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We lost our SR-71!!!!!

illjustwingit6142

By illjustwingit6142,
in Real Aviation

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illjustwingit6142

illjustwingit6142

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Just found out they carted off our SR-71 from the Minnesota Air National guard Museum! :banana:http://www.mnangmuseum.org/Exhibits/aircraft/

a-12.htm Its going to be stuck on a post in the ground at CIA headquarters on private display not open to the public. At the Guard Museum you could walk up to it, touch it, look in the cockpit. What a frick'n loss. Okay, I feel a little better now. .. sniff, sniff :banana:

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GreyGhost

GreyGhost

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That's just wrong, to (literally)stick it in a place where no one will really care that it is even there when it was in a place where it was most likely one of the Star attractions ... Sad ...

Gregg

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The Rat

The Rat

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Its going to be stuck on a post in the ground at CIA headquarters on private display not open to the public.
Didn't PUBLIC tax dollars pay for it?! :wave: If it was still a secret piece of technology I could understand, but there's not much, if anything, that needs to be hidden now.
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mhoupt

mhoupt

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CIA? I wonder why they didn't take an A-12 from somewhere since it was a CIA project and the SR-71 was USAF....

They actually did take an A-12. The machine in Minnesota was an A-12 and if I am not mistaken held some signifigance to the CIA in regards to "firsts" and various other events. In addition, the folks up in Minnesota kind of brought the spotlight on themselves because of how well they restored the aircraft. They did a fabulous job of restoring the aircraft to the point that the cockpit was pretty much complete and other things were fixed. The AF took the best of the best that was out there.

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The Rat

The Rat

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In addition, the folks up in Minnesota kind of brought the spotlight on themselves because of how well they restored the aircraft. They did a fabulous job of restoring the aircraft to the point that the cockpit was pretty much complete and other things were fixed. The AF took the best of the best that was out there.

A lesson to be learned: treat it like crap and it won't get taken. :whistle:

I guess that explains why I can leave my car unlocked.

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BAM'n'IVM

BAM'n'IVM

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A lesson to be learned: treat it like crap and it won't get taken. :angry:

I guess that explains why I can leave my car unlocked.

Nope. Treat it like crap and they'll take it away, and might scrap it if they decide it's too much trouble to restore.

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OldThudMan

OldThudMan

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Heard about some F-14's that were taken back because they still carried sensitive equipment.........

So your SR-71 may still have had some sensitive/secret equipment on board.... :yahoo:

Unless the USAF/CIA are making some SR's airworthy again..?????????????????????? :angry:

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yardbird78

yardbird78

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The Blackbird at Minneapolis was an A-12, tail number 06931. It hadn't flown since 1968 and would not be involved in any recall to active duty. When the SR-71 fleet was retired in 1990, the detractors from the program did such a thorough job of destroying anything and everything connected to the program, that it couldn't be revived. The USAF tried in 1995, but it just wouldn't work, so it was cancelled a second and final time. Out of the 9 A-12s in museums, 931 was probably in the best shape, so it would be logical to trasnfer it to CIA. It is unfortunate that it will be on display in a very restricted access area.

Darwin

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Daniel_B

Daniel_B

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Are all planes on 'loan' to the museum in the first place? So that gives them the right to take it and do with it what they want.

Maybe so, but it's still a pretty uncool thing to do. Especially since it sounds like the museum went above and beyond to restore and display it...

:cheers:

Daniel

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Val K

Val K

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I suppose it really isn't much different than Ft Worth losing their B-36 to Pima. Of course it will get lot's of exposure at Pima and probably taken better care of there. So maybe it isn't the same. I guess sometimes these transfers make sense and sometime they don't. I can't imagine the agency putting a lot of money into upkeep of the A-12.

