Lockheed A-12 Blackbird

Initially flown in 1962, the Lockheed A-12 Blackbird carried out sensitive reconnaissance missions at speeds above Mach 3. Created by Lockheed’s “Skunk Works” division under Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, the single-seat aircraft could fly as high as 100,000 feet, and its top recorded speed reached 2,269 mph. Fewer than 50 were built, and the early A-12s were used in CIA surveillance missions for the Air Force and NASA. This first production unit served early in 1962 as a radar-test example at the secret base Area 51. Its mostly titanium airframe, which incorporated carbon fiber composites, was covered with a special paint designed to reduce radar signature. The Blackbird used two Pratt and Whitney J-58 turbo-ramjets, each producing 32,000 pounds of thrust, and its adjacent starter cart was powered by two Buick 401 cubic-inch Wildcat engines of 350 horsepower each, similar to the V-8 engines of American muscle cars of the era. Equipped with high-power cameras, the A-12 could photograph details as small as cars, roads, and individual trees from 80,000 feet.

New York, New York · United States