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Posted on 02/06/2026 1:12:46 PM PST by DFG
At CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, an imposing spy aircraft stands outside the main entrance — a relic from a pivotal era of Cold War intelligence gathering that, in its time, pushed aerospace technology to its limits.
But its stationary, terrestrial home amid birds and bugs, instead of at Mach 3 speeds and altitudes of 80,000 feet, meant it risked falling apart.
"The A-12 is prime real estate here at CIA headquarters," Robert Byer, CIA's museum director, told CBS News in an interview, noting employees pass by it daily. But, he added, "this plane was not built with the idea of being outside 24/7."
The A-12, a top-secret reconnaissance plane developed in the late 1950s and operational in the early 1960s, is more than a piece of aviation history. It is a "macro artifact," according to Byer, who described the unique conservation challenges that the agency has been working to address through an extensive restoration project.
Since arriving at CIA headquarters in 2007 — when its 39,000-pound frame was hauled on five wide-load trucks and mounted on pylons sunk 40 feet into the ground — the aircraft, known at CIA as Article 128, has been the focus of painstaking preservation work. The goal is to honor what the agency describes as the "golden age of overhead reconnaissance," Byer said.
The aircraft is the eighth of 15 A-12s built and one of nine known to survive today. It also serves as a memorial to CIA pilots Walt Ray and Jack Weeks, who died in the line of duty in the late 1960s. Because it sits on the agency's main campus, however, it remains inaccessible to the public.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
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"An A-12 spy aircraft at the entrance to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia"
A-12 - Single Seat, higher ceiling, and slightly faster than the 2 seat SR-71
A-12 cockpit
Well that's just rude. I guess for every Jeff Bridges there has to be a Beau.
Oh, I was thinking it was gonna be the rifle that shot JFK.
The best collection is at the Blackbird Airpark in Palmdale, CA. It is an annex of the Air Force Flight Test (AFFT) Museum at Edwards AFB and was officially dedicated on September 27, 1991.
It is the world’s only display of a Lockheed SR-71A together with its predecessor A-12 (this is the first A-12 ever flown) along with the once ultra-secret D-21 drone and the only remaining U-2 “D” model in the world.
The Airpark was established to preserve the proud heritage of the Blackbird family of military aircraft. Through the restoration, preservation, and display of these unique aircraft, it provides the visiting public from all over the world with an interesting and educational experience.
My son and I visited a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. There's a huge amount of aviation history around Edwards AFB with lots to see at the Mojave Spaceport, the Century collection at Edwards, the Blackbird Airpark and even the Lancaster Jethawks, the minor league baseball team at "The Hanger" baseball stadium (unfortunately, they folded in 2020). They had a fighter jet outside the stadium on a pylon.
The highlight of my recent trip to Eglin AFB was to walk up to the SR-71 on exhibit and give it a good rap with my knuckles.
Now I know what titanium feels like ;)
they could easily put a canopy/skylight over top it to keep it from the rain.
LOL
Steven Seagal movie scene, sneeringly talking to the CIA agents:
“What’s it gonna be this time, guys? Shots into a car or coming through the kitchen again?”
Triple full disclosure:
1) I already hated the CIA.
2) I know Segall has moved to Russia and is an avid fan of Putin. And it’s mutual.
3) I have a new grudge against Dick Wolf for taking off FBI Most Wanted to put on a new show CIA shortly. Boo.
That’s funny. Ever notice whatever is topical in the news at the moment is the latest TV series we get? It’s probably a coincidence.
They missed 911, so we get 24 and Jack Bauer
Massive domestic surveillance exposed… We get the Americans TV show
NSA is sucking in everything we do and spying on us… We get the pine gap TV series
FBI frames up Trump, and rigs an election… We get several seasons of a new FBI TV series where every week a white supremacist is stopped from blowing up a city or something.
CIA is dangerous? We get homeland with a backwards E to make it look Russian you know.
You can usually tell what the narrative is by looking at the latest propaganda TV series they foist upon us.
It’s probably just a coincidence.
I’m kind of looking forward to the TV series called “the Island”, where a Mossad spy set up a sex sting operation to help protect the world from drug dealing Islamic frogmen hell bent on stopping citizens from trusting the Pfizer vaccine.
Thanks. Never heard of The Island.
Actually, in spite of their woke smarminess behind the scenes in the Dick Wolf studios, that current FBI has had some of the best action episodes in a long time the past two years.
They accidentally made law enforcement look sympathetic when college students rioted and threw glass bottles and a heavy table from the 2nd floor onto agents below and pushed them against plate glass which broke and so on.
By the way a Naked City (1958-1963) episode had the city people throw things from 2nd floor windows at the NY police and surround them on the streets. Pushed against them to interfere with arrests. Very avant garde.
Both in “The Night the Saints Lost Their Halos” (Season 3, Episode 17, 1962), “depicts a neighborhood turning against detectives.” and also “community chaotic interference” in “Take and Put” (Season 3, Episode 10, 1961).
Recent ones of the runaway train with no way to stop it were very well done. They’ve even had the Egyptian FBI agent-American ditch his Egyptian girlfriend for a blonde American one.
Should at least be covered. There is an SR-71 at Bernstein full of bird nests and crap. Display them right or give them a proper burial.
Stupid spell check.
Bergstrom.
At least the SoCal climate is (mostly) dry. It’s actually pretty cool seeing them out in the open air.
TV series “The Island” based on Epstein of course with young looking actresses of course. Just the bare truth.
“...higher ceiling, and slightly faster than the 2 seat SR-71...”
The A-12 was faster, but the SR-71 offered better intelligence-gathering equipment, such as side-looking radar, and a second crew member to manage complex systems. I was station at Beale from 1979 to 1984 and it was amazing to watch the SR take off at night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiVd2Pmw0OA
Fuel for the bird was astronomical. During a 15,000-mile, 10.5-hour test flight, the aircraft required five aerial refuellings of its 12k gallon tank of special JP7 fuel. The aircraft leaked fuel on the ground because its tanks were designed to seal only when the airframe expanded due to frictional heat at Mach 3+.
No SR-71 Blackbirds was ever shot down by enemy fire during their 34-year service career, despite being targeted by over 4,000 missiles. They just outran the missiles.
wy69
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