1 January 1965

Two Lockheed SR-71A "Blackbirds" in the morning fog at Beale AFB. (U.S. Air Force)
Two Lockheed SR-71A “Blackbirds” in the morning fog at Beale AFB. (U.S. Air Force)

1 January 1965: The 4200th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing was activated at Beale Air Force Base, California. The wing operated the Lockheed SR-71A. On 25 January 1966, it was redesignated the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing.

A flock of Blackbirds. Lockheed SR-71As at Beale AFB. (U.S. Air Force)
A flock of Blackbirds. Lockheed SR-71As at Beale AFB. (U.S. Air Force)

© 2015, Bryan R. Swopes

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8 thoughts on “1 January 1965

  1. In 1959, fresh out of college, I was a designer at Pratt Whitney on a team working on a supersonic engine, the J58. We didn’t know what aircraft it was for, just that it was big, fast and loud on the test stand.

  2. The plane on the left in bottom pic looks like an A-12. The nose and canopy are different than the others at least they seem to be to me.

    1. Nope, it’s an SR, that particular one is tail number 980. I can tell because of the art on the tail. That one came to NASA Dryden/Armstrong along with 972 and the Ba model number 956. We used them for high speed flight test until 1999.

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