Plane Facts

Ever heard of the YF-12A, a military plane that can hit a target 124 miles away while flying at 80,000 feet?

Did you know the first Stealth plane ever built was the Blackbird A-12, featuring technology that was extremely advanced for the early 1960s? Better yet, want to see a Blackbird A-12 up close or a spy plane known as an SR-71A, which travels faster than a rifle bullet?

You can at the Blackbird Airpark in Palmdale, which provides plenty of interesting history about high-tech military aircraft.

The park also has the world’s only display of a Lockheed SR-71A with its Blackbird predecessor, the A-12, and the once top-secret D-21 drone, which was launched from an A-12.

The three-acre air park was built in 1991 on an Air Force production flight-test installation site. At the entrance are two huge black planes, the A-12 and the SR-71A.

The A-12, which travels more than three times the speed of sound, first flew in 1962. “As far as we know, the Air Force never flew it,” said Blackbird Airpark volunteer docent William Welsh. “It was used strictly by the CIA.”

The A-12 is almost 100 feet long, its wing span 55.6 feet and it travels at 95,000 feet.

The SR-71A first flew in 1964 and its wing span and speed are similar to the A-12’s. It was retired from official duty in 1989.

“They were the first aircraft made with titanium from Russia,” Welsh said about huge aircraft. “But interesting as that may sound, the question most people ask is, ‘How do you get into the air craft?’ ”

Welsh tells a group of visitors that pilots used crew ladders, two of which are on display at the park.

He also says that Blackbird pilots wore sophisticated pressure suits, similar to those used by astronauts, because the cockpit reached temperatures of up to 620 degrees. That’s hot enough to melt lead.

Blackbird Airpark also has an informative indoor exhibit that features an ejection seat from an SR-71A.

“The pilot survived 80,000 feet while traveling at speeds of near Mach 3 (three times the speed of sound),” said docent Ray Vonier. “This is the actual seat.”

There’s also a 55-minute video that includes previously unreleased footage of the A-12’s first flight and lots of behind-the-scenes footage of how the plane was assembled in Burbank.

Blackbird Airpark visitor Rex Funk of Lancaster likes the park’s laid-back atmosphere. “It’s not so restricted and you can get real close to the planes without being bothered,” he said.

BE THERE

Blackbird Airpark, at Air Force Plant 42 on the corner of 25th Street East and Avenue P in Palmdale. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Sunday. Admission is free. (805) 277-8050.