Which member of the Blackbird family was the faster and which one reached the highest altitude? The iconic SR-71 Blackbird spy…
Cold War EraMilitary Aviation
Tag:
A-12 Oxcart
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Cold War EraMilitary Aviation
Clarence “Kelly” Johnson described the first flight of the top secret A-12 Oxcart as “horrible to watch.” Here’s why.
by Dario LeoneUpon returning to the runway, it was discovered that some of the A-12’s equipment was installed backwards. On Apr. 26, 1962,…
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Cold War EraMilitary AviationSR-71 BlackbirdSR-71 Top Speed
This Aircraft was Faster than the SR-71 (Look Closely it’s not a Blackbird)
by Dario LeoneThe A-12 Oxcart was a super-secret, single-seater spy plane and was more secret and much rarer than the SR-71. In fact, the…
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Cold War EraMilitary Aviation
The True Fastest Speed Ever Reached by a Lockheed Blackbird
by Dario Leone“During early flight testing at Area 51 with the A-12s, Jim Eastham told me that A-12 #128 flew as fast as…
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Cold War EraMilitary AviationSR-71 Blackbird
Interesting Video Explains how SR-71’s J58 Turbo-Ramjet Engine Works
by Dario LeoneAbove Mach 2.2, some of the airflow is bled from the fourth stage of the compressor and dumped into the augmentor…
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Aviation HistoryCold War EraMilitary AviationSR-71 Blackbird
Bob Gilliland, the First Man to fly the iconic SR-71, Passes Away
by Dario LeoneBob Gilliland made the historic SR-71 first flight on Dec. 22, 1964. Robert J. “Bob” Gilliland, former Lockheed test pilot and…
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JQB-47E 53-4256 was involved in the top secret project Kedlock. The interesting photo in this post features JQB-47E 53-4256 which had…
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Cold War EraMilitary Aviation
How the U.S. secretly tested the A-12 RCS during the Cuban Missile Crisis
by Dario LeoneDuring the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, nineteen SA-2 missile sites were constructed on the island supported by P-14 “Tall King” radars.…
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Cold War EraLosses and Aviation SafetyMilitary Aviation
Time to eject! The story of the A-12 pilot that bailed out safely from his Oxcart after it went into a flat inverted spin
by Dario Leone“In a matter of seconds, all hell broke out. Without any warning the A-12 pitched up and went into a flat…
