Lockheed SR-71B Blackbird U.S. Air Force 9th SRW Gumby 1/200

As the very first SR-71 Blackbird, this SR-71B trainer with the raised rear cockpit was handed over to the U.S. Air Force on January 7, 1966 at Beale Air Force Base in California. Command did not like seeing special markings on the mostly secretly operating Mach 3-fast reconnaissance aircraft. Therefore, most of the artwork was applied when stationed overseas, before returning to their main base at Beale on US soil – and: they were usually drawn with chalk so that they would quickly fade away again during the flight. The drawing of Gumby, a clay figure from a popular children's show of the 1960s and 70s, was one of many such temporary artwork created by using chalk. This main character of the show of the same name was in this case only applied to the right stabilizer of this Blackbird. After the Blackbirds were decommissioned in 1990, this SR-71B trainer and two other SR-71A operational aircraft were loaned to NASA for projects to research future supersonic and hypersonic technologies. As the last remaining SR-71B, the still impressive aircraft can be admired today at the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum in Michigan.