1 March 1950

March 1, 2025Aviation49-1900, Aerojet 14AS1000, Boeing Aircraft Company, Boeing B-47A Stratojet, Boeing Model 450-10-9, General Electric J47-GE-11, NACA 150, Plant II, s/n 450001, Strategic BomberBryan Swopes

The first Boeing B-47A Stratojet, 49-1900. (U.S. Air Force)

1 March 1950: The first production Boeing B-47 Stratojet, B-47A 49-1900 (Boeing serial number 450001), was rolled off the assembly line at Boeing’s Wichita, Kansas, Plant II.

The Wichita Eagle reported:

“FIRST B-47A PRODUCTION MODEL SHOWN—First production model of the B-47A Stratojet bomber is shown above, surrounded by Boeing-Wichita officials as it rolled from the assembly line at the local plant Wednesday. (Other pictures on Page 4.)”

First Stratojet Rolls Off B-47 Assembly Line Here

Boeing-Wichita Puts New Model Into Production

Six-Jet Speed Bomber Even More Powerful Than Its Predecessor

Boeing-Wichita’s first B-47 Stratojet bomber rolled off final assembly Wednesday at the local plant, less than 18 months after the Air Force gave the go-ahead signal to build the big, six-jet, swept-wing bomber here.

The airplane was given to an Air Force aircraft engineering inspection board. The board will examine it for a week, alterations will be made in the shops, if any are needed, and it will be ready to fly.

The first production model of the already-famous bomber has been designated the B-47A. It is almost identical in appearance to the experimental XB-47s, which were built in the Seattle, Wash., plant of the Boeing Aircraft Company, but the resemblance ends there.

More Powerful than XB-47

This is a more powerful airplane, Boeing officials say. Instead of the six jet engines of 4,000 pounds thrust each which powered the first experimental Stratojet, this first production model is powered by six jet engines of 5,200 pounds thrust each.

Additional internal improvements have been made based on experience gained in the XB-47 flight test program, which was moved from Moses Lake, Wash., with the arrival here of the first XB-47. The second “X” came here in October.

Recently one of the experimental models got a test of rocket assisted takeoff at Municipal Airport where an expansion program costing nearly $1,000,000 has been started to accommodate the B-47 flight testing program.

Holds Speed Record

The first production model climaxes more than six years of jet bomber design study and development by Boeing. The first experimental flight was made at Moses Lake Dec. 17, 1947, more than 26 months ago.

In February, 1949, an XB-47 was piloted to an unofficial, all-time, all-type transcontinental speed record. It flew 2,289 miles from Moses lake to Andrews Air Force Base, in three hours, 46 minutes. The average speed was 607.8 miles per hour. The record-breaking airplane was equipped with the smaller jet engines.

At Boeing-Wichita, closed down following World War II when 1,644 B-29 Superforts were built there, the first production model climaxes a reactivation begun in March, 1948.

Six months later came the Air Force “letter of intent” and B-47 Stratojet production got underway in Wichita.

“ASSEMBLY LINE IS SHOWN—Part of the assembly line which produced Boeing-Wichita’s first Stratojet six engine bomber is shown above. Three more Stratojets, designated B-47A, are shown being assembled.”

“CLOSE-UP OF B-47A SHOWN—Here’s a close-up of the first production model of the B-47A Stratojet bomber which rolled from the Boeing-Wichita assembly line Wednesday. In the center of the crowd, above, J. Earl Schaefer, vice president and general manager of Boeing, happily makes the rounds congratulating workers and officials who built the bomber.”

—The Wichita Eagle, Vol. 24, Number 50, Wednesday 1 March 1950, Page 1, Column 7, and Page 4, Columns 5–8

Boeing B-47A Stratojet 49-1900. (U.S. Air Force 061024-F-1234S-007)

B-47A 49-1900 made its first flight 25 June 1950.

