Gizmodo
This is the A-12, a supersonic spy plane that was the precursor of the SR-71 —and according to the CIA, even while they look similar, in some ways it was more advanced than the famous Blackbird. It's one of 10 planes that survived the 15-plane OXCART program, one of which is in the USS Intrepid in Manhattan. This one was unveiled today by our dear friends at the CIA in an official ceremony at their Langley HQs. The story of this Mach 3.2 technological wonder starts in 1957 and, like all secret flying things full of gadgets, it's fascinating.
The OXCART program story began in 1957, when a contractor suggested that high-altitude supersonic flight was the only way to avoid Soviet air defenses. The CIA's Richard M. Bissell, who was directing the 1954 U-2 spy plane program at the time, was concerned about their vulnerability to USSR radars and anti-air missiles. He was right: in 1960 the Soviets shot down Francis Gary Powers' U-2 near Sverdlovsk.
By then the A-12 program was already under way: after Lockheed Aircraft completed "antiradar studies, aerodynamic structural tests, and engineering designs," the CIA gave the green light to produce the 12 aircraft on January 30th, 1960. It was still called the A-11 at the time and Lockheed engineer Clarence L. Johnson was the main designer. He also was responsible for the U-2 but, for some reason and after months of drawings and wind-tunnel model testing, people were still not convinced this beast could fly.
It did, but only after years of tests and adjustments. It was a difficult path. The aircraft skin, for example, had to made out of a titanium alloy, as it had to resist 550 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures while flying at top speed. The aircraft manufacturing process, which at that point only used aluminum frames, was an absolute nightmare. All machinery broke trying to work the titanium and new tooling parts had to be designed and created from scratch. As a result, each plane had to be hand-crafted.
The quest to make its radar signature was also painful. For one year and a half, a full- scale model of the plane manufactured with new radar-absorbent materials was tested. Sitting on a pylon in a secret base and after countless adjustments, it was discovered that adding some big metallic parts to each side of the fuselage reduced the radar footprint. Johnson thought it was going to harm the aerodynamics but, in later flight tests, it was clear it helped the lift. It was all part of the quest for radar invisibility but, years later, these features were used by Lockheed in other supersonic designs. As a result of all these changes to its original design, the plane got its final designation: the A-12.
The interior of the plane was also quite problematic: For reasons of weight, the plane had to be constructed without almost no thermal insulation, converting the cockpit into a true oven. As a result, the pilot had to use an astronaut-like suit with its own refrigeration system. And probably Clint Eastwood's Firefoxy asbestos underpants too.
Even the runway had to be specially created for the OXCART program. The initial test ground strip at a secret location in the Nevada desert (the CIA document doesn't mention it but it was probably Area 51) was only 5,000 feet long and incapable of supporting the weight of the A-12. Great for for UFO landings, but it needed pouring 25,000 yards of concrete to achieve the necessary strength and 8,500-feet length necessary for the A-12's take-off and landing.
However, at the end everything was solved and the pilots, who had to be six feet tall, under 175 pounds and come with The Right Stuff were selected: William L. Skliar, Kenneth S. Collins, Walter Ray, Lon Walter, Mele Vojvodich, Jr., Jack W. Weeks, Ronald "Jack" Layton, Dennis B. Sullivan, David P. Young, Francis J. Murray, and Russell Scott were the heroes' names, chosen to test this wild beast.
On April 26th 1962, the A-12 took to the skies. Louis Schack piloted it during its first 40-minute unofficial maiden flight. Four days later, he also took her into its official maiden flight for 59 minutes. It wasn't until May 4th that the A-12 broke the sound barrier for the first time, reaching Mach 1.1. During 1962 the aircraft kept evolving during flight testing but it wasn't until 1967, after countless delays caused by political discussions and a couple of accidents, that the A-12 was employed in real missions. The target: Vietnam.
The first mission was flown on May 31st 1967 and it accomplished all objectives. The A-12 force kept flying successfully, but was retired in 1968, when the SR-71 Blackbird took its place. Of the final 15 A-12s produced by Lockheed, five were lost and two pilots were killed. It may seem like not a lot was achieved, but this aircraft pushed the envelope in every way imaginable making many of the common concepts of modern supersonic aviation possible, from aerodynamic design to life support systems an specially manufacturing processes.
As Ken Collins —one of its pilots— said during the recent unveiling ceremony by the CIA at Langley: "It was a beautiful airplane, it was a beautiful airplane to land, and just technically a fantastic airplane to fly."
And indeed, it was. [CIA and Agence France-Presse]
Comments
Wait, what? That document says 1994. Do you mean they unveiled a plane for display? It sounds like your talking about the program and not just a static display.
Does it ever freak you out when you stop and think about how many of the military planes flying were made in the 40-60s ? Not designed, but MADE.
I can't believe EM Land was involved with the project.
I remember standing out on the driveway at night in Oregon when I was a kid in the mid-60s. We were watching satellites go over (back then they were still big deals).
