works for their innovative ideas. He talks with such enthusiasm and authority you actually believe that if they haven't yet they can and will build a hypersonic aircraft though whether anyone will be able to afford it for their air force is another matter.

The fact that they actually contracted with Skunk Works to design and build the thing just makes it so much cooler. No wonder it looked so legitimately possible in the film. And they clearly consulted for the CG work as well as to what its flight characteristics would be and what it would look like to sit in it at that speed. The folks at SW build phenomenally amazing hardware. Can't wait to see what they've been dreaming up and building for the past 10, 20 years in the dark.

The SR-71 remains an absolute masterpiece in aircraft design and performance. Some years ago I had the amazing experience of interviewing a SR-71 pilot who ended up making an emergency landing in Milwaukee and spending a week at my unit the 440th Airlift Wing (USAFR). He had made a demonstration flight over the Experimental Aviation Association's (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) AirVenture week when the plane developed a fuel-flow problem which eventually led our wing to send a C-130 Hercules to California to pickup a replacement engine. The Blackbird that we hosted was actually then assigned to NASA as a trainer (2-seater). I believe at the time, I was told that only two still exited and were actively still flying. The ironic thing about this whole experience was that I happened to be at the EAA and saw the Blackbird fly by only to get home and be contacted by our security forces informing me and our public affairs office that the plane had landed and was being parked in our fuel cell hangar. "The Batmobile in the Bat Cave" - that was my initial impression when I first laid eyes on the aircraft through hangar door - totally badass. Engine runup - Milwaukee's airport had to close one of its runways to allow the pilot to test the new engine. Typically the plane is strapped down during an engine test but instead the pilot deferred to using full-brakes ;) Chance of a lifetime.

Looks like a modern SR71 Being in the air force in the 80s, I got to meet and briefly speak to a sr71 pilot when they had to land where I was stationed and he said something to me about the actual speed they had reached. I was like that's so cool. Loved getting to see it in person

The Skunkworks guest answered these questions in the best way possible without revealing any of the important details for a Chinese or Russian spy that happens to be watching 😂

These aircraft are such a testament to engineers and it's mind-boggling how much attention to detail goes into them. I never get bored of watching videos about the SR71 it's such an epic machine and to know that it was developed in the 50s is even more astonishing.

The Dark star looks amazing but I'm still blown away every time by the SR-71

Just listening to Brian talking about Darkstar is already so cool. He can't even contain his excitement when he said "Guess what scramjet does" and "Can u imagine lighting a match in a hurricane & keeping it lit? Thats what this does." He's really passionate and really loves his job, and by his reaction is more than happy to share his work with others. Also love the fact that they place the Blackbird & Darkstar next to each other, both are such beautiful planes. Great video Sam!

I had the fortune of seeing the SR71 take off and land when I was stationed on Okinawa. It really was a sight to see watching this beast take off and it was surprising how much runway it took to get off the ground given how much power those engines produce. It literally took the entire runway at Kadena to get off the ground but once air born it would turn vertical and went almost straight up and was out of sight in less than 20 seconds once it did!

I'm not from the USA, but I am fascinated with almost all American Military Vehicles. Love watching your videos.

I love how passionate the engineer is

Amazing! This is close to my heart because my father was a welder at Lockheed in the late 1950's and into the mid 1960's. I was born in Torrance and we lived in Manhattan Beach during this most of these years. Burbank too. How can I get a collared shirt like yours sir? I remember my father telling me they were welding together a jet that would fly from LA to NY in less than 2 hours. I was only 5 years old and I'm 65 now! I also remember the excitement in his voice to this day! God Bless you and God Bless America!

Something tells me that Darkstar might be USAF's way of showing off, since its clearly closer to reality than what these guys would like to say on record. What struck me the most was their iterative design sketchpad had a lot of designs which look pretty close to what Aurora believers have been saying. Obviously at the end of the day if they built the SR 71 back in 60s, technology just couldnt have take a back seat without any progress. Its a pitty such marvels of science and engineering stay shrouded in the darkness of secrecy in National interest but these are also things which inpire and motivate the next generation of innovators and engineers. The SR 71 is still any aviation enthusiasts drool aircraft.

"A scram jet works like lighting a match stick in a hurricane" That's an excellent way to simply describe it

I absolutely love how excited Brian was to present this aircraft.