Designed by Boeing, the Stratojet was a high-subsonic-speed strategic bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, in service from 1951 until 1977. The B-47 could fly higher and faster than jet fighters of the early 1950s, and it was also highly maneuverable. The B-47 was flown by a two pilots in a tandem cockpit. A navigator/bombardier was at a station in the nose. The crew area was pressurized.

This photograph shows Boeing B-47A Stratojet 49-1905. The single-piece plexiglas nose of 49-1900 has been replaced by four separate windows. (U.S. Air Force)

The Boeing B-47A Stratojet was the first production model of the B-47 series. The B-47A was 106 feet, 10 inches (32.563 meters) long with a wingspan of 116 feet, 0 inches (35.357 meters), and an overall height of 27 feet, 11 inches (8.509 meters). The wings were shoulder-mounted with the leading edges swept aft to 36° 37′. Their angle of incidence was 2° 45′ and there was no dihedral. (The wings were very flexible, showing marked anhedral on the ground and flexing upward when in flight.) The B-47A had an empty weight of 73,240 pounds (33,221 kilograms), and a maximum takeoff weight of 157,000 pounds (71,214 kilograms).

The B-47A was powered by six General Electric J47-GE-11 turbojet engines in four nacelles mounted on pylons below the wings. This engine had a 12-stage axial-flow compressor, eight combustion chambers, and single-stage turbine. The J47-GE-11 had a maximum power rating of 5,610 pounds of thrust (24.95 kilonewtons) at 8,030 r.p.m. (30-minute limit), and continuous power rating of 4,860 pounds (21.62 kilonewtons) at 7,450 r.p.m. It had a maximum diameter of 3 feet, 3.0 inches (0.991 meters), length of 12 feet, 0.0 inches (3.658 meters), and weighed 2,475 pounds (1,123 kilograms).

The B-47A was also equipped with 18 Aerojet 14AS1000 solid-fuel rocket engines (ATO) located in the aft fuselage. These produced a maximum 18,000 pounds of thrust (80.07 kilonewtons) for 14 seconds. (49-1901 did not have provisions for ATO.)

A Boeing B-47A Stratojet demonstrates a rocket-assisted takeoff (ATO) The configuration of windows in the nose differs from that of 49-1905, in the image above. (McMahan Photo Archive)

The B-47A Stratojet had maximum speed of 474 knots (545 statute miles per hour/878 kilometers per hour) at 35,000 feet (10,668 meters). The bomber’s speed was limited to 0.815 Mach due to buffeting. The service ceiling was 46,200 feet (14,082 meters) and the combat ceiling, 44,300 feet (13,503 meters).

The B-47A had a maximum ferry range of 2,856 nautical miles (3,287 statute miles/5,289 kilometers) at 424 knots, and a combat radius with a 10,000 pound (4,536 kilograms) bomb load of 1,350 nautical miles (1,554 statute miles/2,500 kilometers). The maximum fuel load was 9,518 gallons (36,030 liters) carried in four fuselage tanks.

The B-47A had space and provisions to mount two Browning AN-M3 .50-caliber machine guns in a remotely-operated tail turret.

Boeing B-47A Stratojet 49-1900 with its bomb bay doors open. (Mary Evans Picture Library)

The B-47A could carry a single T-14 22,000 pound (9,979 kilogram) or T-10 12,000 pound (5,443 kilogram) general purpose bomb (both were U.S. versions of the British World War II Grand Slam and Tallboy bombs); up to 16 1,000 pound (454 kilogram) general purpose bombs; or one 10,000 pound (4,536 kilogram) nuclear bomb.

The B-47As were considered as training aircraft and most were assigned to the 306th Bomb Wing (Medium) at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.

NACA 150, the first Boeing B-47A Stratojet,49-1900, decelerates after landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, circa 1953. (NASA Photo E-1004)

The first B-47A, 49-1900, was tested by the U.S. Air Force at Wright Field, Ohio, and then at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory at Hampton, Virginia, where it was identified as NACA 150. It was later transferred to the NACA High Speed Flight Research Station at Edwards Air Force Base in the high desert of southern California. It flew there from 1953 to 1957. 49-1900 was placed in storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona, 28 February 1958.