All of a sudden, two lights went from the northern horizon to the southern horizon in about 5 seconds. This airplane is the only thing that could account for what we thought were UFOs. It was unbelievable how fast they were going. There is no way any other plane of that era could have possibly gone that fast.
There's been an A-12 on the deck of the USS Intrepid off the western shore of Manhattan for years now; most people think it's an SR-71, but nope, it's an A-12. (Unfortunately, the Intrepid is in dry dock for the next year or so getting rehabbed, so you can't go see it.)
Nice write up. Gives me a new plane to lookup. Is this one a single seater unlike the SR71 which was a twin seater? Also, Anti-Air Missiles is not corret. It's Surface to Air Missiles, hence the abbreviation SAM. Also, I believe Kelly Johnson was in charge of this program as it was most likely part of Skunk Works.
You see that pic with them all in a row on the tarmac? Wikipedia says that's Area 51.
@leicaman: Did you hear any sonic booms?
Hey, I recognize a Gizmodo Enhanced photo when I see one!
Man, you think these were cool?
Up here in canada we had the most bad-ass plane of the 50's...the Avro Aero. But you shmucks didn't like the idea of us having the most kickass plane so you sold us missles and made the government literally destroy all the planes.
Asses.
Wikipedia says a lot of things RCARYDON.
I've always been a big sr71 fan. Just saw one on display at the ft walton AFB next to Destin, FL. The one difference I recognize is the SR71 has a longer tail.
Sure would be good to know what "better" spy stuff it had on it. I'm skeptical of this statement as why wouldn't they put the best on the sr71 as they were classified aircrafts as well....
Anyone?
A program involving the production of supersonic aircraft called OXCART. Nice.
I grew up at Edwards AFB and witnessed a Blackbird fly over my head at approx 100 ft. I've also heard the cameras on the Blackbird could clearly show the date imprinted on a dime from an altitude of 80,000 ft.
@Rob C:
Don't make me cry. I'm one of the biggest Arrow fanboys around, and my blood boils every time I think of how stupid we were to cancel that program.
The Arrow 206 (the first one with the Iroquis engines) could have flown circles around this thing, not to mention the fact that it had operational specs that were superior to anything the Canadian Forces flies today (lousy Hornet...).
If you're interested in this kind of stuff, a good read is "Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed" by Ben R. Rich and Leo Janos. It's a fantastic insider's account of the process of the engineering behind the blackbird and F-117A.
There's also a blackbird on display at the Strategic Air and Space museum outside of Omaha, Nebraska if you are ever driving cross country or in the area.
I recall from a book about the Skunkworks that these planes had a titanium skin, and the only country which could produce enough titanium was the USSR. So the CIA managed to procure titanium from the Russians via convoluted 3rd/4th/5th/whatever-source contributors, and the CCCP didn't know it was a key part of the A12/SR71 program. Is that correct?
My grandpa was deputy director of special programs and operations in the CIA and was one of the people in charge of developing all of these planes (SR-71/ U-2). Its cool to see more of the stuff he was involved with since most of it is still top secret.
Yes, this was declassified in 1994, it's nice to bring up the classics,, what's next? Tacit blue,, Have Blue, Bird of Prey?
Great Spotting Leicaman, that must have been amazing, I'm very jealous (seriously, always wanted to see some top level secrecy planes). I did see the stealth back when they'd build a tape line around it, then station two guys with loaded M-16's on either side of it with signs authorizing deadly force, too bad they're retiring them in a year.
As for the A-12 program and it's location at Area 51, yes, it was based there. There's a great book by Ben Rich (Kelly Johnson's successor) all about finding the area, and setting up the whole watertown strip. Also, look up the roadrunners and the guys that worked on the HABU stuff, so cool!
um
ummmm .... hasn't the A-12 been known about for quite a while?
Kelly Johnson was a god among engineers.
government always says that they want "PEACE"
THEN WHY THE HELL ARE THEY CREATING THIS WHOLE SHIT?! SPYING?!
That sucks for whoever has spot 48 in Langley's parking lot.
There's a SR-71 at the Seattle Museum of Space and Flight and there is also one at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Museum in Dayton Ohio..
I don't think you can call yourself a true airplane enthusiast until you've been to the Wright-Patterson Museum. It's the largest military air museum in the world. My personal favorites planes of all time are the X-1, SR-71, P-51, P-38, and the YB-70 (which they have at the museum as well. The YB doesn't look that impressive in photos but when you stand below it and realize how huge it is and then stand behind it and go, "damn this thing looks like a star destroyer". It's hard to beat a Mach 3 bomber.
There's an A-12 parked outside the space museum in Huntsville, Alabama. They're pretty damn big. Fun space museum too, check it out if you happen to be in Huntsville..
Hey MacBandit, nice to bring up the YB-70 Valkyrie. That was one kick-ass aircraft.
