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:
CIA
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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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Aviation HistoryCold War EraMilitary Aviation
The Fulton-equipped B-17 that saved 007 in the movie Thunderball had also flown the longest B-17 mission ever (it lasted more than 19 hours and was flown over China by a Taiwanese pilot)
by Dario LeoneThe long-endurance flights in the B-17 were made possible by the addition of another additional fuel tank in the bomb bay.…
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Civil AviationLosses and Aviation Safety
The sad story of Tanker 130, the C-130 whose wings fall off during the 2002 fire season
by Dario LeoneIn 2002, a C-130, call sign Tanker 130 owned by Hawkins & Powers Aviation of Greybull, Wyoming and operated under contract to the United States…
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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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Aviation HistoryCold War EraMilitary Aviation
60 Years Ago Today, the Surface-To-Air Missile Scored the First Ever Successful Shoot-Down of an Aircraft
by Dario LeoneOn Oct. 7, 1959 an S-75 Dvina surface-to-air missile was fired by China’s People’s Liberation Army 2nd surface-to-air missile battalion and…
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Aviation HistoryCold War EraMilitary Aviation
Francis Gary Powers Jr. reveals exclusive details on the shoot-down of his father’s U-2
by Dario Leone“Especially in light of the U-2 that was shot down over Cuba in 1962, I understood my father’s frustration. All of…
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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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Aviation HistoryCold War EraMilitary Aviation
The story of Carmine Vito, the only U-2 pilot to fly over Moscow
by Dario Leone“I learned later that the Soviets launched at least five fighters to intercept my flight. Two planes took off initially. The…
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