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Lockheed SR-71/YF-12 Blackbird


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Took these when one came in to Pearson International for the annual CNE Airshow, I think it was either '82 or '83

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Leaking fuel again!

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Note the tape over the canopy seams to prevent rain water from getting in:

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Pilot Lt. Col. Maury Rosenberg and his RSO Col. Don Bulloch

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Chatting with another pilot and a ground crewman before the flight

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Note the HABU patch, this guy has been places!

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Edited by The Rat
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I was there for the day of the Blackbird gathering - top photo. Erik Hildebrant (IIRC), the AF photographer and myself were the 3 people allowed to take pictures from the stand. I shot half a roll and then enjoyed a few precious seconds trying to take in the beauty of the view :cheers:

I also happened to be at both the retirement ceremony and one of the last launches from Beale AFB. Have quite a few pictures from those and a few other days but I'll be a while before I have the time to finish putting them on photobucket to be able to post here...

I'm really excited about our sheet. It's got both some cool historical stuff with a few of the 'last' Blackbirds. I'll post more in our forum when I know what the release date is but I'm itching to finish that big Testors kit I started back in the 90s!

-brian

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Guys, here's a bit more inspiration. I was just looking around for some YF-12 stuff and stumbled upon this:

www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/pdf/88796main_YF-12.pdf

It is a 9.5mb file, about 160+ pages of historical data on the YF-12. AMAZING!

Jon

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Daim. Aren't SR-71 just simply fantastic?!?! :crying2:

Thanks for all pictures!

Probably the most sinister looking jet ever and yet unarmed ...

The YF-12A wasn't quite as sinister looking IMHO ...

Gregg

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I've been a Blackbird fan the mid 1960s, but I never did get to see one fly. I have been to several Museums and seen the static displays. I always wanted to get out to the Seattle Museum of Flight to see the M-21 nad the D-21 Drone. Maybe someday. Don M.

http://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/loc...-m-21-blackbird

I found some of my pics from the Warner Robins Museum from 2001.

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Edited by viper50
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Since there seems to be some confusion about it, even in reference sources I've seen, I put this pic together to show the differences between the profiles of the crew compartments of the various Blackbirds. Hopefully it'll clear things up a bit.

The single-seat A-12 was flat all the way along the spine up to the front of the canopy, no bulges, curves or angles. The two M-21 motherships, which were purpose built on the A-12 production line, shared the flat spine of the A-12, adding a second cockpit in the position of the A-12's Q-bay which originally housed the camera(s). There is a slight bulge in the area of the rear cockpit visible in the pic. The YF-12 had a completely redesigned nose section with an enlarged crew compartment and a canopy which curved upwards from the flat spine. Finally, SR-71's also had a raised and curved canopy section, though not to the extent of the YF-12, owing to the SR-71's smaller nose.

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HTH

:thumbsup:

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