Boeing B-47A Stratojet 49-1900 as NACA 150, at Edwards AFB, California. Note the reconfigured nose. (NASA)

B-47A production ended in June 1951, as production shifted to the B-47B. Just ten B-47As were built.

A total of 2,032 B-47s were built by a consortium of three aircraft manufacturers: Boeing Airplane Company, Wichita, Kansas; Douglas Aircraft Company, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Lockheed Aircraft Company, Marietta, Georgia.

Seven Boeing B-47A Stratojets at the Boeing Airplane Co. Plant II, Wichita, Kansas, 26 June 1951. (U.S. Air Force)

1 March 1945

March 1, 2025AviationDistinguished Service Medal, General Henry H. Arnold USAAF, Jackie Cochran, Jacqueline Cochran, WASPs, Women Airforce Service Pilots, World War IIBryan Swopes

Jacqueline Cochran with ribbon representing the Distinguished Service Medal.

1 March 1945:

General of the Army Henry H. Arnold, United States Army Air Forces, presents the Distinguished Service Medal to Jacqueline (“Jackie”) Cochran, at The Pentagon, 21 May 1945. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives, Catalog #: 02c-00866)

1 March 1925

March 1, 2025AviationAirlines, David R. Davis, Davis-Douglas Cloudster, Donald Douglas, Douglas Cloudster, Dutch Flats, Los Angeles-San Diego Airline, Ryan Airlines Company, Ryan Airlines Incorporated, Standard J-1, T. Claude RyanBryan Swopes

1 March 1925: Ryan Airlines Incorporated, founded by Tubal Claude Ryan and Frank Mahoney, began a regularly-scheduled passenger airline service, the Los Angeles–San Diego Air Line. The airline connected San Diego and Los Angeles, the two largest cities in southern California.

One of the airplanes used the Douglas Aircraft Company’s first airplane, a Davis-Douglas Cloudster, which was modified to carry as many as ten passengers, and three Standard Aero Corporation J-1 trainers, each modified to carry four passengers.

Scheduled flights departed Los Angeles for San Diego at 9:00 a.m., daily, and from San Diego to Los Angeles at 4:00 p.m., daily. The fare for a one-way flight was $14.50, and a round trip was $22.50.

Airline timetable from teh collection of Daniel Kusrow at www.timetableimages.com) — Airline timetable from the collection of Daniel Kusrow at www.timetableimages.com)

The photograph below (from the collection of the San Diego Air and Space Museum) shows opening day activities at Dutch Flats, near the current intersection of Midway Drive and Barnett Avenue, in the city of San Diego.

First regularly scheduled passenger service, Ryan Airlines, 1 March 1925 at Dutch Flats, San Diego, California (San Diego Air and Space Museum) — First regularly scheduled passenger service, Ryan Airlines, 1 March 1925 at Dutch Flats, San Diego, California (San Diego Air & Space Museum)

The Davis-Douglas Cloudster was the first airplane built by the Douglas Airplane Company in Santa Monica, California. Donald Douglas’s investor, David R. Davis, had asked for an airplane to attempt a non-stop cross country flight.

Davis-Douglas Cloudster airframe and Liberty L-12 engine. (San Diego Air & Space Museum 04-00225) — Davis-Douglas Cloudster airframe and Liberty L-12 engine. (San Diego Air & Space Museum)

Davis-Douglas Cloudster. (San Diego Air & Space Museum)

The Cloudster was built by the Davis-Douglas Company at Santa Monica, California. It was a two-place, single-engine, single-bay biplane. It was 36 feet, 9 inches (11.201 meters) long, with a wingspan 55 feet, 11 inches (17.043 meters), and height 12 feet, 0 inches (3.658 meters). Its gross weight was 9,600 pounds (4,355 kilograms).

The Cloudster was powered by a water-cooled, normally-aspirated 1,649.34-cubic-inch-displacement (27.028 liter) Liberty 12 single overhead cam (SOHC) 45° V-12 engine, which produced 408 horsepower at 1,800 r.p.m., and drove a two-bladed, fixed-pitch propeller.