I love the excitement in the voices of the smart guys who get to talk about their smart stuff!!! Bryan seemed like he was ready to go airborne with the energy of what he gets to tell and work with! I could feel it too!

SR-71 was the last airplan to be fully designed with a sliderule and it's still the record holder, damn

Great video Sam. I spent two years as a Blackbird cadet in the 70’s. I’ve always been intrigued with Skunkworks. There’s probably numerous prototypes that the public has never seen. I spent six years refueling the SR-71 and it was an awesome mission and team. It’s hard to believe the technology designed into this aircraft was from the 60’s. With all things GPS today, this aircraft had a navigation astral tracker to maintain tight navigation standards. Essentially it was a computer using star positions to accurately track position. Doubt there are many aircraft using that technology today in lieu of the ubiquitous GPS.

Paramount just called… They are doing Top Gun 2 with Tom Cruise… They asked if we could throw some super Sonic aircraft together so they can show what Maverick has been up to??? We still have the full scale model of Dark Star from 20 years ago? Yeah… it’s in storage next to the thing we made after that??? Yeah… The Aurora… Sounds good… Let’s pull it out and let them use it… Make it sound like it took us awhile to “put it together” And now we don’t have to hide it anymore… Make room for that other thing… No problem…

I love how excited he is explaining everything. This is a man who loves his work.

Brian is so proud of that "air craft". His passion is fun to watch.

If this exists, then something like this is going underway secretly

This channel is soooo underrate, it deserves 10x the subscribers.

Great episode Sam, another incredible video Sam, from a huge SR-71 Blackbird fan! Sure wish we could see one fly at an airshow just one more time.

While stationed at Edwards AFB (86-89), I had the privilege of seeing the SR-71 many times and having her do fly-bys at the Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT). What a beautiful plane!

I do miss Edwards AFB. There was so much incredible technology there, and every day on the flightline was an air show. I spent a lot of my spare time off duty helping the Flight Test Center Museum take care of the many aircraft around the area, including that very SR-71. It is great to see it back on the line for display during the show.

Pov: your a Chinese spy

I'm pretty sure I could get this mockup to fly with a few changes. I would upscale the design by doubling its size and getting rid of those long box-like intakes and exhausts and pretty much cutting and pasting the F22 tail onto it and change the front air intakes to a shape and configuration similar to the B2 Bomber on the upper hull for faster airflows! The vertical stabilizers I would cant inwards OR outwards depending on my airflow simulations. i.e. Much like the F-19 Testor model! I have an in-house build for the Turbojet engines I designed which are 70,000 lbs of thrust EACH and I can easily mix some high-bypass-flow scramjet technology for Mach 5+ operations. I can CNC machine from CATIA those engines in about two days on our in-house CNC gear out of Titanium Alloy and then vacuum-sputter-coat with Thick-Film Sapphire (i.e. a Corundum) for high heat protection. And YES I would actually use simple Propane stored at 600 PSI for the main Turbojet fuel rather than JP7, Liquid Methane or Boranes (i.e. ZIP-fuel)! Propane is faaaaaar easier to handle and has a LOT of energy in it! We can EASILY use tubular polymer-composite or carbon-fibre tanks to keep it stored at high pressure and I can stuff enough of it inside the aircraft that I can fly for a few hours with no issue! For the main hull body, I would call it a day and build it using automotive-industry Hydroforming Technology out of relatively inexpensive quarter-inch thick 7075-T6 Aluminum and coat the inside and outside of the metal hull with a thick-film Corundum ceramic AND then coat inside and out with a half-inch thick layer of Corundum-nanoball-infused version of Line-X-brand Truck Bed liner (aka nanoball-infused Polyurethane) which acts as both a STEALTHY anti-RADAR coating AND can still protect up to around 2200 Celcius when properly treated! The thick Line-X coating will ablate at a KNOWN RATE at hypersonic speeds and high atmospheric friction heating and can EASILY AND CHEAPLY be re-surfaced after any given flight when needed! I would use real-time sub-millisecond hard-interupt flight-control and avionics-oriented Linux operating system with our custom-coded inhouse software which is good for aerospace craft up to 160,000 KMH (100,000 mph) since the software we designed can operate at 10,000 fps at DCI-4K/DCI-8K resolutions on IR/RGB/RADAR/LIDAR imaging for collision avoidance and all-attitude 3D-XYZ flight envelope control. Cockpit would be fully glass touchscreen with a simple F18-like joystick control but WITHOUT all the buttons! Just one single ultra-wide-screen ruggedized 8K resolution display for all gauges and indicators and a simplified heads-up display! I would STILL do a single-piece forward-facing cockpit window but use a thick sheet of Sapphire which is nowadays pretty easy to grow in one piece! It can easily take 2200 Celcius worth of aerodynamic friction heating! Gimme six months to build it and then I can test fly it for real! V

