SR-71, A-12 Blackbirds, and Rare U-2D Spy Aircraft Now Rest at This Free California Airpark

Blackbird Airpark in Palmdale, California

The planes at Palmdale’s Blackbird Airpark used to streak across the sky so fast they turned black from heat. These were the eyes in the sky during the Cold War, built in secret and flown on missions we still can’t talk about.

Here’s the story of America’s fastest spy planes and where they rest today.

First spy plane that left others in the dust

The A-12 you see here, numbered 60-6924 and nicknamed Article 121, started everything. Engineers at Lockheed’s secretive Skunk Works division built this as the very first A-12 prototype.

CIA officials ordered this aircraft to fly higher and faster than the U-2 while staying invisible to Soviet radar. Workers shipped it in pieces by truck from the Burbank factory to the hidden Groom Lake test facility in 1962.

Pilot Lou Schalk first flew this exact aircraft on April 30, 1962, reaching 30,000 feet during a 59-minute journey. Just days later, the plane broke the sound barrier, hitting Mach 1.1 at 40,000 feet.

Test pilot James Eastham pushed this very aircraft to its top speed of Mach 3.3 in January 1964, proving its amazing capabilities. After finishing 322 flights and 418.2 hours in the air, crews stored it at Lockheed’s Palmdale facility in 1968.

For over 20 years, this groundbreaking machine stayed hidden from public view. Now you can walk right up to the aircraft that changed how America gathered intelligence from the sky.

Two-seat successor that spied on Vietnam

Aircraft #61-7973, known as Article 2024, stands here as a testament to Cold War aerial spying.

Workers started putting it together on January 14, 1966, spending nine months to finish the job. Unlike its single-seat A-12 cousin, this bigger SR-71 carried both a pilot and a Reconnaissance Systems Officer.

Lockheed test pilots Bill Weaver and Darryl Greenamyer first flew this exact Blackbird on February 8, 1967.

After joining the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing in California, crews sent it to Kadena Air Base in Japan on September 27, 1969.

This very plane completed 62 training missions and flew 45 actual spy flights over Southeast Asia between 1969 and 1971, sending back crucial photos during the Vietnam War.

Bad luck cut short this Blackbird’s career in May 1987 during an airshow in England. When the pilot tried to climb too slowly with afterburners lit, the aircraft’s structure bent at a factory seam.

With 1,729.9 total flight hours, this veteran spy plane found its final home here in September 1991.

Only two-seat U-2 that survived history

Look at aircraft 56-6721 and you’ll see the rarest U-2 in the world. 

Lockheed’s “Skunk Works” built it in 1957 as a standard U-2A, but later turned it into something special.

Taiwanese pilot Major Mike Hua performed what people call the “Miracle at Cortez” with this plane. When his engine died at 70,000 feet over Colorado, he managed to glide to a landing, bending the aircraft but saving a valuable spy plane.

During repairs, engineers transformed it into a U-2D with a second seat and special equipment for tracking missile launches. 

Workers added a complex mirror system between the cockpits to measure heat from missiles and aircraft. Throughout the 1960s, this plane often flew from Florida to watch rocket launches from Cape Canaveral. 

It also tracked early satellites coming back to Earth and monitored X-15 rocket plane tests with its heat sensors.

By the 1970s, this versatile aircraft chased experimental unmanned planes during test flights. 

After retiring in 1980, it spent time at the March Field Museum before coming back to Palmdale for restoration and finding its final home here in 2001.

Robot spy that reached Mach 3.3

Few people know about the D-21 drone, a remarkable chapter in unmanned spy technology. Engineers designed this robot plane to launch from the back of a modified A-12 called the M-21.

Once free of its carrier, its ramjet engine could push it past Mach 3.3 at heights above 90,000 feet.

Created under the codename “Tagboard” starting in 1962, these drones offered a way to spy without risking pilot capture.

Each D-21 followed a pre-set path over enemy territory, taking photographs with its special camera.

