By far, the SR-71 was in a class by itself

Question: How high can a plane fly? – Manish, Jaipur, India

Answer: It depends on the airplane. Some corporate airplanes can fly up to

51,000 feet. The Concorde flew up to

60,000 feet, and the all-time high flyer was the SR-71, which could go over

80,000 feet. Some experimental airplanes flew higher, but they were rocket-powered and did not take off by themselves, so I am excluding them.

Q: How fast can planes go? – David Swisher, Allegan, Michigan

A: It depends on the airplane. The SR-71 could fly three times the speed of sound (more than 2,100 mph). No current jet has exceeded Mach 3.5, and only the SR-71 and A-12 could reach that speed.

Q: Do you think any aircraft exceeds the SR-71 as a high performance “extreme” jet (not rocket) aircraft? – Bill Boyle

A: Not to my knowledge. The SR-71 was in a class by itself. No other airplane could go as high, as fast, for as long. The legendary reconnaissance jet required a large support staff and infrastructure, but nothing could do the same job.

Q: What ejection seat did the SR-71 have? – Gary M. Eaton, Valrico, Florida

A: The SR-71 ejection seat was a Lockheed-built SR-1 ejection seat.

It is similar to the ejection seat in the U-2. Both are derivatives of the Lockheed C-2, which was similar to the Stanley ejection seat used in military aircraft.

John Cox is a retired airline captain with US Airways and runs his own aviation safety consulting company, Safety Operating Systems.