Still find the design of the SR71 absolutely amazing, there’s been nothing like it until this, built in the 60’s is mind boggling

I would imagine that most meetings at Lockeed Martin for the Darkstar project revolved around what NOT to put into this design.

The SR-71 and Concorde are undoubtedly two of the few greatest achievements of aviation, not as one-time record breaking experiments but as long lasting, reliable high performance aircraft of a unique kind. Given that they were designed over 60 years ago, remained operational for 30+ years, and nothing even close existed since, it is really outstanding. Aerospace engineering has made many improvements since then, but those only highlight their greatness. And most importantly, the incredible boldness and talent of those who designed them with the tools and methods then available. Really unbelievable.

i remember seeing the stealth 117a at dobbins AFB in marietta GA in the 90s. surprised it was at their air show back then! was insane to see in person

Really enjoyed the positive vibe throughout the video. You not only gave us a peek behind TGM but also showed us the amazing kind of people working at Skunkworks. Thank you, Sam.

This is an incredible insight on the possibilities of Mach 9+ aircraft. Well done!

This guy loves what he does and radiates good vibes. I'm just glad he's on our side.

As a USAF crew chief, it was indescribable to work on the SR-71 as even an assistant. The special tools & training were beyond interesting to me. Darkstar WILL happen one day, if the Skunkworks has anything to do with or say about it.

Listening to Brian talk about the Darkstar was fun. Its great to see someone so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about a subject. Makes the interview much more fun to watch.

Plot twist, the prop can actually fly but they don't want us to know that.

Great that this guy talks on camera about this. Pretty awesome THANKS

Such a classy, professional and engaging presenter Sam, your videos are such a pleasure to watch. Can't wait for what's to come.

All of us Texans are so proud to have Lockheed Martin in our home, and it’s such a massive property (a small city) that most of us know someone that works there. All 4 friends of mine that work in mechanics and administration say that the Skunkworks locations are treated like area 51 and the guys with Skunkworks shirts and hats are cool as hell and love their job. Lockheed gave us the power of complete air dominance with the F22 and F35, they’re happy to show us what they cooked up in a few months for a movie; just imagine what they’re working on now.

I go to the museum of flight in Seattle Washington and they have a SR-71 blackbird and a cockpit of the same plane on display. The SR-71 blackbird makes me smile every time I see it. :)

Incrível 😍👍🏽 top gun é demais 😍 amei o vídeo ❤👏🏽

I bet the Darkstar project is real, and in order to keep foreign adversaries from picking up on it, they made this project look like a movie prop to throw off the scent as it were. Pun not intended.

You mentioned that the blackbird was one of your favorites and I find it really cool as my grandpa was the head of thermodynamic engineering on the SR-71 and he’ll just be casually explaining all the little secrets that the public doesn’t even really know

Fun fact, most of the common people will not remeber this aircraft because it only appears in a couple scenes

Just came across your video and I gotta tell you. Very well put together. Informative, to the point and very interesting throughout the whole video. No skipping nor "next!" . Kudos.

I used to process the reconnaissance film off the SR-71A. The OBC (optical bar camera) had a roll of film that was 5 inches wide and 2 miles long. It would take hours to process and if it was a color roll even longer! Got to sit in the cockpit several times and it was way cool 😎 And yes it does leak like a sieve sitting on the ground but once up to speed it expands from the heat and seals up tight

Also, big props to Lockheed Martin’s public speaking instructor for teaching the VP and other upper level management extraordinary well. Their inflection and delivery in this video is also very impressive.

It was nuts that those people at Skun Works developed the SR-71, that thing is an aviation milestone. Keep up the good work.

SOOOO beaudiful and i *_LOVE_* that it is based on the Blackbird, which has _ALWAYS_ been the MOST BEAUTIFUL of them all, to me!