After completing its mission, the drone would drop its film package for mid-air recovery, then destroy itself by diving into the ocean.

A deadly accident during testing forced engineers to change plans, switching to B-52H bombers as launch platforms. Four actual missions flew over China, but none successfully recovered their camera packages.

Officials canceled the program in 1971 after these failed flights, storing the remaining drones. What you see here represents one of aviation’s most ambitious robot spy planes, created decades before modern drones filled the skies.

Metal that pushed manufacturing limits

About 85% of each airframe consists of titanium, marking a complete break from typical aircraft construction.

Regular aluminum would simply melt at the speeds these planes maintained. Titanium stayed strong at extreme temperatures, but working with this stubborn metal created huge challenges for engineers.

In a strange Cold War twist, much of the titanium came from the Soviet Union itself. CIA agents set up fake companies to secretly buy the metal from the very country these planes would later spy on.

Building these aircraft demanded incredible precision from workers. Welders could only use distilled water during construction since the chlorine in tap water would ruin the metal. Shop crews needed special tools and techniques just to handle titanium properly.

Notice the wavy skin panels on these aircraft? They serve a vital purpose.

At Mach 3.2, skin temperatures climbed past 600°F, making the metal expand significantly. Those waves allowed the skin to stretch both side-to-side and up-and-down without tearing.

Turbojet and ramjet in one package

Check out the Pratt & Whitney J58 engine displayed at the museum. Engineers made it the first engine ever approved for long Mach 3+ flights.

Weighing about 6,000 pounds and stretching nearly 18 feet long, this power plant rewrote the rules of jet propulsion.

It worked as two engines in one—a standard turbojet during takeoff and a ramjet at high speeds. At cruise speed above Mach 3, only 20 percent of thrust came from the core engine.

Six bypass tubes routed air around the engine, essentially turning it into a ramjet. Those strange cones at the front of each engine inlet moved in and out to create shock waves.

These slowed incoming supersonic air to subsonic speeds before reaching the engine compressor—without this trick, the engines would die at high speeds.

Hidden features that confused radar

Years before “stealth” became common, these aircraft already used tricks to hide from radar. Their unusual shape came from the need to reduce radar returns.

Look at the knife-like edges running along the sides of the fuselage. These “chines” bounced radar energy away from receivers, making the aircraft harder to detect.

Notice how the bottom of the fuselage looks flattened? This shape reflected radar energy away rather than back to the sender. Special radar-absorbing materials and paint further reduced how visible these planes appeared on enemy screens.

Though not completely invisible like modern stealth aircraft, these features combined with extreme speed and altitude made these planes nearly impossible to catch.

Soviet forces could see SR-71s on radar but never developed weapons fast or high enough to reach them.

These early stealth concepts laid groundwork for later technologies used in the F-117 Nighthawk and B-2 Spirit bombers, also created by Lockheed’s Skunk Works.

Almost-astronauts flying inside Earth

Crews flying at 80,000 feet needed special protection to survive.

Regular oxygen masks wouldn’t work at these extreme heights, so pilots wore specialized pressure suits made by the David Clark Company.

These suits basically worked as personal spacecraft, keeping pressure normal and providing oxygen in conditions that would kill an unprotected person within seconds.

Dangers went beyond just altitude problems.

If a crew needed to bail out at Mach 3.2, they’d face temperatures around 450°F while slowing down through the atmosphere. Their suits protected against this extreme heat while maintaining pressure during the fall.

Inside the cockpit, conditions stayed challenging despite air conditioning. Windshields heated to 250°F during cruise, while outside skin temperatures passed 600°F. Special cooling systems used fuel as a heat sink to keep cockpit temperatures survivable.

Pilots described wearing these suits as similar to being inside a hard balloon—they limited movement and comfort during missions often lasting more than seven hours. Fully equipped, each suit weighed over 70 pounds.

Finding the way using stars at noon

Before GPS satellites existed, these aircraft used an amazing Astro-Inertial Navigation System that delivered pinpoint accuracy without outside help.