The Cloudster had a cruise speed of 85 miles per hour (137 kilometers per hour), and maximum of 120 miles per hour (193 kilometer per hour). Its normal range was 550 miles (885 kilometers), but when equipped for the transcontinental flight, its range was increased to 2,700 miles (4,345 kilometers).

The Cloudster first flew on 24 February 1921. It was the first airplane capable of lifting a payload greater than its own weight. The airplane was flew 785 miles (1,263 kilometers) in 8 hours, 45 minutes, when a timing gear failed, forcing a landing in Texas. The airplane was shipped back to Santa Monica for repairs. Before another attempt could be made, Lieutenant John Arthur Macready and Lieutenant Oakley George Kelly, United States Army, made a successful non-stop flight with a Nederlandse Vliegtuigenfabriek Fokker T-2, 2–3 May 1923.

After this, Davis pulled out of the company. The Cloudster was sold to Ryan for $6,000.

During Prohibition,¹ the Cloudster was used to fly contraband alcoholic beverages into the United States from Mexico. In December 1926, it made a crash landing on a beach near Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, and was damaged beyond repair.

Three-view scale illustration of the modified Davis-Douglas Cloudster (also known as the Ryan Cloudster). (San Diego Air & Space Museum)

Ryan Airlines’ modified Davis-Douglas Cloudster, (also known as the Ryan Cloudster). (San Diego Air & Space Museum)

Passenger cabin of Ryan Airlines’ modified Davis-Douglas Cloudster. (San Diego Air & Space Museum)

The Smugglers’ Lair. (San Diego Air & Space Museum)

Loading contraband. (San Diego Air & Space Museum)

Smuggler’s Blues: The wreck of Ryan Airlines’ Davis-Douglas Cloudster, near Ciudad de Ensenada, Baja California del Sur, Mexico, December 1926. (San Diego Air & Space Museum)

¹ Prohibition was an era between 1920 and 1933, when the production, sale and importation of alcoholic beverages was prohibited in the United States. This gave rise to organized crime, tax evasion, “boot leggers,” “rum runners,” “speak easys” and “bathtub gin.”

1 March 1912

March 1, 2025AviationAlbert Berry, Antony H. Jannus, Benoist Headless, Benoist Type XII School Plane, Kinloch Field, Lambert–St. Louis International Airport, ParachuteBryan Swopes

1 March 1912: At Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, Missouri, Captain Albert Berry, United States Army, made the first parachute jump from an airplane.

Pilot Antony H. Jannus and Captain Berry took off from Kinloch Field, a balloon-launching field in Kinloch Park, (now, Lambert–St. Louis International Airport, STL) and flew aboard a 1911 Benoist Type XII School Plane, 18 miles (29 kilometers) to the drop zone at Jefferson Barracks. The airplane was a pusher biplane which was based on a Curtiss pusher, and is also called the Benoist Headless.

Barry had his parachute packed inside a conical container mounted beneath the airplane’s lower wing. They climbed to an altitude of 1,500 feet (457 meters).

When the reached the desired altitude and were over the barracks’ parade grounds, Berry attached the parachute to a harness that he was wearing, then lowered himself on a trapeze-like bar suspended in front of the wings. He pulled a lanyard which released him. The parachute was opened by a static line.

Captain Albert Berry parachuting from teh Benoist biplane over Jefferson Barracks, 1 March 1912. (NASM) — Captain Albert Berry parachuting from the Benoist biplane over Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, 1 March 1912. (NASM)

The Associated Press reported the event:

ST. LOUIS, March 1. —For the first time in the history of a heavier-than-air flying machine, a man leaped from an aeroplane at Jefferson barracks this afternoon and descended safely to earth in a parachute. Capt. Albert Berry made the spectacular leap and it was witnessed by hundreds of cheering soldiers.

