A Lockheed SR 71A Blackbird aircraft, which can fly at a maximum speed of 3529 KMPH-about the speed of a rocket-is the world's fastest aircraft. At 32.8 m long, and with a wing span of 17 m, it had been in service from 1966 to 1990, used chiefly by NATO for research purposes. It took only 1 hour 55 minutes to reach London from New York, at an average speed of 2908 KMPH.