It\u2019s enjoyable reading. \u00a0It can be found here<\/a> in PDF format.<\/p>\n In case “A-12” doesn’t ring a bell:\u00a0 that was the airframe developed by Lockheed for the CIA as a successor for the U-2.\u00a0\u00a0 It was later modified to produce the SR-71 for the USAF.\u00a0 (The SR-71 was a 2-seat plane; the A-12 was single-seat.)<\/p>\n While the SR-71 has somewhat longer range, it is also 5\u2019 longer, 15,000lbs heavier, somewhat slower, and has a lower operational ceiling than the original production A-12s.\u00a0 Further, the redesign reduced the size of the equipment bays available for the aircraft’s on-board sensor package.\u00a0 Some of the original optics designed for the A-12 \u2013 in particular, the Perkin-Elmer Type I cameras \u2013 were too large to fit into the SR-71\u2019s smaller equipment bays.<\/p>\n The initial Blackbird operational missions overflying Vietnam and during the aftermath of the North Korean seizure of the USS Pueblo<\/span> were flown by CIA A-12s operating out of Kadena AB in Okinawa; a CIA A-12 located the ship on the first mission.\u00a0 Only later did the SR-71 begin to overfly these areas.<\/p>\n At Kadena, the A-12 acquired a nickname that stuck:\u00a0 “Habu”.\u00a0 That’s the name of a highly-poisonous pit-viper native to Okinawa.<\/p>\n For budgetary and political reasons, the CIA\u2019s A-12 fleet was ordered to cease operations in 1968; USAF SR-71s (now operational) assumed their mission.\u00a0 The last A-12 operational flight (over North Korea) occurred on 8 May 1968.\u00a0 Afterwards, the deployed A-12s returned to CONUS from Kadena and were placed in storage.\u00a0 The last CIA A-12 flight of occurred on 21 June 1968, when the final remaining A-12 airframe was flown from the program\u2019s Nevada test site to a storage facility in California.<\/p>\n Only a relatively small number of A-12s were ever produced \u2013 fifteen in all.\u00a0 These were called Articles 121 through 135.\u00a0 One (Article 124) was a 2-seat trainer version.\u00a0 The others were all configured as single-seat test (2 of these were produced) or operational (the remaining 12) aircraft.<\/p>\n Six of the fifteen A-12s built were lost in crashes before the fleet was retired.\u00a0 The surviving 9 airframes – the two-seat trainer version plus 8 test\/operational airframes – are today in various locations nationwide on display.\u00a0 The linked document details where they are on display – as well as much of what they did.<\/p>\n If you’re an aviation history buff, Robarge’s work is definitely worth reading.<\/p>\n . . .<\/strong><\/p>\n In looking through the document, I learned some things I wish I\u2019d have known years ago.\u00a0 I’ve seen one of those surviving A-12s “up close and in person.”\u00a0 It turns out that particular bird is one with quite an interesting history.<\/p>\n The surviving A-12 with the longest operational flight time is Article 127, serial number 60-6930.\u00a0 Only the 2-seat trainer model (Article 124, serial number 60-6927) has more flight time \u2013 and it was used solely for training, never operationally.<\/p>\n Article 127 was the seventh A-12 delivered.\u00a0 It is the oldest operational A-12 remaining.\u00a0 The first two A-12s (Articles 121 and 122) were test aircraft and were not used for operational missions.\u00a0 The 2-seat trainer version was the fourth delivery; the other operational aircraft delivered earlier – Articles 123, 125, and 126 – were among those six lost to crashes.<\/p>\n Article 127 was one of the few A-12s to overfly bona fide<\/em> hostile territory.\u00a0 (Some of the other operational A-12s flew peripheral, non-overflight missions.)\u00a0 It was one of three A-12s that flew operational missions over Southeast Asia and North Korea – during the CIA’s Operation BLACK SHIELD – in 1967 and 1968.\u00a0 The other two to do so were Articles 129 and 131.<\/p>\n Article 127 took enemy fire on 4 January 1968 (the SAM missed, and the airframe wasn’t damaged).\u00a0 It made the last two BLACK SHIELD flights over Vietnam – on 16 February and 8 March 1968.\u00a0 It was involved in the search for the USS Pueblo<\/span>, making 2 of the 3 overflights of North Korea in the aftermath of the ship’s capture. Its last operational flight – over North Korea on 8 May 1968 – was in fact the last operational A-12 flight over hostile territory.<\/p>\n All told, Article 127 flew just over 1\/3 of the operational missions ever flown by CIA A-12s over hostile territory.<\/p>\n Today, the airframe is on display at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.\u00a0 It\u2019s located immediately in front of the main building.<\/p>\n But for all it’s sheer brute power and history, and despite it’s age, it\u2019s also still . . . absolutely beautiful.\u00a0 Don’t take my word for it.\u00a0 Here’s a photograph; judge for yourself. A larger version of the same photo can be found here<\/a>.\u00a0 (For a bit of perspective, the turquoise\/teal\/greenish object that seems to be under the rear of the left wing and engine is the shirt of someone walking next to the fence around the airframe.)<\/p>\n Some years ago, I visited the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.\u00a0 When I visited, Article 127 was fenced off (as it is in the photo above).\u00a0 Visitors couldn\u2019t get really close to most of the airframe.\u00a0 But in a few places, the aircraft’s wings were quite close to the fence.<\/p>\n They also droop a bit at their outboard ends.\u00a0 In one of those places – whether intended or not – a visitor could touch reach out their hand and literally touch the aircraft.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve touched that aircraft.\u00a0 When I did so, it was one of the few times in my life I honestly wished a machine could talk.\u00a0 Now that I know more of its history, I really<\/em> wish it could have.<\/p>\n I’d have stayed there all night to listen.<\/p>\n Addendum (21 October 2015)<\/span>:\u00a0 the link to the photo referenced above is, unfortunately, now broken.\u00a0 Here’s another photo of the same airframe, but without anyone standing under the wing:<\/p>\n . . . Author’s note<\/span>:\u00a0 “Archangel” was the original Lockheed internal designation for the design effort that ultimately produced the A-12.\u00a0 The “A” in the designation reputedly came from the internal designation “Archangel”; the “12” came from the fact that it was the 12th major design revision.\u00a0 (“Angel” had been Lockheed’s internal designation for the U-2 – hence “Archangel” for its successor.)\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n “Oxcart” was the CIA’s official codeword for the project.\u00a0 That CIA codeword for the A-12 was chosen from a random list of codewords after the Lockheed design had been selected in lieu of a competing proposal from Convair as the one to be produced.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/static.panoramio.com\/photos\/large\/52382697.jpg\")
<\/center> <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.the-adam.com\/adam\/airports\/sr-71-2.jpg\")
<\/center>The full resolution version of the photo can be viewed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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