Berry and Pilot Jannus left the Kinlock aviation field in the afternoon in a two-passenger biplane, carrying beneath the machine, in a specially constructed case, a large parachute. With practiced hand Jannus steadied the machine, Berry gave a quick jerk of a rope and, while the aeroplane, first bouncing up like a cork, suddenly poised and steadied itself.

Hundreds of watchers held their breath as Berry shot toward the earth, the parachute trailing after him in a long, snaky line. Suddenly the parachute opened, the rapidity of the descent was checked and, amid cheers, the first aviator to make such an attempt lightly reached the ground.

A local newspaper reported:

BERRY JUMPS 1500 FEET FROM BIPLANE

Parachute Drops 300 Feet Before Opening at Jefferson Barracks.

LANDS HARD BUT SAFE

Jannus, Driver of Machine, Says “Never Again,” After Sunday Exhibition.

Albert Berry, formerly a professional parachute jumper, and son of Capt. John Berry, licensed balloon pilot, carried out his twice deferred jump from an aeroplane yesterday afternoon. After riding as a passenger with Anthony Jannus in a Benoist biplane from Kinloch Field to Jefferson Barracks, he cut loose his parachute at a height of about 1500 feet. He landed hard, but safely, just south of the mess hall.The soldiers at the barracks were startled when they saw the parachute and man falling, for it did not open until it had dropped like lead for 300 feet.

After Jannus and Berry had warmed themselves in the office of Col. W. T. Wood, Jannus climbed into his machine and flew back to Kinloch. He lost his bearings, mistaking the St. Charles for the Natural Bridge road, and flew almost to the Missouri River at a height of nearly 4000 feet. Realizing his mistake, he flew back to his hangar. This trip occupied twenty-seven minutes. The flight to Jefferson Barracks required only twenty minutes, with the passenger aboard. The air line distance between the two pints is about seventeen miles.

Jannus Dislikes Experience.

Tom Benoist, originator of the plan and builder of the aeroplane used, said he would have like to have done with it. Jannus said:

“As far as I am concerned, Sunday will be the last time for this stunt. We are in duty bound to the people who paid admission to see the jump a week ago Sunday, to do it once more. We hope to get through with it next Sunday. After that, never again.”

Berry’s ideas are different. He will continue the jumping as an exhibition trick if he can find an aviator to co-operate with him. It is understood already offers of large guarantees have been made him by promoters of amusement enterprises, one of them in New York.

Berry had made so many jumps of the same nature from hot-air balloons that he was expert in the work, and he had not suffered from the hard landing. But both he and Jannus were chilled through, and plenty of hot cocoa from thermos bottles was needed to get them warm.

–St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Vol. 37—No. 288, Saturday, 2 March 1912, Page 1, Column 6.

The Washington Times wrote:

CAPITAL AVIATOR FIGURES IN AERIAL FEAT AT ST. LOUIS

Antony Jannus Drives Biplane From Which man Drops in Parachute.

Antony Jannus, a former Washington boy, and Capt. Albert Berry, of St. Louis, winner of the national balloon race from Indianapolis last year, figured in a spectacular aerial performance in St. Louis yesterday afternoon, Capt. Berry jumping from an aeroplane in a parachute. Jannus was the aviator.

The feat of Captain Berry and Jannus is the first time that a man has jumped from an aeroplane in a parachute. This accomplishment was considered dangerous by the majority of aviators, it being thought that the aeroplane, becoming free of the extra burden, would spring upward, turn turtle, and crash to the earth. Captain Berry jumped from an altitude of between 1,000 and 1,500 feet, made a perfect landing, while the aeroplane, driven by the Washington boy, flew on without any difficulty in maintaining an equilibrium.

Since Captain Berry has accomplished the feat of dropping from an aeroplane, it is possible this new “stunt” will be experimented with by the army aviators within a year.