NORTH AMERICAN XB-70 VALKYRIE:
spec metric english
________________________________________________
wingspan 32 meters 105 feet
wing area 586.2 sq_meters 6,298 sq_feet
length (no boom) 56.7 meters 185 ft 10 in
height 9.38 meters 30 feet 9 in
empty weight 136,055 kilograms 300,000 pounds
max takeoff weight 246,365 kilograms 542,000 lbs
maximum speed 3,310 KPH 2,056 MPH
service ceiling 23,580 meters 77,350 feet
ferry range 6,925 kilometers 4,300 MI
@MacBandit: lived just 20 minutes away from the museum most of my life. it really is a great museum, many of my family and some friends have traveled quite a lot to go there. some of those planes are just amazing. i was always happy they had the sr71. it still is, to this day, one of my favorite planes. it was just classic. well enough rambling, everyone go see it. [:
"As a result, each plane had to be hand-crafted."
holy...shit...
You know, it's threads like this that make me miss Discovery Wings Channel. XB-70 is one of the most beautiful aircraft ever created. Too bad the contract wasn't awarded on looks. It would have beat out the B-1.
PS. That pic is of Area 51. It would be looking south down the main runway. That little how-ya-doin' that looks like a taxi-way (but isn't) or a oddly shaped cul-d-sac is in the sat images on the Maps of the Goo. "http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=37.257249,-115.807915&spn=0.089219,0.131149&t=k&z=13&om=1"
These planes are awesome.
There is an A-12 at the Museum of Flight in Seattle and it has the D-21 drone that sat on top, too. Might be the only one left for the public to see.
I went there when I was about 13 and I was really into SR-71s. I was totally geeked to see a drone on top kind of like the GI Joe version.
WE'RE NOT WORTHY!!!!!!!!
::worships::
The A-12 was 'better' than the SR-71 in that it reportedly was a bit faster and could fly a bit higher.
Why? It was a little bit smaller and lighter, with the same power plants - the P&W J58. When the USAF took over the design was enlarged as the YF-12 interceptor, and the third YF-12 prototype was re-worked as the first SR-71. It was larger to carry a heavier payload and more fuel (longer range), as well as the second crew member. (The area of the second cockpit was an equipment bay on the A-12.)
Ditto that SPACEMAN7!
Ditto that!
Another descendant of the A-12 program was a single airframe called a B-71, an answer to the ill fated XB-70. The XB-70 wins cuz they built two of those and they both flew for a bit. also if the airframe had a "Stinger" tail instead of a smooth trailing wing edge, its most likely a 71
Oh, and the 12s had a ventral vertical stabilizer that folded sideways for landing.
Sure the A-12 is faster, and has a higher ceiling but who cares? Its not like there is any airplane then or now that can compete with the SR-71 in sustained altitude or speed. Then there is the X-15, which has lost the record of altitude but only by only about 1000 plus feet. Which isn't bad considering the X-15 was retired in 68 but held the record for 41 years (As the record was made in 63). That being said, the X-15 is still the King as far as speed goes in a manned Aircraft goes.
The only problem is that such aircraft are expensive, even today, so it's really understandable that nobody else has bothered really. Especially with the Cold War over, and conventional methods being useless against our current foe. If military might was all we needed, we would of won by now. Of course that was the lesson of Vietnam that we refused to head, oh well.
Still, whatever these aircraft were used for, there is no denying that that they are engineering marvels. Though again, its unfortunate that our genius as a species only shows in warfare and the invention of weaponry to destroy each other. Still, despite human nature being what it is, such inventions can take on a life of their own.
Oh, by the way, apparently this A-12 was previously in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Minnesota was not very happy to give up their A-12, and as you see now lost the fight to keep it. So it was dismantled and Shipped to Langley.
There is nothing like an SR-71. That plane's such a quantum leap forward in aeronautical engineering and design that even 50 years after its inception it still looks like it was designed 100 years from now.
@giuseppe:
Boeing has an M-21 Black Bird basically an SR-71 but it is not an A-12. I think a lot of people here are getting the two confused.
The "Blackbird" that was at the Interpid was an A-12? My god. I thought it was an SR-71 this WHOLE time. My world is collapsing around me.
This plane is old! Jeeze Giz, this has been on the internet since 1968!
*sarcasm*
The plane on the Intrepid's deck is an A-12, not a SR-71.
@Brentis: "ft walton AFB" ... you mean Eglin AFB or Hurlburt Field.
I lived in Auburn California when i was five. It happens to be on the flight path into Beale Air Force Base. Starting in the early 70s many of the Blackbirds were stationed there. I will never forget seeing my first one literally float over head. I swear to this day it was so low I could have hit with a rock! It seemed to pass overhead so slowly and so quietly. I've been hooked on them ever since. Nice post.
Unfortunately, this plane was stolen from the Air Guard museum in Minneapolis, MN after spending many, many years there completely forgotten by the CIA. A group of very dedicated volunteers spent much time and money getting it back in the shape it's in and it was simply taken away from them by the CIA without and compensation. This plane was basically junked by the CIA and left to rot, and now they just take it back!?
This is not a day of celebration but a day of sadness, really, as our government shows it can just push its weight around when it suddenly decides it wants a spy plane at its headquarters.