Great video as usual Sam! Such a cool plane and a really cool glimpse into the future of aviation. Really cool that Skunkworks was so involved in this project. When I saw the Skunk on Darkstar's tail I couldn't stop smiling; really cool detail. Also so cool to see Darkstar's older brother, the Black Bird SR-71 right beside it.

Anyone legitimately impressed with this guy's responses and enthusiasm? He should be head of Lockheed's PR.

amazing aircraft, the design is awesome!!!!

It all started with the A-12 Oxcart. The SR-71 was a bigger and slower version of the A-12.

i love that Skunkworks finally got some recognition for all their hard work and dedication

I was lucky enough to be a part of the final Inspector General team to review the SR-71 program at Beale AFB in California in 1989. It's hard to describe the engine starts and how much it actually leaks due to the design of a fuel system that expands at altitude and seal the leaks with heat generated by friction! That JP-7 fuel felt like kerosene, it's so thick...not to mention a crazy high flash point to withstand the heat when going Mach-3. I was sad when they retired it, but I always knew a replacement was on the way!!!

Thank you Skunkworks, thank you.

Great video and loved the two guys you talked with they were excellent as well

What I loved about seeing this in the movie, is it felt futuristic and yet Retro, as it looks so much like the mystical F19 stealth concept from the 80s. Hence it too, to me, felt like a nod to the period.

One of Kelly Johnson's Hush Hush Rules for Skunk Works was: "Don't do business with the Navy" so there's no way Dark Star would've been a Navy plane, lol.

BEN RICH (EX vice president of Skunk works): " We have the technology to go to stars, but they are in dark projects"

Great Video! I have been following "Dark Aircraft" development and prototypes since I was a kid going back to the '60s. When I saw the Darkstar in TG Maverick ,I was blown away by the design and especially the attention to detail. Especially inside the cockpit with the displays and controls. Was any of that in the model during its visit to Edwards. I'll bet not. Also were some of the external lights, nav lights strobes, taxi, and landing lights operational!?! Thanks in advance for any notes you may have. Cheers, Mark

Bro this is the most coolest aircraft on earth..........wanna be a fighter pilot

I love how both of the skunk works guys were so into what they do, that's the kind of attitude that gets things done and brings us into the future!

Fun fact: China thought the darkstar was a real plane, so they positioned a satellite to take pictures of it

I worked on the B2 bomber in 1986 at Northrop in Pico Rivera, and before that Marquardt Jet Laboratory on the National Aerospace Plane. The issue with supersonic combustion ramjets (scramjets) is the inlet geometry has to change from takeoff to accelerate the airflow from standard jet speeds to the Mach 5 cruise speed and there has to be flameholding technology inside the scramjet so that the combustion is maintained even at tremendous speed. The stealth technology around the B-2 was fascinating, everything from chemically suppressing the contrails to the radar-absorbent coating on the fuselage, but the NASP inlet and combustion technology was so advanced using computational fluid dynamics that I loved working on the briefing slides for when the government program managers came through. Incidentally, Lockheed doesn't have a monopoly on scramjet technology. Marquardt had been working on it supersonic test cells at Van Nuys since the '50s.

Great episode, Sam. I got to attend the Aerospace Valley Airshow at Edwards Airforce Base this year. It was amazing to see the Darkstar in person, along with the SR-71. It was also my first time having the chance to see one in person. It was great. The other displayed aircraft were also amazing. The Northrop Grumman Stargazer, NASA's SOFIA and so many more. thanks for the upload, and all your hard work.

Awesome video Sam, bet they were so impressive to see up close.

I got to see the sr-71 and the darkstar together at edwards afb AirShow. So much fun seeing this aircraft in person. Was also in ktla 5 news in the back lol. Otherwise best aircraft I’ve seen so far

awesome, i love top gun: maverick

Sam, I absolutely LOVE your videos!! This has by far been one of the most exciting ones yet, and I’m sure it was for you as well. It makes you think that even though this is just “movie magic” that it actually could be in development. Every idea comes from something factual or in existence. If you could do a more in depth video on the SR-71, that would be great! And, are you still in the Air Force? Thanks again!!