—The Washington Times, Number 7376, Saturday, 2 March 1912, Page 3, Column 6

29 February 1964

February 28, 2025Aviation60-6934, 60-6935, 60-6936, 61-7981, A-11, Blackbird, Clarence L. Johnson, Groom Lake, Interceptor, Lockheed California Company, Lockheed F-12B, Lockheed YF-12A, Oxcart, Pratt & Whitney J58, Pratt & Whitney JT11D-20A, Skunk WorksBryan Swopes

Lockheed YF-12A 60-6934, the first of three prototype Mach 3+ interceptors. (U.S. Air Force)

29 February 1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson publicly revealed the existence of the Top Secret Lockheed YF-12A, a Mach 3+ interceptor designed and built by Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson’s “Skunk Works.” President Johnson referred to the interceptor as the “A-11.”

The following day, the Los Angeles Times ran two lengthy articles on its front page:

Johnson Discloses New Jet Secretly Developed by U.S.

Manned Aircraft Flies at 3 Times Speed of Sound; Military Potential Great

By ROBERT C. TOTH

Times National Science Correspondent

WASHINGTON—President Johnson disclosed Saturday the secret five-year development of an experimental jet aircraft whose performance “far exceeds that of any other aircraft in the world today.”

Several of the craft, designated A-11, have been “tested in sustained flight” at speeds greater than 2,000 m.p.h. and at heights over 70,000 ft., he said.

The craft has been made possible “by major advances in aircraft technology of great significance to both military and commercial application,” Mr. Johnson told a press conference.

Tests are under way at Edwards AFB, Cal., to determine the capability of the airplanes as long-range interceptors of enemy bombers. The plane was developed by Lockheed Aircraft Corp. of Burbank as a special project.

“Appropriate members of the Senate and the House have been kept fully informed on the program since its day of inception” in 1959, Mr. Johnson said.

Costs of the A-11 were not revealed, and the President said detailed performance information on the aircraft “will remain strictly classified.” Personnel working on the project have been told to keep quiet, he added.

Why the project has been wrapped in secrecy was not immediately clear. All that a White House spokesman would say, in answer to a question, was the A-11 represents “a new plateau in aircraft potential”—of such great potential that the military wanted to “explore it in secrecy.”

The A-11’s development also will aid in building a supersonic transport for commercial airlines, Mr. Johnson said. Like A-11, the transport would fly about Mach 3, or three times the speed of sound.

One of the most important technological achievements of the A-11 project, the President said, has been the mastery of the problem of using titanium metal on aircraft.

Great Heats

The aluminum used in today’s airplanes wears out in sustained flight at speeds greater than about Mach 2.2. This is due to the great heats generated by friction as air rushes over the surfaces of the aircraft, particularly the leading edges of the wings.

“The existence of this (A-11) program is being disclosed today to permit the orderly exploitation of this advanced technology in our military and commercial planes,” Mr. Johnson said.

High performance aircraft like the controversial TFX multi-service airplane and the Navy’s Phantom fighter will have speeds up to about Mach 2.5—about 1,600 m.p.h. These high speeds are possible for relatively short duration, however.

Funds for the A-11 were presumably buried in other appropriations, conceivably in part in Air Force appropriations for the B-70.

Dimensions of the A-11 were not revealed although an in-flight picture of the side view of the plane was distributed. It suggests the A-11 is more than 100 ft. long, based on the size of the pilot’s head in the cockpit.

The front half of the A-11 looks very similar to that of the X-15 rocket plane which has flown at speeds over 4,000 m.p.h. The characteristic tail surfaces of the X-15, extending both above and below the fuselage, also were obvious.

The A-11’s engine, a J-58 from Pratt & Whitney, occupies the rear third of the vehicle.

The experimental fire control and air-to-air missile system was developed by the Hughes Aircraft Co. The “A” in the aircraft’s designation suggests an “attack” function.

Number of Questions

Announcement of the project raises a number of questions, some of which Presidential Press Secretary Pierre Salinger answered at a subsequent briefing.

For example, why did the Pentagon object to the Boeing Aircraft Co.’s proposal to use titanium in the TFX if the A-11 had proved that the metal can be used?

“The technical knowledge obtained in the A-11 program made it possible to evaluate Boeing’s proposal,” Mr. Salinger said, and the Pentagon concluded that the titanium in the TFX represented a “High development risk.”

