Cessna Asked Los Angeles Center for a Ground Speed Check and Got 90 Knots. A Beechcraft Got 125. A Navy F/A-18 Hornet Got 620. Then an SR-71 Blackbird Asked, and the Controller Came Back With 1,842 Knots -- About 2,120 Miles Per Hour.

A Los Angeles Center ground speed check reportedly sparked an impromptu speed contest among aircraft ranging from small GA planes to the SR-71 Blackbird. The episode began with a civilian Cessna being told to expect about 90 knots, followed by a Beechcraft receiving a 125-knot check. A Navy F/A-18 Hornet then got a far higher figure—620 knots. When Major Brian Shul, flying the SR-71 with RSO Major Walter Watson, requested a check, the controller returned 1,842 knots (about 2,120 mph over the ground). Shul said the call wasn’t needed but was meant to needle the Hornet.