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The first public Blackbird display was conducted at Edwards Air Force Base in September 1964. Lyndon Johnson announced the existence of the A-11, a 2,000-mph interceptor capable of flight at altitudes above 70,000 feet. A pair of YF-12As were flown down from Groom Lake to be displayed as A-11s at the event. 60-6936 posed for static shots and 60-6934 took off and performed flybys. They were still warm from the supersonic flight to Edwards when they were rolled into a hangar. The residual heat set off the sprinkler system in the hangar.
Mark Hickman ran across a set of photographs of the YF-12A display at the estate sale of General Dynamics executive Gordon E. MacDonald of St. Louis.
YF-12A 60-6934 takes off from the Edwards runway. Photo from estate of Gordon E. MacDonald via Mark Hickman.
YF-12A 60-6934 flies past. Photo from estate of Gordon E. MacDonald via Mark Hickman.
It appears that the photographer is attracting the wrong sort of attention from the MP as 60-6936 taxies to its parking place. Photo from estate of Gordon E. MacDonald via Mark Hickman.
YF-12A 60-6936 on static display. The business jet on the right side of the shot is the twin-engine prototype of the Lockheed Jetstar N329K. Production Jetstars had four engines. N329K was Kelly Johnson's personal transport. Photo from estate of Gordon E. MacDonald via Mark Hickman.
YF-12A 60-6935 on static display at the May
19, 1970 Edwards AFB Open House. Photogapher: Richard Lockett
YF-12A 60-6936 at the May 19, 1970 Edwards AFB
Open House. Photogapher: Richard Lockett
NASA's first SR-71A 61-7951 was given the fictitious designation YF-12C and serial number 60-6937. It is seen at Edwards AFB, October 12, 1977, following the fourth Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Test flight.
SR-71A 61-7951 is now on display at Pima Air and Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona.
YF-12A 60-6935 on static display
at the Edwards AFB Open House on November 13, 1977.
The ventral fin of YF-12A 60-6935 is decorated with a Skunk Works skunk. The ribbon above the tail number is the Air Force Outstanding Unit Citation.
YF-12A 60-6935 on static display at the November 12, 1978 Edwards AFB Open House. It had acquired a small set of shaker vanes for ride control experiments.
YF-12A 60-6935 is now on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird 61-7971 on static display at the May 31, 1980 Beale AFB airshow. It was assigned to NASA fro 1991 to 1994. It is now on display at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon. Photogapher: Richard Lockett
Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird 61-7971. Photogapher: Richard Lockett
Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird 61-7971. Photogapher: Richard Lockett
Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird 61-7971. Photogapher: Richard Lockett
Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird 61-7971. Photogapher: Brian Lockett
SR-71A 61-7971 is now on display at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, McMinnville, Oregon.
Lockheed SR-71A 61-7964 Blackbird made its last flight from RAF Mildenhall in England to Beale AFB on March 20, 1990. It is now displayed at the Strategic Air Command Museum in Ashland, Nebraska. Photogapher: Richard Lockett
Lockheed SR-71A 61-7964 Blackbird . Photogapher: Brian Lockett
Lockheed SR-71A 61-7964 Blackbird. Photogapher: Richard Lockett
Lockheed SR-71A 61-7964 Blackbird. Photogapher: Richard Lockett
Lockheed SR-71A 61-7964 Blackbird. Photogapher: Brian Lockett
Lockheed SR-71A 61-7964 Blackbird high speed afterburner pass. Photogapher: Brian Lockett
Lockheed SR-71A 61-7964 Blackbird. Photogapher: Richard Lockett
Lockheed SR-71A 61-7964 Blackbird. Photogapher: Richard Lockett
Lockheed SR-71A 61-7964 Blackbird low speed dirty pass. Photogapher: Brian Lockett
Lockheed SR-71A 61-7964 Blackbird low speed dirty pass. Each main landing gear bogey is equipped with three wheels that are pressurized with nitrogen. The angle of attack is much greater at low airspeed. Photogapher: Brian Lockett
Lockheed SR-71A 61-7964 Blackbird deploys its drag chute as it lands at the end of its performance. Photogapher: Brian Lockett
SR-71A 61-7964 is now on display at the Strategic Air Command museum facility in Ashland, Nebraska.