Great video now that I finally managed to watch it. The quality is always great with your work. To say that machining titanium is difficult shows the propensity for understatement that they have at Skunkworks. I deal with the alloy every day making parts for testing equipment. There have been heard sotto voce curses coming from my general direction more than once.

For all you young ones out there... First off the SR71 was in the design work as the A12 Archangel in 1956 later renamed the Cygnus, developed and first test flight in 1959. It was selected over other aircraft by other companies for the CIA as a Spy Reconnaissance aircraft but was also going to be used as a first strike nuclear "Attack" aircraft. Some actually did carry mini nukes of several kilotons. Some do today as well. The A-12 later was better developed and renamed the SR71 in 1964. The A12 was retired in 1967. Though some continued to fly much later. The top classified speed of the SR71 WAS mach 3.8. They would never give the actual top speed when the aircraft was still in use so it could not be shot down. As for hypersonic aircraft, it had already been accomplished in 1958 by NASA with NAA's X15. The X-15's highest speed, 4,520 miles per hour (7,274 km/h; 2,021 m/s), was achieved on 3 October 1967, when William J. Knight flew at Mach 6.7 at an altitude of 102,100 feet (31,120 m), or 19.34 miles. This set the official world record for the highest speed ever recorded by a crewed, powered aircraft, which remains unbroken. It also flew above 264,000 feet.

Tbh Darkstar is incredibly badass...

Saw this in person at the Edwards AFB Airshow. It was a whole hell of a lot smaller than I thought it was.

@sam eckholm, that was a wonderful session and your questions and preparations for taking this episode is just so professional.. great 👍 work out there.. keep it up.. Regards from India...

The long-promised HST. Wicked. Can see similarities to SR-71

I had the pleasure of seeing a SR71 in an air show in the early 80s. That air show had me hooked. Also going to the beach as a kid there was a base 10 miles away and the A10s would come right over the ocean low and you could see the pilots in there that’s how low they were. Now all you see are the osprey. They are loud and never fly low like the jets did.

Wow Sam! This looks like an amazing plane to see in real life! 🎉 Wow 🤩 I am amazed that the concept aircraft actually exists…

I wish I was an aerospace engineer 😔 would’ve loved working at Lockheed Martin. Imagine the top secret credentials and NDAs employees are required to sign. It’s kickass. The only other thing is, since I consider Lockheed Martin part of big tech, they need to also diversify and engage in developing technologies like the ones Neuralink is involved in and it’s also needed anyway if long term space exploration is the goal.

That was an AWESOME opening to the movie. Very interesting stuff!

My neighbor used to claim (20 years ago) that he used to work as a welder at a secret base in the desert. And that they had a plane that went so fast, it takes the whole western United States to turn around with out killing the pilot and destroying the plane….guess he wasnt lying after all.

Amazing video. Its just a nice touch that they did go the extra mile to make the Darkstar a somewhat realistic aircraft (even to involve Skunkworks) instead of just mocking something up.

Wow Sam! This is so cool thanks for always making something original, that is always exceeding expectations. Nice work

A11,SR-71 ,Apollo, there were giants in those days folks.

Thanks for an amazing video on the most iconic aircraft in cinema history, well, other than the Millenium Falcon. Sure 'preciate how much fun you had making this truly educational and entertaining video.

Imagine what mankind could achieve if we didn’t have to worry about war and secrecy. All of this cutting edge tech could go directly into the private sector and actually benefit mankind in a way that it doesn’t in our current society.

I have a question, but if you can will you ever have a chance to go on the Apache AH-64 D?

Fun fact: the international space station is currently traveling at Mach 25! 💨

Truly Incredible! Further justifying the old saying, "I feel the need, the need for speed"...

Another great video. I found myself asking the same questions that Sam asked. Skunk Works and Disney engineers should do a project together.

Looking at this and thinking of the g's that it's subject to, makes me realize the natural progression into hypersonic speed will mean a disk shaped aircraft (the strongest shape to withstand g's without critical failure) I guess ET figured that out too!

Wow...make it reality in the real world...i know you(darkstar team)can do it in decade. I'm from Malaysia🇲🇾 thanks...

The fact that they build a full size prop for such a small part of the movie it's just crazy probably could have made it with computer graphics but what's the fun in that. I'm pretty sure there's more reasons for them to build it full-size and as realistic as possible and not just for the movie

I love how much influence there is from the SR-71 next to it in the design...