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Go to the public library. Or swap meets. There are several editions. The first printing was updated several times.

Drag. Wind resistance. Some folks were worried that the drag would be too much for the drone and its pylon. The first time they popped the shroud off, it about demolished the drone, damaged the Bird and was simply a matter of luck that nothing else happened. The slip stick boffins sat around and...

Could not resist putting this one up. The best shot of the M-21/D-21 mate up that was ever published. Taken from the tanker fueling position. Probably taken just after the first trial of jettisoning the protective shroud that the D-21 was originally supposed to have, (it was a near disaster)...

Here are two pictures of mine, you will probably see no where else. I got them from the Lockheed Skunk Works. Why are they so special? They are "doctored". At the time they were taken, the program was VERY secret. To prevent the Russians from guessing exactly where all this was going on, the...

As far as I know, the D-21 drone was never a big hit. It was modified to fly from the B52, made a number of missions over China. But one was shot down over China, and 3-4 made it back to the recovery point, only to be lost. I don't think it ever had a successful mission. It was used into the...

Here's a little info on the M-21. The original project was called Operation Tagboard. Two A12, (tail number 69-640 and 69-641) aircraft were modified to carry a D-21 drone, (as seen in picture 5). Maiden flight was 22 Dec. 1964. The drone, (D-21) was also designed and built by Lockheed. It was...

I saw the SR-71C at Hill, back about 2004 I think. I had spent a year in Roy Utah, right outside the Hill AFB, in 1971. We were visiting friends and family, so I took my boys over to look at it. What a bird! Much hated by the ground crew. It had serious maintenance problems. Problem being that...

Part of the 300 dollar toilet seat problem, is the government itself. Everything is over engineered. Everything is special developed. The aforementioned toilet seats. They are not normal toilet seats like we sit our patooties down on. They are extremely fire resistant. The material is very...

I took a look through my write ups on the SR-71. I found at least one bird, Tail number 64-17952 that was lost due to "An inlet scheduling malfunction, followed by an Unstart, on the right engine while in a 30 degree bank at 80,000 feet, and at Mach 3+". The aircraft broke up. Both pilot and RSO...

Lockheed spent a ton of money on figuring this out. And still had problems with it up till the end. Several of the birds lost, were due to, I hope I remember right, Compressor stall. The engine would go into an "unstart", (I hope I get this right, I need to review this part of the document I got...

Indeed Jericho, The russian planes are crude. In 1991, I went to the Warrior Preparation Center in germany. We got to look at all kinds of russian toys. The workmanship was pitiful. BUT, it works. My Father in Law was german. He spent a little more then three years on the russian front. He had...

I saw the maiden flight of the XB-70. At the time, my Father worked for North American Aviation. He loaded my brother and I up into the old pickup, and drove over to Palmdale. I cant remember the date, but I was about 10 years old. We parked not far from the landing strip, and were far from the...

The Russians tried several times to pursue the SR-71 and the A-12, with the MIG-25. They were not even in the same league. Each time, the MIG-25 completely burnt out it engine, to no avail. According to some people, who are in the know, the A-12 is significantly faster then the SR-71. And flew...

Should you ever be in Utah, take a side trip to Roy Utah, Hill AFB. There is the "Junk Yard Dog". A SR-71C, two seater, trainer. Its made up of a wrecked SR-71 and part of a static display/testing A-12.

I talked with a guy in the Hill AFB museum who said that the A-12 was faster then the SR-71. Much faster. One of the big differences between the two birds was that the Blackbird is a two seater. The A-12 was only the pilot, and the space where the WISO sits in the Blackbird, was taken up by a...

Yes, the D-21 drone was some story! Sadly, Mr. Kelly, Chief Engineer of the A12/SR71 project at the Lockheed "Skunk Works" Plant in Palmdale, California, killed that project after the accident, due to the loss of life that occurred due to the drone impacting the M-21, (modified A-12). The...

I have been carrying on a love affair with the SR-71 and A-12, forever. I started collecting pictures of the birds by tail number years ago. My son fell into it also. About 20 years ago, I had just got an 8X10 from Robbins AFB museum, of a SR-71, when my son asked what was with the A-12's, that...