SR-71A 61-7974 on static display at the October 5, 1980 Edwards AFB Open House. It has acquired the Skunk Works logo on its tail.
Head-on view of SR-71A 61-7974.
SR-71A 61-7974 was lost on April 21, 1989 following an engine explosion and complete hydraulic failure while outbound from Kadena AB, Okinawa. Pilot Dan E. House and RSO Blair L. Bozek ejected safely.
SR-71A 61-7975 on static display at the November 2, 1980 March AFB airshow.
SR-71A, 61-7975 makes a low altitude pass as it departs March AFB on November 3, 1980, the day after the airshow. The Thunderbirds' T-38A Talons are parked on the flightline.
SR-71A 61-7975 is now on display at the March Field Museum, California.
SR-71A 61-7971 on static display at the October 31, 1981 Beale AFB airshow. It was assigned to NASA fro 1991 to 1994. It is now on display at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon. . Photogapher: Richard Lockett
SR-71A 61-7971 on static display at the October 31, 1981 Beale AFB airshow.
SR-71A 61-7971 on static display at the October 31, 1981 Beale AFB airshow. Photogapher: Richard Lockett
SR-71A 61-7971 on static display at the October 31, 1981 Beale AFB airshow.
Lockheed SR-71A 61-7974 crewed by Gil Bertelson and Frank Stampf departed the October 31, 1981 Beale AFB airshow early in order to appear at two other airshows that day. According to Frank Stampf: "We departed Beale early that morning and did a short supersonic leg to Colorado Springs, where we did a flyby for the Air Force-Army game. We then went supersonic back to Beale and made two low passes to open the show. We then flew subsonic to California and did a low pass at Point Magu, then to March AFB where we did two low passes before landing and putting the airplane on static display for the weekend. To top it off, I left Beale on that trip as a captain on October 31, and returned to Beale as a major on November 1."
Lockheed SR-71A 61-7974 flying at the October 31, 1981 Beale AFB airshow.
Long trails of shock diamonds appear in the exhaust flame as the afterburners ignite. They disappear after just a few seconds.
SR-71A 61-7955 on static display at the October 30, 1983 Edwards AFB Open House. It was equipped with an Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar System (ASARS) nose fairing.
SR-71A 61-7955 is now on display at Edwards Air Force Base.
SR-71A 61-7972 on static display at the November 3, 1985 Edwards AFB Open House. Low visibility markings were adopted in the mid-1980s. The white United States Air Force lettering was removed from the fuselage. Remaining markings were painted red.
SR-71A 61-7972 is now on display at the Udvar-Hazy Centerof the National Air and Space Museum.
SR-71A 61-7968 arriving at the October 15, 1988
March AFB airshow.
The entire upper portion of each vertical stabilizer is movable to provide adequate rudder control authority in the event of an engine failure.
The crew of SR-71A 61-7968 step down from the acccess platform after greeting the crowd. Note Boeing B-17G N3703G and Consolidated B-24J N94459 in the background.
SR-71A 61-7968 is now on display at the Science Museum of Virginia at Richmond.
SR-71A 61-7962 at Norton AFB on November 12, 1988.
SR-71A 61-7962 at Norton AFB on November 12, 1988.
The crew of SR-71A 61-7962 shake hands before departing the November 12, 1988 Norton Air Force Base airshow. The yellow boxes at the base of the ladders are the portable environmental control packs for their pressure suits.
SR-71A 61-7962 departs the November 12, 1988 Norton Air Force Base airshow.
SR-71A 61-7962 flying past Norton AFB on November 12, 1988.
SR-71A 61-7962 flying past Norton AFB on November 12, 1988. A cloud has formed in the vortex streaming from the outboard chine.
SR-71A 61-7962 is now on display at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, United Kingdom.
