The SR-71 that is on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space facility at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles airport outside of Washington DC set an inte

The SR-71 that is on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space facility at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles airport outside of Washington DC set an intercontinental speed record on its last flight (the flight it took to become a museum piece): "On its last flight, March 6, 1990, Lt. Col. Ed Yielding and Lt. Col. Joseph Vida set a speed record by flying from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in 1 hour, 4 minutes, and 20 seconds, averaging 3,418 kilometers (2,124 miles) per hour. At the flight's conclusion, they landed at Washington-Dulles International Airport and turned the airplane over to the Smithsonian." (http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=nasm_A19920072000 http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=na...) And rumors at the time were that it could have made the USA crossing significantly faster, but the military did not want to reveal the 'true' top speed of the aircraft.