This self-contained system could guide pilots across continents with precision measured in feet rather than miles.

It worked by watching stars combined with tracking the aircraft’s movements. A special optical sensor in the roof could track up to 61 stars even during bright daylight hours.

When you’re moving 32 miles every minute, even tiny errors add up fast without precise guidance. Pilots trained extensively to use this complex equipment while handling the physical stress of high-altitude, high-speed flight.

In the SR-71’s back seat, the Reconnaissance Systems Officer managed navigation while simultaneously running the aircraft’s advanced cameras and sensors during missions.

Speed champion that crossed America in 68 minutes

Among many records, an SR-71 flew coast-to-coast on March 6, 1990, taking just 68 minutes. This meant crossing the entire United States at an average speed over 2,100 miles per hour.

Throughout their careers, these planes routinely cruised at Mach 3.2—about 2,200 miles per hour or more than 36 miles every minute.

While other military planes could briefly go supersonic, these aircraft could maintain speeds above Mach 3 for hours, often flying entire missions without slowing down.

Flying between 80,000 and 85,000 feet put them at the edge of space, more than 16 miles above Earth. Regular airliners typically cruise around 35,000 feet, less than half as high.

This combination of speed and height made these planes virtually untouchable. During their entire operational history, no Blackbird was ever shot down despite flying over heavily defended enemy territory numerous times.

These incredible performance records remain unbroken by any air-breathing operational aircraft, even decades after their retirement.

Secret missions that shaped history

These planes flew crucial spy missions during Operation Black Shield over Southeast Asia. Their flights provided intelligence impossible to gather any other way during the Vietnam War.

One of the A-12’s biggest intelligence successes came when it found the captured USS Pueblo in North Korean waters in 1968.

Photos from this mission let analysts confirm exactly where North Korea held the American intelligence ship and check on the condition of the captured crew.

Though fear of provoking the Soviets limited flights over Russia, these aircraft monitored hot spots around the world. They tracked military exercises, nuclear testing, and troop movements with unprecedented clarity and detail.

Information gathered by these planes directly influenced major policy decisions and military operations through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Many missions remain classified even today.

When operations shifted from CIA to Air Force control, it marked a big change in aerial spying strategy. CIA ran the single-seat A-12s while Air Force managed the two-seat SR-71 fleet, expanding what these remarkable aircraft could do.

Though satellites and drones now handle most reconnaissance, many experts believe the flexibility and responsiveness of manned platforms like the Blackbird have never been fully replaced.

Wall honoring the human story behind the planes

Look for the Blackbird Heritage Wall that honors the people who made these planes possible. Each brick bears the name of someone connected to the program’s development or operations.

Kelly Johnson, who led the Skunk Works, stands out among these contributors. His innovative management style let small teams of talented engineers create revolutionary aircraft with minimal paperwork and bureaucracy.

Test pilots risked their lives during development, facing dangers few others would accept.

Maintenance crews performed specialized work never done before. They created new techniques for handling titanium and maintaining the unique systems these aircraft required.

Intelligence officers and photo experts who analyzed information from these aircraft turned raw pictures into useful intelligence that shaped American foreign policy throughout the Cold War.

You can learn their stories and more inside the Blackbird Airpark.

How to visit these Cold War legends

You’ll find Blackbird Airpark at 2503 E Avenue P, Palmdale, CA 93550. Gates open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Admission costs nothing, though donations help support the museum. Located right next to Plant 42 where these aircraft were built and tested, you’ll stand on historic ground.

Even if you arrive outside regular hours, you can still see the aircraft through the perimeter fence at any time.

Read More from This Brand:

• The Battle-Scarred Warship That Fought Imperial Japan & Retrieved Apollo 11 Astronauts
• In This California Museum, B-17 Bombers That Flew Over Nazi Germany Sit Beside Hitler’s Mercedes
• The “Islands of the Dead” in San Francisco is a Ship-Crusher Where Great White Sharks Like To Hang Out