Technical Justification

This seemed to be further technical justification for the choice of General Dynamics over Boeing for the TFX, a choice which raised a political furor in Congress.

The economic meaning of the A-11 was another question put to Mr. Salinger. While the project makes a major contribution to Mach 3 flight, he replied, “It cannot be converted into a transport. A major independent development program is still necessary to produce a supersonic transport.”

—Los Angeles Times, Vol. LXXXIII, Sunday, 1 March 1964, Page 1, Columns 7–8, and Page 6, Columns 3–4

The second Times article identifies the designer as Clarence L. (“Kelly”) Johnson:

NEW PLANE GREAT FEAT OF SECURITY

BY MARVIN MILES

Times Aerospace Editor

President Johnson’s announcement of a new triple-sonic interceptor Saturday disclosed on of the best kept secrets in military annals, a security feat comparable in many ways to that achieved with the atomic bomb.

Apparently even the House Armed Services Committee didn’t know of the project for it recommended $40 million for an improved manned interceptor, a fund approved by the full House just 10 days ago.

The Senate, however, must have had more information, for it made no provision for the new interceptor studies in approving aircraft funding last Thursday, including $52 million for an advanced bomber.

The secret of Lockheed’s new A-11 interceptor was kept far better than that of the same company’s U-2 reconnaissance plane that was eventually shot down on a sky-spy flight over Russia.

Dozens of reports on the mysterious U-2 from various sections of the world had filtered into the news before the international incident over Russia.

The Times learned the new A-11 was spurred by the same aircraft genius who headed development of the U-2 and Lockheed’s famed F-104 Starfighter interceptor, Clarence (Kelly) Johnson, vice president for advanced development projects.

Johnson and his crew work in a carefully-guarded area at the Lockheed Burbank factory known as the “Skunk Works.”

Pierre Salinger, White House press officer, told newsmen the A-11 was funded and managed by the Air Force in the normal manner for a classified project.

Inasmuch as the new plane was started in 1959, this gave rise to speculation as to why a similar plane, the F-108, was canceled in that year.

The F-108 was a North American Aviation project in the same time era that the company’s triple-sonic B-70 bomber was started.

Like the A-11, it was to have had a speed of Mach 3 (about 2,000 m.p.h.) with a range of about 2,000 miles, plus combat time.

Reason for canceling the F-108 was largely budgetary, according to reports in 1959, with the Defense Department declaring that of the two North American projects, the B-70 bomber was a more urgent program than the F-108.

Some estimates of the A-11 can be drawn from the F-108. The North American plane was to have been powered by two engines, and one considered was the Pratt & Whitney J-58, the engine that will power the A-11.

This indicates the new Lockheed interceptor will have two engines also. The J-58 has never been used, either militarily or commercially, as far as The Times could determine. It has a thrust of about 30,000 lb.

Another indication from the F-108 relates to the armament of the A-11. The canceled North American interceptor was to have been armed with Hughes GAR-9 nuclear-tipped rockets.

The A-11 has a Hughes fire control system and its armament could well be the same guided, air-to-air rocket or an advancement of it.

The new interceptor will answer fears expressed by many military experts that Russia’s bomber fleet poses a greater threat to North America than her intercontinental missiles.

The A-11 will have the speed to intercept high speed bombers and shoot them down at ranges that would precluded their launching air-to-ground missiles against U.S. targets.

In appearance, the A-11 looks something like the X-15 rocket plane, a long, slim craft with sharp pointed nose section similar to that of the F-104 Starfighter.

It has both ventral and dorsal fins and appears to be about 90 ft. long over-all.

—Los Angeles Times, Vol. LXXXIII, Sunday, 1 March 1964, Page 1, Columns 7–8 and Page 6, Column 5–6

The YF-12A first flew 7 August 1963.

