How the Air Force Designated Its Next Fighter Jet 'F-47'

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3. Not the first time a president named an airplane, but it was not for vanity

How the SR-71 Blackbird Got It's Name

During the 1964 campaign, Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater repeatedly criticized President Lyndon B. Johnson and his administration for falling behind the Soviet Union in developing new weapons.

President Johnson decided to reveal the existence of the Lockheed YF-12A Air Force interceptor, which also served as cover for the still-secret A-12, and the Air Force reconnaissance model since July 1964.

The media transcript given to the press at the time still had the earlier RS-71 designation in places, creating the story that the president had misread the aircraft's designation

Originally designated RS-71, the Skunk Works was forced to change about 29,000 blueprints to SR-71 when Lyndon Johnson turned the letters around during his 1964 announcement acknowledging the existence of the airplane.

But the official transcript shows it wasn't a flub by President Johnson. Supposedly Air Force Chief of Staff General Curtis LeMay preferred the SR (Strategic Reconnaissance) designation and wanted the RS-71 to be named SR-71. Before the July speech, LeMay lobbied to modify Johnson's speech to read SR-71 instead of RS-71.

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