Surviving D-21 drones were in storage at AMARC on September 9, 1989. Eight of the seventeen drones are visible in this picture. They were placed in the middle of a row of McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs to limit their visibility.
SR-71A 61-7980 on static display at the October 14, 1989 Beale AFB airshow. It was the last SR-71A constructed. It was later assigned to NASA and registered as NASA 844.
SR-71A 61-7980 is now on display at the Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base.
SR-71A, 61-7976
SR-71A, 61-7976 takes off at the October 14,
1989 Beale AFB airshow.
SR-71A, 61-7976
SR-71A, 61-7976 deploys its drag chute even before its nose wheels have touched down.
SR-71A 61-7976 is now on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
SR-71A 61-7972 on static display at the October 29, 1989 Edwards AFB Open House.
SR-71A 61-7972
SR-71A 61-7972 makes a low speed, dirty pass later in the day. The Air Force removed the SR-71 fleet from service shortly after this airshow.
SR-71A, 61-7971 on static display in NASA markings at the October 6, 1990 Edwards AFB Open House. It was registered as NASA 832. The cambered leading edge of the wing delayed airflow separation at high angle of attack and also offloaded the outer wing panels at high mach, shifting the center of lift forward to counteract the natural tendency of the delta wing to shift the center of lift aft at higher mach numbers.
A-12 60-0924 at the future site of Blackbird Airpark in Palmdale on May 1, 1991. It still carries remnants of
protective spray-on latex coating. Some parts of the airframe were still unpainted titanium. The Space Shuttle Endeavor can be seen on 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, N911NA in the background. Endeavor's delivery flight to the NASA Kennedy Space Center had been postoned until the following day.
The sole SR-71C, 61-7981 on static display at the June 27, 1992 Hill Air Force Base airshow. After the loss of the first SR-71B trainer, the rear fuselage of YF-12A, 60-6934 was mated to an engineering mockup of the SR-71A to create another trainer. The result was dubbed the "Bastard". It is in the collection of the Hill Air Force Base Museum.
The SR-71C was given a raised rear cockpit similar to the SR-71B.
The red BB tail code of the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing had been applied to the tail of SR-71A 61-7971 when it appeared at the 1996 Edwards AFB Open House. NASA had returned it to the Air Force.
The Air Force returned a pair of SR-71As to flightworthy status in 1997. The red BB tail code of the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing had been applied to the tail of SR-71A 61-7967 when it appeared at the 1997 Nellis Golden Air Tattoo.
SR-71A 61-7967 is n display at the 8th Air Force Museum at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.
SR-71A, 61-7971 made several passes on the
first day of the airshow. A flat tire prevented its appearance at
the airshow the following day.
The afterburners do not always ignite at the
same time.
NASA's SR-71A N844NA and SR-71B N831NA in their hangar at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center on July 13, 1997.
NASA's SR-71B N831NA was delivered to the Air Force as 61-7956.
NASA's SR-71B N831NA
SR-71B 61-7956 is n display at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo, Michigan.
NASA's SR-71A N844NA
Boeing-McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18B N852NA assumes position off the wing of NASA's SR-71B N831NA as it takes off at the Edwards Air Force Base open house on October 18, 1997.
The Air Force serial number of the SR-71B is 61-7956.
The trainer variants of the SR-71 have ventral fins under each engine nacelle, similar to those on the YF-12A. They offset the increase in area of the raised rear cockpit located forward of the center of gravity.
Note the effect that the turbulent exhaust has on the appearance of objects beyond the airplane.
The crew wears full pressure suits
for their flight to 80,000 feet altitude.
NASA's SR-71B, N831NA was displayed in the main hangar at the October 9, 1999 Edwards Air Force Base Open House.
NASA SR-71A N844NA performed the flight demonstration at the October 9, 1999 Edwards Air Force Base Open House.
NASA SR-71A N844NA
The Air Force serial number of NASA's SR-71A N844NA is 61-7980.
Three GTD-21 drones parked on the edge of Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards AFB, October 30, 2000.
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