Clarence L. (“Kelly”) Johnson, Director of Lockheed’s Advanced Development Projects (“the Skunk Works”) with the first YF-12A interceptor, 60-6934. (Lockheed Martin)

Intended as a replacement for Convair’s F-106 Delta Dart, three pre-production YF-12As were built for testing. On 1 May 1965, a YF-12A set a speed record of 2,070.103 miles per hour (3,331.507 kilometers per hour) and reached an altitude of 80,259 ft (24,463 meters).

The reason for President Johnson’s announcement of the existence of the YF-12A prototypes was to conceal the existence of the Central Intelligence Agency’s fleet of Lockheed A-12 Oxcart reconnaissance aircraft based at Groom Lake, Nevada. Any sightings of these aircraft could be attributed to test flights of the YF-12As based at Edwards Air Force Base, 160 miles (258 kilometers) to the southwest.

Lockheed A-12 Oxcarts and YF-12As at Groom Lake, Nevada. (Central Intelligence Agency)

The YF-12A interceptor is very similar to its A-12 Oxcart and SR-71A Blackbird stablemates. It is a large twin-engine delta wing aircraft, flown by a pilot and weapons system operator. Because of the altitudes that the F-12 operates, the crew wears S901F full-pressure suits produced by the David Clark Company. The A-12 is 101.6 feet (30.97 meters) long with a wingspan of 55.62 feet (16.953 meters) and overall height of 18.45 feet (5.624 meters). It has a zero fuel weight of 54,600 pounds (24,766 kilograms) and a maximum ramp weight of 124,600 pounds (56,518 kilograms). ¹

Lockheed YF-12A three-view illustration. (NASA)

The YF-12A is powered by two Pratt & Whitney J58 (JT11D-20A) engines. These are single rotor bleed-bypass turbojets with a 9-stage compressor section and 2-stage turbine. They have a static thrust rating of 31,500 pounds (140.118 kilonewtons), each, at Sea Level with afterburning. The J58s use a unique JP-7 fuel.

Pratt & Whitney J58 test. (Central Intelligence Agency)

The YF-12A has a maximum speed of Mach 3.35 (2,232 miles per hour/3,342 kilometers per hour) at 80,000 feet (24,384 meters). The A-12 has a normal operating cruise speed of Mach 3.1. Its maximum operating altitude is 85,000 feet (25,908 meters) and it has a range of 3,000 miles (4,828 kilometers). Unlike most fighters, the A-12 has a maximum load factor of 2.5 gs. Its maximum bank angle when above Mach 2.5 is 30°.

The United States Air Force ordered 93 production F-12B aircraft, which would have been armed with three Hughes AIM-47A Falcon air-to-air missiles in enclosed bays in the bottom of the fuselage. However, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara refused to release the funds for the purchase for three consecutive years and eventually the project was cancelled.

AIM-47A missile ready for loading into the weapons bay of a Lockheed YF-12A. (U.S. Air Force) — Hughes AIM-47A guided missile ready for loading into the weapons bay of a Lockheed YF-12A. (U.S. Air Force)

The first YF-12A, 60-6934, seen in the top photograph, was extensively damaged by a brake system fire on landing at Edwards AFB, 14 August 1966. It was salvaged and rebuilt as SR-71C 61-7981. The third YF-12A, shown in the photograph below, was lost due to an inflight fire 24 June 1971. The crew safely ejected.

The only existing YF-12A, 60-6935, is in the collection of the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

Lockheed YF-12A 60-6936, holder of three World Absolute Speed Records and the World Absolute Altitude Record. (U.S. Air Force) — Lockheed YF-12A 60-6936, holder of three World Absolute Speed Records and the World Absolute Altitude Record, at Edwards Air Force Base, California. (U.S. Air Force)

¹ The Lockheed SR-71A has a length of 107.4 feet (32.74 meters). Wingspan and height are the same. Its zero fuel weight varied from 56,500–60,000+ pounds (25,628–27,216+ kilograms) and the gross weight had a range of approximately 135,000–140,000+ pounds (61,235–63,503+ kilograms).

This Day in Aviation

Important Dates in Aviation History

1 March 1950

1 March 1945

1 March 1925

1 March 1912

29 February 1964