[MilCom] "BLACKBIRD" SR-71

[Duane Mantick]

That was quite a delightful presentation!!!  I have always enjoyed reading Blackbird stuff when it comes from those who actually flew it, as I think they have a unique perspective.

As a Blackbird fan(atic) for quite a few years, I would add that the number of 40 given doesn't accurately reflect production if you are looking at strictly SR-71's.  All of the reference works that I have (which has grown into a fair pile) indicate 31 SR-71's produced from serial numbers 17950 through 17980.  Two of these were SR-71B's, which were dedicated trainers clearly identifiable by the raised rear cockpit. One was lost; one survived. A 32nd SR71, 17981 known as the SR-71C (and also referred to as "The Bastard") was constructed out of the rear half of a wrecked YF-12A with the front half being an engineering item. This was also a raised-rear-cockpit trainer, but was not well liked and by most accounts was only used when the surviving original trainer, 17956, was down for maintenance.  One aircraft, 17959, was known as "Big Tail" and survives (although when I saw it she was in pretty lousy condition) at the Eglin AFB museum.  959 had a special
 extra length tail section designed to hold additional equipment as a trial to extend the aircraft's capabilities; but none of the references I have indicate that this ever went beyond the trial phase.

BEFORE the SR-71, the first Blackbird was built for the CIA and was known as the A-12.  I think the presentation only referred to this very superficially.  This was a single-seat aircraft; for museum birds this is the quickest way to identify one as in some cases they have been (apparently) *deliberately mis-identified* as SR-71's.  References indicate 13 A-12's and 2 M-12's (sometimes referred to as M-21) constructed.  The M-12/21's were built as carriers for the D-21 drone, probably the least well-known member of the Blackbird family. An accident destroyed one of the two M-12's and caused one fatality; and the D-21's were modified to be carried on wing-mounted pylons of a B-52.  So far as I can tell, no operational D-21 mission was ever carried out from the back of an M-12.  D-21 production appears to be approximately 38 vehicles, with approximately 17 having survived.  Several examples are on display including one on the restored surviving M-12,
 06940, at the Seattle Museum of Flight.

One A-12 was a raised-rear-cockpit trainer.

The YF-12A, of which three were built, was an advanced interceptor (!!!) with incredible capabilities for its day. It would take too long to detail that here but suffice to say that if you can imagine a Blackbird with a big honkin' radar in an oversized nose that could shoot missiles while cruising at over Mach 3, you've just discovered the YF-12A.  While the program was cancelled, the YF's demonstrated unparalleled capability for their time.  In a sense, some of the concept did live on as the hardware used in the F-14 Tomcat (radar and missiles) can be said to be developed from those used on the YF-12A.  One YF-12A, 06935, survived and is at the USAF Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB Dayton, OH.

That's a thumbnail on the subject; there are some excellent books available on the subject that give considerable detail.

Duane



--- On Tue, 11/18/08, Jack Nesmith <jnesmith2 at cfl.rr.com> wrote:

> From: Jack Nesmith <jnesmith2 at cfl.rr.com>
> Subject: [MilCom] "BLACKBIRD" SR-71
> To: "milcom" <milcom at mailman.qth.net>
> Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 11:10 AM
> http://www.greatdanepromilitary.com/SR-71/index.htm
> 
> 
> Jack
> Deltona, FL
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