jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

The A-12 is the plane displayed on the NYC aircraft carrier Intrepid, although most people assume it's an SR-71. Here's an interesting article about eh A-12.

http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/LatestNews/December-2012/A-12-Blackbird,-Faster-than-a-Speeding-Bullet!.aspx

DePratt Loc: Stantonsburg, NC

I would have liked to be told some of the differences between the two.


DePratt

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

DrWilk Loc: .

They were virtually the same plane as far as shape and configuration is concerned although the A-12 was a little bit faster and could fly just a little bit higher and it only needed one person to fly it but couldnt go as far.

DePratt Loc: Stantonsburg, NC

Thank you jerryc41 interesting reading.

DePratt

nicksr1125 Loc: Mesa, AZ

1 of the cameras on the SR-71, I think it was the OBC, had a frame 6' long. The magazine had a capacity of 10,500'. That would allow for about 1750 frames per roll. It used to take about 12 hours to process a full roll. Since our duplicating film came in 500' rolls, we cut the original down to 80 frame rolls as it came off the processor. That allowed for leader & trailer to be added during editing and preparation for duplication. By the time the last roll of original was ready for duplication, the 1st rolls had already been through edit, QC, duplication, post-duplication QC & edit, and were in the hands of the photo interpreters. I was assigned to the 548th Recon Technical Group at Hickam AFB, HI from 1980-83 and ran the QC shop. Got to see a lot of interesting imagery.

Sunrepairer Loc: N.H.

i believe the air force was considering that plane as an interceptor dubbed the
Yf-12a also.

richosob Loc: Lambertville, MI

Thanks for posting I didn't know there was an A-12 Blackbird

Rich

Ctrclckws

The A-12 was developed with the black budget of the CIA. It was a single seater, thus very busy for the pilot.
The YF-12 was a proposed interceptor version.
The SR-71 replaced some of the equipment bay area with a second seat.
The general configuration of all of them was similar.
And it was designed with slide rules.

346pak Loc: Texas

[quote=DePratt]I would have liked to be told some of the differences between the two.

The A-12 was the original design for the CIA. The SR-71 was very similar but ordered by the Air Force and required a pilot and a back seater. Both had the same engines, the P&W J58. Both the airframe and engines were works of art, engineering marvels and waaaaay ahead of their time. Still not a faster airplane out there.

j45 Loc: North Central CT

Here is a Wikipedia page on the A-12. The fourth photo down on the right, not including the diagrams, is a head-on view of the A-12, on display at the Intrepid Sea-To-Air Space Museum.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_A-12

THERE IS YOUR "FLYING SAUCER"!

http://roadrunnersinternationale.com/a-12s.html

FredCM Loc: Central Illinois

There is a YF-12 at the National Museum of the U. S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, OH. IIRC, its fuselage is shorter than the SR-71 fuselage, quite a bit shorter.

j45 Loc: North Central CT

The A12 was called the Oxcart. Don't know how far back prototype designs were tested. I have seen other photos of this plane at different angles and, yes, flying around so fast one could probably only perceive that head-on shape.

I have occasionally read for years, about all that flying saucer stuff and Roswell and related. The Famous "Project Blue Book", the Air Force project that collected data on UFOs, it's main mission was to cultivate the "flying saucer" UFO mystique just to keep the minds and perceptions of the public 180 degrees off of what they are really sighting, and also just to find out how much the general public is seeing up there.

Keep in mind that the term UFO means Unidentified Flying Object - that's all it means. It does not mean "flying saucer", especially as assumed from other than this earth - Alien Space Craft Its something that is real and not some atmospheric or other anomaly , it flies, and isn't identified - PERIOD.

My interest here is mostly what others is, here, in the spy plane and not so much Roswell or UFOs. (well, maybe a little bit)

If the gov. in secret is flying around flying saucers, then leave them to their methods and reasons. Our money in Defense budget pouring into a black hole. These things fly around in that black hole.

Recently there was a news article that mentioned that the Gov is proposing development of a new Blackbird that could travel many times faster than the current design. In this modern age they think the best method of design is a craft that flies so fast that even though detected, the enemy couldn't do anything about it - it would be GONE. Interesting. I suspect that this craft, in development, is already flying around.

U-2 a much simpler bird and I am not sure if it goes back further than the Oxcart, but even though the Blackbird isn't currently used, that U-2 is very much still in service. Among other things for spotting forest fires. It was extensively in service in Desert Storm.

If you do a Google search on SR71 and A-12 etc. you will see other profiles of this plane which very plainly shows that "flying saucer" shape. Saw one a few minutes ago, and now can't locate it.

As I said before, "there is your flying saucer". I don't intend to imply I think there are no other reasons for these "UFO" sightings in history, I don't address that, but that unique Oxcart shape is sure telling!

travelwp Loc: New Jersey

There's lots to see on the Intrepid. My wife and I visited it a few years ago:

http://travelwp.com/2011-0528-uss-intrepid-page.htm

denoferth Loc: Portsmouth, NH

YF-12A had a bit different appearance, especially in the front. Both the A-12 and SR-71 had chines extending from the leading edges of the wings extending up both sides of the nose. The YF-12A's chines stopped short just in front, and both sides of the cockpit, ending in rounded sensors while the fuselage continued on to end in a slender, needle-nose radome enclosing its search radar. It also had a side-retracting fin that swung down from the bottom rear when in flight. The only one I ever saw was also natural titanium color so very different than the all black SR-71.

Our weather unit supplied upper air and satellite meteorological data in support of SAE Black Bird missions out of Kadena. Since the SR-71was a very distinctive (and loud) aircraft the AF concocted a nifty story someone felt would fool the hordes of foreign photographers jamming the base fences before missions. (Strange how they always seemed to know when there was a mission on). The government flew in an actual YF-12A Interceptor to Kadena AB, Okinawa while I was stationed there. Unlike the all black SR-71 it was unpainted titanium and local legend had it flown in by famous test pilot Darryl Greenamyer. It was brought in (at great expense) to provide a cover story for the SR-71 flights based out of Kadena. The next day it took off and made a great show of doing a few very noisy tight circles inside the base perimeter that shook the ground in a most impressive way! All for the benefit of the hordes of Japanese photographers massed outside the base fence along the perimeter road.

Up to that time the AF still insisted the SR-71 did not exist, were of course, painted black and had a completely different shaped nose than the YF-12A so were obviously at least a different model. In a somewhat futile effort to block the army of telephoto lenses aimed at the plane it was kept underground between missions. As soon as it landed it was quickly rolled into its underground hanger to cool off and as soon as engines were started it just as quickly left from that same location so as to be in sight for the shortest amount of time. Too bad they couldn’t do anything about the sound. The AF issued a ridiculously unbelievable press release that appeared in the local paper explaining that the SR's were stationed at Kadena to provide for the air defense of the Ryukyu Islands. That probably fooled a few bar girls in New Koza. I doubt if anyone else bought it. The SR’s weren’t visible on our radar when they were pointed at the antenna so it always came as a surprise to the controllers when one would radio in out of the blue, so to speak.

They needed cloudy weather, (or night), to hide their direction after takeoff, (spies, sorry, foreign nationals were everywhere!), and a clear sky over the target. We provided the satellite photos and upper air met data to them so it didn’t take long to figure out that if it was cloudy over certain parts of the world they stayed on the ground but they flew when those places were clear. Mission SOP was to stay low after takeoff and duck into the biggest cloud in the area before setting course from there.