The FReeper Foxhole Revisits Operation Eagle Claw (4/24/1980) - Apr. 24th, 2004

http://www.afa.org/magazine/jan1999/0199desertone_print.html ^

[Soaring Feather]

Come on over snippy, I have one pound of bacon and some eggs, I'll cook!! LOL Got bread too. :-)

[The Mayor]

we're staying in the 50's and 60's all week.

At least we are having a spring.
There is still ice flowing down the river.
It's more than 2 weeks now.

[Iris7]

The Pat Tillman story is big this morning. Not as big as it should be.

I found out too late that most Americans (those that defile that proud name) are not worth fighting for.

There is a remnant, however, of an entirely different sort. With pride I name Pat Tillman my Countryman. He will be missed.

I am sure all here at the Foxhole join in my sentiment.

[Professional Engineer]

1962 1st Lockheed A-12 is taxi tested

THE LOCKHEED YF-12
Project Summary

The YF-12 "Blackbird" was an experimental fighter-interceptor version of the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft. In Air Force flight tests on May 1, 1965, the YF-12 set a speed record of 2,070.101 mph and an altitude record of 80,257.65 feet. First publicly displayed at Edwards Air Force Base in 1964, the YF-12 was never adopted by the military as an operational aircraft. It was, however, a precursor to the SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance plane.

Two YF-12s were flown in a joint Air Force-NASA research program at the NASA Flight Research Center (after 1976, the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center) between 1969 and 1979. A third shared plane, piloted primarily by the Air Force, was lost to an in-flight fire in 1971.

The YF-12 allowed NASA researchers at all four of the agency's aeronautical centers (Langley, Lewis [now Glenn], and Ames as well as the Flight Research Center) to study the thermal, structural, and aerodynamic effects of sustained, high-altitude, Mach 3 flight. Painted flat black, the YF-12 was fabricated primarily from titanium alloy, which enabled it to withstand skin temperatures of over 500º F.

Work on the YF-12 began in secret in the late 1950s at the Lockheed Advanced Development Projects office, better as known the "Skunk Works," in Burbank, Calif. Flight data remained classified long after President Lyndon Johnson announced the plane's existence on Feb. 29, 1964. After the announcement, the plane received the Air Force designation YF-12A.

(The "Skunk Works" was the unofficial designation of Lockheed's secret development entity in Burbank. It was located near a plastics plant that exuded a rather strong odor. Since the engineers were also brewing up their secret designs, the "Skonk Works" in Al Capp's comic strip "L'il Abner," where Kickapoo Joy Juice was made, seemed an appropriate designation. However, it was changed to Skunk Works to avoid plagiarism.)

Although it yielded large amounts of research data, the YF-12 program was terminated in the late 1970s when NASA's research agenda shifted from speed to efficiency. During its nine-year life, the YF-12 research program logged 297 flights in the joint NASA-Air Force program and approximately 450 flight hours.

Only one YF-12 remains in existence. It is displayed at the U.S. Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

Requisite NASA pic.

Rather cool SR-71 pic.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Valin.

[SAMWolf]

Breakfast? What's breakfast? Is that something to do while drinking The Mayor's coffee?

[SAMWolf]

Morning PE. Thanks for letting us know about the Three Flags Ceremony. Learned something new.

[SAMWolf]

Eagle Claw was intensely micro-managed by the White House

That was my understanding too. Decisions that should have been made in the field were being made at the White House.

[Professional Engineer]

ROFL. He should have visited a habbardashery first.

[SAMWolf]

With pride I name Pat Tillman my Countryman.

People like Pat Tillman and the others who are serving make me proud to call myself an American.

[SAMWolf]

Snippy and I got to get a close look at a Blackbird.

Impressive plane.

[Professional Engineer]

Thanks for the three flag post and link about the Louisiana purchase. I love history. ;-)

I didn't know about this one either. I fell into it looking for Bentfeather's daily flag o'gram.

[snippy_about_it]

Of course!

[snippy_about_it]

Right after I posted Sam showed up with my Starbucks in hand! It doesn't get any better than this.

I am hungry though. I'd love to come on over.

[snippy_about_it]

At least we are having a spring.

That's good. I know the last few years back east we've barely had one.

[Professional Engineer]

With pride I name Pat Tillman my Countryman.

People like Pat Tillman and the others who are serving make me proud to call myself an American.

Yes sirree!

Msdrby and I had this conversation last night.

[snippy_about_it]

I am sure all here at the Foxhole join in my sentiment.

I'm sure we do. Most of us are here because we are "like minded".

Thank you for fighting for those of us that are worth it, at least I hope we were. We are forever in debt to you and all the other veterans who gave some and of course to those who gave all. "We" will never forget.

[snippy_about_it]

Snippy and I got to get a close look at a Blackbird.

It was actually smaller than I expected it to be. Maybe because it was near the B-17 and the Spruce Goose, but it seemed like it should have been bigger.

[Professional Engineer]

The only time I've been near on was on the parade ground at Lackland AFB. Of course being in parade formation, I had plenty of time to crawl over, under and around it. ;-(

[Valin]

SUCCESS! Oh it was nip and tuck there for a while, but I just said what would John Wayne do? So I sucked it up and charged in, knife and fork a blur. Needless to say the eggs and bacon didn't stand a chance.
grrr