#a-12

[cucumbe-sam]

Just standing awkwardly all four of yall

[usafphantom2]

Why could the SR 71 and the A-12 could never fly Mach 3. 5 and above like so many think it was capable of.

Burnt to a crisp! They’re not talking about bacon.

Kelly Johnson was the inventor of the reconnaissance airplane The U2, a fine airplane but it was obvious that the Russians were able to track the U2 in the late 1950’s. In 1960 the U2 started becoming the successful targets of our enemies. At least six were shot down. One over Russia, one over Cuba, (an American pilot was killed. ) Four probably more U-2s with American-trained Taiwanese pilots were shot down over China. So Kelly was asked by the CIA to build an airplane that was unstoppable.

The A-12 was the name.

BUT There were problems everywhere.

The A-12 number 121 test flight plan was to hold Mach 3 for 10 minutes.

By the end of the run, it had climbed to 83,000 feet , due to a malfunction, the speed had approached Mach 3.3! The wiring had been damaged by the 800° temperature. Nearly all of the hydraulic fuel had been lost from the four flight-controlled systems only 1/2 of a gallon remained out of the original 7 1/2 gallons. The Lockheed/ CIA test pilots then insisted for their own safety that Article 121 was to be fitted with hydraulic gauges. It the only A-12 to be so equipped to measure the hydraulic system.

Jim Eastham who flew that test flight recalled years later “about 15 more seconds at that speed and I think I would’ve been out walking.. ..”

When Eastham cut the throttles and landed at Groom Lake. He thought it was a successful run until the post-flight inspection.

It was found that the plane had been burnt to a crisp. It was not until 1967 that the A-12 was allowed to fly in operational sorties out of Kadena AB Okinawa called Black Sheild.

The SR-71 replaced the A-12 in 1968.

I’m reading a 30-year-old book that I’m very much enjoying called “Dark Eagles” by Curtis Peebles this book was mentioned by Evergreen Museum, Docent John Burleson.

Linda Sheffield

May 19 2025

@Habubrats71 via X

[usafphantom2]

15 May 2013. Death of Ronald `Jack’ Layton (b. 27 October 1927). USAF officer, test pilot and record setter. who flew clandestine Mach 3+ reconnaissance missions for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). One of 11 pilots designated to fly the Lockheed A-12 Blackbird.

@ron_eisele via X

[usafphantom2]

In 1965, the A-12 was ready for deployment. There was only one trainer airplane the TA -12 and the trainer could not go Mach 3 it only had J-75 engines not the upgraded faster J-58.

The pilots are not prepared to deal with unstarts. Unstarts are violent interruptions that often cause the pilot to hit their head on the window.

The CIA wanted the A-12 over China.

The Department of Defence needed the A-12 for missions over North Vietnam.

Plans were made for the code word “BLACK SHIELD” to go operational. The A-12s were stationed at Kadena AFB, Okinawa. They would be named the 1129th Special Activities Squadron. They were affectionately nicknamed the Roadrunners. In 1968, on the island of Okinawa, there would be both A-12s, and SR 71s.

The locals would point up at the airplane and yell Habu Habu! They thought the airplanes looked like a snake, called the Habu.

This is where the name Habubrats comes from.

Brat is an affectionate term for military children

”The most critical event that the Trainer could not prepare you for was the inlet unstarts because it didn't have spikes (variable geometry inlet) and could not reach Mach 3.

Other essential points to make: 1- The A-12 did not have aft bypass doors. 2- did not have spike and door position indicators. 3- only had spike/door restart switches. 4- The fuel controls were unreliable. 5- The inlet controls were unreliable. To repeat, everything was very dynamic, changing all the time, usually to the best.” This is a quote by A-12 pilot Ken Collins.

I never thought of this before that the trainer could not prepare the pilots for the inlet unstart problem because it didn’t have the spikes and could not go Mach three!

According to Ken, every A-12 pilot had trouble with un-starts. The unstart problem was passed on to the SR 71 program and was not solved until the 1970s when DEFICS was in place to restart the engines.

Linda Sheffield

@Habubrats71 via X

[usafphantom2]

Project “Nice Girl” anniversary concluded today, November 3, 1967

Why was the SR-71 Blackbird chosen over the A-12 Oxcart?

From Oct. 20 to Nov. 3, 1967, the A-12 and the SR-71 were pitted against each other in a recon fly-off, code-named “Nice Girl” over the US, that included refueling, flying identical routes 1 hour apart on three different days, and both would complete the whole sortie with collection sensors operational.

This is part of an article I wrote a few years ago and shared in the Aviation Geek Club.

One thing should be clear about the A-12 and the CIA, they like to allude that their Blackbird was faster than the Air Force's Blackbird, the SR-71

It was not faster. Both airplanes had the same limitation: the engine temperature could not exceed 427 °C.

One fact is actual: the A-12 was lighter than the SR-71, as it had only one cockpit and less fuel space. So it’s possible that it could fly a little bit higher, but that doesn’t do you any good to fly a little bit higher when the air is that thin; the result is the same: flying is very unsteady. It could not be maintained for very long.

What couldn’t be revealed was classified in 1967.

The SR-71 had new ECM electronic countermeasures. The A-12 did not have the same capability. However, some of their cameras were considered better than the ones on the SR-71. The man that flew the test missions are listed below.

The conclusion was they picked the SR-71 to continue flying.

The A-12s were retired. The A-12s were put in hangars until 1984.

Lt. Col. Al Hichew and I, Maj. Tom Schmittou flew mission #1.

Maj. John Storrie and Maj. Coz Mallozzi flew mission #2

Maj. Bill Campbell and Capt. Al Pennington flew mission #3.

I knew all of those men with the exception of Al Pennington.

Jack Weeks flew all three A-12 missions.

I have read the documents and there was a better fight between the CIA and the Air Force for control of this program.

The CIA could not prove how fast their bird could fly, but a Air Force could. Do you really think that the Air Force would publicly announce just how fast their airplane can go so that anyone in the world would have this information?

I know what I think about that.

What do you think?

written by Linda Sheffield

Thank you to Robert Hall for his daily SR-71 news

@Habubrats71 via X

[usafphantom2]

I hope you’re having a nice Saturday night💫

@Habubrats71 via X

[usafphantom2]

SR 71 crew members wore big boots

The SR 71 crew members wore boots that were 2 to 2 1/2 times larger than the regular size!

Article by Kevin Svetcos, PSD Instructor, Beale AFB, California

A fully enclosed suit with a double zippered rear entry, it had enclosed feet at the bottom of the legs, full-length sleeves with metallic rings, and a locking mechanism that acted as a connecting point for the gloves. The head opening had another metallic ring with a locking mechanism that served as a connecting point for the helmet. The second component was the helmet, the third were the gloves, and the final component was the torso harness, which was part of the egress and survival systems that were worn over the suit itself.

Standard flight boots were worn with the ensemble, the only difference being that the boots were a full 2 – 2.5 sizes larger to accommodate the feet of the suit when inflated.

I didn’t realize that the boots were that much larger than the normal size. The color of the boots did change from white to black. The boots had spurs on the back that locked in to ensure that the crewmember didn’t break their legs in the event of an ejection .~Linda Sheffield

@Habubrats71 via X