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A-12 Blackbird

A-12 Blackbird 06933
Since its first official flight this unique aircraft has been the uncontested winner of the world's continuing race for the skies. During its twenty-eight years of service, the Blackbird was the only air-breathing aircraft in the world that was capable of sustained speeds in excess of mach 3 at altitudes above 85,000 feet. Cloaked in secrecy in its day, and to this day, the Blackbird remains an enigma. Design and development was funded in 1959. The first flight fo the first A-12 took place on April 26, 1962. Less than three dozen of these historic aircraft were ever built. They were powered by two Pratt and Whitney J-58 turbo-ram jet engines capable of 32,000 pounds of thrust each. The Blackbirds are 93% titanium, and are capable of carrying 84,180 pounds of fuel. Few in number, the Blackbirds met our nation's strategic reconnaissance requirements for almost three decades. Typically, one of these aircraft could survey a strip of the United States 30 miles wide from coast to coast in an hour's time. This aircraft, S/N 130 06933, one of the original production A-12s, made its maiden flight on November 27, 1963. It was retired after 217 flights in August 1965, with a total accumulated flight time of 406.20 hours. 06933 was in open storage at Palmdale, California for twenty-five years before the U.S. Air Force authorized the museum to exhibit the plane at its present location. The plane was disassembled and trucked to San Diego in October 1990. Following restoration, it was brought to Balboa Park and placed on public display in June 1991.

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