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I have loved this
airplane since I was in high school. This page is a compilation of everything I
had and could find pictorially on it as of 2003. Some additions have been made
since then due to subsequent releases of information by the CIA, who of course
was the first customer back then, in the first edition of the publication
"Archangel: CIA's Supersonic A-12 Reconnaissance Aircraft" by David Robarge -
CIA Chief Historian, Government Printing Office (orders@gpo.gov), Second
Edition, January 2012 (ISBN: 978-1-929667-16-1). This plus perhaps more was then
rolled
into the paperback "Lockheed Blackbird Family: A-12, YF-12, D-21/M-21 & SR-71
Photo Scrapbook" by Tony Landis (2010).
Kelly Johnson's
Skunkworks Rules...
Preliminary Design studies
the
CL-400 (unknown variant), for the initial Project codenamed "Suntan"
(Very F-104 -ish, eh? No surprise that Kelly Johnson designed that
aircraft as well.) |
Clarence
"Kelly" Johnson
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Ben Rich
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Arrow 1
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Arrow 1
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Archangel 1
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Archangel 2
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Archangel 4
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Archangel 6
rev.9
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Archangel 7
rev.3
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Archangel 7
rev.3
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Archangel 10
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Archangel 10
rev.?
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Archangel 11
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Archangel 11 rev.A
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Archangel 11
revs.?
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Archangel 12
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Archangel 12
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wind tunnel development
one
known remaining blackbird wind tunnel model
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YF-12A
configuration testing
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testing a
familiar config, lateral chines
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testing a delta
canard config blended with the lateral chines
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A-12 (CIA project codenamed "Gusto", with initial designs
codenamed "Arrow" and then "Archangel", and the Archangel 12 design's fielding codenamed "Oxcart"):
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A-12 / SR-71: my
kids = pilots?
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initial
engine testing, where the exhaust from one engine was used as the intake
for another engine in test
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A-12 in
production
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A-12 in
production
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A-12 in
production
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A-12
first flight article being secretly trucked in pieces to Groom Lake test
range (Area 51)
(New bonus
link:
the whole move documented)
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A-12 aerial
refueling
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A-12s on the
ramp
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A-12B (trainer)
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A-12B
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mothballed A-12s
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YF-12 (of the 18 A-12's built for the CIA, 3 of them were experimental
interceptors designated YF-12's):
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YF-12A with
pilot
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YF-12A
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YF-12A
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YF-12A
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YF-12A
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YF-12A
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two YF-12As
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YF-12C
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SR-71 'Blackbird' (Project codenamed "Senior Crown"):
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SR-71 landing
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SR-71
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SR-71
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SR-71s with
pilots
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SR-71 in
production
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SR-71 in
production
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SR-71 in
production
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SR-71 in
production
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SR-71s on the
ramp
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good frontal
shot
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after looking at
this for many minutes, I think it's real
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more
cool shed vortices vapor trails
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night ops
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one of the few
times this bird can be guilty of being too slow
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gulping down
JP-7 from a KC-135Q
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replentishing
the fuel tank inerting system
(liquid
nitrogen)
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we sneak up on
one here
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SR-71B
(trainer)
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SR-71B
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SR-71C
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TEB engine start
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an
eyebrow-melting engine start shot
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supersonic shock
diamonds
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GTD-21, a.k.a. D-21 [38 built, 21 expended] (Project codenamed "Tagboard",
and the aircraft was originally designated as the "Q-12"):
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misc.
shots |
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D-21 drone w/my
pilot son at the ramjet exhaust...
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D-21 drone
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nose,
frontal
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nose,
side
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...while
another D-21 snuck up on me.
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rear
end
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all
smarts were to be ejected and recovered...
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...by
this.
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a
gaggle of D-21s on the tarmac
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Ben
Rich's D-21 desktop model...
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...close-up.
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Some good text
writeups on the D-21:
here
&
here |
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D-21A
on
the A-12 (Project codenamed "Senior Bowl") The
two modified A-12s were redesignated as M-21s, although in the 1980's
these aircraft were originally referred to in some publications as M-12s. |
D-21 mating to
M-21
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D-21 mating to
M-21
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M-21 w/D-21
drone, lining up for refueling from a KC-135Q
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M-21 w/D-21
drone
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M-21 w/D-21
drone
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M-21 w/D-21
drone
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M-21 w/D-21
drone
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M-21 w/D-21
drone
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M-21 w/D-21
drone
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M-21 + D-21 at
Seattle Museum of Flight today
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prep
for early test flights
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prep for early
test flights
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damage
from first M-21 launch attempt, March 5 1966
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the disastrous
4th launch attempt on July 30 1966 (MPEG video, 16 MB)
(read event
details
here) |
D-21B
on
the B-52H (Project codenamed "Senior Bowl") |
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mating special
pylon to D-21
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mating special
pylon to D-21
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mating special
pylon to D-21
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the
booster to get the D-21 up to ramjet start speed (M=2.2)
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Booster, another
angle. It was a solid-fuel rocket with a length of 44' 4", a weight of 13,290 lbs, and a burn time
of ~90 seconds.
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mounting booster
in vertical test firing stand
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test firing
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good
view of the
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dropped and
falling clear!
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sled firing!
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D-21B flight
profile
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Report dead links to the webmaster.
This page was last updated on
01/18/15.
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