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JohnCeglarek

JohnCeglarek

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It is incorrect to say that the SR-71 program couldn't be resurrected in the mid 90's. In fact, the program was ready to go operational again (due the the monumental efforts of a few people to scavenge/salvage parts like the cameras that had been scattered all over the place) when Clinton line-item vetoed it from the budget. I believe that two, perhaps three, aircraft were ready at the point the program was cut. At this point, is probably is impossible, but it was not impossible in the mid 90's. There are several good books about the SR-71 which talk at length about the program.

John

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BAM'n'IVM

BAM'n'IVM

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You know, this isn't the first I've heard of the USAF museum transferring a/c for display to another location.

They tried to do that with our F-4 until they saw where it was parked.. :coolio:

And where is that?

I heard that the Pate Transportation Museum outside Fort Worth lost a bunch of their aircraft after the Air Force saw the rather crummy condition they were in. I dunno if that actually happened, or how many aircraft were affected.

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X-Plane Fan

X-Plane Fan

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The MNANG Museum's A-12 was probably the best example of the type in any museum, but that wasn't the reasoning behind that particular airframe being transferred to the CIA for display. All of the A-12's were looked at by the USAF Museum and this one was chosen because the MNANG Museum had not come through with the new museum it had promised 15 years earlier, they had no affiliation with the USAF Museum and they had the fewest visitors per year (less than 1,000). Unfortunately prior to the A-12 being transferred it was vandalized by one of the museum's volunteers who took it upon himself to virtually strip the cockpit of all instruments. There is currently an OSI investigation open to attempt to retrieve the stolen parts. For a full story go to: http://www.roadrunnersinternationale.com/article128.html

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Val K

Val K

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And where is that?

I heard that the Pate Transportation Museum outside Fort Worth lost a bunch of their aircraft after the Air Force saw the rather crummy condition they were in. I dunno if that actually happened, or how many aircraft were affected.

That's pretty much what I heard too. I went to D/FW last year and did some research on local museums. The reviews on Pate were none to favorable. It sounded like whoever was running the place just didn't give much of a crap and they had some vandalism problems too.

The Cavanaugh museum on the other hand was pretty nice.

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VFA-103guy

VFA-103guy

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And where is that?

I heard that the Pate Transportation Museum outside Fort Worth lost a bunch of their aircraft after the Air Force saw the rather crummy condition they were in. I dunno if that actually happened, or how many aircraft were affected.

The phantom is at Aviation Challenge here at the US Space and Rocket Center museum in Huntsville, Al.

Originally, the F-4 was parked up at the main museum until AC was errected in the late 80's /early 90's.

The F-4 was then moved to a concrete platform over looking one of the ponds where it could have been easily moved if need be. Then in about 1993, a building was constructed to house the AC students going through the program and it was done right behind the F-4.

According to the info I got from the previous program manager, in 2002, the USAF museum alerted our museum curator that they will be coming down to pick up the F-4 and will be transporting it by truck to the USAF Academy. When the USAF museum personnel arrived, they took one look at the phantom and changed their minds. They would have had to hire a CH-47 crew to come retrieve the old bird, and when they lookedat the procurement cost for soing so, they gave us a "warning" and told us to get the a/c painted or they'd be back.

Well, it's been 5 years since, and we still have the F-4. And that's not to say they won't come back and take it, because technically it is still USAF property.

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BAM'n'IVM

BAM'n'IVM

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That's pretty much what I heard too. I went to D/FW last year and did some research on local museums. The reviews on Pate were none to favorable. It sounded like whoever was running the place just didn't give much of a crap and they had some vandalism problems too.

The Cavanaugh museum on the other hand was pretty nice.

Yeah, I've seen photos of Pate, and it's pretty sad. Faded/peeling paint, helicopters with their rotors just laying on the ground beside them...

As for Cavanaugh, yeah, it's excellent. The only aircraft I wouldn't describe as "well cared for" is the F-105 they have on loan from the Frontiers of Flight museum, and that's just because restoration work on it hasn't started yet. And even that one's not in real bad shape - a few inspection panels missing, a little fading on the paint.

I've heard good things about Frontiers of Flight down at Love Field, but haven't made it down there yet. Fort Worth has some museums with good reps, too.

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